ARIZONA

We are in Lake Havasu City Arizona now for the winter.  Had a good trip down and were very glad we waited an extra day to start the trip.  Had good roads all the way and a lot of sunshine.  We are in our very nice house here now and mostly unpacked and organized.  It will be a week tomorrow that we got here.  The following pictures were taken from the nice deck area in front of the house.  It is going to be a nice place to sit with an afternoon libation.  Please pardon the hazy pictures.  We have had rain the last couple days and it hasn't all settled yet.

This is looking west across the lake into California.

This is another shot looking west across the lake and shows the area where the casino is located.  You have to take a boat across the lake to get there.  It runs about every half hour and is free if you cut the coupons out of the local paper.

This is a Bougainvillea bush on the front side of the deck.

This is a shot looking northwest at a mountain range.

This is a shot looking southeast at more mountains.

Patrick

WINTER WONDERLAND

Winter started about a week ago now.  We had our second snow storm last night.  As much as I don't care for snow, I have to say that last nights snow is very pretty this morning.  It would have been even better if I would have had some sunshine to make it sparkle.  Anyway, the following pictures are of the beginning storm last Friday and the snow of last night.

This is our backyard at the beginning of the storm a week ago.

This is the bird feeder area at the beginning of the storm.

This is the backyard the next morning after the storm.

This is the river after the storm.  It has always intrigued me how the water turns black after a snow fall. 

The bird feeder area after last nights snow.

Backyard shot after last nights snow.

Another backyard shot.

Backyard and the river.

Crab Apple tree.  The apples don't show well.  Bright sunshine would have helped.

Maple tree in front of the Gazebo.

Patrick

Smallest to Largest

Just a couple pictures of the little Hummingbird and the large Pileated Woodpecker.  The Hummer picture was taken about a month back when they were still some of them around.  The Woodpecker picture was taken the last couple weeks.  You might notice also in the Hummer picture a bee on the bottom of the feeder.  I didn't notice him/her until I was editing the picture later.

Hummer on the wing.  Check out the bee on the bottom of the feeder.

Woody having some lunch.

Patrick

CARROTS TO CAKE

For the first time I planted Carrots in my garden this year.  They came up as expected, but I wasn't sure whether there were any Carrots under the nice tops.  We had tried pulling some and either the stems broke off or what we got was about the size of a pencil.  So, this morning I got the shovel and started digging them up.  There were Carrots there, although not as big as I had hoped.  The following pictures show the crop and what I did with half of them.  The other half I gave to our neighbors Dale and Emmy.  I had made a Carrot cake in the past that they liked, so now they have the Carrots to make one. 

This is the crop of Carrots.  I used half and gave half to the neighbors.

This is the Carrot cake hot out of the oven.

This is the cake with icing.

First piece.

It was good.

Patrick

TREE REMOVAL

There were three River Birch trees that were very close to the house and one was actually leaning over the house and a hard Maple that was starting to rot near it's base.  We decided it was time to have them removed before they caused more problems.  The tree guys came yesterday and took them all down without dropping a single twig on the house.  They did a great job.  The guy doing most of the cutting did it while climbing the tree and using a rope to get the branches to fall the right direction.  He knows his business.  The following pictures show the step by step progress and the final result.

This is the clump of three River Birch that were near and overhanging the house. 

This is the hard Maple that was starting to rot at the base.

This is the clump of three from the other side.

This is the guy that did most of the cutting starting on the first tree.

Here he is at work progressing up the main tree in the clump of three.

This is some trimming of the lower branches on the hard Maple.

He is getting near the top of the big Birch now.

This is how he cut off limbs and lowered them to the ground.

At the top of the big Birch

Now he is working on the Birch that was hanging over the house.

Just one more branch to go and it is topped.

All done on the "over hanger".

Now to finish the  third one.

Preparing the big Birch to be taken down.

Now he works on the hard Maple to get it topped.

Just about done.

One branch to go.

Hard Maple topped and ready to be taken down.

Hard Maple staring to fall.

This is the Birch that was hanging over the house coming down.

This is the big main Birch coming down.

And last but not least the third Birch coming down.

The three stumps on the upper right were the Birch trees and the one on the left was the hard Maple.

 This is the after shot.  You can compare it to the first picture to see the change.

Patrick

BIRDS OF COLOR AND OTHER MISC.

We have many different kinds and colors of birds that come to our feeders daily.  The following are pictures of several different ones that are regulars.  There is also a picture of the new feeder I made for the Bluebirds  and a Dove that thinks one of our feeders is a bed and breakfast.

This is the new Bluebird feeder.  The screen keeps out the big Blackbirds that were hogging the Meal Worms that are put out for the Bluebirds.  If you look closely, you can see a Bluebird inside.

This is the Bluebird who takes care of the Blue category.

This is a Cardinal and he takes care of the Red category.

This is a Goldfinch and he takes care of the Yellow category.

This is a Female Oriole and she covers the Gold Category.

This is a shot Pat got recently of a Female Oriole feeding one of her offspring.  The other one has already figured out how to eat the Grape jelly.

This is a male Oriole and he is in the Orange category.

This is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and he covers the red white and black category.

This is the Red-bellied Woodpecker and he covers the Red Head category.

I think the one on the left is a Downy Woodpecker and the one on the right is a Hairy Woodpecker.  They really like the suet cakes.

This is the Dove that spends a lot of time on this feeder including staying there overnight.  The Doves are usually on the ground picking up the stuff the other birds have spilled, but this one just stays on the feeder.  She naps there and has stayed overnight.  Guess it is her bed and breakfast.

Patrick