Moving Right Along

Moving right along. Easier for me to say, as I am not the one doing all the work. As I putter around out in my new garden or hike the surrounding trails, Bob has been steadily working on the upstairs. Up every morning at 6 or so, and “on the job” by eight, he works through till 5 or 6 when I can finally get him to stop for a beer and some dinner. Life is very productive for him and for me, not so much. I try and stay out of his way and I anxiously await the late afternoon so I can go upstairs and see all the progress that he’s made. As I said before, Bob works really well alone, he has done so much during these last weeks I still can’t even fathom how he’s got it all done.

The most exciting part of the last couple weeks for me has been, THE KITCHEN IS READY! It’s been quite easy to cook in the apartment downstairs, but as he got closer and closer to the finishing touches on the main kitchen upstairs I have to say, I WAS THRILLED! Now as I prepare meals I look out the big window to the yard below. My tomato plants are getting big, flowers are blooming everywhere and I can see “Sir Basil George” playing out in what we now refer to as Lizard Land. Yes, we have a new companion. He found us the first week we moved in downstairs. A scrawny little orange tabby kitten that now rules the roost and catches snakes and lizards as he whiles away the afternoon hours.

Life is good. We are safe and healthy as we hope you are as well.

BEFORE

THE PROCESS

All the tile flooring was removed, new wood plank waterproof laminate installed. HUGE PROJECT was stripping the cabinets and painting them a beautiful bright shiny white. Installed new micro over stove. New paint and lighting. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

AFTER

Dead Horse State Park

Another benefit of moving to Clarkdale has been the close proximity to many of Arizona’s State Parks. We purchased an annual AZ pass a few years ago and have continued to get one every winter since. We found if we had the pass we tended to use the parks a lot more. With most parks charging a daily $7.00 to $10 entrance fee it was hard to justify just “checking it out”. Now we don’t hesitate to explore them all.

One of my favorite state parks in the Arizona system is right down the road from us. Dead Horse Ranch is filled with hiking and mountain bike trails that can take you the twelve miles up to Sedona if you desire. Most are best left for the months of fall/winter/spring as there’s not a lot of shade. During late spring though it’s time to hit this particular park for the ability to watch for migrating birds. The lagoons and the Verde River provide excellent habitat for not only an abundance of birds, but I have seen javelinas, rabbits, and even a bobcat on one hike along the river. Three large lagoons with a walking path surrounding them provide a shady and peaceful walk for all seasons. I’ve seen bald eagles, loons, black hawks, herons, and a variety of ducks. It’s a lovely place to spend an afternoon, especially when there are puffy white clouds on the horizon.

Gardening- and life - in Arizona

“In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like DIRT.” - Margaret Atwood”

— Margaret Atwood

Dark clouds fill the sky and there is what appears to be fog over Mingus Mountain this morning. There is a storm on the horizon and we are hoping for rain. It’s the perfect day for a hike on the trail near the house and when I get back to put more plants into the garden. I feel very fortunate that we moved to a town that has an amazing independent garden center. Yes, it reminds me of The Flower Tree even though it’s about 10 times the size of what we were. They have a great selection, and lots of good signage so I’m able to figure out what is javelina resistant - because believe it or not that’s a big thing here. I can easily spend an hour just wandering up and down through the many aisles and greenhouses filled with plants. They grow most of their own stock of shrubs and trees. There are different varieties of perennials by the hundreds, annuals in six-packs and of course veggies and herbs. They even propagate their own cacti. As one of the largest growers and nurseries in the Verde Valley area, you can see they do a tremendous business based on how full the parking lot is every time I have been. Their acreage is so large though, that you can become lost in your own little world among the greenery.

This is PRIME planting season in this area, and while there are still “stay at home” measures going on due to the corona virus, this garden center is meeting all the social distancing requirements and taking extreme caution to protect their employees and local gardeners. They don’t take cash, the cashiers wear masks and change gloves between every customer. The large greenhouses allow only 6 people in at any one time, and they have curbside pickup and delivery for those that want it. People still want to garden, they want to feel connected to the earth and get fresh air and sunshine on their shoulders - they are just being extremely safe about it - myself included.

Weeks ago, before there were any known cases of the virus in Arizona, or for that matter anyone even talking about the virus pandemic that has now gripped our country, I was out at the nursery just wandering around getting my fix. They already had their tomatoes, peppers, greens and herb plants out. I was actually pretty shocked to see them, this was mid-March after all, and I asked the gardener that was working that particular greenhouse if it was to early to put them out. I didn’t have my beds ready, and we still had not found the whiskey/wine barrels that I was hoping to use for my tomatoes. I also asked him if they sold “walls of water”, a must have back in Northern Nevada for early planting, and he had never heard of them. That told me that yes, it was probably to early. But I bought them anyway, even though he told me this was just the very first of the thousands upon thousands of plants that they were growing in the back greenhouse and would be putting out as things became ready. I figured I could tend to them in their little pots until I could get the raised garden beds ready, and I was hungry to have a garden. Bob has had A LOT to do lately with the re-model of the house we bought here in Arizona. Me, not so much. Other than picking out paint colors and such he has been pretty much on his own. He works well alone - and I am smart enough to realize that. Back to the garden, I put the greens and some of the herbs in right away and held the other plants in a little area that gets a large amount of sun every day and nurtured them daily with water and encouragement.

Fast forward a month or so. We are now strictly “sheltering in place”. Trips are limited to one a week or so to the local grocery for perishables if needed, HD for supplies - which thankfully at this point in the remodel are very few because Bob bought everything last month he thought we could possibly need, and of course a trip to the garden center or cactus botanical garden. We found wine barrels and Bob picked up 9 of them and all the soil I needed on a HD run when he picked up all our new doors and baseboard trim a few weeks ago. My plants are all tucked into good organic soil and I have been harvesting lettuce and a variety of fresh greens almost daily. The tomatoes, peppers and a variety of other veggies are happy and growing and I have seeds started that a dear friend sent. Life is full and green in my garden.

And the last trip to the garden center, not a veggie or herb plant to be had. Seems everyone is hungry for that connection to Mother Earth right now. Stay safe dear friends and family. You are in our thoughts.

Tune in next week for : The House Bob Re-Built - We are THIS CLOSE!!!

Cacti

“Life is like a cactus, prickly but very beautiful”

Fish Hook Barrel Cactus ‘Ferocactus wislizenii’ in bloom

The house we bought here in Arizona came with three different cactus gardens. One very large one out front, and two smaller ones on each side yard. Twenty four different varieties in all. If you had told me a few months ago that I would enjoy learning about cactus, I would have probably told you “nope, not me…I am a rose, perennial-big flower type of person”. Well, it turns out I am now becoming a “cactus” person. I had no idea that the blossoms could be so big, that the shapes could be so different and that there were now thousands of new plants to learn. I have visited the local Arizona Cactus Botanical Garden so often that we are on a first-name basis. I have mapped out the area to try and identify each genus, and I have even sat with my tripod for hours at a time in the evening trying to catch the quick opening of the trumpet cactus as she puts on her show. I still find myself down at the local independent garden center once a week or so to peruse the perennial beds filled with color, but I think this new area of botany will keep me busy for a while.

Demo-Build-Demo-Build

Well, we are now a little over a month into the massive undertaking of demolition/construction on the entire upstairs of our new forever home here in Arizona. While it seems to be a slight surprise to Bob, it is no surprise to me, that his many skills in construction that he thought had gone by the wayside are all still there. We are extremely fortunate that nothing needed to be done to the entire downstairs. The walk-in basement apartment fits us just perfect, and thrift store finds have filled it with everything we need, and then some. With all the turmoil going on in the country right now, we are so very fortunate to not be out on the road. Campground closures and even national parks and forests are closing - we would’ve been hard-pressed to find a place to park the motorhome.

The upstairs project: All the flooring is gone- all the doors, trim, baseboard, lighting, fans, and appliances taken out - it’s pretty much a completely stripped down upstairs. Bob knocked out a wall, he added a wall, framed in and made a door closure where there wasn’t one to the bathroom (who in the world wouldn’t want a door to your bathroom???) and stripped off the 1980s dated mirror and tile from the fireplace and drywalled where the tile was. We will replace it with natural stone, and Bob wants to make a mantle out of an old piece of juniper if we can find it. Removed all the carpet in the living area and bedrooms, hated to do it since it was brand new - but we aren't carpeting people. Luckily we found someone that really needed it, so was great to pass it forward. Doors went to local Habitat for Humanity, and lights and fans to my favorite thrift store.

We picked out the new hardwood floors, choose new doors, hardware and PAINT COLORS! It is so difficult to choose the colors that will surround you for the next 20 years (we hope). Did I mention that Bob is a “Black black - never trade back” kinda guy?

Decided once we got started that we needed to “go big AND go home” so we took out all the 1980’s 12x12 beige tile in the hallways, bathrooms, and kitchen so we could put engineered laminate wood planks there also. It has been a BIG project.

PS: Many years ago, Bob SWORE he would never ever..ever..ever remodel another house. He had his fill at our house on Curry Road in Fallon, and that is why when we built the home on Silver Circle everything was so perfect. It was all new, and HE built it! (And I would be remiss if I didn’t’ mention how amazing that house was and how happy I am that such wonderful souls now inhabit it).

HA, well here we are, and so far I have to say…it has gone pretty smooth. (insert smiley face here) But then again, my job..has pretty much been to stay out of his way.

Probably the biggest undertaking so far has been the kitchen. It had very dated dark oak cabinets that we wanted to paint a nice glossy white. This house was the 4th one we toured, and when we went to look at another open house, just ONE MORE, before we made our decision, it had an amazing kitchen. I stood in it for a few minutes and said “wait - aren’t these the same cabinets we looked at on Black Hills? Only white????? Done deal decision…we went back to look at our now home and realized if we painted the cabinets we would have the same bright airiness that we saw there.

Fast forward: We closed on the house and all the planning and work orders began: Bob spent hours watching YouTube tutorials and researching on the Internet. It is probably the ONLY thing that has given him a bit of hesitation, is the painting of the cabinets in the kitchen. It has been a process for sure. Stripping the cabinets -then the first coat of primer, sanding, denatured alcohol rubs to make sure all the grease and grime was off, and primer again and then sanding and painting and sanding and painting and sanding on and on and on but I can happily say that we can start to see the finished product. His clever idea for painting the cabinet doors took many trips to three different thrift stores in search of wooden suit hangers - who knew they would be so hard to find. But Thrift stores…come on…I was in my element. His workaround worked perfectly. He was able to spray one side, then turn them and do the other. My job, which was very limited…..because if you know Bob at all….you know he prefers to work alone…was to hang them on the rods in the open closets to dry. With the second coat on the cabinet fronts, we knew it was all worth it. What was a dark dreary room is now a merry and bright area that we’re going to really enjoy cooking in.

Ceiling paint was yesterday, and today he painted the walls, and the color is PERFECT! Won’t be long now, the doors will be back on and the flooring goes down.

So exciting!!

He is AMAZING!!!

I will say it again, HE IS AMAZING!!!

First day of Spring

It’s the first day of spring! What could be better - puffy white clouds and a beautiful sunny day greeted me as I stepped outside for my walk. Today I decided to venture up towards the mountain on the Quail Trail, a new one for me. I love the fact that I have been walking most days since we moved in and I am still finding new trails. The master plan for the area shows an eventual 120+ miles of trails that will lead all the way up to Jerome from here in Clarkdale. I found some more little “starts” along the trail that I brought back for my own garden. Some beautiful vivid yellow euphorbia that were covered in bees and a few native penstemon that will have bright purple red blossoms. I placed them in the baggie with a wet paper towel that I carry with me - just in case - and planted them in small pots when I got back home. Once they have a chance to root up I will plant them out with the cactus in the front as they are both dry soil lovers. Special treat, lilacs were blooming in the back yard today.

Spring used to mean an extremely hectic time of year for us. While I greatly miss the camaraderie of the women that worked with me at the nursery, I would not be honest if I did not admit that I am enjoying just being in my own little garden every day. I harvested lettuce last night for dinner and my herbs are growing fabulously. We’re very fortunate that the people we bought the house from seem to have loved gardening also. There is a wide range of trees including a few extremely mature pine trees that we get to hear whistling in the wind. I close my eyes real tight and sit very still, I can almost imagine I’m in Tahoe. Well almost. The fruit trees have already blossomed and we’re not sure what they’re going to be yet but they are definitely in the peach or nectarine family judging from the flower color. There are three extremely large mulberries that have just started leafing out this week. Of course, the cactus garden in the front and side yard is still fascinating to me as I try and learn new Latin names and characteristics of the plants. The flowering shrubs seem to have been planted with the birds and pollinators in mind, the Furman's Red Texas salvia is already covered in little red flowers and the honeysuckle fills an entire area off the front patio. The hummingbirds are arriving in force right now. It seems as though every time I look out the window at the feeders I see one or two fluttering for their spot. The little finches have found the bird-feeders, and doves and wrens are picking up the seed off the ground that drops. They all seem to be helping each other to make sure that everyone gets a seat at the table.

My first container that I planted for the front was torn apart by what we think we’re javelina one evening last week. The prints in the wet ground were certainly not deer. When I was at the local nursery a couple weeks ago I saw signs that said “Possibly javelina resistant”. To think I actually laughed at the sign. Another new thing to learn, local wildlife and their habits. For now, I guess all my plants will be in the back inside the fence. Luckily they don’t appear to like to nibble on the cactus.

The first day of spring always brings a sense of renewal for me, and as I look forward to many hikes in the weeks to come, it is exciting to know there will be new surprises along the way.

Friends and Family Tour - Continues

We have been thrilled to welcome friends here at our new house. Although we are living out of the downstairs, there is still plenty of room for RV parking and visitors. If you find yourself anywhere near, please give us a call. We would love to see you!

Puffy white cloud day

Most that know me, know that I cannot pass up the chance to go out on a puffy white cloud day. Not only does it make photography much more interesting to have the contrast of the white clouds against the blue sky, but it just makes me feel good. Often I’ll be off hiking with someone on such a day and they’ll make the comment how much they enjoy it too. It may be because of childhood memories of picking out the shapes of elephants with long trunks, crocodiles tromping through the water, or just the shape of a heart in the clouds. Days long gone bye when you would lay in the grass with nothing better to do than try and find a shape in the clouds before it disappeared with the wind.

This morning when I looked out the window and saw the clouds off on the horizon I told Bob, looks like I’m heading to the park. My intentions were to go to Dead Horse State Park here in Cottonwood, but as I got in my car and headed down the road I realized that if it was just beautiful here how much more beautiful would it be up in the red rocks of Sedona. It’s just a short 15 to 20 minute drive depending on what side of town you want to be in to get there so off I went towards Crescent Moon Ranch. It was a great decision.

The start of a new garden

For a little over 20 years, I built myself a sanctuary garden filled with plants and trees and flowers and perennials and pretty much everything that we sold at one time at the Flower Tree Nursery. I could walk out my door into different areas of the yard and either sit in the cool quiet underneath the gazebo and listen to the birds in the fountain or go off to the backyard and work on the roses, or just sit on the back deck and watch as the trees flowed in the wind.

When we sold the house on Silver Circle that was the part that made me the saddest, was leaving my gardens. And after being on the road for three years I really didn’t imagine that I would get to have that type of feeling again. But this week I started to create my own new space. We are fortunate that the house that we bought here in Arizona has many mature trees and shrubs. It also has an amazing cactus garden in the front yard that I didn’t fully appreciate until I went to the Cactus Botanical Garden on the way to Jerome and saw how long some of these specimens took to get to as big as they are.

I am building again….a garden.

West Fork of Oak Creek

What started as an absolutely beautiful hike turned into a bit of a mishap for me as I took a tumble on one of the creek crossings. Bob figured out I probably caught my shoelace in a branch that I was walking over, and it makes sense to me. I was glad that the others went on to the end of the trail so that they got to see the beauty of the Narrows where it turns into a small slot canyon. This is absolutely one of our favorite hikes in the Sedona area, so I know we will do it again many times this year.