Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Retirement

More Erosion

More Erosion

We had a really heavy downpour last Wednesday night. It looks like I’ll have to shore up the front of the property with big rocks to avoid losing more of the landscape between the RV drive and the west wash. Again, I have plenty of big rocks up in the wash and around the lot, so it’s just a matter of collecting them in the wheelbarrow and burying them along the roadway where the floods wash down.

Damn! I’m supposed to be retired and all this stuff pops up to keep me busy. Ah well, It probably keeps me out of trouble.

Click on the image for the full sized panorama.

25 Aug 2012 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden Panorama Retirement

Just Another Day Of Retirement

Just Another Day Of Retirement

Most folks out there consider today to be “TGIF” day, but to us, it’s just another grueling day of retirement in our dream home. Damsel took this photo today after we finished walking the dogs, which seems to be one of the more important chores in retired life. Click on the image to enlarge.

10 Aug 2012 by Arizona Critters Photography Retirement

Trimming the Landscape

rosemary-trim.jpg

I spent most of the morning trimming the rosemary shrubs that line the back slope of the RV drive. The landscapers put the one-gallon shrubs in a year ago and they have grown nicely – in fact so well that the bottom row were starting to cover the river rocks stacked along the bottom 30 inches of the slope.

I was lucky today, since the sky was overcast (monsoons in progress) and the temperature only got up to about 92 with 40 percent relative humidity – mandatory perspiration while working. In all, there were 26 shrubs that needed attention. I trimmed several earlier in the week, but quit after a while – it was around 105 the other day.

The composite photo above (taken after the work) shows the magnitude of the effort. Click on the image to enlarge.

13 Jul 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography Retirement

Our Nice Little House

out-front.jpg

I walked around the house today with my camera and took some pictures. This is a view of the house from the road just below the river rock lined wash that runs on the west side. It was a beautiful day with a few puffy clouds and the temperature got up to about 103 degrees.

The cholla with the thrasher nest is at the extreme left side of the image. I peeked into the nest and saw that the third egg hatched and there are now three little thrasher chicks. Click on the image to enlarge.

06 Jul 2012 by Arizona Critters Photography Retirement

Hitched

hitched.jpg

We hitched up the trailer, not to go on a Fourth of July vacation, but to tow it to the dealer for them to work off a couple of squawks and replace the TV video cable with an HDMI cable. It takes a bit of effort to get the four-point anti-sway hitch ready to tow, so I did the job yesterday in order to be ready to roll this morning.

We took advantage of the trip after dropping the trailer off, to do a little shopping at Wal-Mart, where we bought a TV wall mount for the trailer and took it over to the dealer for them to install. We also stopped at Lowe’s to pick up a custom patio shade we ordered a couple of weeks ago.

Now that the chores are done, it’s time to settle in for a nice Independence Day Holiday! Happy Birthday America!

03 Jul 2012 by Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Aerial Views of House Progress


These three aerial views in the slideshow above came from the Maricopa County Assessor’s website. I can’t be sure of the dates the images were taken but I can guess based on my knowledge of the construction progress. Click on the slideshow to advance to the next image.

The first image was taken between 2008 and the first half of 2010; it was labeled 2010 on the county website and shows the parcel and the bare pad. The second image was taken in about November of 2010 judging from the building progress; this image was labeled 2011. The third and last image had to have been taken in late 2011, judging from the shrubbery and landscape; it is marked 2012 on the county site.

Unfortunately, the county only maintains images for three years; it would have been interesting to have a view of the parcel prior to the pad excavation.

13 Jun 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

swing-feeder.jpg

Last week when we were in the Valley shopping, I bought this little swing for my musical mesquite tree. It’s actually supposed to be a bird feeder, but I like it just for decoration. The birds aren’t out of luck, though, since there are feeders out in the back above the RV drive. Click on the image to enlarge.

12 Jun 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography Retirement

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