This is my extremely feeble attempt at photographing the Lunar eclipse last night. I knew it wouldn't turn out without a big ole' zoom lens, but I had to give it a shot. I woke up at about midnight to see light from the full moon shining in the bedroom like a street light was outside the window(aren't any in Camp Verde). The whole view from our window was visible, there were a few stars out, and not a cloud in the sky. Then at about 2:00am, I woke again to see the beginning of the eclipse. Very cool, so I had to get the camera and wake up Max, who had shown a little interest in seeing it. At that point it looked like a crescent shaped piece was missing from the full moon. We gazed for a few minutes and went back to bed(it's a school night).
Well, Max, Doug and I have a lovely cold, so Max started up with the coughing since he was awake. I can't get to sleep when I know he is awake, so about twenty minutes later I get up again a) to give Max some water, and b) to see what's going on with the moon. Now it is about three fourths eclipsed and all orange and cool looking, so I get Max out of bed to come see and click some pics. One actually-my camera wasn't behaving and I couldn't see enough to fix it.
There are tons of stars now, since the moon is not giving off so much light anymore. Max can't believe how much more of the moon is dark now, and tells me it is supposed to be fully eclipsed for over an hour. As much as I would have liked to pull up a chair and watch for awhile, school and colds force us back into bed.
At about five, I got up again to see what was going on, but the moon was behind the Mulberry tree on it's way into our mountain horizon.

Construction

A soon to be clost in the guest 'suite'.

Living room, looking from the kitchen.

Closer view. The blank spot on the wall used to be a window. When G. Blue added the garage on the other side, he removed the window. Behind that wall are the stairs to go up. Thank God the upstairs is finished!

This is what our house looks like downstairs this morning. Everyone out here puts a texture on their walls, so my project is to skim coat the walls with mud(which I have done), light sanding(which I am procrastinating right now), then retexture. G. Blue came over yesterday and gave me a lesson. I think it will be fun when I get the hang of it. We have some scraps I will practice on. The drywall sanding is what I do not like It is EXTREMELY messy and dusty. I did a few walls this morning, and am covered in white dust. Along with the furniture and everything else in here. Yes, I wear a mask! The ceiling is what I am really not looking forward to, but it must be done.

All this construction makes me crazy. I was enjoying our nice clean house back in EV. Now we are in complete construction chaos. Under Construction-at home and in life.

Hopefully, I will have some 'after' pics sooner than later. I think I can have the walls sanded, textured, and painted in two weeks. OK, three for sure.

Joe the cat

This is our cat, Joe. He has adapted quite well, and I'm pretty sure he feels completely at home in AZ. He is in the Mesquite tree in front of our house in the picture below. In the summer heat, he stays in during the day, goes out in the morning and evenings.

Joe was very good on the drive out here. I was amazed. He did have a little trouble doing his business though. At the hotels and rest stops, I would take him for walks on a leash, which he really did not like. He had a hard time finding a private spot when attached to me. We were at a KFC somewhere in NM on the second day of travel. Parked next to us was another car with cats in it. They had put a litter box out of the car for their cats to use, and Joe went right in and helped himself! AHHHHHH! relief at last! We picked up a litter box for our last night on the road after that. What a trooper our cat Joe is :)

Joe has discovered lizards out here and enjoys 'playing' with them. Toads also make fun toys.

This is a full view of the Mesquite next to the house. Eric had just given it a nice pruning. They are pretty trees, but quite messy. They have bean pods that drop all the time, and tiny little leaves like a Locust tree. Sweeping the pods off the driveway has become one of my pastimes. It is kind of meditative, like knitting(which I have done none of). Pods all over the driveway do not make for good skateboarding, so it is a necessary task. It is also a good activity when trying to avoid other things, like sanding drywall(see above post).

sunsets and spiders

Another cool sunset in our little valley. The whole sky was orange and very beautiful.

We seem to have a little Black Widow thing going on in our garage. We saw this one by the side of the door. You can see her molted shell beneath her. I wanted to get my macro lens out so I could get a better pic before we disposed or relocated her(I couldn't decide). She was gone the next morning, so we couldn't do either. Now I know she is in the garage somewhere, which is a little unnerving for me. For those of you who don't know, I am more than a little arachnophobic. I would really like to know where the spider is(more specifically than in the garage).

Eric saw another one in there last night-on my motorcycle! Now, I am kind of in awe of these spiders, maybe even have a little affection for them given their female strength and power, but I can't have them living on my stuff. I wouldn't mind if they promised not to bite anyone, but that is an unrealistic expectation, so they have got to go.

From what Eric has read, they are pretty much immune to any pesticides(you have to admire that), so we have to remove all webs and egg sacs. I am going to get some electronic deterrents, and keep everything clean and clutter free(HA). For those who know me, that is completely out of character, but the phobia beats the clutter.

I will educate myself on Black Widows to help alleviate my fear.

I found my macro lens, so hopefully, I can get a better shot of one next time.

Note to self: Shake out everything before getting close.

Happy Monday

This is what we saw when we looked out the back this morning. Both ends of the rainbow in our little valley. That has to a good sign. This is not the first time we have seen a rainbow here. We actually see them quite frequently. When we were driving into the valley(on our roadtrip here) from Flagstaff, there was a rainbow(another good sign). Nice double rainbow when we were at the skatepark a couple weeks ago(why didn't I have the camera?)

I will make sure I never tire or take for granted these beautiful sights.

new beach

These pics were taken at Slide Rock State Park. We had just gotten here to AZ, and our Whitmore family was still with us. This is our new 'beach'. It is about an hour drive from the house, but we get to go through Sedona, so the scenery on the way is gorgeous, and well worth our time IMO. Forty bucks got me an annual pass for a bunch of State Parks, including this one. Jonathan, Marley, and Omari, about to take the plunge!

Max jumping off the smaller cliff(he's in the air)

Doug needing a warm rock.

A bunch of 'tough guys' and a girl

The view up the river.

first day of school

OK, so I was doing pretty well adjusting to AZ life. We had gotten into somewhat of a rhythym-as much as one can in the lazy summer days. That is all out the window now. School started for the boys today. I'm sure they are fine and having a great day. I, on the other hand, am a little whacked out by the whole thing!

I think the school bus has a lot to do with it. I am used to walking to and from school with them-watching them enter and leave, and doing a little socializing on the playground. There was none of that this morning. Just a wave from the driveway, and they were off into the unknown.

We will all adjust in time, I suppose. I am going to see if I can have lunch with the first graders once in a while after things settle down a bit.

I should be celebrating the fact that I can now get my studio set up, start doing some artwork, sign up for some blacksmithing classes, do some felting, look into the artfair scene, etc. etc.

Tomorrow for sure! I needed my whack out time today :-)

time

It has been four weeks since we got to AZ, and I have been thinking about time, and how we can measure it's passing. In the four weeks we have been here, I have cut my toenails twice. They hadn't gotten to the point where they really needed cutting the second time, but I thought of it, got the clippers, and did it. Usually, I think about it a few times before I actually get the clippers and cut my toenails. The first time I cut them in AZ was right after we got here, when our roadtrip family(the Whitmores) was still here. Someone else needed the clippers, so while they were out, I gave my toenails a trim. There was a Seinfeld episode where Kramer asks Jerry how often he cuts his toenails. Of course, I wondered what my answer would be, and had no idea how often I cut my toenails. Well, now I know!

I also vacuumed the stairs today. I vacuum the rest of the carpet more often , but apparently the stairs need it every four weeks or so.

Got my period since we've been here. A pretty regular measure of four weeks for me.

Changed the pool filter. Actually, Eric did that. I didn't even know there was a filter to change.

I'm sure there are plenty of other time measurers besides the calandar and those listed above, but that's all I have at the moment for measuring four weeks time.

School starts on Wednesday. We will start measuring time by how many days till the weekend!

Today's pictures:

Boys in Sedona(Boynton Canyon). Taken earlier today.

Camp Verde from Highway 17. That was taken yesterday on our way back from the Home Depot in Prescott. Our house is to the right of the green patch in the center of the photo.

It has been a couple of days since my last post. In that time, we have rebuilt the kitchen(almost), knocked down some walls in the living/family room, and taken a trip to the ER in Cottonwood. Everyone is OK. Yesterday, while playing street hockey in the driveway, I sprained my ankle. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but my toes were feeling a little tingly, so I thought a trip was necessary. Time spent in the ER - ONE HOUR!! In Evanston, it usually takes that long to make initial contact with a human(after finding parking). Aside from my ankle, the event was pretty painless. Today I am taking it easy, and keeping it iced. My hiking will have to be extremely light for the next few weeks :(

Toady's photo-This is called a Junebug here in AZ. Apparently, they really enjoy peaches. I sometimes mistake them for hummingbirds when they are flying.

GO CUBS!!!!