LET THERE BE WATER!!!

 Arizona critters are pretty cool ... most of them anyway.  I can definitely LEAVE the snakes and scorpions, but THESE guys ... they make my day.  As I mentioned, most all of the desert critters only come out at night when we are asleep.  It's a good thing, because if I had to deal with some of them during the day, I would probably go screaming off into the sunset.  

These guys showed up shortly after the deer.  Rarely do I ever see them during daylight hours.  If you look closely at their markings, there are three different coyotes.  I assume they are smelling the deer.  By the way, do you see just how full that trough is???

LET THERE BE WATER!!!  As you probably know, Mr. Chance has taught me practically every thing RV, and helped repair lots of stuff here.  I was sure I could fix the sprinklers, but I just didn't take the time to sit down and contemplate it.  Besides, he was going on a fishing trip and I didn't want to bother him, even though I did when I thought the RV cover was going to go flying.  

So yesterday, I got a phone call from Bob.  There he was, sitting on the top of a mountain almost 1000 miles away, thinking about what could be wrong with my sprinkler system.  He proceeded to tell me what to do to check each part.  I grabbed my tools, put him on speaker phone and headed outside.

We tested this ... we tested that.  Finally, he said "is that big valve on top turned ON?"  No I said, they are all closed, like my sprinklers back in California.  Turn them on he said ... and turn the system on manual.  THE SPRINKLERS WORKED!!!!  There were lots of leaks from the backflow valves, but that's fixable.

You cannot imagine the relief!  I don't have to completely rebuild this entire system.  Bob fixed it!!!  And I'm a big dummy.  At my other house, you have to leave them OFF all the time.  This one works just the opposite.  Who KNEW?  Apparently BOB did!!  Why were they off?  I've no idea.  I think I must have turned them off when I replaced the one valve that wasn't working at all.  Big mistake that was!!

SO ... no rust in the pipes plugging things up, except for maybe four drip lines that aren't working.  I set the timer to come on this morning and THEY ALL WORKED!  I'm in the sprinkler business again at long last.  No more hauling water down to the trough.  YAHOO!!!

Even Cooper was happy ... now he won't have to sit by himself on the couch while his Mom obsesses over the sprinklers!  His toy of the day never gets far away, even if he's sleeping.

In the meantime, there is ONE creature that doesn't mind coming out in the daylight.  This Gila monster is a permanent resident of the Chance property.  I ask Patty all the time if he is out and about, and sure enough he showed up, or at least ONE showed up.  I don't mind these guys ... I can outrun them!!  Aren't they gorgeous?  Don't get bit by one, they are venomous.  

You've heard me tell of the Empire Ranch owned by Walter Vail?  He thought he had a dead one and tied it on his saddle.  It bit him and he almost died.  You rarely see them because they spend 90% of their life underground, only coming out in the early morning hours.  I'm thankful for my block-walled back yard.

It being monsoon season, Mother Nature puts on a show almost every night.  See that little gray/white cloud on the left?  That's rain in that one little spot while the sun was setting.

I'm a little late with this picture of two nights ago.  I just stood there with my mouth open.  You just cannot imagine the colors.  Nothing added to this picture ... this is what it looked like.

And it only got better.   Now if I can only get my quilting machine fixed as easily.

In the meantime, did anyone stay up and watch the meteor showers last night?  I thought about it for two seconds.  Getting up at 2:30 in the morning when it's dark in the desert (remember the critters) and setting up all that camera gear for one or two pictures of falling stars is just too much for this old lady.  

I was up at 4:00, stood outside in the nice cool air ... OMG it's 75 degrees this morning ... and saw nothing.  There are two reasons for that.  There is too much light coming from Tucson and I can't see all that good any more any way.  Maybe next time.

I'll be on the couch sewing up miles of binding ... enjoy your Sunday.