Archive for February, 2011

Looking Out the Window

When the hoomins are outside the house and we are inside, we like to look out the windows. I can see OK but Cabela needs to stand on her hind legs to see the hoomins. Click us to make us big.

cabela-bear.jpg

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Mount San Jacinto

The new snowfall on the north slopes of Mount San Jacinto looked very pretty today as we drove through Banning pass along Interstate 10. Click on the image to enlarge.

san-jacinto.jpg

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Courtyard Progress - Gate Layout

Rough Draft - Courtyard GateVerna and I drove to Congress, AZ today to work with the artist who is building our custom courtyard gate for the archway. He presented several sketches on tracing paper from which we were to select the art to be carved on the gate. We furnished him with some photos and ideas based on the southwestern motif of our house and furnishings. He did the rest and today we made the choices.

Image - rough layout of the lumber with the sketches placed at their approximate locations - click to enlarge

Verna made the choices for the artwork. At the top of the gate, just above where the saguaro ribs are going to be, is an image of a quail. Below the ribs, in the center of the door, there will be a kachina. The bottom panel will contain images of a bear and the famous dancing piper, Kokopelli.

Other features we negotiated were to install iron straps for strength, wrought iron above the top of the wood, antique hinges and gate latch and, as previously mentioned, saguaro ribs at eye level to allow us to peep through the gate.

In a week or two, we will have the gate installed in the archway. We will certainly post about that when it happens.

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Arizona Skies

We drove up to the town of Congress, AZ today on an errand. On our way back, I took several photos of the clouds over the distant mountains. In the image (click to enlarge) you can see muted sun rays and a patch of virga (rainfall that evaporates before hitting the ground).

Arizona Skies

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Seed Bell for a Cardinal

. . . and other birds, of course. Sorry this is the largest image available of the cardinal as it munches away at the bell.

cardinal-bell.jpg

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Our Little Red House

This is how the front of the house and the courtyard wall looks from the road near the entrance to the RV drive-through. Click on the image to enlarge.

Our Little Red House

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Courtyard Progress

courtyard.jpgOur contractor finished painting the courtyard wall today. He would have been done yesterday except the paint sprayer he brought didn’t have enough capacity to spray the thick paint. They brought a larger unit this morning and finished up.

After the paint was dry, I propped the camera on the wall and used the delay feature to get this photo of us in the courtyard with the painted wall in the background. Cabela was along for the ride. Bear, of course, had to take a nap. Click on the image to enlarge.

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