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.

Haboob

I drove to Temecula Friday morning to visit our son and his family.  While I was gone, a haboob in Arizona (dust storm) moved into our valley.  By the time I returned to the valley on Saturday, dust had settled in the valley and cars were driving with their lights on during daytime hours!

I first spotted the dust on my way home on Highway 74 from a couple of spots high up over the Palm Springs Indian canyons.  I pulled over to take some photos and continued to do so on my way down the highway.

 My first view of the dust

 Ack!

 More dust

 Phew

 Ugh

 WHERE are the mountains?

 Driving down Highway 74

 Almost home...

Bad air quality

Bighorn sheep sighted!

I drove over to Temecula Friday morning.  Our son wanted some equipment to clean up his yard, so off I went with a rake, shovel, and our weed eater. He ordered a new electric lawnmower and used it and I used to weeder along the edges of his lawn.  They have to do their own maintenance in their new rental house.

I drove back to the desert Saturday before noon.  A huge dust storm from Arizona was moving up into our valley and I spotted all the dust on my way down.  The humidity was HORRIBLE.  It was so dark that cars were driving with their lights on!  I made it home, drank a TON of iced tea, let the dog out, and sat down and read some Facebook posts.  Turns out, somebody posted that it was hailing where Highway 74 splits and 371 goes down to Anza, so back I went, up the mountain.

I didn't run into any rain and my weather app wasn't showing any activity, but I DID see a small herd of 4 bighorns.  One male and 3 females...I saw one of them sitting on top of a rock, so I pulled over.  Another lady slowed down and I showed her where they were, but everybody else kept on going.  Oh, well...

I took a bunch of photos of them (thinking there were only 3) and continued on up to Pinyon.  That area had a huge downpour Friday afternoon and I could see where the water had run off.  I turned around and spotted the herd again on my way down, so I pulled over to take more photos.  This time I saw the male.  He was quite possessive of his females and really didn't want me taking photos!  There were 2 females and a younger sheep.  He kept them moving, but a couple of cars did also stop to take photos.

 This is the one I saw driving UP the mountain.  Can you see the legs of the other one below?

 Papa...

 Papa again

 Papa didn't like me.

 His two females

He chases them away from the highway...good idea!

For Sandy~front porches!

I went for an afternoon drive one day while we were up in Idyllwild last week and took a couple of photos of front porches.  You know, most houses today don't have porches.  We do.  We've had our for over 20 years and it is still holding up (wood in the desert...oye!) We LOVE our porch.  It gives us shade from the southern exposure all summer and, combined with our huge mesquite tree, shades the house all day during summer.

I liked the door and picket fence on this one!  Next time we are up there (in August), I'll be sure to take more photos!