It's Raining Cats and Dogs (Patagonia, AZ)

Gosh, can you believe this month is almost over?  We have certainly had some crazy weather for winter.  One day we are bundle up against freezing temperatures and the next day, we are wearing t-shirts trying to stay cool.  For the last two days, we had rain with a dusting of snow this morning.  Well, all I can say is this - the weather knows how to keep us on our toes!

Before the rain started, the deer and birds were enjoying the sunny afternoons.  Doesn't this look relaxing?  A little nap in the sunshine....

Some time spent down at the creek for a little snack.... 

And one Gila Woodpecker playing peek-a-boo with me.  Ha!  Gotcha! 

Wool - the series by Hugh Howey
I finished the last three of the Wool series.  I loved all five short stories.  I decided to wait until I finished the last three to tell you about the rest of the Wool series.  You can get the whole book  on Amazon or buy one series at a time.

Wool3 The Casting Off
Each series revealed a little more about this underground community living in a silo.  How did they get there?   Who built the silo?  Were they the last humans on earth?  Could they survive outside?

Can you imagine never experiencing the warmth of the sun on your face or wind messing up your hair or to watch snowflakes floating to the ground.  Imagine never smelling a rose, listening to a bird's song or grass tickling your bare toes.  It seems a little depressing and yet life in the Silo goes on because they don't know what they are missing.  Their community in the silo is strong only because they are kept in the dark, but that might be a mistake.  People are naturally inquisitive and the government is naturally secretive.   To keep their secrets, the guilty are sentenced to "the cleaning" or being cast off.

Wool4 The Unraveling
The ones with power start abusing the trust empowered to them by underestimating how well people will follow without questions causing an unraveling of their structured society.  Once people start to discover the dark secrets that have held this community together, it could be the beginning of their end.

Wool5 The Stranded
I won't say anything about the Wool5 because I will spoil some of the surprises in the first four.  Quick note:  there is swearing, but no sex.
These are the links to my first reviews:  Wool and Wool 2.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Tuesday Treasury
Well, it has been raining cats and dogs.  So many cute critters to pick from in Etsy!  So here's just a few.....

Happy Trails!

We're Baaaack! (Patagonia, AZ)

We spent yesterday setting up for our permanent winter stay in Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve.  I had quite a few items to clean since they haven't been out since last winter.  With all our traveling during the summer, it was too much trouble to setup and breakdown.  Eh, call me lazy...

Bird feeders and Hummingbird feeders....check!

As soon as the motorhome stopped, we swear the cats knew our new location.  They tend to beg to go outside as soon as we stop, but this time it was different.  They were constantly in the stairwell trying to run out the door.

Lots of area to explore

All four kept saying:  "We know this spot!  Freedom!  No loud trucks, no people, and no leashes!"  But, we only let them out when we can supervise them and Hitch still needs to be on a leash.   

Dusty telling Dan he is one happy cat

So, they had to wait while we setup our site and spent some time with the preserve's manager to reacquaint ourselves with the office procedures.

Max

Finally!  We opened the door and all four cats were out the door.  We did not have to ask them twice if they wanted to come outside.  Even Max immediately left the safety of the door to go explore.  All summer, it took a lot of coaxing to get him to take a step outside.

Hitch and Max

Squirrel spent the most time exploring.  We had to keep herding him back.  At least, he did not hiss at us for making him stay near the rig.  He was probably happy to be outside without the leash.  Yep, enjoy it while you can, because this will only last for 4 months.

Squirrel

Dan saw Havalina on the way into the preserve.  I was driving the car in front of him so I did not see them.  I did get to see a mama Coes Doe with her little one.  Our first sighting of many more to come!

 A lovely evening for a walk, right boys?  Meow!

Home is Where You Park It!  Happy Trails!

Delightfully Dizzy! (Patagonia, AZ)

I finished making the Delightfully Dizzy quilt top.  Every time I thought I was done making blocks...I decided to add more. This challenge turned into a lot of fun!  I finally ran out of squares to make more blocks and the quilt is only lap size.

This is going to be a fantastic springtime quilt.  I can't wait to finish it now.

 

I had so much fun, I could not resist adding appliqué to the top.  I did manage to control myself and I only added one flower to the top corner.

appliqué flower

Close-up of stitching

More Photos from Our Walks

Sonoita Creek

Western Screech Owl's soaking up some rays during his nap

Don't give me the Doe Eyes!  I'm not going to give in!

Spotted Towhee - talk about having "Red-Eye"

Mama and Baby Javalina  Time to go Bye!-Bye!