Sunday, October 30, 2011

October 30, 2011 ~ Sunday

Last night, we got to sleep all night!!  Ruby had a much better night and didn't wake me up any more often that she usually would and if she did stir, she went right back to sleep, curled up in a ball at my side.  It felt so good to have a good night's sleep once again.  I'm getting TOO OLD for this "new baby in the house" routine.

Ruby is off the heavy pain meds now and has her personailty back.  She is getting around a little better with her cast too........

Judy went up to her Dad's to watch a football game with him; they will probably BOTH sleep through it.  I made a lasagna for her to take up and bake for their lunch.  I will have left-overs for dinner.....yummy!

I am meeting one of my scrapbook friends for lunch tomorrow at Red Lobster.  I'm really looking forward to meeting her in real life after 10+ years of "knowing" her on-line.

I sure miss my "hands-on" scrapping!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Octover 28, 2011 ~ Friday

Judy thinks she may have a broken rib......she is still really EXTRA sore from her fall.


This is her knees, 5 days later.....the right one (in photo) has the worst damage on the surface, pretty deep and nasty.  The left knees probably took the brunt of the fall and is very swollen and sore.  With her immune system compromised like it is, it takes a long time for things like this to heal.

We are still feeling like new parents with a newborn in the household....translation: sleep deprived.

Poor Ruby has such a hard time getting comfortable with that cast on her front paw and she will fuss....also, having a hard time going potty and that makes her fuss until she FINALLY just goes....and goes.....and goes..................then, she will settle down and sleep for awhile so we can catch a few hours.........and so it goes........she does seem more alert today and not so fussy so maybe it's not hurting so much.  She sleeps soundly with her pain med on board but then she doesn't eat or drink so we can't just keep her snowed all the time.............

We have TWO little cuties outside our front door now..........Jesus and Maria.........


He likes the damp ground where the water drips from the over-head A/C

Thursday, October 27, 2011

October 27, 2011 ~ Thursday

Ruby came home about 1 pm yesterday.  12 hours later, I was feeling like a new mom and so sleep deprived.  She was so fussy and we thought she probably had to go potty but just couldn't figure out how with the cast on her leg.  FINALLY, she was able to go potty and all the fussing stopped and she went to sleep.  We all slept through the night!

We saw an adobable baby Horned Toad in our new site (we moved the RV yesterday to a "safe" spot.  We had the RV nearly set up when we discovered the trees in front of us blocked the TV reception when the wind blew.......SO, we had to find a differnt spot and do the "set up" process all over again.  NOT FUN!)

Anyway, the little toad was so cute!!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

October 25, 2011 ~ Tuesday

Well, today started out cooler and sunny and we had no idea it was going to end so badly.

Judy had Lucy and Ruby in her arms, tripped over the broken concrete outside our RV and fell, scrapping her knees until they bled down her shins, and dropping both of the dogs on the cement. 

Lucy came out of it ok but poor little three pound Ruby is  now at the Emergency Vet's for the night with a broken right foot.  It broke 2 and maybe 3 bones...it wasn't broken as badly as the vet was afraid it may have been and he is hoping it will heal up with just a splint and not need surgery.  We can pick her up at 7 am in the morning.  We will have to take her back weekly to have her splint lining changed and so they can check out how her foot is healing.  All this to the tune of 1300 dollars.........that HURT too!  (Lucy had her teeth cleaned this month to the tune of 800 dollars....)  We REALLY need to take the time to sign up for pet insurance!!




Judy is sore from the fall and we have cleaned her knees and bandaged them up.  She cried and cried over dropping the dogs but I keep telling her that's why they call them "accidents" and "accident happen".  It's just so sad for her....those dogs are her life!

October 17, 2011 ~ Monday

Today we got around early, before it got hot and went to Camp Verde, to an area where they dumped the reject stuff from an old  salt mine.  After we were there awhile, you could feel the salt on you and your lips were salty.  (We didn't have the girls with us.)






We really had fun hunting for crystals and found what we "think" are some great items.  We are going to take them into town to the local "expert" so she can tell us what we found!  It was a really fun time but neither of us could take much of the physical part of it so we didn't stay as long as we would have liked to.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Misc stuff


Where I get the truck washed in Tucson, they have pet rabbits to enjoy while you wait!


Casey was here when Judy had her last infusion.  When we picked her up afterwards, she had us park the truck and come see some ants she had observed while she was waiting for us to arrive.

At first, there were four trying to carry this but two got tired of it and left....the other two took it all over the place but had a hard time getting it where they wanted.....




You know you are "in the old West" when you see:

Moore's Gulch
Happy Valley Road
Little Squaw Creek
Outlaw's Mini Mart
Table Mesa
Coldwater Road
Horsethief Basin Recreation Area
Bloody Basin Road

and then there is the area we all want to avoid:

Big Bug Creek

September visit with Ryder James, my first great grandchild

Aunt Tammy and Ryder

Me and Ryder

Daddy Jon and Ryder

Grandma Suzy and Ryder

Jerome State Historic Park - Jerome, AZ October 2011

I wish we had taken more photos in Jerome.  The "town" part of Jerome reminded us of San Francisco....very narrow streets, and scarce parking for all the interesting little shops that lined the streets.

Jerome started in 1876 when three prospectors staked claims on rich copper deposits.   They sold out to a group which formed the United Verde Copper Company in 1883.  The resultant mining camp of board and canvas shacks was named in honor of eugene Jerome, the venture's principal backer.  Hopes for the enterprise ran high, but the costs of operating, especially for transportation, outstripped profits, and the company folded in less that two years.

it took the vision and vast financial resoures of a new owner, William A. Clark, to bring in a narrow gauge railroad and reduce freight costs.  By the early 20th centruy, the United Verde was the largest producing copper mine in the Arizona Territory.  Jerome was becoming a frame and brick town, and could boast two churches, an opera house, a school and several civic buildings.

In 1912, James S. Douglas purchased and began development of the Little Daisy Mine.  By 1916, Jerome had two bonanza mines.  Copper production peaked in 1929, but the Depression and low grade ore deposits reversed the fortunes of the town.  The Little Daisy shut down in 1938.  Phelps Dodge took over the United Verde in 1935, but loss of profits brought the operation and Jerome's mining days to an end in 1953.

The Jerome State Historic Park reveals the story of the city of Jerome while preserving the historic Douglas Mansion.

The Douglas Mansion has been a landmark in Jerome since 1916 when James S. Douglas built it on the hill just above his Little Daisy Mine.  Douglas designed the hosue as a hotel for mining officials and investors as well as for his own family.  It featured a wine cellar, billiard room, marble shower, steam heat, and, much ahead of it's time, a central vacuum system.  Douglas was most proud of the fact that the house was constructed of adobe bricks that were made on the site.










I loved this old gas station at the beginning of Jerome.  The buildings are either in total dis-repair or taken over by "artist types" and really cute!  It's a real mixture of cultures!


The above link has more photos........I didn't get around to taking outdoor photos of the historic house turned museum.

Our visit to Tuzigoot - October 2011

This was my favorite place that we visited in the trip to Cottonwood, AZ. 

Tuzigoot (Apache for "crooked water") is the remnant of a Southern Sinagua village built between 1125 and 1400.  It crowns the summiot of a long ridge that rises 120 feet above the Verde Valley.  the original pueblo was two stories high in places, with 77 ground-level rooms.  There were few exterior doors; entry was by was of ladders through openings in the roofs.  The village began as a small cluser of rooms inhabited by about 50 persons for 100 years.  In the 1200s the population doubled and then doubled again as refugee farmers, fleeing drought in the outlying areas, settled here.

No one knows why the Southern Sinagua abandoned their pueblos in the early 1400s.  Possible explaniations include over-population, depletion of natural resources, disease, conflicts within and between groups, changes in weather patterns, and perhaps even spiritual beliefs. 




We LOVE these little guys.....they are adorable!

















Saturday, October 22, 2011

More from our trip to Cottonwood, AZ Montezuma's Well

On the same day we went to the castle, we also visited the well.  I got sick from the heat so we had to go back another day to see all of it.  It was amazing to think of this water being in the middle of the desert.

From about AD 900 to AD 1400, a group of southern Sinagua (which means "without water") built a thriving agricultural community here by channeling the well water to irrigate their food and cotton crops.

A funnel-shaped, limestone sink containing a pool of water 55 feet deep and 368 feet across, Montezuma Well is all that remains of an ancient cavern.

Subterranean springs of warm water replenish the well with over a million and a half gallons of water a day; an amount unvarying, apparently, since prehistoric times.  The water maintains an even temperature of 76 degrees year around.

Water from the well flows out through a side cave in the limestone cliffs.

Notice the caves near the rim








This is below the well, so much cooler down here and so beautiful! 


About a thousand years ago, prehistoric Indians dug a canal here, diverting water from Montezuma Well, to irrigate their corn, beans, squash and cotton crops.

The cement-like lining is caused by naturally occurring carbonate in the water, which forms a deposit on the canal walls.