Critters

Red Bird of Paradise
Flowers Now Opening

Now that the 2023 Red Bird of Paradise Flowers are opening, the butterflies seem to know that they are available for nectar browsing. This little beauty visited this morning.

These flowers dominate the courtyard in the summertime. This is one of the first flowers to appear this year.

The “Red Bird of Paradise” a.k.a. “Pride of Barbados” shrubs are ready to “take over” in the courtyard now. More about these from Desert Tropicals:

The Red Bird of Paradise is a relatively frost sensitive Caesalpinia, and it is generally better to trim it close to ground in winter. This keeps it more compact without seeming to delay it in spring. The canes tend to freeze in all but the warmest areas, and even if they don’t, the new growth in April is somewhat ungainly. For this reason many gardeners cut the bush to the ground at the end of November, and it will grow back green and compact in mid spring.

Image information: Canon EOS Rebel J6i, Action Program, ISO 100, T=1/800 sec., A=F5, Lens EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. Click on either image to enlarge.

Mid-Spring News —
Busy Week Upcoming

Image above — A Curve-Billed Thrasher was perched atop our big Saguaro Cactus singing its spring songs this morning. I took this shot this morning with my Canon EOS Rebel SL1 and a 250mm lens. Click on the image to enlarge.

Other than celebrating holidays and preparing the feasts associated therewith, we have had a relatively calm early spring with no outstanding chores nor appointments. As of this week, however, that will change as it seems that we made a lot of appointments all in the same week.

Tomorrow, Monday 4/24/23, we’re going to have to get the dogs to the Vet for their annual immunizations; the licenses are due in May and the County Animal Control Bureaucrats will be requiring current Rabies vaccinations for both dogs.

On Tuesday 4/25/23, I have an appointment with the Ophthalmologist for a regular follow-up exam. Both eyes received cataract lens replacements in 2020 and the Doctor wants to admire his work, I guess. Or maybe he wants to check up on things like eye pressure, floaters, retina etc.

On Wednesday 4/26/23, we have our standing appointment at the Pet Groomer for both dogs. Tucker, our little Long-Haired Chihuahua mix pup will be getting a trim which we think will make him more comfortable in the desert heat this summer. He really is a fluffy little guy and won’t need that fur coat when the indoor thermostat is set to 80° and the outside temperatures will be in the low 100° range.

On Thursday 4/27/23, I have a Dermatology appointment. Last visit, the Doctor removed a suspected basal cell lesion from the back of my neck and will probably want to do a follow-up procedure for it by applying Liquid Nitrogen to kill off any remaining basal cells. Plus, I have a couple of other suspicious spots he needs to examine. Wear your sunscreen, kids!

Finally, on Friday 4/28/23, our landscape crew will be reporting to tend to some needed yard work including tree and shrub trimming, weed control and renewing the courtyard quarter minus ground covering. I don’t expect that I will need to help them do their job, but I know some things will come up that we may not have anticipated and we need to be there to authorize additional work.

But wait! There’s More! On Monday May 1st, I have to report to the clinic for blood work as a precursor to my Nephrology appointment in May and on Tuesday, I need a haircut.

This retirement business can be less restful than one might think.

Getting old is not for sissies.

Tucker’s Second Birthday

Today is Tucker’s second birthday — well, it’s not known what his real birthday is since he was found wandering south of town and nobody claimed him, so the vet who examined him estimated his age to be a year old a year ago today. We adopted him a year ago this coming Saturday, so that anniversary will be this weekend.

After we lost Bay Bay last year, we weren’t expecting to adopt another pet as soon as we found Tucker, but there he was at a Humane Society adoption event at Tractor Supply and it was love at first sight for both us and the little guy.

Tucker is a long-haired chihuahua mix and weighs in at about eleven pounds. He has mostly black fur with a white patch on his right neck, a little blaze on his forehead and a large white “tuxedo shirt” down his chest.

Since we adopted him, Tucker has completely adapted to our routines and he is a wonderful and loving little guy. We look forward to having him around for a long time to come.

So happy birthday little man!

Musk Hog Day — February 02, 2023

Musk Hog (Javelina) in our back yard. Clickable

Well, we didn’t seem to have any groundhogs handy, so a Javelina (a.k.a. “collared peccary” and “Musk Hog”) will have to do. Anyhow, the critter saw it’s shadow today and I guess that means that we in Arizona will have six more weeks of Winter. You know, the kind of winter weather that makes places like we live in very popular for people who don’t have mild weather at this time of year, hence the infusion of “snowbirds” into our community.

So that means it will be at least six more weeks of extra bodies in the stores and extra vehicles on the roads before the part-time residents begin to head back to their tundra. Maybe more than six weeks since our experience shows a couple of snowbird exodus dates being IRS Day (4/15) and Memorial Day. By Flag Day (6/14) they should be mostly gone.

I shouldn’t focus on only the snowbirds, since there are a lot of other temporary visitors this time of year. We have the influx of Team Ropers (rodeo), the Senior Pro Rodeo, Gold Rush Days and the carnival and parade that go along with those events. It’s good for the community and the businesses here.

So, getting back to the topic of the environment and the weather conditions here, we expect to have gradually warming days leading up to spring equinox and more significant warming thereafter. As we age, our bones and joints seem to appreciate the warmer conditions, so we are looking forward to the highs in the low 100s and lows in the mid 80s that should be here in a couple of months. That and the nearly empty roads, parking lots and shopping aisles will be welcome as well.

Oh Look! A Squirrel!

Today, we were replenishing the bird feeders out back and as has been the case lately, one of the little Antelope Ground Squirrels came out to beg for a handout. It’s hard to see in the video above until he starts moving, but he came within a few feet when I tossed an almond over towards him.

After securing his goodie, he scurried to a safe distance and then off to his underbrush or burrow. The squirrels scored a total of five or six almonds (which I carry up there for them) before I was done with the bird feeders.

Happy Friday-the-Thirteenth

From History.com:

Long considered a harbinger of bad luck, Friday the 13th has inspired a late 19th-century secret society, an early 20th-century novel, a horror film franchise and not one but two unwieldy terms—paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia—that describe fear of this supposedly unlucky day.

Just like walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat or breaking a mirror, many people hold fast to the belief that Friday the 13th brings bad luck. Though it’s uncertain exactly when this particular tradition began, negative superstitions have swirled around the number 13 for centuries.

While Western cultures have historically associated the number 12 with completeness (there are 12 days of Christmas, 12 months and zodiac signs, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus and 12 tribes of Israel, just to name a few examples), its successor 13 has a long history as a sign of bad luck.

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My Maternal Step-Grandmother was very superstitious, a trait which, thank the Lord, never rubbed off on any of us, myself or siblings. As far as we are concerned, this is just another blessed Friday in January. We hope your day is going as well as ours.

Cooler Weather Is Now Happening

Damsel took this photo earlier this month before we cleared out the Red Bird shrubs in the courtyard. A nice butterfly lit on one of the last flowers of the season to sip its nectar. The shrubs are now cut to the ground and will be dormant for the next several months. Photo courtesy of Damsel — Click on the image to enlarge.

We had some rain showers over the last week or so and today the temperatures are quite a bit cooler than when Damsel took the photo above. Then, the highs were in the mid-nineties and today the high was below eighty. Brrrr. It’s time to break out the longies and put the shorts away until spring.

We enjoyed the weekend despite the cooler weather. We had excellent food on the table both days: Cajun Gumbo on Saturday and Jägerschnitzel today. Click on the links for photos and details. Both meals were consistent with our low-carb, low-sodium diets (within reason, that is) and were excellent. Damsel did most of the work, but I collaborated by performing the sous chef tasks she required. What a good eating weekend — and there are leftovers for during the upcoming week.

We will be changing out of our summer garb in favor of the flannel and hoodies we wear during the cooler months. Of course, we are blessed that we live in a climate that isn’t as harsh as some places in the world. We will deal with our climes just fine as we have in the past years since we moved here.

In closing, just a quick note — we’re suffering as many in the nation who are on a fixed income with the increased cost of living due to Brandonomics™. We’re dealing with it, however, and hope that after the coming midterm elections that we can turn the corner back towards fiscal sanity, border security and (thanks to the SCOTUS) Second Amendment rights restoration. Just remember to get out and VOTE. Tell your friends, neighbors and family to do likewise

Update on Stars and Stripes Theme

. . . and Where We Go From Here.

After many attempts at picking through the old “Stars and Stripes” theme code to try and achieve compatibility with the newer versions of WordPress, I have concluded that I don’t think I can get there from here. Therefore, I am going to abandon further attempts at trying to make the old theme work. I am disappointed with this decision, but it is what it is.

Going forward, my plan is to continue using the bland, no frills default theme for the time being, while looking into some of the newer platform features to customize into a new S&S theme. I am not giving the effort much of a time budget in our busy schedule (wink) but it will give me something to look into when I get some spare time (wink again).

In the meantime, go look at a video I uploaded to U2B with Damsel and our new pup, Tucker . . .