Loudest Coyote EVER!!

Well THAT was a fun night!!  You know I LOVE the critters ... except the creepy crawly ones.  My visitor last night however ... I hope he doesn't come around often!!   It could be he was standing right outside my window, but I've never heard a coyote so LOUD in my life.  He was louder than the train that was going by!  I'm hoping I caught him on my critter cam, but I won't know until later this morning. 

Lucky you, you haven't been inundated with videos because it hasn't been working correctly.  One day I got zero pictures, the next I got all DAYTIME videos of the birds.  

It's 4:30 and a lovely 71 degrees.  I have to admit, the weather around here can be suspenseful.  It's going to hike up to 105 today, and for the next THREE days, then it's going to rain.  Yessirree ... they are predicting 104 degrees with rain for four days in a row.  Won't THAT be exciting!  I've never heard of such a thing, so you can bet I'll be out with my camera!!

The 4th of July camera didn't fare so well.  The fireworks were 8-10 miles away I'm guessing, and didn't go on long enough for me to figure out the camera settings.

These were the backyard "pros" showing off, not the commercial variety.  I'm surprised more fingers are not lost ... or more fires started!  I have to admit though, it was MUCH quieter than at my house in California.

I spent the morning on the patio admiring my bird population.  Rather hard to see them in this picture, but there are about 30 thrashers and finch in this tree, including TWO cardinals.  I was sure I took pictures of them, but so far haven't found them on my camera card.  By noon, they have all found a shady spot to hang out and I don't see them the rest of the day.

This guy was having brunch on whatever he dug up next to the sprinkler.  He came back again and again, so it must have been quite tasty.  I love their orange eyes.

At long last, the doorbell rang.  I have yet another "MAN" problem to take care of.  The facia board on one side of the garage is rotten to the core.  Along with that comes the leak I had in the ceiling last monsoon.  Not a big leak, but big enough to cause me angst.

We thought the wind was so bad, it just blew water under the shingles, but since this guy was here for the first problem, I asked him to look at the second.  It was the same old story.  He took 30 pictures and proceeded to show me just how BAD my entire roof was.  It definitely needs COMPLETE replacement.  

Big sigh.  Where's Prince Charming when I need him?  I hate dealing with this stuff because you never know if they are telling you the truth.  Let's be honest ... they are mostly lying.  It's not fun being a woman when it comes to house repair.

Honestly, I didn't see that much wrong with the pictures.  It was rather interesting to see that when the roof was repaired before I bought it, they just went up and NAILED the shingles down.  WHAT?  I didn't know you could do that! 

The leak comes from the little valley between the skylight/dormer roof and the actual roof ... where it ties in.  I asked him for an estimate to repair that and the facia, and another estimate to reroof the entire house. That was just a ruse by me to keep him from walking away because I really have no intention of doing the entire thing.  By the way, he was talking $15,000 for a reroof because they use ONLY THE BEST products.  

When he left I called another roofer for another estimate.  If nothing else, I guess I'll have to learn how to do roof repairs, because I'm determined NOT to get taken for a money-ride on the you-need-a-new-roof train.  Today I'll check my paperwork that has the old roof guarantee.  I think it said I have at least 5 more years. 

By the time he left, it was really too hot outside to do anything.  I did grab my shovel and head out the front door (in the shade) because I spotted (yet again) some ground that was way too wet for the amount of water it was supposed to be getting.

You guessed it ... another leaky line.  This time it's the BIG drip line, and is going to take some work to repair.  I finally gave up because it was just too hot.

I'm up early this morning so I can get stuff done before heading off to Green Valley with my quilting machine.  It's Quilt Doctor time!  I've done a little sewing to get the backings ready for NINE quilts waiting in the closet.  

I would just LOVE to spend a little time at my favorite fabric store over there, but the next roofer is coming at 11:00 today, so I have to be back.  Lucky for me, they will deliver my machine back to my house and hook it up.  That's because I know the secret words ... the Repair Manager lives not far from me!!