Watch Where You Step!!

Another nice quiet morning sitting on the patio in the dark ... except for sound of the train whistles, but I love train whistles.  Somehow it's better than loud music, people screaming and barking critters.  People ask why I would go to Arizona in the summer.  Here's a pretty good reason.  These are the current temperatures in my home town.   

These are the current temperatures in Arizona.   You wouldn't expect this, but for the most part, it's always cooler in Arizona.  Weird, right?  

So bright and early at 6:00 am, I was outside fixing the leaky drip line.  I got it repaired and tested in no time, after doing a crazy imitation of Elvis Presley when that spider dropped on my head from the bush above.  I wasn't about to let THAT happen again, so I got out the pruners and went to town.  

An hour later, I had things pretty ship shape, but you know what happens ... you see another branch ... and another branch.  I kept it up for over an hour before heading down to get the game camera.  Sorry for the blurry picture and the decimation that followed.  

Every time I walked down the path, my legs were covered in spider webs.  I know spiders eat the flying bugs, but after the fourth or fifth time, I was beginning to feel creepy crawlies all over my legs.  The spider has now gone over the Rainbow Bridge and my pathway is web free.  I can still feel things crawling on me, but hopefully that will disappear soon.

The coyote couple are back in beautiful form.  It was rather interesting to see one of them go over and lick that big rock.  I'm not sure what he smelled, but it must have been tasty.  I love seeing these guys.

On the way back up the hill, be careful where you step.  This is the one inch tall entrance to a tarantula den, all decorated up for the female of his choice.  Or maybe SHE did the decorating.  This may be where my other friend came from.  

Do I always watch out for rattlesnakes?  Yes I do.  It was ingrained in me as a 4 year old.  When the outhouse is sitting near a rattlesnake den, your parents put the fear like no other into your little brain.  Basically, I never walk anywhere without my head down, because one day as we were hiking to a good fishing spot, I forgot.  My dad screamed at me to FREEZE!!!  I think I've told you this story.

I stood there literally with one foot in the air ... frozen solid.  If I had put my foot down, I would have stepped on a rattler.  He was on the other side of a branch I was stepping over.  My dad shot the snake (we were never without a gun), and I was able to put both feet back on the ground.

Then we did the fun thing ... he picked it up on a long stick and I carried it back to the cow camp.  We had rattlesnake for dinner.  Now I watch every step Cooper and I take.

I however, MUCH prefer an egg asparagus quesadilla for breakfast OR dinner.  I felt like the day had passed me by, but it was only 8:00.

Here's one of the donation quilts I've been working on.  Apparently I was supposed to leave the wide backing on ... but I cut it off.   Hmmmm there's nothing to bind the edges with.  Patty, my quilting buddy, went with me to Joannes for material.  We also went to a new quilt store in Green Valley, but that's a story for later.  Trying to make this go fast, I actually sewed the binding on with my machine instead of by hand.  It came out pretty nice ... and only took an hour versus 6 or 7.  

Then I started on this lovely colorful number.  I know these are donation quilts, but using cheap fabric from the Goodwill store, backed by even cheaper thin sheets from the SAME store, just hits my sharp, off key number like no other.  Add to that the fact that the blocks were not square, made it hard to quilt.  I did get it done, while trying hard to remember the thought that went into this.

Dinner came as a wonderful surprise ... an invitation from the Chance household for Dan's famous STEW!!  I'm telling you, NO ONE makes stew like that guy!  I devoured it in record time.  So fast in fact that I didn't even get a picture!!

Today I'll be back on the quilting machine.  I think I'll do one or two of my own before tackling another sheet demon.  

Remember to keep your eyes on the ground and watch where you step!