Hello September!

Hello September, I am so happy you are here!

It means the weather will be and has been cooling down. The days are still a bit hot but it's cooling down more at night, making the mornings absolutely beautiful. Being able to have the doors open, and the sounds of the birds outside can now be heard where ever I am. 

It means dove season started, so from dawn till a few hours after, the repeated sounds of gun shots can be heard. Then, remember those doves that had been hanging around, well they seem to  have thinned out too. I don't understand why they hunt them, but I am thankful they do. Down here, it is a competition.

September also brings just a few birthdays this month! So Happy Birthday to Joel, Dianna, Ken, Serena, Paula, Charlie, Tina, Titou, Dave, Azalia, and our beloved Uncle Joe. If I missed anyone, Happy Birthday to you too!

It also means Labor Day. Which usually includes some type of a stay-cation. Some years we even made a vacation of it. Then this year, that "CRAZY" arrived and we had to cancel some plans, then re-arrange others. I just accepted the fact the things were out of my control. Trying to navigate through the doctors appointments, the re-construction, and the work days of hubby's that just kept filling up was interesting. I accepted the fact that the season had started early and the next time would be November.

When it looked like an opening was appearing that just maybe, we could possibly get away, I found NO VACANCY was my next road block.

So what's a girl to do!

I GAVE it up!

Yep, I had that one on one with the One above! Each morning during my time with Him, we talked about all that was going on. How much I needed this and that. I, I, I, and then it hit me! It wasn't just about me. It also included the workers who have been challenged. The employee who needed healing. My daughter who was juggling more then possible at times. The hubby who had been working hard on those bids. Yes, I had been including them each morning, but more like a side note, ya know, "Oh, by the way God, ..." The blank would be filled with what ever needs he or others might need.

Then it dawned on me. In order for my prayers to be answered I needed to change it around. I needed to pray that their prayers were to be answered first.

My daughters prayers always seem to be answered one way or another by the incredible prayer chain she has surrounding her. I can not take full credit for His presence in her life. I am blessed to be a part of it. She is an example of the "Village" theory. She has become who she is not just by what I could do for her, but by what other also have and had done as well. Her Christian life is an example of how faith CAN raise a child. How faith can heal a heart. How faith can build a foundation.

The prayers for the employee to heal, well he is healing great and he's ready for the season. He has a new spring in his step these days. Could it be!

Oh and how can I forget about the workers challenging this re-construction! Oh my goodness. Without prayers I might have fired the lot of them. All because of one! One that was suppose to lead, led by a bad example. It wasn't their fault. They need the job. So I prayed for them. All of them. What their supervisors said couldn't happen, did! Once again I stood firm on the faith that a way would be found. I understood it would take time. God has time! So guess what is being installed today while I am typing away. Yep! By 1 o'clock PM I will have a kitchen floor!

Then there are those prayers for hubby! When the last of all those bids had gone out, his comment to me was, "With luck..." I immediately cut off his sentence, which is something he absolutely hates me doing, "NO, with prayers!" Instead of getting on me about cutting him off, I get a, "Yay, that too!"

That did it!

Bids that had been out, some for almost 6 months, started coming in, while new ones came in to bid on. Sale leads and service calls are picking up so much that there is talk of having to hire another guy.

Oh, last but surely not least, my pray to get away, ANSWERED!

Yep, my hubby, with the help of my daughter made all the arrangements.

It's not Sedona, but San Diego here we come! Best part is, we arrive Tuesday after Labor Day. Yep, everyone else will have checked out while we check in. Should make for a very relaxing week.

I Pray!

For him, and for others.

There was a time I couldn't quote the bible either. In fact I still can't. I know I'll keep trying. I'll keep studying. And I'll keep praying!

God knows all about "Our Journey Through LIFE!" and it wouldn't be what it is without Him!

Look Who Turned 100 Today!

The Nationals Parks Service!

If by chance you have the opportunity, you can get in FREE to any park from today till August 28th. If you can't get there now, plan a trip for the future. You won't regret it!

Just go to FindYourPark,com!

Our Journey Through LIFE, has had the opportunity to visit a small number of them. We plan to visit MANY more. I just can't wait! I get so excited each time I work on one of our road trips. They always seem to include a visit to one or more.

Last year while on our Road Trip to Orcas I was able to capture so many wonderful photos of that trip. 2,601 to be exact! Traveling over 4200 miles in 13 days took us through some awesome scenery,

Back in May I found out that the National Parks Service does a photo contest. The winners photos become the Annual Federal Recreational Lands Pass. How cool is that!

One is allowed to enter 2 photos per week until December 31, 2016. The photo's must be taken between January  2014 through December 31, 2016. My plan was to submit 2 a week, but we already know how crazy June and July were. With things settling down some, I finally had the opportunity to add 2 more today. Once accepted, usually it takes up to 24 hours, I will share their links as well. I took the time these last few days to work on and prepare a fare number more photos, storing them in their own folder until I can submit them each week. Hopefully that will improve the process for me.

Here are the ones I already submitted back in May. Please, if you would, can you take the time to vote and like my photos. Compared to others, mine are really pretty good. At least I think they are.

Thanks.

Bryce Canyon, Sunrise Point

Sunset Rainbow Point, Bryce Canyon

Dixie National Forest wildflowers

Bryce Canyon, Sunset Point

Something to Chirp About!

Besides hummingbirds, we have had our fare share of others birds visiting as well. Some stay around for awhile, others are just stopping by for a brief pit stop as they head south or north depending on the time of year.

This guy showed up way back in 2006.

Have no idea where he came from. He actually hung around for quite some time. I even ran up to the store for food. We thought if he/she hangs out longer, we should think about a cage. It never came to that as he was gone the next day.

I had a roadrunner hanging out for a brief time as well. Actually, it was during our time of grief that it's brief visit lifted our spirits. My MIL loved roadrunners. In 2002, after her death and while my FIL was here with us on hospice, one kept walking back and forth along the brick wall outside the window. He talked with it as if it was mom. During a time like this, so many experiences and feelings arise. When you have a strong spirituality, being open to what God does, is so remarkable. I believe she did have something to do with it's visit and the timing was perfect to help keep his spirits up and ours. 

After his death we didn't see it for a while. About a year later, while finishing a big brick project I had been working on, on the front porch, the next morning after completing it and it was out there checking out the work I had done. Walking all over it, hopping back and forth. It soothed my soul. You see, during the job, which was quite a chore for me to do, I would pray to God about her son. He was dealing with their deaths his way, and this was how I dealt with my grief, doing projects and gardening. To have her spirit come in the form of that roadrunner worked. The peace I felt will always be remembered. 

Then after our anniversary in 2009, which had been a rough one for other reasons, here it was again. It made itself known that it was here and brought me out of a fog that had blanketed our journey for a while. This time it hung out above and around the trailer we had bought a few years earlier. I guess it had been hanging out there for a while as a friend who was using our wood shop saw it often. I guess she was watching over him too. Finally I got to have my time with it, and once again I saw it as that sign of answered prayers and I knew what I needed to do as I prepared us for the upcoming races. I could be making more out of it then some can believe, but at that time, with the prayers being said, I felt they were answered by its appearance! 

This is what it created just a few days later....

An Easter Egg Hunt at Phoenix International Raceway! Memories made that weekend were so precious and dear to my heart. I learned to not focus on all the problems that had been hanging over our heads. I learned to give them up to the one who can handle them for us, allowing me to see just what He had wanted me too, the joy of a family strong and full of love.

I also learned later that the roadrunners only live about 7-8 years, which could be why we haven't seen it since. It came during a time we needed it's presence to help us through some really bumpy roads, that had us winding up a steep mountain as well. Grief is a journey all its own. 

Little did I know then that the angels would continue to bring me more birds to brighten my days. I just LOVE "God Moments"! From a sunrise, to a sunset, from the birds and the flowers that grow, to all that is Gods. It just fills my soul. 

Then, once again out of the blue in the fall of 2014 I had another visitor. Looking back, I know why, Aggie was going to be leaving me soon..

I heard a screeching that had me go out to see just where it was. Hawks make a very distinct sound. I finally found it perched on a pole overlooking the funny farm. For a number of months it was its place of choice to perch while gazing at the field. With all the baby chicks from the free range chickens and turkeys, that got out of control, (remember when a turkey laid her eggs in the "Grand's" bike area) there was always an abundant of them, making their food supply more like a fast food restaurant. Nature has it own grocery store here. Unless they are domesticated, cooped and corralled, it is just part of the normal food chain and there is no corporation that has control over it. Just God!

Now you know why this guy just LOVES hanging out around here!

Then a few months later...

There were two! I watched them fly and dance in the sky almost every day. It was incredible. I think they made a family, however I never did find their nest.  

I still hear them every now and then but have yet to capture them for a while. Either I see them and had no camera available, or they were flying to far away to be able to capture them. I have a great zoom on my camera but it does have it's limits. I hope I get to capture them again, they are just so beautiful.

Now this year I have had some birds that I don't know exactly who they are. I try to capture them as best I can. You just can't get a bird to sit still! Unless of course you have a feeder! I am getting better at it though.

This guy or gal thinks it's a hummingbird? I have to startle it for it to leave the feeder because its weight weighs the feeder to one side and spills all the nectar. Why doesn't it eat from the other feeder in the yard. I guess maybe I should add more. With the assortment pre-made feeders for all type of birds, hanging a couple more wouldn't be a problem. Before I know it I'll be buying the feed in bulk!

Then there is this guy or gal. I wonder, could it be one of the hawks babies or a relative? What do baby hawks look like? Google helped some. I'm just not positive though. The beak doesn't curl down. So I don't know what kind of bird it is.

Since I am not an ornithologist, and I might be having a hard time identifying most of them, one thing is certain, I am not giving up.

While searching the internet to find out what kind they were, I did find and ordered a few books.

They should help.

I also found a poster

Unfortunately I also have plenty of pigeons and doves. Honestly, sometimes I can't tell them apart. The pigeons and doves have taken over a couple of the palm trees. It's like a condo for them. Pigeons on the left, doves on the right. Hahaha! Humor is a must. Getting someone out here to give me a quote to trim or remove, has even been a joke. I'm sure it has to do with the weather so I'll be patient till the weather cools.

They are my dirty birds! They make a MESS! Plus the doves drop ticks and I am tired of dealing with them too! These guys just hang out everywhere though!

What's a girl to do?

I do not shoot to hurt or kill, just to scare them off. I don't know how I would feel if I actually hit one! It's not some high powered air rifle though. I doubt the BB's would really kill them, but still, I don't even want to find out.

With the mess aside, it is a blessing to be able to enjoy the peacefull mornings, while experiencing all these flying beauties. Their songs are magnificent. Reading about their habits have been interesting. Who'd of thunk I would become a bird watcher in my golden years! This could be fun!

Hummingbird Moments

 

 

 

Another "2 WEEKS"!

It could possibly be even longer then that with the track record they have going right now!.

I wonder if all their jobs are this unorganized or the lack of knowledge on how to make it right?

Finally the owner of the company came out and he was able to adjust things better, and I will just have to live with the now smaller gap between the stove and counters.

It's better then the half inch gap that was there. I walked away when they couldn't decide how to fix the problem. "Every time I walk in here and see that gap, I am going to think of your company and not in a good way!" A half hour later, after much banging, they figured it out and got it as good as they could. I can't help but say, "I told you so!" Had you removed the counter and cabinets separately like they should have been, this wouldn't be an issue now. I was shocked to hear him ask how the cabinets had been removed. We had to explain to him how they did it. Then for him to say how impressed he was that they moved this huge bank of cabinets and granite as a whole, I couldn't help but add, "Had they done it right from the beginning we wouldn't be dealing with these issues we are, yet again." It also confused me because the foreman made comments a few times that he was in contact with him. Seems that wasn't the case.

The owner left saying the guys would be back that afternoon to finish the grouting. Of course the foreman calls a couple hours later that they had to order the grout and would be Friday before they will get back. Really? "We bought it at Home Depot, it was a standard color?" His response was that they have changed shades and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I finally said fine and ended the call. I will not be able to believe what he says from now on. And guess what? He never showed up Friday, nor did he call that he wasn't. No one has called about the flooring either.

I can tell the foreman really doesn't like dealing with me. His perception of my home being a trailer, set the stage a long time ago. His comment, "We do it like this all the time!" set an example of the type work he does. There is nothing trailer or manufactured about my home. It's permanently set and has no axles or wheels under it. There is not a single piece of fake wood or wall paper panels in the entire house.


I believe I have been very polite and VERY patient!  We told them from the get go this was a custom kitchen. Our insurance covers replacing what was here with the same, not builder grade stuff. Because it is a manufactured home that we remodeled, their system generates replacements based on manufacturers suggestion, not what was actually here. Whoever did their estimate messed up. A computer program can't see what I have. So now they are dragging their feet as they complain about billable hours and extra material cost. I am so very sorry their profit margin took a hit on this job.

Oh, to add more frustration on top of aggravation, we are still waiting for the flooring that hasn't even been ordered! I picked it out almost 2 weeks ago. As of yesterday, it still hasn't been ordered because it hasn't been paid for. I wonder, should I just go in and pay for the materials and this company can adjust my bill. It might save me money since the flooring I picked out was $2.69sq and the foreman told me it was $3.09sq, I tried to correct him but he wouldn't budge. The estimate from the insurance company has it at the $3.09 as well. As I see it I am under budget, not over as he claims. I think we need to visit the flooring company today. I can't wait to see how that goes!

Maybe, if we are lucky, it will just be another "2 Weeks"! We'll see.

Bumps are getting bumpier on "Our Journey Through LIFE!"

Tovrea Castle

Monday was my annual appointment in Phoenix.

Afterwards we had some time to do a little exploring.

I read an article from azcentral that there are 3 castles in the Phoenix area, I immediately plugged their information into my phone just waiting for the opportunity to arise.

The 3 castles are The Tovrea Castle, The Coperhaven Castle, and The Mystery Castle.

We had the time to at least find one of them this time.

Tovrea Castle was built by Alessio Carraro and his son starting in 1928 and finishing it in 1930. His vision was to develop the desert with a resort and a subdivision called Carraro Heights. Unfortunately trying something like this during the depression, financial stresses caused the sale of the hotel and a portion of the property in 1931 to E.A. Tovrea, who then died less then a year later. E.A. wife lived in the castle until her death in 1969.

We weren't able to take the tour as it is only open Fri/Sat/Sun, September through June, and closed July/August. Just our luck, right. It is highly recommended that you book a reservation well in advance as they will sell out and "walk-in" tours "might be" considered based on availability.

Maybe we'll try again, or just look for the others next time up. We just never know where Our Journey Through LIFE will take us next, but we sure do enjoy the journey and love being surprised by were we end up sometimes.