. . . was very colorful. This was the view looking west from our house a little while ago. Click on the image to enlarge.

We might be a little short of furnishings and decoration, but we’re not going to scrimp on our cuisine. This is today’s dinner - country style barbecued pork ribs (with Damsel’s killer homemade BBQ sauce), asparagus spears, the all-important beans and coleslaw. I enjoyed a bottle of Samuel Adams Winter Lager and Damsel sipped a glass of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. We ate this sumptuous dinner on the patio table and chairs which are temporarily serving as our dining room furniture. Click on the image to enlarge.

The masons showed up today to start on the wall for our courtyard today. They made excellent progress getting most of the blocks in place up to the point where the back gateway and entry arch will be built. Click on the image to enlarge.

From WUWT:

Looking at Dr. Roy Spencer’s daily UAH plotter, comparing to last year at this time, globally we are nearly a full degree Fahrenheit cooler.

We had some errands to run yesterday afternoon, so we headed out of the little neighborhood. Just as we turned from our road onto the pavement, I saw a desert chipmunk sitting atop an old wooden post by the wash. I grabbed the camera and took several shots of the little critter. Click on the image to enlarge.

I love all the little critters that visit our neighborhood. I put out some birdseed and “Critter Crunch” every day. I toss the food a short distance from the house so we can see the animals and birds through the windows and the patio sliding door. Desert chipmunks are regular visitors.

A couple of days ago, the lumber and supplies truck delivered the concrete block for our courtyard wall. We laughed at the antics of the chipmunks as they popped in and out of a stack of blocks near the front window.

I didn’t watch the event - like Rush says, “Who wants to listen to lies for two hours?” All I’m reading this morning is spending cuts for good things like defense and more spending and entitlements for the left’s special interests.

Hat tip: The Patriot Post

We reported on our temporary cable installation over two weeks ago. A crew finally showed up today to dig the permanent trench and install the conduit to house the cable.

We were surprised by the extent of the installation process. Three men showed up with sophisticated equipment and had the entire job completed in less than three hours.

They had a pneumatic tool that bored holes through the earth, a pneumatic earth compactor and a gas-powered trench digger that cut an eight inch by one foot deep trench 30 feet long in less then five minutes. Damsel photographed the trench digger while it was in action. Click on the image to enlarge.

Our internet and CATV is working just fine now, without the worry that one of the trucks bringing materials for our new courtyard will damage the cable that was buried in a shallow trench and had surfaced in some places on the road in front of the house.

Nothing like a little graphic evidence to show where the popular spot is in the Ford exhibit at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. The media proclaimed the show was all about saving the planet with electric and gas-efficient vehicles to be the show’s main theme. You can see for yourself how the attendees voted with their feet. Top: Ford Trucks and SUV exhibit - bottom: Ford green vehicles exhibit.

Hat tip: Henry Payne of Planet Gore on “Auto Show Deep Freeze: Green Gets the Cold Shoulder“.

Yesterday, we ordered the security doors for the house. Since we have Santa Fe style architecture, we’re going with doors that reflect the style. The figure at the bottom of the door is Kokopeli, a Native American icon seen throughout the southwest. The sunset and the symbol in the center of the door are also Native American style.

Damsel and I originally contacted a vendor we found on the internet. We started the process with them but soon realized they weren’t responding to our inquiries about custom colors and styles like they weren’t paying attention or something.

When we made a trip to the Phoenix Metro area for supplies, quite by accident we found another steel screen door vendor in a strip mall. We went in and discovered that not only did they have the exact same doors as the on-line guys, but offered them at less than half the cost we were originally quoted. We arranged for a measurement session with the new guys and called the others to cancel.

Since we’re paying much less for the doors, we decided to get steel doors for the patio and garage door. They should be installed in about four weeks.