We have no fear of anything unusual going undetected while Beethoven (Bay Bay) is on the lookout. I was out hanging up a bird feeder in the back yard as Bay Bay looked on keeping watch for the unexpected. He made a ruckus at one point when a roadrunner appeared on the hill behind us. It was way up on the hill by the neighbor to the north; I had to look several times before I saw the roadrunner move. Good watchdog.
If you were to visit us, you just might see this on the TVs in the great room; we watch sports, so this could be seen with football and baseball games (as shown), NASCAR and any other sport, two of a kind, etc.
You might also see (as can be seen in the left display case reflection) a dog or two watching out the front window for people, rabbits, lizards, road runners, etc. to bark at. We all have some form of entertainment. Click on the image to enlarge.
Verna’s garden in the courtyard recently became infested with tomato worms. She has one pot with tomato vines and two others with pepper plants. The worms like both types of vegetation and have been found in both planters.
As of today, four of the little beasties have been removed from the garden. The first of them she found was as big as my index finger. The others were smaller, but at least a couple of inches in length.
I photographed the worm in the lower image on the right just before Verna plucked off the infested branch and tossed it out toward the RV drive, the same treatment given the previous worms found. I figure one or more of the enterprising roadrunners that hang out near the house welcomed the nice juicy treats.
Click on either image to enlarge.
This one isn’t as bad as the record-breaker of July 18, 2015, but it deposited quite a lot of rainfall. Panning from right to left above, you can see (through the patio screen) the waterfall on the hill behind the wall, fierce rain falling on the RV drive and the rain gutter overflow from the roof.
The retention walls did their jobs though, keeping us dry inside and diverting wash runoff down the road via the west wash path. The capital investment in walls and pavement have paid off this season 100 percent.
We returned from the California trip to see the new grandbaby on Sunday, which would normally be a cooking day, so all we had on that day was some leftover bean soup. It was a hearty soup, though, and more than adequate for our Sunday meal.
One of the nice things about retirement is that you have a week full of virtual Saturdays to do whatever the hell you want, so today, I pulled the grill to the back of the patio and grilled up a couple of petite beef tenderloin steaks. Verna had some leftover Broccoli Mac’n’Cheese in the freezer, a can of green peas and some Romaine lettuce for a Cesar salad on the side.
This Monday meal was as good as any Sunday cooking day could have been. Click on the image to enlarge.
We got home today from the road trip to California to see the new baby. Grandma Verna is still floating around with the happiness as a result of having a new grandson.
Quoting her, “He’s so soft, long fingers and toes, perfect in every way!” Baby G is still very little, but in perfect health and will be gaining weight every day since he is now nursing very well.
“I just love him – I told him so and he seemed to smile back at me when I did.” Click on the image to enlarge.
