Happy Birthday, Gavin! ...Eclipse of the moon

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It looks like we have other new followers because the number is higher, but the follower grid isn't showing me the new people, it seems kind of out of order, too. If you're a new follower and I've missed you, please leave me a comment and let me know.  Thanks!

Yesterday was my grandson, Gavin's, 7th birthday.  The family went to dinner at Fish House Vera Cruz last night, my favorite restaurant, and today he is having a big party at their house.

 Gavin - playing Catcher in baseball game

I called him yesterday afternoon to wish him a Happy Birthday, and he said there will be 13 kids at his party, games, cake and ice cream, and of course, lots of presents.

Gavin at the Padres' baseball game

Have a wonderful time at your party, Gavin!  Seven is a big milestone - the age of reason.  You're definitely a big boy now and Grammy is very proud of you!

It's been quiet around here the last few days.  Hazel and I have gone into town, and into Parker to the Wal-Mart, Carol took me with her to the library and I checked out a couple of mysteries, and I've meet up with the Dingbats (that's what this group has been called for many years) for the social hour, and that's about it.

We had a total lunar eclipse last night, or I guess it was this morning.  I tried to get some photos of it, but it's so hard to hold the camera completely still, and I don't have a tripod.  I got a couple of pretty good photos, though.  I seem to be able to get very clear photos of the moon early in the evening, but not later as it rises.

Full moon last night as it was rising - I've never noticed the bright spots before.

I wonder if they are solar flares. Click on the photo and you'll see the bright spots.

Beginning of the lunar eclipse

I took 57 photos of the moon, and these two are the clearest I could get. I just couldn't get the camera completely still so almost all the pictures were blurry.  It was pretty cold outside (it was 43 degrees in The Palms, so outside it must have been in the 30s), so I went back in and turned on all my heaters and made a hot cup of coffee.  When I went back out, the moon was gone, it must have disappeared behind the mountains.  It was pretty cool to see the moon slowly changing from the beginning to the full eclipse.

Lunar eclipse almost complete.

The photo below is Carol and her Basset Hound, Dumbledore, who wants to get into Delores' rig.  Katie wanted to go in the other day, too.  I think Delores must have good stuff simmering on the stove, because the dogs sure smell something good.
 
Don't you love the look on Dumbledore's face?  You HAVE to click on the picture to really see it.  He's clearly begging his mom - Please, can't I go in??? Carol is explaining that, No, he can't go in.  We've got some great dogs here.

Dumbledore and Carol

Here's another tree the birds love -

I counted 24 birds, but there might be more.

These two are sunrises yesterday - the colors were beautiful:

Sunrise Friday

We have the most beautiful sunsets here!

The weather the last couple of days has been beautiful, very warm and calm.  No wind!  Still really cold at night, but the days have been great.  More and more rigs are coming in. Most of the spaces along the wash where I'm parked are taken, and more rigs are coming in every day. Still lots of room, though.

And that's about it.  Nice and quiet and relaxing - just like retirement should be!

From Me and My Dog, have a great weekend, everyone!  :)

Squirrel 2 - Quail 0, and First bonfire of the season

I have a hummingbird feeder on one window, and a bird seed feeder on the other large window.  I'm getting Verdins and hummers at one, but no birds have come yet to the seed feeder.   I bought a huge bag of seed and wanted the birds to get some, so yesterday I decided to toss some of the seed on the ground for the quail.  I was in the kitchen and looked out the window and there were 15 quail pecking at the dirt.  I put the seed in a few places, so they were moving from place to place, and then back again.  I just love the way the look.  Does this look like a very sophisticated hat, or what?

So the quail were having a great time pecking at the seed.

Then our squirrel arrived on the scene.  In the photo below, he's getting ready to spring up at them, and the quail both quickly jumped out of his way before any contact was made.

Then they settled down and seemed to be eating the seed side by side, and everything was okay.

Then suddenly the female came too close, and the squirrel went into attack mode.  It looked like he went flying up and hit her.  The bird flapped and jumped - you can't even see her in the photo below, except some feathers. I don't know if she's covered in the dust, or under the spread feathers.  The male bird fluffed up and spread his tail feathers.

It was over in a second, no one was hurt, and then they ate side by side again.

This little squirrel is so entertaining.  He always seems to be into something, or doing something funny. When I see him, I get the camera ready, because something's going to happen.

Last night I was just lowering my blinds, when I looked out and saw the bonfire.  I couldn't miss the first fire of the season, so I bundled up, put Katie's coat on, and we walked over to join the group.

It was a perfect fire. 

Sitting around the fire, it was nice and warm.

Katie by firelight.  

She didn't know what the heck was going on.

As soon as we got back to The Palms, Katie was ready for bed.  It was early, but she was ready.

Good night, Katie. 

Last night's moon.

Yesterday was a good day in Quartzsite!

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

A little squirrel story for my grandkids

Don't worry if I don't blog for a few days.  Lately it seems like there's so much new happening and I want to get it down or I'll forget.  But I know the time is coming that Quartzsite will not be quite as exciting or new to me, after a few weeks that's bound to happen, and when it does, I won't blog so much. Also, when I go to town and I'm gone all day, I'm usually too tired to blog.  So...  if you don't see a post for a few days, don't worry.  Katie and I are still here doing fine.  But thank you for your concerns, they are appreciated.  :)

The other thing I wanted to say is that I don't mean to sugar coat Quartzsite.  It's new and exciting and very different, and the fun hasn't even started yet.  But it can also be cold, windy, really dirty because fine sand blows into everything. Quartzsite, from my perspective so far, is a great place to live very inexpensively, make friends, and shop for anything and everything you could ever want or  need.  Already it has a carnival atmosphere.  Bring some WARM clothes, warm hats, good gloves and lots of dust rags, and you'll be fine.

I bought two pair of knit gloves today for $2.00, they fit perfectly and are really warm. I also bought a little collapsible rake for $6.  There are definitely some bargains to be had here.

And now for the squirrel story - it's for my grand kids, but you're welcome to read it:

is that a bin of food over there?

I think I'm going to check it out.

Here I go!

Let's see...  What's in here?

OMG!  It's my favorite seeds!

Yum, this is good.

Hee, hee hee.  She didn't catch me!

I'm off to find more food, bye!

This little guy is a Harris's antelope squirrel.  (Thank you, Doug and Shiela!)

Tomorrow I'll post photos of our first campfire of the season, and a squirrel fighting the quail.

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

This and that from The Palms in Quartzsite

The weather hasn't been the greatest the last few days.  It's been overcast and windy for the most part, although today dawned bright and blue, which is nice for the solar panels.  It's been in the mid-forties in The Palms in the morning around 8 when I wake up, and the first thing I do is get the generator and heaters going.  When it's warming up, I turn them off and turn on the catalytic heater until we're warm.

Sunrise yesterday

I've been having a problem with my generator not charging the batteries.  This has been going on for days.  I wrote an e-mail to Ron tonight, my solar guy, to see if he had any suggestions, because he is an RV expert, not just solar, but before I got an answer back I figured it out.  All the "guts" of my solar and my converter are behind my drawers, under the closet.  So I took out the drawers to make sure the converter was plugged in, and it was.  Then I took off the cover of the power center, and lo and behold!  I had a tripped breaker.  I fixed it, and now the generator is charging the batteries again.  Who knew?  I guess I should have, I know if I have too many things on at one time I can trip the switch at the electric outlet in an RV park, and I guess if I'm using the generator for power it's the same thing - too much trips the breaker.  Now I know.

The funny thing is, most of my "issues" are such simple fixes, I just don't know about them yet.  Once I know, then next time it will be a simple fix.  I keep saying to myself, "Rookie mistake,"  "Rookie error,"  when I do something dumb for the first time, or miss one of these simple fixes.  As a rookie I'm entitled. :)

Yesterday I left the campsite and drove in all directions, dump/water was south, propane was north, RV place to check out my generator (service dept is closed on weekends) was west, and grocery shopping, bookstore and laundromat were east.  Everything is minutes away from everything else here.  There is a map of the town that costs a dollar, it's sold everywhere, and it shows all the streets and the main places to shop. Well worth the price.  I highlighted the places I wanted to go, then I went next door and asked Hazel where's the best place for this or that, and she helped me pick out other spots I needed.


Side note:  When I was in the grocery store, I asked if there is a good bookstore in town.  Yes, everyone said.  Right down the street a couple of blocks.  They started talking about the owner of the bookstore, kind of a local legend - and the man who drew the original map of downtown Quartzsite that's sold everywhere. The man next to me said, "I was just there, and he's wearing clothes right now, so it's a good time for you to go."  Apparently, he is often naked.  Hummm...  There are photos of him in his nakedness in the bookstore, and he actually is wearing something - I don't know what it's called, but it's very small, and not a fig leaf.

Grocery shopping is pretty expensive, unless you can find what you want at the Dollar Store.  I can see a trip at least once a month to Blythe or Parker to stock up.

There are a few laundromats in town, the one on Main Street is very large and clean and has a couple of employees watching over things, keeping the machines clean, etc.  They also have showers for $6 for a maximum ten minute shower, and a cafe attached that is supposed to have pretty good food, but I was there between the lunch and dinner, so they were closed.

I left my site around 10 in the morning and by the time I got everything done and back to our spot, it was after 5, and I was tired!

It seems like most people in Quartzsite find an area they like, then a spot they like in that area, and come back year after year to the same spot if they can get it, or close by if it's already taken. The people in my area are a good group and have known each other for years, it seems.  They meet at around 3 or so every afternoon outside someones rig to have a little chat and touch bases.  If you want to go, you're welcome, if you don't - that's okay.  This afternoon around 4 I noticed three people sitting by one of the rigs across the way, and then another neighbor was walking over, so I took my chair and Katie, and we walked over, too.   It's the first time I've walked over and joined them, I guess I was feeling the need for some company.  There ended up being five of us, and it was a nice gathering, but chilly, so after a while we broke up and went back to our warm RVs.

They have a big fire pit kind of in the middle of the group, and if someone wants to light a fire, they are welcome to do so, and anyone interested can bring their chair and join in.  It was the general consensus today that a fire doesn't sound good yet.  Too cold, although tonight it's calm.  I hope the weather gets warmer than it has been, when I first got here I was wearing shorts, but not for a while.  It's pretty much layers now, and my hooded wool coat may become my favorite piece of clothing.

This is our large fire pit.  Behind it is a monument a member made for others who are not here anymore.  Their names are on it.

Our firewood - one of the men got these pallets for us, and cut them up with his chain saw, and we stacked them.

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Katie stole my pillow!

Hummer - grey with darker grey head

This little guy has some red on his breast

 This was taken as a close-up, through my screen. 

It looks like she is carrying eggs?

When these quail run, they stand up tall and run fast.  So funny.

My neighbors - Val, Hazel and Fleur 

Sunset

Good night.

From Me and Katie, who is snugly in bed and fast asleep, have a good Sunday night, everyone!   :)

Katie's beautiful neighbors, and look at this moon from last night

I welcomed Jeff and Sheryl Bright  the other day, and didn't see their blog, but they definitely have one.  Thanks Sheryl for letting me know.  They are in Las Vegas, and staying a bit longer than planned because of Jeff's sprained ankle - ouch!

Hazel and I took our dogs for a short walk last evening.  Aren't they beautiful?  That's Fleur in the front, a female, and Val, short for Valentine, is a male, behind her.  They are both very well behaved.

Fleur is more energetic than Val, who is very laid back, but she is also a couple of years younger.  I think Hazel said they are 8 and 10 (or maybe 9 and 11).  They are rescue Greyhounds.  Such sweet, happy faces, their snouts go on forever.  I'd love to have a rescue Greyhound.  I've heard nothing but wonderful things about them.

Val and Fleur 

We were rocking and rolling last night!  There was a wind advisory for the area, in fact a lot of areas, so I folded up my chairs and laid them down by the door just in case. 

 Female Gambel's Quail

 Ground Squirrel

And away he goes - look at the beautiful colors on his coat.

Common Ground-Dove

 Ringed Turtle-Dove

Last night's pink sunset. 

 Last night's moon - click on it and you can clearly see it's craters.  

It's hard to believe I took this with my Nikon hand held digital camera.

As I said in my last post, I asked Judy which book she would suggest for me to help identify the birds I'm seeing.  She recommended  "The Siblely Guide to Birds."  My neighbor, Hazel, has the book and loaned it to me to try it out and see if I want to purchase it.  She also has the app on her smartphone with the same info the book has, so I could get the book or the app.  I used her book to identify the birds above.  I knew they were quail and doves, but not what kind. I think I am going to get the book.  If I got any wrong, let me know. 

Today is cold and windy.  I was up early to help stack some firewood, but because of the weather and other circumstances, it didn't come off as planned.  I kind of landed in the middle of a group that has come here for years, and they have a large, deep firepit.  More about that later.  For the rest of the day, Katie and I are going to stay inside and keep warm.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)