Verna and Bob's Weblog

Arizona

Omigosh — It’s 2025 Already!

Of course, the Moon has nothing to do with the title, but we are getting queued up for the first full moon of 2025 in Arizona on June 13, 2025. I took the image above this evening with my Canon SL1 set to shutter priority 1/1000 sec. and F5.6. The focal length was about 250 mm through a Canon EF-S55-250mm zoom lens.

Anyhow, we’re late in wishing everybody a happy 2025, but we can do it now, so there it is.

Our plans for the new year aren’t very resolute, but they will probably include a longer voyage with the motorhome to the lands of our ancestors with some interesting attractions along the route(s). We may also go all the way to the east coast which will be a first for us in the big rig.

There will be no eclipses this time around, but we will be on the lookout for interesting photo ops and we plan to blog about it when we’re underway.

Cheers in 2025 and God Bless!

January 5, 2025 by Arizona Astronomy Photography Retirement Vacation 0

Christmas Eve 2024

First of all, Happy Birthday to my sweet wife, Verna! She got a new Iona Celtic Cross and chain for the occasion. It’s 14k white gold (the chain too).

As to the Arizona Christmas Eve Sunset, we’re quite lucky to get these quite often. Always a beautiful sight. Click on the image to enlarge.

We will be quietly spending Christmas Day here at our desert abode, just the two of us, since closest family is over 300 miles away and some even further out. We will be talking and/or texting to some of them, however, via the various electronic and social media. Our Christmas Feast will consist of Chicken and Dumplings, a wonderful southern favorite modified slightly for Keto diet purposes.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Remember the reason for the season – Christ the Savior is born!

December 24, 2024 by Arizona Food and Dining Holidays Photography Religion 0

Winter Solstice

Today marks the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere. It is also the shortest day for us with only nine hours and fifty-six minutes of daylight.

In Wickenburg, we’re enjoying a nice sunny day and expecting a high temperature today in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. It is also The Sabbath, God’s Day of Rest. We will be preparing our feast of “Gumbolaya,” which is a combination of Gumbo and Jambalaya, two very favorite Southern (Cajun) stews. If we add okra to the Jambalaya, it becomes Gumbolaya.

Tomorrow, for Sunday Dinner, we will be having Crockpot Roast Top Round of Beef. Check the Food Blog for photos of the eats.

Image above: Waning Gibbous Moon over the big Saguaro Cactus in front of the Garage.

December 21, 2024 by Arizona Climate Food and Dining Nerdliness 0

Rosemary Flowers with Dewdrops

Here we are in the middle of November and the little Rosemary shrubs behind the RV drive (which goes around the house) are getting their little blue flowers. In this image (click to enlarge), the dew drops gather at the bottom of the petals to form little prisms/lenses.

The “dew drops” may actually be residual water droplets from the irrigation system that runs for ½ hour at 4AM to water the landscape flora.

We never have to shop for rosemary in the supermarket, since it is abundant and available year-round on our shrubs all around the rear of the house. Just look at the beautiful sprig in the photo. Image is from Bob’s Samsung S23 Phone Camera.

We’re still in “second spring” with day temperatures still in the high 70’s to low 80’s, but that will soon give way to our usual winter weather over the next few weeks.

November 19, 2024 by Arizona Climate Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Halloween 2024

Verna has the Halloween decorations up in our little house for us to enjoy. Since we’re located on a dirt road in a semi-rural area with no street lighting and the potential for nocturnal critters like Javelina and Coyotes to be present, we get exactly zero trick-or-treaters. So, the decorations are for us alone.

The (clickable) image above came from the Bing® AI Image Generator with the Halloween lettering overlaid with Irfanview™. I suggested that the AI generate an image that was “dark and sinister,” and this was the result. I assume it figured out that Halloween was nigh and this seemed appropriate.

So, for all who celebrate “All Hallows Eve,” we wish you a happy time of it. And watch your six. Be safe in these “dark and sinister” times.

October 31, 2024 by Arizona Holidays Nerdliness

Classic ’58 Chevy Convertible

We may have posted a classic Chevy like this one years ago on the Minstrel site when we saw it in Torrance back then. Today, however, this classic rolled up into the parking lot while we were collecting mail from the PO Box. A very nice gent allowed as how he would be OK with Damsel taking these photos of his treasure.

Images: 1958 Classic Chevrolet Impala Convertible with Continental Kit in mint condition – credit Verna – click on any image to view enlarged.

August 29, 2024 by Arizona Classics Nostalgia Photography

Avalon 1998

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