Action out back and other things

We knew this was likely to happen eventually.  Yet, we were shocked to see a drilling unit out back doing soil test samples.  I think I probably told everyone about the ATV and the guys back there a couple of weeks ago.  Hubby talked to them and they said they may purchase the property and were looking around.  They had permission, they said.  However, no motorized vehicles are allowed back there in the desert.  There are people who do disregard the signs and end up back there a time or two every summer.

A drilling rig taking soil samples and stirring up dust

The drilling rig has moved to the bluff behind the house

But then a few days ago a drilling rig showed up back there to take soil samples for testing.  We found out the property was sold to Entrata, which is home to the very ritzy developments around here.  This wouldn’t be a real bad thing as long as they don’t build up behind our house.  It’s way too damp back there and I think it would be pricey to bring it up to code for housing.  But sometimes that kind of stuff is ignored.  There’s an underground river that runs through this area.  The water table is very high.  There have been issues with some homes here due to water.  But we’re on the edge of that river, so our lot isn’t affected by this.  I think they must have filled in the exposed parts of the river years ago and then built there.  The team taking the samples said it was very wet and soft. 

We’re hoping the developer is smart and will give this property to the city so that it can stay nice like it is now.  There are wildlife living there and many walking trails that have been there for years.  I hate to see the landscape torn up and the critters disrupted from their homes.  The old lava beds can never be replaced.  It’s very sad that the big shots think we need more homes.  Time will tell what happens.  Otherwise, we’ll move I guess.  Where, I don’t know.

The drillers are still back there drilling holes and taking samples today, even though it was snowing earlier.  I hate that.  It’s so freakin’ cold.  I’m glad it didn’t last long and didn’t stick because it’s too wet from the ice rain we had earlier.  It’s about twenty degrees cooler than normal here.  Where are you spring?

On the work front, the last couple of weeks the new boss has been out for some major, unexpected surgery.  It’s such a nice stress-free zone and happy place right now.  We have that old vibe back.  She’s planning on coming back on the first, which is way too soon in my opinion.  But I guess she’ll find out for herself.  I’m going to try my best to work with this woman, but it’s difficult.  I really need a different job where I can dress the way I want and wear my jewelry and let my hair down.  I got to do a rare demo where I could do that yesterday (not the jewelry part, but the rest) and I got so many compliments.  I felt more normal and wasn’t the lunch lady.  Oh well…well see. 

Me in break room at work

Rules, rules and more new rules at work are all enough to handle.  Now the newest thing is removing our hats when on breaks and lunches.  Everyone is beside themselves because the store has operated just fine for the last seventeen years without us removing our hats.  So we’ve all got new hats to put on over our hairnets because who wants to walk around in a hairnet?  We all wonder what’s next.  How do you like my hat?  I may as well make a statement about how silly this is.

My Rolling Stones visor for breaks and lunches at work

Oh, drat, it’s snowing again!  Winter doesn’t want to go away this year.  If this keeps up, we’ll have snow on the ground tomorrow.  Yuck!

Snowing

Snowing

Snow in backyard

The work goes on

House construction two doors down the road

This is true with the house they’re building two doors down the street and with the stuff around our house.

Several people stop daily to walk through the new house.  They are usually looking at anything new and not just using the port-o-potty at the curb.  Who wouldn’t use the bathroom facilities before they left the house remains a mystery to me.

The new house is really coming along now.  They started putting the stone on the front last week, but it’s a slow process.  The rest of the house will have stucco.

 Stone for front stacked to right .  It actually has moss on it, which won't last long in the desert, but these people are from SLC and have no idea...YET

The inside has the Sheetrock up but it’s not textured yet, so there’s a lot to do on the inside before anyone can move in.  We walk down before sunset and take pictures occasionally.

They finally did get doors on the outside entrances/exits, but the house isn’t locked yet.  The doors still have to be painted.

 

Look at this beautiful front door.

The new owners will be sorry they put this big window in the front of the house.  This is the west side and is extremely hot in the summer.  This looks impressive on the outside, but this room will cook and be very hot in the summer.  This is their casita.  Perhaps they’ll keep that door closed off to the rest of the house unless a guest comes to stay.

 Here's the pretty window on front that faces west.

Here are the inside doors yet to be installed.

The work in our garage has come to a halt as it’s in the triple digits here now, and even though the garage is insulted, it’s hot out there.  It’s impossible to bring all of that stuff inside to sort for donation, sale, trash, or keep.  I’m still doing a little at a time, but can’t stay out there without becoming a drowned rat with sweat running down my back and dripping into my eyes.

We spend a lot of time on the internet looking for property and watching the wildlife in the yard.

This morning is the first time Raven has actually sat down like a normal cat and tucked his paws under him.  Usually when he wants to get down, he just falls over from a standing up position.  I wish I could catch that on video.  I’ve never seen a cat do that.  He has quite a few quirks.

Raven, my gorgeous little man I love to death!

He’s also starting to bite me on the head in the morning to get me up.  Good grief!  He starts playing in my hair and then trying to bite my scalp.  When I swat him, he just purrs.  What a silly little guy.

Eating isn’t all I do

I thought I’d post pics of some other meals.  I like to treat myself after working hard all day, so I usually make a nice meal for dinner.  The rest of the time, I snack mostly if I eat anything during the day.  Food taste so good when you’re starving!

Ham and cheese omelet with tomatoes, spinach and onions - and a side of potatoes

Enchiladas, Rice and Black Beans

   

I’ve had several salads and a ham and cheese omelet.  I did break down one night and had Mexican food.  My whole family seems to like it.  None of us go long without having some.

Besides all this, construction is continuing on the house two doors down the road.  It’s actually taking shape nicely now.  I walked through and took several pictures, but I won’t post all of those.  They had the plumbers in there today.  The house is 2710 square feet.

Construction goes on two doors down

We hear beep, beep, beep all day as the earth-movers shove dirt around on the vacant lot two doors down.  I guess this is better than the hammers and saws we’ll hear soon.  The cats are fascinated though, by all the action over there, so it keeps the little rascals occupied part of the day.

 Lot Excavation

 Lot Excavation

 

I’m not so sure I’d want my house built there because there’s an underground stream they filled in when they built this subdivision years ago.  Our house doesn’t sit on it, but it’s under the lots next door and it crosses the street running under my neighbor’s house and meandering through the neighborhood.

 Lot Excavation

My husband tried to tell the builder who pooh-poohed him off until they hit running water about eight feet down.  He had to change his strategy, so now they’re bringing in loads of rock to beef-up the building pad.

The owner wants a pool.  This isn’t a good idea as we’re in a drought situation right now and once it gets rainy again, water stands over there when it’s 115 degrees in July.  No one wants to listen to us, so I guess the new guy will learn an expensive lesson down the road.

It’s still windy, warm and dry.

Don’t tell me it’s another repair bill?

Free clipart

Daily life brings a lot of joy, but it also hands you crap occasionally.  Today was one of those days.  This morning we discovered the fridge had quit.  Lucky for us, we have another fridge in the garage.  We called a repairman and then moved everything to the other fridge and freezer.

The technician called us back and said he couldn’t come until Monday because he was too busy.  What?  Monday!  This will never do and was quickly becoming a frustrating situation.  He gave us the name of another repairman he knew, so we called him.

As it turned out the second guy never showed up, claiming he tried to call us, but our phone never rang.  We were here all day waiting for him too, so Tootie missed her vet appointment to get her eye checked today.  This is a whole other story about what has been going on here for the last month or so.  I’ll fill you in on the next post.

We are giving the repairman the benefit of a doubt, thinking maybe he wrote down the wrong number, but this is quite typical behavior for where I live.  We’ve had to wait on people all day only to have them not show up or bother to call us.  I won’t miss this when we move.

Now Tootie won’t make her vet appointment tomorrow either because we’ll be waiting for this man again.  We have no time as to when he’ll be here.  I probably won’t take her in now until next week.  I think her eye is on the mend anyway.  It would just be nice to have the vet confirm it.

I hope that this will be a simple fix and we won’t need a new fridge.

May Pole

On another note, today is my mother’s birthday, Mayday.  Everyone’s going out for Mexican food.  That’s no surprise.  Mexican is the one thing they can all agree on to eat.  I wish I were there too, but maybe next year.  I hope one of my sisters will take pictures to send to me, and to my little sister in New York.

 My mother

Raven’s now six months old and getting to be quite a handsome boy.  We had company today, our Aussie friends, and he was all over them, purring and playing and being a social butterfly.  This is my handsome little man.

 Raven - six-months-old

The resident lizard is still making herself at home in the fireplace.  She must have been out on the town last night because she wasn’t in there.  Hee-hee.  I don’t know if she had a hot date or not.  I determined this was a female lizard because she doesn’t have the colorful underbelly the males do.  The cats enjoy watching her through the screen.

 Lizard in the fireplace

 Lizard in the fireplace

It’s windy here in the desert again today.  This makes day number three of wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Big earth movers are stirring up the dust preparing the ground for the new house going in two lots down from us.  I kept the windows closed, which I hate to do, being there are so few days in the year we can open them.  The building crew is keeping long hours over there having run into the underground stream we told them was there.  They’ve had to change their plans so the house doesn’t start to sink and crack later.  A guy has owned that lot for twenty years and finally decided to move down here and build a house on it.  I guess we’ll hear the noise from all the construction soon.  The cats love all the action that’s taking place.

 A to Z survivor's badge

Congrats to all who entered and finished the A to Z challenge this year.  It was fun.  I enjoyed hopping over to read others blogs.  Thank you to the ones who read my posts and to my new followers.

Until next time...