A Cat At Last

This is Mickey.

Isn't she lovely.

We first met her seven years ago when Sara brought home a kitten for her children, who I was looking after while she worked.

For some reason the kids, the oldest barely five, decided to name her Mickey, just like Grammie's best friend.

She took a close interest in the activities of the young children in her family.

At a young age she suffered the indignities of the "Cone of shame" as she recovered from her spay surgery.

Over the years as she grew up and her personality developed, Mickey became a neighbourhood legend.  It started with her catching moths and butterflies in the back yard, and rapidly progressed to mice, birds, baby rabbits and even a sizable bat.  She would bring these treasures to Sara and expect her to be grateful for the gifts.  I watched her one afternoon as she patiently tried to teach their other cat, Percy, to hunt, having provided a live mouse for him to practice on.  She was amazingly patient and clever but unfortunately Percy just didn't have the hunter instinct and Mickey finally gave up on him.

She showed Percy that the mouse was hiding in the wheel well
of the plastic truck

but when Percy still couldn't get the job done, Mickey
did it herself

Even non cat lovers like Lloyd finally admitted that Mickey was special, and developed a lot of respect for this independent amazing cat, who had the run of the neighbourhood and would stay out overnight in the dead of winter only to show up a couple of days later, wondering why her people were so worried.

Cold!  Pffft!  It's only -30.

Circumstances changed, as they have a way of doing, and Mickey was left alone so much that Lloyd took pity on her and asked Sara if we could adopt her and bring her to Lethbridge with us.  Once permission was granted we wasted no time bringing her home.  She was an excellent traveller, only meowing a few times as she lay in the cat carrier on the back seat of the car through the five hour drive to her new home.


Not knowing how she would react to her new home, we decided to not let her out for a few days so she would get used to the house and being here with us.  On her third day with us we let her out in the backyard.  She spent fifteen minutes or so exploring and then came back inside.  Feeling confident she was used to the new house, on the fourth day we let her out again and she promptly disappeared.  We searched for her, talked to the neighbours about her, put lost cat notices in mailboxes, on the internet and in the local paper, but to no avail.  Finally, on the fourth rainy night that she had been missing, at 3:30 in the morning, Lloyd heard her meowing outside the window.  We couldn't believe she actually found her way home, cold and wet but none the worse for wear.

Lloyd and Mickey - who's the boss?

After a couple of days, we let her out again and have been doing so ever since and she seems content to stay close to home.  I'm waiting patiently for my first 'gift' from her.

She's a good cat.  I'm glad she's living with us now.

   

A Golfer's Dream

My husband loves to golf.  That is one of the reasons we spend as much of the winter as possible in Arizona.  Round about 1995 my sister's husband introduced him to the game.  Twenty years later he's still swinging away, having got  many of his friends and family involved as well.

Randy and Lloyd

He loves the game - the feel of a good swing, the crack of the club head hitting the ball, the chance to be out in the sun (and sometimes cold and rain) for four or five hours at a time, and the challenge of getting the little white ball into the little hole so far away from the tee.

Lloyd trying to avoid the water and sand hazards

And he's pretty good at it.  He learned quickly and gradually improved his game, peaking at very respectable scores, shooting scores that included pars, birdies and even an eagle or two.  Gradually, as age crept up along with its companion, diminished health,  Lloyd's sons and friends began closing the gap between their scores, even beating him occasionally.  But he loves the game so much he is always pleased  to rejoice in the successes of his golfing buddies.

Some family golfers in Arizona this winter

He has organized two annual tournaments, The Coquihalla Challenge, usually held in Alberta or British Columbia, and The Desert Classic, which the guys hold in Arizona every winter, complete with a trophy for each tournament which has the names and years of each winning pair engraved on them.

He was especially excited last fall when our oldest son, Rob, got that pinnacle of golfing glory, a hole-in-one!  An occurance so rare outside of professional golfing that many long-time golfers haven't even been in the presence of a hole-in-one being sunk.  We were so proud that at last someone in the family achieved this goal.

Rob, teeing off

And then it happened.  Lloyd was out golfing in Arizona in February this year with Randy, the brother-in-law who introduced him to the game, and a couple of other golfers when, with one mighty swing of his club from the tee box, the ball flew, dropped, bounced and ended up in the hole.  The mighty Hole-In-One!  His excitement knew no bounds!!!  He could stop now and be happy.  His goal has been accomplished.  But he won't, of course.

Lloyd, with his hole-in-one ball, watched by
his mentor, Randy.

What a great golfing winter it was for a great golfer.  Ya did good Lloyd!

What a Year So Far.

My blogging has been sporadic, to say the least.  It's been such a busy year so far.  We spent three months in Arizona, with company coming and going steadily.  I didn't have a lot of time to document everything we did. Lots of fun though.

We got home to Lethbridge on April 16, and on April 17 we were on our way to Edmonton because our middle daughter, Sara, was having a baby six weeks early because of her hypertension.  I was to help out at home with her four children while she and Mike spent the next two weeks at the hospital night and day with little Bruce Wayne Lush.  For obvious reasons, we call him BatBaby.  (Bruce Wayne...Batman...)

Anyway,  Bruce was delivered by C-Section and weighed 5 lb, 6 oz...just a little guy.  The first time we saw him he was all hooked up to tubes, respirator, iv, etc. and looked like a little alien baby.  The nice thing is that as soon as he was born Sara's high blood pressure went back to normal and her gestational diabetes disappeared!

Sara finally meets Baby Bruce

Our first view of our 22nd grandchild.

The dedicated Dad.  Mike spent many hours over the
next couple weeks sitting and sleeping in that chair.

It was so nice to be able to sit there and hold him, but we
were all impatient to have the little guy home.

After two weeks they were finally allowed to bring Bruce home and work him into their daily routine. I stayed for an additional week and came home again when Sara felt ready to cope on her own.

A very exciting arrival of the newest addition to our family.

The Wind, She Blows...

Its been a bit windy here in Surprise, AZ lately.

South Mountain Park

Thanks to a good friend, Lloyd and I have discovered a new fun place to visit in the Valley of the Sun here in Arizona.  I'm amazed we didn't know about it sooner.  The Phoenix area is surrounded by old mountains...totally different from the ones we're most familiar with in Alberta, but beautiful regardless.  South Mountain Park provides a view of the entire valley, after a twisty turny road to the top.  It is so amazing that we went back twice in the past month...once with our daughter and grandsons, and again yesterday with my friend, Mickey.

The Ranger Station

Lloyd, Micah, Jenny and Nathan on the foot trail

The road up the mountain is twisty, turny, steep and narrow making driving a bit of a challenge, but we finally made it to the summit.  There's a nice little park up there and a wonderfully cool stone structure called Dobbins Lookout.  Apparently it is a favorite point for taking pictures.

Phoenix, in the distance, down the mountain and far away, as seen from
an opening in Dobbins Lookout.

Mickey, with Phoenix over her right shoulder.

Looks like I'm standing on top of the world.

Micah making his way down to the shelter at Dobbins Lookout.  The
valley was spread out as far as you could see from up there.

Jenny, Me, Micah and Nate in the lookout.

At the foot of the mountain there's an old deserted trading post called Scorpion Gulch...a very interesting spot to explore.

Jenny, Micah and Nate at Scorpion Gulch.  Micah was disappointed
he didn't see any scorpions on his first trip to Arizona

An ancient cactus towers over the buildings, and the boys.

A better view of the trading post and adjacent building.

It looks like it might have served as an inn at one time.

Mickey

We watched as a trail ride set out from the neighbouring ranch.  I
heard a mother saying as they set out, "Dianne you have to relax."
I don't blame the poor girl for being a bit tense.  Hope they had fun.

If you ever come to Arizona, this is a must-see.  Picture don't do it justice.

Birds of a Feather

We've had lots of company here in Arizona these past two months, which has made life interesting and fun and busy.  During our quiet times though Lloyd and I have enjoyed peaceful mornings relaxing in the back yard while being entertained by the multitude of birds who make their homes in our trees and cacti.  The air is always full of birdsong and someday I'd like to be able to identify the birds by their songs.

For the first time since we've been coming here we've been visited by a pair of Gambel's quail...so fun to watch them as they scurry through the yard on their way to somewhere else.  I love their distinctive little black topknots.

Lots of hummingbirds visit our yard.  There's always something in bloom that attracts their attention.

I'm not sure whether or not this is a hummingbird or another
small bird.  He/she built a nest between the spines on our
toothpick cactus.

This hummingbird was very cooperative and perched on the
ocatilla long enough for me to take several pictures of him.

We hear and see the Gila Woodpeckers a lot.  They have pecked sizable holes in two of our saguaro cactus and lay their eggs inside them.  They've also been pecking holes in one of our large palm trees.  Aside from the knocking sound, they have a very nice voice.

There are other birds around that I've been unable to identify.  I think this is a mockingbird.  There are a lot of them around and they make a wide variety of sounds.  I took this picture outside the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, but we have lots of them around our neighborhood.

I think this one is a cactus wren.

 and maybe this one is too.

The mourning doves are the first ones we hear in the morning.  They have a lovely soft cooing voice.

We were so excited the other day when a roadrunner scurried across the road in front of us as we were driving down a busy road at the edge of town.  The first one we've seen.  Of course I didn't have my camera ready, and he was too fast anyway, so this picture is from a Birds of Arizona website.

This is another bird I've had a hard time identifying but I've seen him/her in the yard several times.

There's nothing quite as peaceful as sitting out by the pool in the morning listening to all the birds.  I think I'll go out there now and relax.

Have a lovely day today.

The Giant in our Yard

Lloyd and I been in Arizona since early February and have a chance to watch spring come to our yard.  We've picked and eaten tangerines, lemons and oranges from our fruit trees and watched as other sleeping plants revived.

The most amazing plant this year, to us at least, was the blossoming of the Argentine Giant.  We planted it about six years ago and it has grown a lot since then but we have never seen it bloom.  When Mickey and I were here last year it was just on the verge of blooming when we had to leave. It bloomed the next day we were told, the flowers only lasting a day or two before wilting in the Arizona heat.

Last year's buds

I've watched it these past few weeks as buds began to appear, taking pictures of its progress and sending them to Mickey back in Edmonton. She will be arriving on Sunday and has been hoping the giant would hold off blossoming until then.  But nature waits for no man, or woman either apparently.

We noticed the buds changing throughout the day yesterday and we're sure it would bloom this morning.  Surprise, surprise!  When we went out last night well after dark there they were! Blooms!  Large beautiful white blossoms!  Apparently Argentine Giants are nocturnal! Who knew? We were so glad we didn't miss them.  They're a bit fuller this morning and even more beautiful.

What we found last night

Close up of one of the larg beautiful blossoms this morning

So that's our excitement for today - Argentine Giant in bloom.
It was worth waiting for.