Moon over Afternoon Hike

Papa and I hiked this afternoon and were on our way back home when we noticed the moon had come over the mountains.  It was about 2:30 pm.  It seemed way too early to see the moon!  It was a beautiful day on the ranch, with clear skies and about 64 degrees while we were out. 

Valentines

Madilyn and Colter Lee came over this morning to spend the day with me.  We made valentines!  

We cut out at least a hundred hearts from pages of Arizona Highways, choosing scenes we loved.  

I am going to make a mobile for them, with all the hearts.  We colored tags for bags of trail mix.  

We collected and painted rocks.  While we had the paints out, we used celery and lettuce ends to stamp flowers onto paper and then painted on the stems.  We made valentine cards 

by lacing hearts with red yarn.  We had a wonderful day making valentines!

Staying Fit

I try to exercise every day, or at least 5-6 days of the week.  When the weather isn't quite nice enough for me to hike outside, (temperature above 50 with wind under 10 mph), then I work out inside.  On the inside days, I ride my bike for 30 minutes or 7.5+ miles, I walk and run on the treadmill for 2 miles, which takes about 30 minutes, and I lift weights and do a few calisthenics.  I try to do everything at a pace that I work up a sweat and hold it.  I get bored easily, when exercising inside, so I keep piles of magazines nearby, to thumb through.  I listen to my IPOD.  It's not easy staying fit!

Cutting the Cord

After getting a notice from Dish that the price of our tv service was going up again, we decided to cut the cord.  While in Tucson last week, we picked up an antenna for the roof.  We set it up over the weekend.  We get about 30 tv stations via antenna.  We have an Amazon Prime membership which allows us to get free movies and tv shows (plus free shipping on all Amazon purchases).  It will be interesting to see how our entertainment experiences will evolve over the next 5-10 years.  

Cutting the cord was rather pain free!

Morning Buzz in the Sky

Before the sun had come completely over the mountains this morning, we heard a small plane buzzing about.  It got closer and closer and flew up and down the canyon by the house, and then west on the ranch, low, and up and down more canyons.  We think it was an Arizona Game and Fish plane, looking for wildlife. 

Rays of Sunlight

Papa and I are blessed with incredible views all over the ranch.  We enjoy beautiful sunsets almost every day.  Some views are particularly special, like these rays of sunlight shining through the clouds, late yesterday afternoon.

Cloudy Day

Today was a beautiful cloudy day on the ranch. 

Hot Pink

Papa and I came to Tucson on Monday.  We enjoyed a Boys and Girls Club dinner on Monday evening and we had fun with boys and girls at the Club at our regular time on Tuesday afternoon.  We've worked in the yard several hours and had lunch out today.  All the while, a small cactus with hot pink flowers has been blooming in the backyard of our Tucson house.

Scoping out New Water Line

Papa and I began a hike yesterday afternoon, with a little deer resting under a tree in front of the house.  He scampered away as we got closer.  We hiked down the canyon north of Buck Knob and over to the spot where a new water line and drinker will be installed in the coming weeks.  We headed north and followed the line the bulldozer will follow from the ranch road to install the water line.  As we got close to home, the sun had slipped behind clouds.  We were in shirt sleeves and enjoyed the beautiful day.

The Feeding Ritual

Papa goes to the corral every afternoon, for what has become a feeding ritual for our horses.  He usually goes to the tack room to get sugar cubes for each of them.  Then he goes over to the hay barn to get each of them a flake of hay.  Since Oscar is "in charge," he goes to the door of the hay barn to eat any hay remnants at the doorway while Papa is inside.  Oscar always gets his hay first, thenPablo, and finally Doc.  After taking a few bites, Oscar seems to think, "their food is better than mine," so he goes to Doc's and Pablo's food, to take what he wants, and they play musical chairs with each other's food.  They are fun to watch!