Hello everyone!

You may have noticed I’ve been absent for a couple of months.  Things have gotten quite busy with the onset of spring.  Work has picked up with a project we’ve been working on with the NC version of ABOR (and that’s all I’m gonna say about those people).  I’ve had to put in a few weekends, but it’s been good to deliver a tangible product.  But I feel pretty confident saying that I’ve delivered well beyond anyone’s expectations, so work is going pretty well.  I’m pretty sure my contract will be renewed in July.

On to the home front. With work assuredly going well, we had to face reality that we weren’t getting by with the vehicles that we have, and we needed to look at expanding our ‘stable’ with something to do the hard stuff.  We spent some time comparison shopping, decided we should try to buy used to save a little bit of money, and against all odds found a low mileage 2008 model.  I have to admit, even though it’s supposed to be for Alex, I’ve had the most fun driving it so far.

Ha ha!  It’s a lawn mower!  A very generous friend of a neighbor had given us a push mower, but as we came to learn that you have to mow about twice a week or you spend a whooooole lotta time raking grass, we decided we had to move to the big guns.  I’m writing this as Alex is mowing, it’s the first time he’s gotten the chance, because I really do enjoy mowing!  However, I’ve learned two thing that never really seemed to be a problem in Arizona.

1st!  Don’t mow into the mulch beds, dumbass.

Well, that looked nice until. . . just now.

And 2nd!  Mowing is a lot like shaving.  You finish up, put away the equipment, and then find a skinny little line that refused to be cut.

Well don’t that just beat all.

Our temps here have finally arrived at early January Arizona temperatures, hence the need for a sweatshirt while I was mowing.  Actually, we’ve been close to 80 a couple times, and the flowers, they-are-a-blooming!  As things bloom, I’ll try to get pictures and get them all into a post.  Right now I’m typing on our beautiful deck next to our lilac tree (it may have been a bush once, but now it’s about 20 feet tall), the smell mingling with cut grass.

The deck has a gate on it, so we’ve been leaving the front door open, allowing the animals to come and go as they please.  Which they do.  So much so, they’ll yell at us to open the door in the morning so they can begin their sunbathing.  And beechasing.  And caterpillar tormenting.  And birdwatching.  And birdwaiting.  And birdscheming.

My Rube Goldberg bird trap design is nearly complete . . . . .

Until next time warm weather friends, when we go on a hunt for the infamous albino turkey . . . . .