Switching Blogs For a Time

As I won't be traveling til sometime next year, I decided to switch back to my former blog,

"Just Plain Country Living"

Just click on the name to go there.

I hope to record my adventures of making a go of it on 1 and 1/3 acres. I have some catching up to do, but it has been an exciting summer so far for me.

Thank you all for following along as I went through my adjustment to widowhood and learning about RV'ing.

Hope you all have happy travels and sunny days ahead!

May the Lord bless your journeys!

"Lady Blue" and Other News

Lady Blue is back home today. The guy at the transmission shop told me that wherever I had had it serviced (I am thinking it was west TX, on the way home) they put the wrong gasket on the oil pan and had dinged the pan in and that was the cause of my leak. He kept it there an extra day just to make sure of no leaks. Said it drove and shifted like it should. I am very thankful thats all that was wrong.

 

My brother and SIL left their home in Tuscon, Arizona today to make their way here to PA in their motorhome. Their kids and grands are anxious to see them. What a reunion that will be!

 

I have been making some progress as to getting back to a realistic meals/snacks plan, and as a result I have been starting to feel better. I have been able to do more yard work and have been enjoying it. I decided that some of these overgrown flowerbeds are just going to have to be totally pulled out and re-done. I did find a good natural weed killer on-line. Would you believe white vinegar???? Full strength in your sprayer. Well if it doesn't rain I will be trying it tomorrow and will take before and after pictures to post.

 

My electrician grandson came Sunday afternoon and put up 3 ceiling fans for me! I was so glad to get this done. I had bought them last year. This year is already warm and quite humid. 

 

A week ago I "inherited" a couple of my grandmother's paintings, as my 3 cousins were settling my uncle's estate. He had passed away in Dec of last year. These are now hanging over my loveseat in the room where I paint.Great inspiration for me.

 

 

Memorial Day weekend will find my family gathered at my son Robert's home for a picnic, as he is still in a wheel chair. So we are bringing the picnic to him! He has been a trooper with very little (in his eyes) advancement and his wife has been very faithful and consistant in his care. She has been a jewel! It will be good to have us all together in one place at the same time.

 

Hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day celebrations. I am sure we will all be remembering those who have given their lives for our freedom.

 



Another project finished

Its been rainy and cold the last few days. Even had some snow which didn't stay around, but it was snow. Haven't been outside. Just huddled in my great-room with my fake fireplace on, and finished these......

My first attempt at knitting cables. I am pretty happy with them, so happy I am wearing them today!

 

I attempted to take some pictures of birds at my feeders this morning. Yes, that is an oriole on the wire of the seedfeeder. He's looking at the empty hummingbird feeder on the tree beside them. Flickers are fun to watch

as well as the downy woodpeckers and little goldfinches here.

I also had male and female cardinals visit, but the pictures did not turn out at all. The bluejays left before I could even grab my camera. Yesterday I snapped this photo of the little hummer outside my window.

 

and the jay up in the treetop

Supposed to start clearing and warming up today. Good day for a walk...

 

What now?

"The Old Road...."

 

I have been "home" a month now. I have planted one raised bed of my garden, and the asparagus and rhubarb are up strong. I considered getting some chickens to put in the coop, maybe a few turkeys to raise for thanksgiving meals. I even fell in love with a couple goat kids listed on craigs*list,

and my bees are flying.

 

I got a parakeet to put into my birdcage I got last fall, well 2 of them...

I've worked on my yard and flower beds.... some. I have my chiminea set up near my outdoor swing.

I have visited with my kids and grands, and even some cousins .......

 

For some reason, I am just not getting into this "home-body" thing. I feel restless... I have been experiencing anxiety feelings again, and anger feelings because my 'whatever' wants to cry; and I, well I just want to get on with my life.....

 

My motorhome sits with a tran-y leak til next Monday when it goes to the repair shop to see whats wrong. Otherwise I'd probably be outta here.

 

My plans were to stay in PA til just after Christmas next year. Why can I not be content for very long??? Why can't I feel settled?? Will life never be normal again? I know.... normal is a figment of the imagination....

No need for comments. Just had to get this out.

 

 

Good-bye Arizona!

Time has come to head back east.

 

I will be taking a vacation from blogging and facebook for a while.

I will be reading all your blogs from time to time, just won't be posting.
I am thankful for the ones I have met while here and for the places I have been able to see.
I just need a break to get back to my "roots" and review my goals and life directions.

 

May you all be safe on your journeys.

 



Another trip to Mexico

Saturday morning we decided to make a run to Mexico so I could get some of my medicines. Soon as we walked out of the parking lot, we go down this ramp and through a building walkway to the right, through a gate, into the Mexican side of Nogales.

As soon as we got to street level we saw all the taxi's lined up, both sides of the street, to take visitors wherever they would wish to go.

Drivers stood calling out, "Taxi, taxi, you need a taxi??" The wall on the right where the taxis are lined up, is the border between the states and Mexico.

 My brother was getting some stitches removed at the dentist office where he had had some work done recently. I like the intricate detailed street lights. The pace here is slow and people take time to sit or stand and chat. There are benches made from metal at various places along the streets.

I was delighted to see these "dancers" coming down the street. I had never known of this before.

They had goat-like hats on their heads with horns and droopy ears, and masks on their faces.

One carried a box for donations, one a drum, others with maracas...

They wore belts of shot-gun shells, made to add to the music as they did their dance,

And legging-like things made from soda cans into hundreds of little bells that tinkled in time to the music. Oh what fun this was to watch them as they imitated the goats and did a dance much as you would see in the movie "Dances With Wolves". That was the highlight of my day!! 

Here is a picture of some of their wares that I hadn't seen last time. Lots of neat metalwork.

When I saw this blanket I could not pass it up. This was just made for on my sofa at home in my den! It is made from Alpaca wool. More than I wanted to pay (even after bargaining him down to half)

but well worth it. It is beautiful and soft!

We finished off with getting a fantastic meal at a restaurant called "Lee's", recommended by a local person. It was beautiful inside, and the food was excellent!

Oh, yes.... I drove the RAV4 for the trip there and decided I like it VERY much!

 

Later this week, we leave for a camping trip to the Dragoon Mountains. It will be My brother's and s-i-l's first RV trip.  We are planning to have a great time!



Snow in Tucson

WhenRon and Carol went to town this morning I opted to stay "home", as I needed to contact my insurance agency and had a few other online and phone chores. I told him they could take the RAV if they wanted as I knew he's been itching to drive it, but he said no. A while later I was glad he didn't.

Snow started to come down, or rather side-ways, and it turned into blizzard-like conditions for a while. I could hardly believe my eyes...

Must be because of Global warming ....

It clung to the ground...

and clung to the trees...and even the cacti looked silly wearing their snow bonnets!

And there was snow all over my pretty new blue RAV

Then it stopped almost as quickly as it had started and went away. No snowman building today!

Tonight it started up again and came down even heavier. Brother said he hadn't seen anything like it since moving to Arizona several years ago. If there is still snow tomorrow I am building me a snowman!!!

 

Keep warm out there!

Tomorrow... Lady Blue's new Matey!

Been planning, been researching, been waiting, been looking, and praying;

There is was, right in front of my eyes!

What I had hoped for...

What I had pondered and prayed about...

My new (to me) Toad!  "98 Toyota RAV4

AND IT'S BLUE!!

 

4-W drive, 117k easy miles (14 yrs old), cloth seats, great condition inside, outside, and underneath; 20-24 mpg, one owner, carfax, like new tires, tow-ready, manual tranny so I don't have to jump through hoops to tow it! ...... and at a price much less than I expected to have to pay for a vehicle for my needs and purposes!

 

Yay! Desert backroads here we come! Enough room for pups and paint!

For visiting relatives on my travels without having to camp in their yard!

Now I am ready to apply for volunteer work. These "things" are only a means by which we are able to accomplish our goals or missions in life.  There is more for me to do in my remaining years.

 (more on that later)!

 

Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.'

Snow in Nogales, MX

We left my brother's Tucson home at 1 pm yesterday for his dentist appointment was at 5 pm in Nogales. This would give us a couple hours to walk around and see the wares the Mexican people had for sale. I took a couple mountain pictures on the way down,

It was overcast, chilly , and rainy.

Below is the border fence, the Mexican side of Nogales, and Mexican homes on the hillside in the background.

Some of the street vendors at the entry.

Blankets and jewery are prominent goods for sale, as well as

 little girl's frilly dresses, and sombreros, ladies purses, and colorful metal yard ornaments.

This youg Mexican boy posed for me in front of the display of bovine skulls.

Wouldn't one of those skulls look great on the front of my RV??? Haha!!

I'd rather take this child home with me, such a cutie!

Another street with "Farmacias", and a restaurant where we ate.

We were able to buy some REAL vanilla in quart bottles at a greatly reduced price!!Many vendors sold it, but my brother knew where to go for the best price!

A Mexican earns $$'s by taking pictures of tourists with his burro. I was glad to see the burro had the tarp covering because of the rain. He was being fed corn husks, and had a pail of water to drink. Well I didn't want my picture taken WITH the burro... just wanted a picture of him. I had to pay $2 to be allowed to take the picture!. Thats okay, because it would help buy feed for the burro :)

Contrary to what may be thought, not everyone in Mexico is poor, far from it. Here is a VERYexpensive car used for valet at a local motel. Neat car though...

We visited leather shops where  my brother was remembered by several shop-owners. They seemed glad to see him again, even though he did not make purchases at their shops this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was getting time to get back toward the dentist office. We went inside and was glad to be able to sit down in the warmth of the office. Shortly, my s-i-l noticed it had started to snow outside!

It came down quite heavy at times.

I had come to Arizona to escape the winter weather .... go figure!

But, really it made me chuckle...

Going into Mexico here did not seem unsafe at all to me. The vendors and shopkeepers we talked to were a light-hearted, happy people in spite of the weather and and somewhat harsh conditions. Some of them were set up in alley-ways with only tin for walls and roofs over them and their wares.

It was dark as we left to start home, and it snowed about half way back but didn't stick, except to the windshield. As we rode back, I thought of how US citizens could learn some very valuable lessons in life from these people, well at least I could.... Their easy-going contentedness spoke volumns to me. I was very glad for the opportunity to go there... I really liked visiting, and may go back before I leaving to head back east.

Ajo Stay Cut Short

It's been a while since I posted. I will try to give you the highlites in a nutshell...

I left Tuscon on a Sunday afternoon, stopping at recently opened Walmart on the way out for needed supplies. I got sidetracked in the store and I knew I could not make Ajo before dark. Thinking I could just overnight there, I put my groceries and other purchases away and was eating some supper when I got a knock on the door. Right ........"Yes, Sir".

 

No overnight parking within the city limits of Tuscon. I drove to Sells and parked behind a Shell station for the night. Getting up the next morning I noticed my fridge was not working. I did get the situation resolved at the Napa Auto store in Ajo by the owner who's name is Kord. He knows his stuff on RV's and I would go back with any other problems if needed.

Two days later I headed out to the desert, down Darby Wells Rd. I had read on RV Sue's blog that she had camped there as well, so I figured for my first boon-docking experience it would be about as safe as it gets.

I got to meet RV Sue the next day while out walking Izzy and Joe. We also got to meet her canine crew, Spike and Bridget, and  had some good conversation as we walked along. She was able to tell me the names of several bushes and trees that I was most interested in.

I stayed at my camp spot there for a couple days; then wanting to explore more, I drove back to the fork and took the lefthand road for a few miles back until the road narrowed so much I thought I had better turn back. I had scraped bottom a few times with the long overhang behind the back tires of my rv. I camped about a mile from the fork, up on a hill just past the remains of what used to be a ranch on the left. The mountains, desert lanscape, and quietness was almost intoxicating, for lack of a better word. I could have stayed there in the desert for a month!

Joe and Izzy and I took our walks and the Border Patrol whizzed by many times during the day and night.

 

 I awoke one morning at 3 am. The moon was out so bright! I was wide awake and decided to paint. You can read about and see this painting here on Sunny's Studio. It had been quite a while since I had done a nocturn painting. 

The next day I was trying to use up some left-over food in my fridge, and wish now I had not tried to be so frugal and had thrown it out instead. A few hrs later I came down with a full blown attack of food poisoning.(researched later on the internet). I spent 2 miserable days there (no cell srevice, no internet) before being able to get around enough to head back to Tucson. I arrived back at my brother's place hoping I wouldn't need to go to emergicare. The next few days saw me gradually getting better, but it took a full week to recover enough to feel like I was indeed going to make it. I have recorded this here to remind myself and others to make sure what we eat is safe. From now on, anything over 3 days old will be thrown out of my fridge! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Today we are heading to Nogales, MX for a dentist and some shopping. Hopefully a fun-filled day! I will try to catch up on my blog reading in the next couple days. Oh yes, and Miss Izzy and Curley Joe got to visit the groomer last Friday.

They are so sweet looking when clean!!

I plan on doing a post on our visit to Nogales. I am taking my camera... and my passport!