Arizona to Texas (Lakehills, TX)

I have quite a few photos to share.  I have missed being in the southwest desert and being able to view Mother Nature in action.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the northwest, but the foliage is so thick that it is hard to see even a bird sitting in the tree above me!  

Before we left Benson, AZ, we had a couple of visits from Ma and Pa Quail with their brew of chicks.

I counted nine of them one evening.  Ma and Pa were funny about getting our attention away from the little ones by running back and forth while making sounds.  I used my 500 mm lens so they would feel comfortable enough to move their little ones from one bush to another.

The cats?  They would watch, but for the most part found it too hot to chase after the birds.

On one of my morning walks, I noticed a Roadrunner (RR) standing at the edge of this site.  From this angle, you cannot see the owner of the Minnie talking to his cat.  The cat was ready to go in and was sitting on the step waiting for the door to be opened which the owner was taking his sweet time doing (according to the cat).  

In the meantime, RR was slowly moving closer towards the two.  He seemed quite curious and managed to get within a couple of feet when the door opened for the cat to enter.  The cat's owner said that usually there are two roadrunners following his cat around.  Both birds seem very curious about his cat, but never get too close.

We spent one afternoon walking the trails in Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve.  We haven't been there since our camp hosting days in 2013.  The place looks great.  They have added new artwork around the office area.  The hummingbird thought this was an excellent idea to have artwork near the feeder.

The improved wider trails had new signs making it easier to follow along with plant info and history.  The new manager has done an excellent job and I would recommend stopping by if you are in the area.  A great place to view wildlife and bird sightings.  Although, we did not have much luck since it was later in the spring for wildlife migrations.

We left Benson a couple of weeks ago.  It took us five days to get to the Thousand Trails RV Resort on Lake Medina.

Dusty was happy to hear we were settled in for the next three weeks.  He was tired of being used as a pillow during our travels.

We spent one day walking around Bandera, the Cowboy Capital of the World.  

I love visiting the old Bandera General Store.  It is a small store packed full of unique gift ideas, salsas, jams, and used boots.  Plus, they have an old-fashion soda fountain. 

gently used boots in all sizes

I also visited Gone Quiltin' in Bandera.  It doesn't look like much from the outside, so I was surprised to see how big it was on the inside.  Filled with a wide variety of fabrics, notions, and books complete with a longarm room and a classroom.  I'm not sure how I missed this great gem of a quilt shop the last two times we were here!  You can bet that I will not forget the next time I am in the area!

shells on the table from Lake Medina

The first time we were here, this lake was nothing more than a stream at the bottom of a steep valley.  We even saw cattle grazing in it.  It certainly is nice to see it filled, but the water is noticeably going down due to usage and hot weather.  I would not be surprised to see this lake drained by the time we come back through the next.

Doe eyes

Okay, a few more photos of the deer in the campground.  The deer do not fear the people since we are allowed to feed them corn bought at the campground's office.

Twins!

Even the fawns are not as shy as most wildlife.  Mama came up begging for food while the little ones watched from a distance.

I look forward to my morning walks with hopes of seeing a fawn.  I have had quite a few sightings.

On The Cutting Board

Since the afternoons are too hot and muggy, I have been spending quite a bit of time indoors with my sewing.  I finished four Happy Campers and....

 applquéd another quilt top.  I think I will call this one Baby Sweet Pea's Garden.

Well, I am in the middle of appliquéing the vine on another quilt top, so I better get back to it.

Happy Quilting!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Patagonia, AZ)

Eh? What can I say...it is definitely winter in Arizona this year.  I'm beginning to wish I kept more of my winter clothes.   We woke up to about a half an inch of snow yesterday morning.  I had to defrost the hummingbird feeder before our little buddy woke up.  As a matter of fact, there wasn't a single bird around.  I searched all the surrounding trees.  Not a single bird in any of them...hmmmm, I wonder where they all go on such a cold night...

fluffed up Housefinch

Once the sun came over the mountains, the chirping started and the feeding frenzy began.  Some of the little guys looked like they were having a hard time getting started.  Maybe we should serve coffee with their seeds then we can watch them ping off the branches!  Just kidding.  I don't want them to have caffeine headaches after we leave the area.

Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinch

It was our day off, so we went for a walk before breakfast. So here's some photos of our walk with lots of blue sky, sunshine, and snow....not too many birds...they were the smart ones...they stayed in their warm beds.

sunrays through snow covered branches

Dan wanted to look for tracks in the snow to see how active the area had been the night before.

We saw lots of little tracks - deer, coyote, bobcat, skunk or fox or both, and something so tiny that it only left two little lines in the snow.  Oh, no mountain lion tracks this time, but he is still around.

a misty morning on the Sonoita Creek

The green watercress in the creek added a lot of contrast to the white snow and blue sky.

Sonoita Creek

Sonoita Creek

Okay, so I'm posting too many photos of the creek.  I can't help it.  I just love the way the snow changed the creek's area.

Sonoita Creek

The Railroad trail had a mystical feel to it....very enchanting and so quiet.  We saw only one deer and no javalina.

snow covered path

very inviting

Last photo....

the end of our walk

On The Cutting Board

Another quilt top ready for layering!  This one is fitting for today's theme - A walk in the woods quilt.

Happy Quilting!

Have Tweet Will Twitter (Patagonia, AZ)

These are my favorite Twittering buddies. Which ones?  ...all the ones with feathers, of course!

Have you heard the latest tweet?

The 50 Megaton Tweet by R. C. Wade

This is a quick read of 68 pages.  The author mixes documentary facts on the fast-growing social media with a "what if" scenario that causes a devastating chain reaction.  This isn't one of my usual reads.  I like reading books that takes me away from daily problems, but this book is worth reading.  I think anyone that spends a lot of time using the social media should read this book.  I have learned a lot about the impact social media has had on our daily lives.

What if a tweet and a video were sent out showing our President had been shot with no confirmation from anyone in the White House?  What if another senator tweets that the President has been shot and another tweet spreads there is a government conspiracy?  We know from the past that leaked information can spread like wildfire, but how would we react if we received this news?  

What follows in this story is a chain reaction from news media to government to Joe Public to the World.  It is an interesting and scary concept.  I would like to think that we the public would not react in such a devastating way without getting confirmation from either the news media or our government despite our feelings of distrust for both.

I actually found the age of instant information and social media history more interesting than the story.  Such as the impact it has on today's TV news media and how our government uses it.  Anyone can become famous with a cell phone  and internet access by being Joe-on-the-spot reporter.  As we are finding out - absolutely nothing is safe from the public. Social Media's impact on our society has truly taken over the way we share and process news.  One thing that is prominent in this book is our lack of responsibility for not double-checking the facts before forwarding, retweeting, or re-posting online information.

Two more notes:  This book is written by an independent writer which means he published this book on his own (no publisher) through  Kindle and it is the only version available for now.  If you are interested in reading his book, you should be able to download the Kindle version to your computer or cell phone by installing Amazon's free app Cloud.
Also, checking information is easy with snopes.com - excellent source for rumors and facts.

More Tweeters!

Here are some new photos of my feathered friends.  Mr. Cardinal has been hanging around quite a bit this winter.   He seems to enjoy the free meals that Dan provides for all the birds.

Northern Cardinal

Doesn't this guy look like a black Cardinal?  I cannot pronounce his real name so that is his nickname: Black Cardinal.  His chirp is quite distinct.  It sounds like a short dog whistle.  I keep expecting to hear his whistle and "here boy!".  I saw this guy a couple of times last year, but never got a good picture.  This year, the Phainopepla has been sighted quite a few times around the Center and on the trails.  Gotcha!!

Phainopepla

The Preserve is starting to get busy with Birders and birds.  We have one unusual sighting of a Rusty Blackbird...sorry, no photo.  It has brought out quite a few Birders looking for that one bird to check off their life list.  I was sort of hoping we would not go through this again...oh well.

Eastern Bluebird

We have one more week here and we are off to Benson, AZ for a month.  I'm ready for a break and a change of scenery!

On The Cutting Board

I finished all the faces and now I have started appliqueing the Cuddly Critters quilt top.  Here's the Dog!  He came out better than I had hoped.  

One more paw and then on to the next face.....  Happy Quilting!

In Pecking Order (Patagonia, AZ)

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker keeps its distance from me most of the times.  At least far enough away that I cannot get a good photo of one.  I usually see or hear them in the higher branches.  Some have even dropped bark on my head...I think they laugh at me afterwards.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female

This female surprised me by landing in a branch hanging over the trail and a big plus - in the sun.  Yea!  I finally got a few good shots of her while she looked for food.

......and I stayed out of range of the flying bark too.

I like watching the different woodpeckers, but there are times when they can be very annoying especially the Gila Woodpecker.  Recently, I had to replace my hummingbird feeder because a Gila decided the plastic flowers were in his way, soooo he pecked them off which lead to drowning several honey bees as they climbed inside to get more sugar water.  I was an unhappy camper about the drown bees, so I found a metal feeder.  NOW, the Gila can peck all he wants!  That flower is not coming off.

same photo from last post - Gila Woodpecker

What got me started on the woodpeckers?  Well, yesterday our gate sensor that announces the arrival of visitors started going crazy.  ding-dong! ding-dong!  We looked out - no car...no person....hmmm......Dan walked out to the gate to see if there were birds or an animal hanging around the sensor.  Yep, you guessed it.  The Gila was pecking away at the lens of the sensor and poked a couple of holes into it!  Goodness, Mother Nature can be a challenge and entertaining at times!  LOL!

On The Cutting Board
When I'm not chasing woodpeckers through the woods, I am busy getting some needlework done on the Cuddly Critters quilt.

The paws and ears are ready to applique, but I need to applique the raccoon's mask and add three muzzles to faces before I add them to the quilt top.

Embroidering the eyes was quite a job!  I should have ignored the instructions and appliqued the eyes.  Oh well, they are all done now.

When I need a break from the applique, I have been getting quite a bit done on the embroidery squares.  The designs are very tiny.  If I decide to make another set, I am going to enlarge them!

I have eight blocks done....

....and...okay, I don't think I'll count the ones I have left to do.  There seems to be quite a few left, but I don't mind.  It is a nice change of pace to sit and embroider these cuties.

Happy Quilting!

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!