Idyllwild pics

 This is a view of the cabin we rented.  It is part of a village of cabins in Idyllwild.

 This is the back patio...huge!

 More of the back patio.  I liked the deck in the morning.

 Front view

Swing area. There is a BBQ opposite this.

Hubby and I really had a good time this weekend.  We originally had planned to stay just Friday night, but the cabin was still available Saturday night, as well, so we decided to stay another night.  Our dog, Ripley, reallyloves it up in the mountains, in the cool air!  We are planning to return mid-September.  We like our once-a-month outings!

I'm not the only retired one here now!

Well, it's official!  Hubby has now retired, too.  He spent 18 years with the Marriott Corp, but officially retired last Friday.

And, off to Idyllwild we went for 2 nights!

He wanted to get out of town and avoid phone calls, so we packed up our stuff and the dog and took off for the mountains.  Our son and grandson drove up Friday night and spent the night with us.

I'll be uploading photos later (after I've had my coffee!).

I found a few I'd posted on Facebook:

 This cabin has a nice, big porch and doggie area!  Lots of trees with blue jays and woodpeckers!

 Grandson feeding the koi down at the pond.  The manager gave him the fish food.

 Grandson and our dog on the cabin floor together.

Ripley waiting to go home..."Don't forget me!"

Mountain fences~Good Fences~082616

I took a drive one morning while we were up in Idyllwild last week.  Hubby was lounging around, watching his morning TV shows.  That seems to last ALL morning with him!

I was getting bored, so off I went.  I drove to Pine Cove, where there is a side road with houses and lots of nice fencing!  It is a very quiet area and the houses back up to a meadow where we heard coyotes one evening while staying in Pine Cove.

Good Fences for Friday, August 26, 2016.  To visit Good Fences, please go to this link: 

http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/

Sad ending to missing woman story

Remember the blog post I did about the search for the missing Pinyon Pines woman?

http://rav4adventures.blogspot.com/2016/06/search-and-rescue.html

Well, a hiker found her body 2 days ago and it was confirmed that it was the woman the rescuers were looking for.  A very sad ending to her story.

She went missing about June 7.  We had a week of EXTREMELY hot weather after that.  I mean, it was in the 113/114/115 range down here in the desert.  I did see some of the search & rescue crews looking for her and calling her name.

Here is the link to her story in our local paper:      http://www.kesq.com/news/search-over-for-missing-pinyon-pines-woman-found-dead-this-weekend/40406984

Idyllwild break

Hubby and I took 4 days off and booked our favorite cabin up in Idyllwild for 3 nights.  It was a nice break from the desert heat.  There was a full moon and nights were in the 60's up there!

I got to feed blue jays, woodpeckers, nuthatches, black capped chickadees, gray squirrels, and even a chipmunk.  A flicker showed up and everybody scattered.  We watched the woodpeckers and they tag-teamed up and chased and hounded the blue jays!   3 cottontails also showed up in the mornings and late afternoons.

I found a good bakery up there :  Bake & Brew.  They have sandwiches, salads, baked goods, and a decent selection of beers.  Go figure! They have convenient hours, too!! 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.  We bought sandwiches 2 days for lunch because we forgot to buy sliced ham and bring it along.

Our dog got to spend a few days out of the desert heat, too.  She LOVES her long walks up in the mountains.  I noticed she got quite energetic for a 9 year old black lab!

Retirement

I have now almost passed the 4 month stretch of retirement.  How am I liking it?

Honestly, it has been so dang HOT here in the desert, I just stay inside most of the day.  I did take a peek at our 10 day weather forecast and it will be about 107/106 for the next 10 days, with lows in the upper 70's.  That's good.  That means I can go out in the early morning and tidy up my front garden and trim the two branches of our mesquite tree which fell down this week.  There's always something, eh?

I don't have my eye twitch any longer and I do believe my blood pressure has gone down.  I haven't been sick one day since I retired, except for a mild cold, which I think I got from the grandson.  I don't have stomach cramps anymore, either.

I'm looking into Medicare coverage, but there is so much out there!  Oi!  How does one figure all that out?  Any ideas/suggestions?

~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann

Sunday end of the week

Phew!  It's going to be 113 here today and tomorrow, then down to 110, then 109, 108, 106, and 105.  I'm hoping and PRAYING that this is summer's last blast!

My friends and colleagues are returning to school starting Monday...poor things!  our daughter has already survived the first 3 days of school and our grandson is now in 2nd grade.  He went 3 days last week, too.

Hubby worked a couple of days this past week and came home and slept 14 hours straight.  Poor guy.
My big event Friday was to clean out the inside of the stove.  I found a DIY recipe using baking soda, vinegar, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide.  You let it sit for 4 hours and then wipe off all the scum.  IT WORKED!  Now I need to find one for the bathtub!

This time last year we were in New Mexico and Arizona, up on the Mogollon Rim.  I miss the sunflowers up there:

A different environment~marsh~

I love visiting our son's home in Temecula.  It is within walking distance of a marshy area, which is so different from the desert.  I enjoy seeing the wildlife and hearing the cry of the red tailed hawks.  It is a quiet area where one can go, observe, and soak in the atmosphere.

Front porches~for Sandy!

Our son and his family are renting a fairly new home in Temecula.  In their area, there aren't many homes over 20 years old.  I did drive around and find a few interesting front porches, but honestly, they are all pretty much "cookie cutter".

I'd like to work on my front porch, but not in this heat.  We have another month, maybe two, of hot, humid weather.  School recently started mid-August and last year it was very, very hot.  This year, of course, I'm RETIRED!

 I like the little rail fence on this one.