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 Where has the year gone? All we need to do is blink and it is a new month already. As we get ready for Thanksgiving, it's time to reflect on what we are thankful for. As usual we will be having our friends over for dinner. I guess I'll be long gone from this earth before anyone else out here gets a full kitchen to cook in. I hate to cook but there is nothing hard about cooking a turkey and dressing. Our friend Nancy is providing the pies this year so that is one less thing to do. We invited a total of 10 people over this year but 5 of them had other plans.

 As for myself, I am so grateful for my good health. Here I am 68 years old and am on no medications. All Pa is doing is some eye drops for his eyes and that is it! How many people our age do you know that is taking no medications? Not too many, I'm sure.

 Second: I'm so grateful that we get to live out here away from the hustle and bustle of the roaring crowds. Pa went to Vegas a couple of months ago with plans to visit all sorts of old friends. He came home early because he couldn't stand the traffic and all the stuff going on it the big city. He did take the time to go to Costco and the 99cent only store. I love Kirkland Tuna! And Kirkland coffee and just about anything that Costco sells. Oh why can't we get a Costco in Show Low? Please!!!

 Third: I'm grateful for all our friends, old and new. There are people here at the ranch that we can depend on if we ever need help with anything. We help them also. We actually had company this year. When we moved here everyone said they would come to  visit and never did. Pa's brother came last year and this year we had visits from my Vegas daughter and her family, our dear friend from Salt Lake, Pa's best friend since high school and his wife and Pa's daughter and husband. It was a bonanza year for visits. So those of you from Illinois and Alabama need to get off your butt and come for a visit! And all you Vegas people who haven't come yet, bring your ATV's and boats and get over here! We have 300 miles of dirt road to play on and there are all sorts of lakes within an hour's drive. We fished a couple of times this year. Trout fishing isn't near exciting as Stripper fishing like at Lake Mead but they sure are tasty!

 Fourth: I'm really grateful that I never get bored or lonely out here. I love the stillness and quiet. I love watching the birds and other wild life flitting around. I have my craft room and belong to the PaperbackSwapClub so never have to buy books, just exchange them. There is a small library in town that I frequent once a month or so. I've become friends with a crafty lady who works in the post office. She's been here and I've been to her house. Since she works full time, it's hard to find a day we can get together to craft. And I have my two girlfriends in Holbrook who both work, so it's hard to schedule time with them also. I've not seen any new women at the ranch. For some reason, it's men who move here all by themselves. They are either divorced or never been married. Where are all the pioneer women?

 I could go on and on about the things I'm grateful for but I'll talk about my garden instead. It was pretty much a waste of time. My tomatoes never ripened so I only got to can because Tom gave me some of his tomatoes. Pa brought me 10 bags of cukes from the 99cent only store so I was able to make 8 quarts of pickles. The bunnies ate the green beans. The wind blew and dried up all the blossoms on the strawberries. I did get a nice crop of carrots for the first time. I froze 4 quarts of them and ate the rest. My rhubarb just fell over and died so I don't know if it will come up next year. I had a great batch of grapes on the vines and the birds ate them when they were the size of seeds. It's growing on the fence so I don't know if I could put a bird net over them to protect them. This next year, I'm planting thorny blackberries since my thornless ones didn't do a thing in 3 years. Turns out thornless ones start over every year from the ground where thorny ones start growing again from the previous vines, like grapes do. I've decided next year I am only planting the basics, not anything exotic or anything that takes up lots of room by spreading out over the garden. I did save the seeds from those organic mini sweet bells and got a nice crop of them but my regular green bells didn't do much. I bought them from Lowes instead of grew them from seeds.

 Let's see, what else is new? I've been posting on Facebook which is why I haven't kept up the blog. We have the ranch running pretty smoothly so there isn't too much exciting to write about.

 We do have a resident Roadrunner and he's lots of fun to watch. I wish there was a wild bird food for Roadrunners. They make sounds like a dog whining and a purring sound. He seems to like my truck to perch on. I saw some dried mealy worms at Lowe's and thought of buying a bag of them.

 One of the residents here had a big blow up with the rancher because he cut his fence and ran his cattle thru his property. Words were exchanged and the rancher said he would kill the resident and his dog. A couple of months later, someone messed with the residents propane tanks and he could have blown himself up if he had lit a match. He called the sheriff and they wouldn't even come out. A few days later, someone knocked the tops off the propane tanks and that could have been a disaster if they hadn't been checked first. The sheriff isn't interested in finding out who did it.

 We haven't been doing much of anything around here. I'm always up to go exploring but when I mention it, my words fall on deaf ears. Guess I could go by myself. I still want to go to El Morro National Monument which is only a couple hours away. Maybe next year?

 My mom will turn 90 in January and I am trying to figure out how to show up and surprise her. I'll either have to fly out of Phoenix or Vegas.

 Here is a picture of a rainbow that was just on the horizon. I've never see one like that.

 Most of the sunset pictures were taken on different days. Just beautiful

Pa just got back from town with my lunch so I'll say good bye for now!

Oregon

 BAD BLOGGER!  Yep, that's me. I just haven't had anything important to say that I thought you would be interested.

 I drove to Vegas, July 3rd to see my Vegas daughter and family and flew to Eugene, Oregon on July 4th.
For the last time ever, I flew on Allegiant Airlines. Taking off from Vegas, the plane was an hour and a half late. My bag was 5 pounds over and do you think they would give me a break since the plane was late? NO! So there went an extra $50.00. Flying out of Eugene to go back to Vegas, the plane was 4 HOURS LATE TAKING OFF!!!! Yes, I said 4 hours. I got the text right as I was dropped off at the airport. There isn't a thing within walking distance of the Eugene airport so a lot of unhappy fliers got to sit around and wait.

 One of the trips my mom, her hubs and I took was to Jacksonville, Oregon. It is a very old quaint town with little boutiques with very large prices. We walked around for a bit and found a little Mexican restaurant that didn't charge an arm and a leg for a taco and had lunch. We were going to take a bus tour but just missed it by minutes.

 Since it was the middle of the week, it wasn't too busy.

 I love old buildings!

Here's mom and Richard taking a break.

 We stopped at a park on the way home. It was so beautiful. After living with everything brown, it was so nice to see green, green, green.

This house was on the other side of the lake and we thought it would be a  nice place to live but the current residents weren't about to vacate just for us.

 Another day we went to the Oregon coast. It was one of those rare times when it was clear weather inland where my mom lives and clear weather at the coast. I haven't seen the ocean in so long!

 This is the Heceta Head Lighthouse sitting on the edge of the cliff. I think the white house might have been were the park service people lived.

 There are all kinds of coves along the coast where you can get out and dabble your toes in the water.

 Of course we didn't come prepared with a towel to dry our feet so we just absorbed the cool, moist air. My skin felt so alive!

 As I was busy snapping pictures, the battery in my camera went kaput. It is one of those you put in a thingy and plug into the wall so I couldn't run to the store and buy some double AA's.

 I grabbed my mom's camera and snapped to my hearts content until.......

 we went to the aquarium in Newport, Oregon

 Mom and Richard

 I took lots of pictures at the aquarium but got lots of flashback against the glass.

 Jelly fish anyone?

 I dare you to stick your finger in there.

 Cute sea otter

Right after this, the batteries in my mom's camera died so that was it for taking pictures. The rest of the time at mom's, we played Scrabble ( she won every time!) went for walks, ( she's 89 years old, walks 2 miles a day and still drives) hit the thrift stores and visited.
It was a great time of the year to go because the garden was planted but not producing so Pa had the watering duties. When I got back he said he thought something was wrong with the green beans . When I went out the next morning to water, there was a baby bunny nibbling on them. I chased it out of the garden and plugged up the hole where it got in. The garden is not doing well this year. Tom is already canning tomatoes and mine are barely producing. He said it is his best garden ever and for me, mine is the worst.
Dinner is calling my name....oh wait a minute, that's Pa calling my name telling me to fix dinner so I had better run for now. Sorry this is so short!

WVR Dog Pound

 It appears that we have become the dumping ground for stray dogs.

 You already met Sadie. She was such a sweetheart. I wanted to keep her but Pa said no.

 I found her a good home in Eager which is next to Springerville.

Look what showed up last week! Two of the sweetest Rotties on this earth. I named the old one Grace and the young one Hope. They were so friendly and loving. As usual we scouted around to see if anyone was camping at the ranch and didn't find a single soul. As you know, we live in the middle of nowhere so the only way they could have ended up here was to be dumped. I really wanted to keep these beauties but we found them a good home where they could be inside and not have to lay in the dirt all day. They took to their new owner right away. Wonder what will show up next? Maybe a horse! Can I keep it, can I keep it?

Our friend Luis took us fishing at Show Low Lake. It is right behind Home Depot in Show Low. We didn't even know it was there. It is really beautiful!

 Pa and I bought new fishing rods and got our fishing licenses. We left at 6 in the morning, stopped at McDonalds for breakfast ( Pa hates McDonalds and threw his breakfast sandwich away) and off we went to fish.

 Luckily we brought chairs and lots of fishing gear. Unfortunately, Pa woke up with a very stiff and sore neck and wasn't feeling very well. But being the trouper he is, he just sat there with his line in the water and didn't move very much.

 I haven't fished in years so Luis took me under his wing and got my hook put on my line, baited my hook and cast my line out. I was bound and determined to cast my own line and after a few practices, got pretty good at it. It was pretty breezy which was a God send because as usual I was totally unprepared for the sun. The breeze kept me cool.

 We were fishing right from this spot. Down the embankment.

 We really need a small boat. Got one you want to give us?

 Choppy water

 There is the dam.

 and guess what folks! I caught the first fish! My arms were burnt to a crisp. I finally had to take my shirt off, drape it over my shoulders and cover my arms. I wish I would have worn my sunglasses because even the rims of my lower eye lids got burnt. We were only planning on staying till noon......

 Luis caught the second fish

 and the 3rd fish. His last fish got caught on a rock while he was reeling it in and he couldn't get it to shore. I was standing ready with the net and he was so distressed that he would lose his fish, I finally waded out with my shoes on and netted it. He was so happy. It was the largest fish caught that day. Poor Pa didn't catch a thing. Can you believe that? He has been a mighty fisherman for years and for him to not catch anything is unbelievable. He felt so rotten I don't think he minded tho. Luis gave us all the fish. Next time I am taking a long sleeve shirt, using sun screen and wearing sunglasses. I was thinking of making me a jacket using shade cloth from Home Depot! At least I didn't get over heated like I usually do and get sick.

My poor garden and flowers. Critters have been having a feast. Until last year, we hadn't seen any ground squirrels (chipmonks) but this year they have been skipping about all over the place. I got out one of my handy dandy Harbor Freight traps and managed to trap 4 baby ground squirrels. They were so darned cute, I couldn't do them any harm so I took them two miles down the road and set them free.

We've had dozens of mice and rats fall in the buckets of water that we set around to get rid of them. Are we ever going to run out? There must be millions of them.

 So here is one of my hanging baskets that used to be full of Petunias.

 Here is where they ended up.

 This is what it is supposed to look like.

 This is one of my desert Spiderworts after a rabbit turned the cage over and ate it.

 Here is what it is supposed to look like. We have to cage everything to protect them from varmits.

 I took a cutting from our cottonwood tree and it's doing quite well. That cage thing is protecting my yellow rose bush.

 Pa made this horse trough thing for me to put plants in to protect them from the bunnies. He cut a pipe in half and welded on legs. Not too pretty but by this time, half the plants would have been eaten. I'll bring them in the house for the winter.

 Once again, I'm growing my own milk. Did you know this is what a dairy farm looks like? Ha ha. This is how we protect our garden plants until they get big enough so the critters won't want to eat them. The last row is Okra and the other rows are green beans. If we don't do this, the critters will either dig them up and let them lay there or else eat them.

 Cantelope and cukes. I had to replant everything because the ones I started in the house died. I think starting them in the house is a waste of time. The plants are stronger when you just plant the seeds outside to begin with. I don't think you gain any growing time because the seeds catch up to the starter plants.

 Mutant tomatoes. They are finally putting out some new green branches so they might produce after all.

 I had grapes this year but the birds ate them all.

 I really only wanted the grapes for the leaves to add to my pickles to keep the pickles to stay crisp. It actually works.

 In order to get things to grow here, you have to keep shade cloth on the plants for the entire growing season. We are so high up ,6000 feet, the sun just bakes everything.

 There is spinach and bell peppers growing in here, plus two tomatoes that I thought were peppers.

 The broccoli is doing great. A guy in town said no one in town grows broccoli and was surprised I have such good luck with it.

 This is yellow squash. I should cover it up but I decided to see what it would do in the great outdoors.

 a green bean! Almost the entire planting came up this year. Remember when I had to plant green beans 5 times before getting a single bean?

 Something ate the zucchini so I had to replant.

 This is the first year I had any luck with carrots. I read on someone's blog to make a row, sprinkle seeds in it, cover it with vermiculite and then cover with burlap. Leave the burlap on until the carrots start to grow and get a good root system and then take the burlap off. I had to put shade cloth over it so keep the birds from eating the tops off the carrots. Something ate almost the entire first row this year.

 I planted 25 garlic bulbs and 24 came up so I hope we get a good crop this year.

 A full 6x6 bed of red and yellow onions. When I planted them, they bulbs were all dried up so I didn't think I'd get anything. I was astounded to see almost everyone started growing.

 My dill came up from last year right in the middle of my everbearing strawberries. The berries were kind of stunted until I put a shade cloth over them.

 I should have covered my June strawberries earlier. I think they cooked before putting any berries on so I don't think I'll get anything this year.

 another replant thanks to the wind knocking my milk carton over and some dastardly creature ate my plant.

 One of my apple trees. This is the 2nd summer for them

 This one is a Gala. I needed it to pollenate my Honeycrisp. Hopefully, I'll get an apple or two next year.

 This is our peach tree. Unfortunately the one we planted last year didn't make it so we had to buy another one.

 Our Cherry tree. First year. I ordered a Cherry and an Apricot but got two cherries. Oh well, Pa loves cherries. My plum tree didn't make it so we dug it up and took it back to the store and got a refund. I'll get another one next year.

 Some bird has made a nest under the water tote. This is the first nest we have seen here altho we have plenty of birds. I wonder if it is a hummingbird nest but it looks too big.

 Our caged Lilacs. This year, the furthest one put on some blooms but the wind came up and dried the blooms out before they could open. Maybe next year I'll put some plastic around it to protect it.

 This Mugo pine has been here for 3 years and hasn't grown at all.

 3rd year for my Peoni and it has never grown a blossom. Notice the BBQ grill over it? Keeps the critters from digging up the bulb and eating it.

 another example of  critter protection. Unfortunately, they ate my Wisteria and Petunias before I put the rack over the top. I noticed that they are growing back thol.

I've been wanting a wind chime that bongs and found this at Tractor Supply for $30.00. Ones this size at Lowe's run $50 or $60. They were on sale for 25% off and then I used my refund for the plum tree and bought this one. It sits right outside my craft room and is so relaxing to hear.

Speaking of crafts, my cutting program crashed and I lost over 4000 cutting files. I recovered the ones I purchased but the ones I made myself are somewhere in the great beyond. I had just backed them up the night before but was unable to recover them. Luckily, I shared them with my two girlfriends in Holbrook so one of them is going to burn me a copy so I can get them back. There were a few I didn't share so they are gone forever. I discovered that Windows has a backup program so I am using that to backup everything and storing it on my new external hard drive. My other one is full of digital stamps and craft paper. I don't download as much digital craft paper anymore due to limited computer time. I wish computer time wasn't so expensive out here off the grid. We pay close to $100 a month for 15 gigs. Pa is on the internet a lot when the weather is bad and he can't be outside. We can't watch watch anything on Youtube or any other videos because that really eats up those 15 gigs.

Alrighty then, that's it for now. We are going to Nelson Reservoir near Springerville/Eager to go fishing tomorrow morning. Luis said he caught his limit in less than an hour on Friday so we are hot to trot! I'll take pictures and post them here some time next week. Take care, ya hear?