Sunday, January 27/2019 - Saturday, February 2/2019

Starting the canopy

Work continues on both the inside of the mancave and the outside.  When the weather is not cooperating we work on finishing up the inside and when the weather is good, we work outside.  John has decided to put a canopy over the man door on the garage.  This for two reasons.  There is an issue with rain seeping into the man cave as it tends to pool in the corner so,  a canopy will certainly address that issue plus,  it would finish off the outside and make it more welcoming.  Also, Kay and I could sit there with our coffee each morning and enjoy the morning sunshine and the view.  That alone is a very good reason to build it!!

Never any lack of beautiful evening skies

Beverage?

Getting the inside done

This inside finish is all being done in rough fence board.  Once that has been nailed up I go to work with the varathan to give it a more finished look.  It is coming together quite nicely.  Looks rather rustic but rather cool as well.

Pail lights

 John came up with the idea of using upside down tin pails as light fixtures.  Kay was on board with the idea as she thought it would look cool.  I was not blown away by the idea but was out voted so up they went.  I was told to "think outside the box"!!  Now it looks very rustic and although I would have preferred something else, we have received plenty of compliments on them.  I'd love to wipe the smug looks off both their faces!!

Happy hour

Lorne and Marilyn left for their vacation to Mexico and we were eager to get a lot of the building done in anticipation for our next influx of relatives.  Jace and Kimmy were still planning on coming and also Bernie and Gloria (Kim's parents) were going to be here for a few days.   There was also rumors of some of our "adopted" kids coming as well.  Shit, Oh Dear....thinking there is going to be some partying going on!!   I better rest up lots for the upcoming chaos!!
Life is Good!!

Sunday, January 20/2019 - Saturday, January 26/2019

Lorne and Marie

Lorne and Marilyn arrived this week and this is the start of their winter holidays.  They will stay with us for a few days before flying off to Mexico for the month of February then,  return to us for the month of March.   It's going to be a busy few days and we will cram as many activities into as we can.

Lorne and Marilyn

Lorne and Marilyn went on their daily road trips and that gave us a chance to continue on the various projects while they were gone.  Once they returned we usually had a few adult beverages at the new outside bar then headed into the manacle to sit around the wood stove.  It was awesome and pretty much became a habit!!  LOL...You only live once!!

Lorne and Marilyn's desert runner

Lorne and Marilyn brought their little tracker down this year so that they had a little desert runner to take out on the trails.  It came in very handy while they were there and we were more than willing to break it in on the trails that lie just outside our back door.

Happy hour at the bar

New sign donated by one of our guest, Naomie

Out for a rip with Lorne and Marilyn

The desert scenery is second to none and I never seem to get tired of it.  The desert flora will soon be getting prepared to meet the warmer spring weather and then all the beautiful flowers will appear and it will be awesome.  There is nothing to compare the spring flowers to.  It transforms the desert into this magical place and we are so blessed to be able to see this.   Life in Good!!

Our back yard

Out for a beer at "The Rock"

So true!

Our son Jace recently slipped on some ice while getting out of his semi in North Dakota so has been dealing with that.  This week he saw the surgeon who is going to repair it for him so we are all waiting with anticipation to see what is going to happen on that front.  Hopefully all goes well and the trip that him and Kimmy have planned is still a go as we are all getting excited to see them.

A beverage at the ponds

Life is Good!!

Sunday, January 13/2019 - Saturday, January 19/2019

Jeep in out of the rain

Rain, Rain, Go Away........ Of course the desert needs rain but it certainly throws a wrench into our outside activity.  The jeep usually comes into the garage and we huddle together on the opposite side for the time being.  It cramps our style but we are pretty adaptable!!
Karl and Naomie came for a quick visit just to "get away" from their hectic life.  It was short and sweet.  Unfortunately Kay was working so didn't get to visit.
John did a bit more building in the man cave and of course there is always marathoning to do once he is finished.   The work continues.....
Life is Good!!

Our guest, Cyndi

Another great sunset

The blood moon coming up

Sunday, January 6/2019 - Saturday, January 12/2019

Getting the new door and window done

One of the overhead doors in the man cave broke and it was decided that we would not replace it.  Instead,  we would remove it completely and put in a man door and a window.   This is the project that we have been doing for the last few weeks while Kay has been working.   She does come home and varathan the roof if I haven't got to it yet.  Painting is one of the few things my sad, sorry hip allows me to do so I try to do my part.   Most of the building falls onto John and Kay.  The two of them have done a remarkable job on the roof.

Girls will be girls

Of course once the work is done, the party starts.   Depending on whether we have guests in the casita  dictates how noisy we get!!  Our little fireplace comes in very handy on these nights.
Life is Good!!

A party broke out

Sunday, December 30/2018 - January, 5/2019

A little bit of home - snow

Snow heralded in this week.  There was a lot of snow and it was wet and heavy.   The snow covered the trees and it was actually pretty beautiful.   The birds managed to find the seeds in the feeder so they were happy.   Kay of course,  refused to bow to the snow and went to feed the birds in her flip flops!!
There must be something in the air as Kay has come down with a nasty eye infection.  She is doing eye drops and keeping the goop out of her eyes with warm water.  It ran its course in a few days and she was well on her way to recovery just as John and I were getting it.   It was simply nasty.  We would wake up in the mornings with our eyes glued shut!!  Our infections ran their course and soon we were improving as well.   I vowed that I would have some antibiotic eye drops for next year!!
The New Year came and went with John and Kay able to stay up long enough to usher in the new Year and me of course, in bed!!   Happy New Year!!
Kay headed back to work this week and once again, it was John and I for the upcoming week.  It was very windy for part of the week but that settled too.
Canada was eliminated from the World Junior Hockey tournament so that sucked.

That's a lot of snow for this part of Arizona

Bar in the snow

Kay in her flip flops

Life is Good!!

Sunday, December 23/2018 - Saturday, December 29/2018

Out for a rip

It's Christmas week and we celebrated it quietly.  We managed one road trip along the Yarnell Hill back road to Stanton Ghost Town.   We stopped for a beverage along Antelope Creek and were chased home by a rain shower.  Of course it got quite chilly and we were really hoping not to see any snow!!   There was however some along the top of our surrounding mountains.

A few ice drops

WHY!  Big thorns along the branch!!
Careful when you are putting that in the fire!!

Snow shower in the mountains

Life is Good!!