Another sunset…

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Rd, Winterhaven, California 

Another beautiful sunset here on Dec 14, better late than never! I’m sure you folks tire of the photos but I enjoy them. These photos were taken with my iPad. There is truly no way to capture the same fiery colours with technology that you see with the human eye. However it is beautiful and definitely worth sharing.

Nightly chats with dad, a few with sister Jan, SIL Barb, my other daughters Courtney and Bradey, and friend Linda. The overall news, Manitoulin is getting hammered with snow, heavy and wet, light and airy, thick flakes, tiny flakes, straight fall and blowing and drifting. It is also in the midst of rain, heavy downpours, lightly falling and misty. Did I mention the fog factor? The snow now is like a layered cake, ice, ice crystals, more snow, etc.  The lean to roof that covers a tractor and dad’s travel trailer has sagged, about 2 feet of ice and snow had to be taken off. It would not simply slide off as usual, it was actually frozen to the metal and require a great deal of labour to get it off. All is well, nothing was damaged but the roof will need some reinforcement in the spring. My daughters both live in southern Ontario, one in Toronto and one in Brantford. Both are doing well and neither have much snow.

The days here are much the same, so far we have only had a couple of windy days. A day of clouds, but mostly sunshine with cooler temperatures. We are now closing our door around dark and most of the windows as well, it gets too cool inside if we don’t. We have ventured into Yuma a few times, groceries, fuel, drinking water, Amazon pkgs, miscellaneous things and lunch. Yesterday I restrung one of our blinds, it was easy but I could have did three more in the time it took me to do the first. We cleaned up the inside of the Dogsled, something we haven’t done since we arrived in the desert. We have also been trying some new recipes to add to Riley’s cookbook. Traditional recipes with a long list of ingredients and many steps to follow result in wasted time, ingredients and the desire to cook. Google truly is our friend for things like this!

The moon is a little whimsical as the sunset steals the sky.

We hooked  up, emptied/filled the necessary tanks, and upon arriving back on Ogilby Rd drove past our previous spot for one a bit farther down the pad. I’m certain Deb D will remember when Jim and Barb  came to visit overnight, the next day they headed off only to have to turn around and come back to get out. We are now parked down that pad, we like it better here. Yes we have to go the wrong direction to get back to the road out but it’s much like leaving home in the fall, north to go south, so we are kind of feeling more at home here! It is a big spot, room for friends, or just more room for us to spread our stuff around!

This is just a note for myself and Sammy ( my mechanic) there is no need to offer advice: the check engine light has been off since Dec14th, the idiot tire light is inconsistent with temperature and humidity but always goes out. The tires are at the proper PSI. There is no difference in performance or fuel consumption, just as Perry said regarding engine light. It is a curious thing, we drove to rest area to take our trash, shut it off and when I started it again the light was off and so far has stayed off.

A little catch up on the tractor operation, the new steering installed works great after bleeding the lines to get all the air out. A new paint job on the hood and  (new to this tractor) grill, it looks like a million dollars! It steers better than before, which will make it easier to use in the bush during wood cutting, tree hauling and the many other chores it handles.  No pics, sorry!

The moon is playing peek-a-boo.

We once again offer our condolences toAl Bossence in the passing of his beloved Kelly. We never met them but feel as if we have known them for years as I have read Al’s blog for so long. Kelly wore many hats in their family and will be sadly missed but never forgotten. We also once again offer our condolences to Contessa and Colin Jewall in the passing of her aunt and his brother recently. We have never met them either but I have followed along on their adventures as well.

So that’s it, we are all caught up now, thanks for stopping by, I do hope you enjoyed the visit. Just in case I don’t get a chance to post, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and the happiest New Year. Eat, drink and be merry but stay safe.

Until next time……

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

Art or Junk?

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California 

Lots of photos today.

The sage is brown this year.

The arroyos are very dusty.

I love the sky.

The road along the power lines.

Things are quiet here, and we like it that way. I have gotten back to walking on a more regular basis, reaching my goal of 6000 steps more days than not. I’m happy with that.

I wonder if someone uses this to rest an arm
on while sighting in on the bucket.

He had to come down the power line road.

The Imperial Sand Dunes way over there.

We are over there in that group of rigs.

In the next couple of days we will hook up and dump the tanks but we will move to a different spot when we come back. We find this spot too open for us and will move a bit farther down to a spot that we have visited a couple of times while walking. I think we will like it better.

Someone moved these rocks to make a compass. It is accurate too.

Someone moved these rocks too but over the years people have added things.

Lots of snow and then rain on Manitoulin Island over the past number of days. Lots of slush to move, and it’s too early for the snow banks to be this high. It will require either the big blower or a clean up using the bucket of Jason’s big Cat. They can push it with the quads but it gets skinnier and skinner with each heavy snowfall. So glad we are missing that weather.

On my walks I have often come across many things. You decide, art or junk.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

Some visitors dropped by….

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Rd, Winterhaven, California 

It has been quiet here for the most part, very few daytime aircraft flyovers but for a while the early night time flyovers were low and loud. We have been sticking close to home, a few errands in Yuma and of course a few trips to the Rest Area on I-8 for trash deposits. Otherwise we go no farther than our feet will carry us.

An FYI about the rest area on I-8, they have removed the water spigot, it is completely gone, no remnants of any kind. Some very big new white posts in that area. The building that was in the middle of the roadway near the previous water location is also gone. There is a new building in the middle of the rest area, near the bathrooms, that has a spiked iron fence around it, it appears to have an outside water connection unreachable inside that fence. There haven’t been any workers around during our stops there to ask about water but maybe in the future.

Belated Happy Thanksgiving America! We had surprise visitors show up that day, Jerry and Elva Shannon dropped in driving Gerry’s new Jeep. A nice quick visit but alas no pics, sorry. Later Riley and I enjoyed a Thanksgiving lunch of salad, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn. I forget if we had dessert!

Today’s photos are of two different sunsets, Nov 25 and 29. There have been few spectacular sunrises or sets this year but these 2 sets were worthy of pics.

I chat with dad every night, sister every few days and have even managed a couple of chats with friend Linda over the past week. The weather on Manitoulin is cold, snowy and mostly overcast with a fair wind blowing those squalls off of Lake Huron. A rough guess from dad, they have about a foot of snow. Brother Rick has already shoveled off part of dad’s roof as the snow from the big roof slipped down to the lower one but decided it had fallen far enough and stopped. Dad thought it was about 3 ft deep up there. It is way too early to be shovelling the roof!

We are both a little under the weather with sniffles, sneezes, headaches  and in Riley’s case a wee bit of a sore throat. I’m wondering if it’s allergies as everything is so much dustier this year, very little green of any kind. No fevers, no coughs, no watery eyes, nothing like that. We aren’t sick but a tad off. It tends to make us lazy feeling this way.

I liked this one so much I posted it twice. Lol.

Last night we had another surprise visitor at the door. Not anyone we knew, but a pigeon landed on the silver step plate at the bottom of the door and stuck his head in through the magnetic screen. I hustled quickly over to shoo him away least he come in and think it was his coop. It stayed around all night and I heard it leave just as dawn was fighting for a foothold this morning. It was very odd.

Now why do you ask is there a magnetic screen on the door? It is there because our rig has no screen door, just a very long door window that will tilt open. It became obvious to us that we needed something to keep out flies, bugs etc, and this is an easy solution.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

It’s been a week since my last post…

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California 

We’ve had a few very warm days but the nights cooled off for sleeping. We are happy to have our flannel sheets! We have journeyed into Yuma a couple of times for groceries and to just get out of the Igloo. We have been walking more mornings than. We even went to Algodones to pick up some prescription medication, but we literally just went to the pharmacy and no where else.

Some painted rocks left behind at a site down the way.

The deer hunt back home went well, Rick and the boys came away with 2, and Leah’s party ended up with at least 2. All in all a good hunt. Jason ended up in the ER with a badly cut finger, I believe stitches or glue were used. 

We parked here our first year in the desert.

I’ve been chatting with Dad and sister, keeping up with latest news from the Rock in Lake Huron. A little of the white stuff, some heavy frosts, glum, overcast weather, in other words fall has arrived.

The Imperial Dunes
and the All American Canal.

Our thoughts are with the Bayfield Bunch as they face challenging times ahead. There are no words or gestures that will help, but we like many others are thinking of you.

On a morning walk..

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We are in California….

 

Our Location:

BLM Ogilby Rd, Winterhaven, California 

 We had the wheels rolling this morning at 8:07 am, and finished dumping the tanks and depositing the garbage at La Posa South LTVA ( long term visitor area) by 8:38 am. We took AZ 95 south all the way to I-8 west in Yuma and it was shortly after 10:00 am when we entered California. Within 15 minutes we were searching for a place to put feet down. The two spots we had in mind are both occupied so we checked out a couple of others before settling into this one! We had everything completed for a quick setup inside and out by noon. At 12:15 pm I was chatting with Dad’s answering machine.

The Guns of the Proving Grounds.

Crops are just coming up here.

The roads were excellent, no slow downs or construction disruptions of any kind. Some new hardtop for a long distance, with only one very rough patch in the whole trip, 10 lengths of the rig at the beginning of Ogilby Road coming down the off ramp. It is always the same there. Ogilby Rd is getting a bit rougher as well but overall is good.

This one is closer to harvest.

It was a bit breezy when we were setting up. In Q the wind was steadily coming from the north, northwest since our arrival a few weeks ago. Today’s winds were from the south, southwest. Can you guess which direction we were heading? It was a slight breeze but really!

I never tire of this view.

Familiar views.

A very basic setup but we are relaxing, we both had a nap already.

We have a few plans for the next couple of days but I will not be posting for a bit. I do promise to give an update by weeks end.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Until next time…….

Take care, stay safe,

Deb