Storming like crazy

Right now it's raining cats and dogs and hail - thunder and lightening.  A really good storm.  The temperature really dropped.  I'm barefooted and wearing shorts, and suddenly my legs and feet are cold.  I just love this changeable weather this time of year at Bluewater.  Katie and I took a nice walk this morning down to the Visitor's Center to chat with Hazel, and while we were there, a big rainstorm came up.  By the time we left, it was dry and good walking weather. 

The sun has been out, and then suddenly, this storm - WOW, I just saw lightening and immediately there was a thunder clap that almost stopped my heart.  It was CLOSE.  I love this.  (I hope we live through it.)

Anyway, I just had to post while the storm was going on.  So exciting!

Here are some photos from yesterday. More hummingbirds - the Rufous did well feeding, as well as the male Black-chinned, but the female kept sticking it's beak over and under and around the hole in the middle of the yellow plastic flower.  It even hopped on top of the feeder and flew under, testing the underside with it's beak.  It always finally made it to the food, though.  I thought the feeder was leaking through all the seams at first, but no, she was just looking in all the wrong places.

 

 

 

They are so beautiful and entertaining, I love taking photos of hummingbirds!   :)

And during our evening drive, Hazel and I had a nice surprise and saw a horse family by the lake.  A stallion, mare, yearling and baby.  We were losing the light, so these are pretty flat, colorwise, and only these photos turned out at all.  Hopefully more horses will be back.  With all the rain, we have lots of grasses and ground cover for them to eat.

Beautiful Mare and her Baby

Look at those long legs.

Staying close to Mom.

I can't believe it, but it's still raining with thunder and lightening.  So, I'm going to Publish this and go back to enjoying the light show and all the noise.

From Me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

Hello from Bluewater Lake - again :)

A couple of commenters asked how I did the photo posted in Wordless Wednesday yesterday.  I love good, free programs, and this was done with a free program called Funny Photo Maker.  It has a lot of different options to use for your photos, and some of them are pretty funny.  You'll probably be seeing a few more photos I've changed with that program in the future.

We drove back to Bluewater Lake yesterday morning and tried out a new campsite that lots of people seem to like.  It's right on the corner of two roads, a main road and the end of the loop I was in last time.  For me, though, there was too much traffic, and every time a car drove by, I had to look up.  Very distracting for me. Also, I like to have a tree close so I can hang my feeders and watch the birds. These were a little too far, and since I had other options, I decided to move at the end of the day.

At around 6 pm I looked down the road and our campsite from last time was still vacant, so we drove over there.  I really like the campsite we're in now and we'll stay here for the next two weeks.  I was lucky that all the the sites I like were vacant yesterday, so I really had a choice.

I put out my hummingbird feeder this morning and have already had one hummer.  And look what I saw when I looked out the window a few minutes ago:

Female Hairy Woodpecker.  Now, that's a horrible name, isn't it, for such a beautiful bird.

I took this one through the screen and was surprised it is so clear. I was afraid if I moved to get a shot through the other window, she'd fly away.

I don't see a red cap of feathers on her head, so I think she's a female.

I saw this guy last time I was here, he is a male - see the red cap on his head?

I have to show you this photo of a big rig that parked on the street where I was overnighting a couple of days ago.  I went over and talked to him.  He said this set up is 100 feet long, and when he adds all his trailers, as he did last week, the rig is 120 feet long.  How would you like to drive something this long?!?

I was talking to volunteers here at the park, Kathy and Don, yesterday evening, and they told me that El Morro, which is about 60 miles from here, is now fee free to enter and/or camp.  Hazel and Cari and I drove there last year and walked all around the visitor's center and took one of the short walks.  I don't remember driving through the campground, but since it's free now, I'll be heading there for my next six days out.  It's a beautiful area with lots of things to see and do.  So now I have what I hope will be an even better plan than Grants for next time. 

Katie and I were walking after a heavy rain during our last visit and there were three large mushrooms in the dirt that had sprouted. On one of them was a beautiful blue beetle.  I did some research and found he is a Pleasing Fungus Beetle.  He was about an inch long. I've never seen a blue beetle before, and found him very interesting.  The black dots are actually depressions, and from what I read, he is black with a blue wing cap. 

Pleasing Fungus Beetle - and what do you know...here he is on a fungus.  :)

I don't usually post photos from other sites, but this one really shows this beetle and the black dot depressions, and the color is so much brighter.

Photo by Jeff Mitton.

 A big Welcome to our two new Followers:

Ramble Ann has only been blogging for a couple of months.  She and her husband have their house in escrow after only a month on the market - WOW - and they are going to be hitting the road in an RV.  Ann is into photography, so I'm sure her blog will have some good photos of their travels.  She didn't post much about the sale or their RVing future, so I hope I have that right. Check out Ramble Ann's World - it's interesting and varied and I've enjoyed reading it. (Ann, your first post didn't mention that it's your first, am I correct that you are a new blogger?  I love your header!)

Eileen from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of our blogging neighbors to the north.  She actually has two blogs, a little of this, a dash of that and Kitty Korner.  Eileen has been blogging since 2011 and keeps up with her posting on both blogs.  I have trouble keeping up with just one! Check them out, the Kitty Korner blog has lots of photos of her three beautiful cats, and a little of this, a dash of that covers lots of subjects.

Welcome aboard to you both!  Katie and I are happy to have you along with us! :)

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

Wordless Wednesday - The Me and My Dog Museum

My Grandkiddles - in the Me and My Dog Museum.

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

Still hanging out in Grants

To answer commenters who asked why I don't go to another NM state park during the six "out" days, there isn't another park near here. This is probably one of the few parks that isn't near another park, and I don't want to spend the time and money to drive to the nearest parks closer to the Colorado border.  I also don't want to pay to stay in an RV park.  I don't need hook-ups, so why pay to park overnight in an RV park?  I will do that if necessary, like I did last June when it was too hot or in January when I was recuperating from surgery, but under normal circumstances, I'd rather just blacktop it and get my errands done.

And honestly, I don't mind blacktop camping at all, as long as it's safe and the weather cooperates (not too hot).  This time out, we did our shopping the first day, took care of Katie's vet visit the second and took it easy yesterday.  Today I did the laundry and we'll return to the campground on Wednesday.  Easy peasy this time around.  :)

This Wal-Mart (at Grants) is not a large store and there aren't a lot of RVs or big rigs overnighting here.

I am parked along a fence with fields and mountains in the distance and Prairie Dogs running around in the dirt along the other side of the fence.

A Prairie Dog family. (Sorry it's blurry, but it was so cute to see them all pop out of the hole and stand up together.)

We went into the town yesterday and experienced panhandlers at both place we parked, so I'm going to keep to the Wal-Mart and Love's, where we haven't been bothered at all.

The Palms parked at the Grants city park. 

Katie and I took a little walk, were bugged by beggars in the park and I decided to move further into town.

This poor man (I think he is a man) on the right and his poor sister are trying to get enough money to go home. Sadly, I failed to contribute to their travel fund. :( 

When Katie and I were walking around the little park, I heard duck quacks, and saw that across the street was a little lake and another small park.  We walked over and saw lots of ducks and a couple of geese.  

Quack Quack!  Look out, here comes a little fat dog.

When Katie and I were walking along the little path, a butterfly flew by us, and I got a couple of shots.

It flew over my head and swooped down - I thought it was going to land on Katie's ear and if she had been standing still, I think it would have.  It decided to swoop past her and then it flew away.

We left the park and I pulled in across the street from the Library, which was closed because it was Sunday, and immediately were accosted by another beggar.  He knocked on the driver's door, and I closed the blind on that side, so he went to the front of the cab and stood there looking in the window.  I vigorously signaled him to MOVE AWAY.  He stood there for a while looking like he didn't understand.  Hey, isn't the Federal Government giving Native Americans a monthly allotment?  I used to know a man who had some Native Indian blood.  He was a successful businessman and didn't receive government checks, but he explained the process to me.  These people who beg in New Mexico look like full blooded Native Americans, so they must be getting something. Ya know what I mean???

Tomorrow I'll top off my propane tank and gas tank and early Wednesday we'll drive up the highway back to Bluewater.  I think there is an Indian Casino somewhere around here.  I'll have to check it out and find out where it is.  Next time maybe I'll overnight there for one night.

So far this hasn't been a bad idea at all.  I'd have no problem spending my six days out back here at Grants again.  It gives me plenty of time to take care of errands.

I'm sitting here at Love's Gas Station (I got the very end spot again) watching the big rigs come in and park. It's amazing how they maneuver those huge trucks and trailers and back them up perfectly into the spaces provided for them.  Makes me feel like a little gnat. :)

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

Okay, here's the plan....

We drove to Grants yesterday. It's only 27 miles from Bluewater Lake, and has a Wal-Mart and a Love's Gas Station, so that is where Katie and I will stay for the next six nights if all goes well.

Last night we stayed at Wal-Mart and tonight we are at Love's.  I was lucky to get an end spot, so at least I won't have a giant generator on both sides.  So far, so good.

I don't think I posted a photo of the campsite I was in for the last two weeks.  This was a nice spot -  big, very level and no close neighbors.  It is a drive through site on a one-way road, and there wasn't much traffic on the road. 

Across the street is Bluewater Creek, way down in the canyon. I couldn't see the canyon or the creek from my side of the street, we had to walk across to the edge and look down.  It's very green and pretty down in the canyon, and I was told there are beavers down there, constantly building dams.  I'd love to see and photograph them.   I haven't taken that hike yet, but hope to in the future.

We had such a storm yesterday!  Hard rain, hail, loud thunder and crackling lightening.  The rain was so hard it actually flooded the ground and all the little depressions in the landscape were filled with water.


Hail in the campground.

  The following photos are views out the windows.

These are photos taken out the window before the rain and as it was pouring down.  I could hardly see out the window, and the wind blew the hummingbird feeder right off the tree.  Later that day it was down on the ground under the tree.

Soon afterward, the water had been absorbed, but the ditches that were dug alongside the roadways were full, which, of course, is why they were dug.  All this rain has really increased and greened up the ground cover all over the park.
 

The ditch alongside the road to the lake was completely full.  Hopefully the Wal-Mart and Love's parking lots are on high ground.  I'd hate to float away. :)

Katie had her annual vet check-up this afternoon.  Hazel had been to a local veterinarian here in the Village of Milan outside of Grants that she liked, so I made an appointment for Katie to have her annual shot, check-up and also have her nails clipped while we were there.  I've been lucky so far that she has been very healthy.  All went well, and she's done for the year. 

She was super insulted at having her temp taken, she HATES anyone to touch her butt, and having her temp taken, well...  I wish I had my camera with me.  LOL.   She did fine with the shot, but really didn't like the nail clipping.  The nurse had to hold her tight while the vet did the clipping.  Poor thing.  The only surprise was that she weighs 14.5 pounds.  I thought she was around 12 pounds which is where she should be.  We're going to be cutting down on the treats again. 

She couldn't stop smiling when we got back to The Palms.

She is sleepy tonight, in fact, she's already been in bed for an hour. 

She usually starts out on the blue blanket, then later during the night she'll snuggle in her bed, but tonight, she started out in the bed.  The Vet's nurse said she would probably be extra tired for about 36 hours with this shot, and I guess that's what's happening.  Sweet dreams, Katie.

And from me and Katie, sweet dreams to all of our readers, too.  :)