Wordless Wednesday - Sit right down and have some dinner

Squirrel chair- in case you want to have a squirrel over for dinner.  :)

Kind of expen$ive, I think, but if you are interested, see link on the right sidebar for information.

From me and Katie, have a great Wednesday, everyone!  :)

Birds at Bluewater

I've been snapping photos of various birds since I've been here at Bluewater Lake, and also found a new one when I was in Gallup.

Great Blue Heron standing by water filled berm.

 

Great Blue Heron walking along in the field.

Mountain Bluebird

Pinyon Jay

Pinyon Jay



House Sparrow at Wal-Mart in Gallup.

House Sparrow at Wal-Mart in Gallup.

 

Juvenile Turkey Buzzards

Turkey Buzzard - I still love these guys.



Look at this little guy - he must be really young, and he's soooo cute!  He's so darn cute, I think he looks like a cartoon! :)

This little cutie is also a juvenile - I think he's a Western Bluebird or maybe a Mountain Bluebird?

Rufous Humming bird.  He looks different in the other photos, but I'm pretty sure that's what he is.

Rufous Hummingbird again.  He is parked right outside my window, constantly scanning right and left, guarding the feeder.

One of Katie's favorite "critters."  She gets so excited when she spots one.

Not a lot going one here.  Birds are flying, bunnies are hopping along, lizards are sunning and campers are behaving themselves.  :)  The weather has been interesting and very changeable from day to day, and even sometimes from hour to hour.  My favorite kind of weather.  I'm here until Thursday morning, then will leave for my six days out of the park, heading to Grants this time with a new plan.  I'm looking forward to it.

The other morning I got under the rest of The Palms and checked for mouse entrances, then I checked out the rest of my outside storage compartments.  I found a few holes to plug, but I'm not sure they had access to the inside living area.  In any case, at least I won't have any critters coming into my storage areas.  So far, I haven't had any signs of rodents in those areas, and now the can't get in.  I still have the interior to check. 

Even though I'm in my all-time favorite campground here at Bluewater Lake State Park in New Mexico, I'm starting to think about Quartzsite, Arizona.  I guess that's my second favorite place, it has such freedom and flexibility as far as where I can park and set up camp, and once I find a place I like, I always put out the solar lights, chairs and table, feeders, flag, etc.  I don't usually bother when I'm only camping two weeks, but in Quartzsite I can stay the whole season in one place if I'm happy there, and I tend to settle in more.  So I'm starting to think about that.  I probably won't start heading that way until September or October so I have a ways to go until we start driving in that direction.

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  :)

RV Maintenance - over and under The Palms

First, I have to show you this little Rufous Hummingbird that has taken over my feeder.  I have a hummer feeder hanging in the Pinyon Pine tree right outside my window and he has gotten very territorial.  There are two other hummers that try to feed from time to time, but little Rufous isn't going to hear of it.

I thought I had seen and taken pictures of a Rufous before, but this is definitely a new hummingbird for me.  His coloring is so pretty, and he also has an iridescence around his neck.  I saw it when the sun was shining just right, but didn't get a photo of it.

This Rufous Hummingbird isn't in my Birds of Arizona Field Guide, so I added him and a little box that I checked off.  (Of course, I'm not in Arizona, but usually any birds I see here in New Mexico are also in the Arizona Field Guide.) 

And this little one below is a female Rufous, I think.  

Along with my friend, Hazel, I've spent the last couple of days checking The Palms and doing some relatively easy repairs, but super important for The Palms and also for my peace of mind.

I was convinced I had a nest of mice in the A/C unit on the roof.  I climbed up there in a mild wind the other morning, and I could hear scurrying around under the A/C cover.  I called Hazel and she came over to help.  I had no idea what we would find when we removed the cover, so I had everything I could think of available on the roof:  Sticky paper, flypaper, ice pick, ant/roach spray, my Grabber, etc.  I was afraid there would be a moving mess of mice and babies running all over the place and I wanted to get as many as I could.

So...   we were ready and unscrewed the four screws holding the cover on.  Removed the cover, ready to pounce, and  - - -  nothing was there.  It was clean.  Turns out there was an 8 x 10 piece of thin fiberboard that was glued to the side and it had bent in half and the half that was no longer attached by glue was quietly flapping back on forth on the unit and the cover, making a scratching sound.  I swear, it sounded exactly like a nest of mice.  Whew.  What a relief that was.

While we were up there, though, Hazel checked out my roof for me and noticed the putty around the refrigerator vent was cracking and needed to be taken care of right away. She said she was surprised I hadn't had leaks in the kitchen.  Thankfully, there have been no leaks at all in The Palms.

Yesterday we got back up on the roof and removed the vent cover.  Then we took denatured alcohol and scrubbed off as much of the dirt/dust on the putty as we could get off.

We used a big spoon to hold a little alcohol at a time and dipped our paper towels in it, then rubbed and rubbed until the putty was pretty clean.  You can see the difference - that little spot by the spoon was the last to be cleaned.  Then we cleaned the sides of the vent and the area around the putty about two or three inches out for the EternaBond tape to adhere to.

Then we measured, cut and applied EternaBond all around the area, covering the sides of the vent and all the putty, out an additional two inches.  It looks like it will last forever.  I sure hope so.

Here's the A/C cover with no nests underneath, and the fridge vent on the right, all cleaned and sealed up around it.

Late in the evening after we drove/walked the Greyhounds around the park, Hazel and I got under The Palms looking for any holes the mice could use to get into the motor home.  We found some, I don't know if they would have given mice access to the inside of The Palms, but surely there is at least one hole that is allowing entrance. Katie and I had another mouse in the cab while we were in Gallup.  That's the fourth one we've trapped (and we've had two others that left the rig, and we drove away without them, totaling six mice in all) and the reason I thought there must be a nest somewhere.  Since we didn't find a nest, there has to be a hole they are using to get in.

Hazel did most of the under rig checking with a flashlight, she's done this with her own rig and knows what to look for, but I got underneath The Palms, too.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I'm a little claustrophobic, not too bad, but enough that I'm careful not to be stuck in small spaces.  The bottom of the rig was far enough off the ground, and light was coming in from all four sides, so it wasn't too bad.  We stuffed steel wool into the holes, and got the driver's side, the rear and half the passenger side done.  I have a little more to do, then I'm going to check the engine compartment.

After that, I'll check out the inside of The Palms for any holes that can be seen from behind the drawers, cupboards, etc. Then Hazel is going to double check for me, to make sure I didn't miss anything.

When that's done, I should have a motor home that will not be accessible to mice.  I had a nightmare about mice running over me in my sleep the other night and woke up trying to scream, that's when I knew I HAD to do more than just set traps.  Wow, that was an awful dream!

I sure appreciate Hazel offering to help when I need it. She's been RVing all her life and has so much experience and knowledge.  It's so nice of her to spend her time and muscle to help.  How many females do you know who would offer to climb up on your roof, and then the same day, crawl under your RV?  Thanks, Hazel!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Katie wouldn't let me near her right rear foot, wouldn't walk on it, and kept holding it up in the air.

Lots of licking.

This picture just kills me.  :(

A day or so later, she was walking as if nothing had happened and I have no idea what was wrong.

From me and Katie (who is just fine now), have a great Wednesday, everyone!  :)

Bozo in the campground. :(

Here's my latest kerfuffle:

This morning, first thing, I pack things up, put my chair outside next to the picnic table to leave in the site to show it's occupied - along with the humming bird feeder and my welcome mat - and we drive out of the site.  We get to the main road and turn right in the direction of the dump site.  I'm driving along slowly, looking around, enjoying the morning and glance over in the direction of my site, across the field.  I see a young man with a big paunch and huge cowboy hat walking from his site, below mine, to my site.  I stop The Palms open my windows and watch him. 

He stops in my site, looks around, and picks up my chair, scrunches it up into it's telescopic shape and HOOOOOOOOONK.  I honk the horn - long and loud.  Nothing.  I press again on my horn, long and loud, and he glances over at me.  I yelled out the window, "THAT'S MY CHAIR."  He waves at me.  I yell, "THATS MY CHAIR.  P U T  I T  D O W N!"  He then walks across the field toward me and says, "I thought you forgot it, I was bringing it over to you."  Yeah, right.  He never even glanced in my direction.  I said, "I'm dumping my tanks, and will be back. That's why I left things in my site!"  He says, "Okay, Ma'am, I'll put it back."   Shortly thereafter, he and his friends packed up and left.  As I was driving back from the fresh water spigot to my campsite, I saw them leaving with their truck and small covered trailer - in which I'm sure my chair would have been if I hadn't seen him.

I did apologize to the nearby campers for blaring my horn, and explained what happened.  They were very understanding and said they would have done the same thing.  :)

This is the same man who, yesterday when Hazel and I were driving her Greyhounds along for their walk, sees the dogs being walked on their leashes while the car is driven, and yells at Hazel from off the road, "That's F#%KING BRILLIANT!   That's F*!KING BRILLIANT."  Nice thing to be YELLING in a family campground at two women in a car.  Right?  His IQ has to be lower than the scheduled temperature today - 86. 

Yesterday one of them was doing handstands in their campsite - not well - I was expecting a trip to the ER for him, and last night one of them was playing with the fire in their fire ring.  I was expecting Fire Engines from that little game.  But all was well, and they are gone.  That's the nice thing about RVing.  If they don't leave, I can.  And of every 100 campsites occupied, probably one has a group that acts like Bozos.  

By the way, when I got back to my site, I made this:

I printed some out on card stock, and will put them in sheet protectors to attach to my chair and also one on the table next time.  I've never had an issue before if I just left one chair in my site, but maybe it's better to be safe than sorry.  I could come back with no chair and someone else occupying my site. 

Feel free to do a cut and past if you want to use that sign, too. 

Oh yeah, one more thing about Mr. Bozo.

As we were driving by The Palms yesterday evening, Hazel says, "Look what's up ahead."  And here comes the cow that I had seen before with the young male and the blue-eyed bull.   She was walking slowly, looking around, approaching the street.

I jumped out with my camera to get her photo, and yelled to the campers nearby, "Look who's coming toward your camp."  I wanted them to see her, and also not be startled when she walked through their campsite.  I snapped some shots, and Mr. Bozo starts yelling and running after her.  She saw him coming and starting running toward the main road. She outran him and kept going.  Would you run, yelling, after a free ranging cow?  And this wasn't a small animal! I felt sorry for the cow, but I'm sure this isn't the first time she was chased away. 

That guy was just disgusting.  Sure makes me appreciate all the rest of the campers.  :)

The funny thing is, there is a hoard of kids in the electrical sites below me where the Bozo and his friends were.  I mean a hoard.  They have been exceptionally well behaved.  I couldn't say bad word about them this whole weekend.  I sure appreciate well behaved kids and their parents.

Every day since we've been back we've had the most wonderful storms.  Following are photos of some of the grey skies and the rainbows that followed:



Dark day at Bluewater Lake

This was a double rainbow that went from one end of the lake to the other.  In the photo you can barely see the second rainbow on the left.

It's raining on the other side of the lake.  We'd get it soon, too.

 

This rainbow was so bright, I could see every color from purple at the bottom to purple on the top.

The temperatures have been really comfortable and we've had beautiful blue skies, then the cloud cover comes in and we start hearing the roar of the thunder and then the lightening shoots though the black clouds.  Then the sprinkles start, culminating in a full fledged heavy rain storm.  Then it all stops.  That happened two or three times yesterday. 

New Mexico has had a fire ban since I was in Elephant Butte State Park, but they lifted it the other day, and now people can have campfires again. That's really good news.  I haven't checked, but I'd guess the fires in the state are gone or well contained because of the heavy intermittent rain storms.   Here in New Mexico they call these seasonal storms Monsoons.  We didn't have them in California, and the rain in the middle of the summer is really nice. 

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)