I see painting in my future

11 July, 2019; Vail, AZ

Little girls used to live in my house!

Two of the bedrooms clearly catered to a younger aesthetic. 

A check of the carpets with a blacklight showed that the previous family also probably had some not-so-very-well house-trained dogs.  So, the carpets in all the bedrooms will be replaced by tile (also because of my own not-so-very-well house-trained dog!).

So, one of my first projects was to remove all the baseboards from the bedrooms.  

And, of course, that uncovered more termite damage, which had to be addressed.  The termite guys will probably have to come back after the carpets come up - I'm discovering that termites are just part of home ownership down here.

Baseboards ready for re-furbishing; except for the termite riddled ones!

Prep work for painting always takes the most time!  Now, that I've got most of it done, I can start priming.  And, pretty soon, I'll need to figure out the new colors - fun, but fraught.

Yay - lavender going away!

Phoebe supervising and, thankfully, not tracking paint around.

Reward at the end of the day

Is it any surprise?!

10 July, 2019; Vail AZ

I succumb to the appeal of the Sonoran Desert!

I got the house keys on May 15

The desert is very beautiful in springtime!

I buy a house in the middle of it all

I knew that after 3 years of full-timing, my 'requirements' for a new home would be very different from my last home.  I need a feeling of space, privacy, desert views, and lots of outdoor living space; Also, an ice maker, full size bathroom and kitchen (my realtor laughed at these requests!).

I found it all on just under 1 acre of Sonoran Desert southeast of Tucson AZ.  Lots of projects - but at the end of the day I watch the sunset over the nearby Rincon Mountain Range; or, take a dip in the pool!  In the mornings, I drink coffee and watch bunnies, ground squirrels, quail, lizards, roadrunners etc wander around the front yard.

Currently, I'm 'camping out' in my new house.  I have projects to complete before I arrange for the contents of my storage unit in Oregon to be shipped down here (or I drive it down - haven't decided yet).  

Gila Monster in my driveway

I have several Spiny Lizards that share the property

The sunsets are lovely

Phoebe is getting the lay of the land

Roadrunners zoom thru on a regular basis

I think this big guy is a Palo Verde Bug

I'm getting to know some of my other 'neighbors'.  A huge coyote followed us for awhile on a walk recently - staring speculatively at Phoebe (I now carry a heavy walking stick on our evening walks).

As Phoebe takes care of business on her before-bedtime outing, I regularly commune with my resident wolf spider - outside of it's burrow every night.  I've watched several families of Gambel Quail as they herd their little one's around - from the tiny puff balls my friends call 'tater tots', to adolescents, they amuse me and frustrate Phoebe - they're always just out of reach.

So far, I've only seen one snake on my property - a good one hiding in the pack rat trap outside my fence.  It was re-homed a little further away from the fence.

I'm loving it here!

I still plan on traveling a bit - but I'll be reversing the timing.  I'll still winter in the southwest (in the house), but plan on traveling during the hottest months of the Tucson summer - I have some ideas for trips thru Canada and the northern states.  Who knows where the hot summer monsoons will blow me.