Backyard Pagoda

We had a trellis made from old wooden extension ladders that we used for our clematis planted in the back yard. The clematis bloomed each year and looked great. However, the trellis eventually rotted and the wind blew it over. This pagoda was built in the back yard about 8 years ago. We never really used it so Linda decided to use it to replace the old trellis. I dug out the old concrete footer and poured a new pad for the pagoda. The porch swing is one we had for about 5 years, but never installed. We cut it down to fit the pagoda, added extra supports to the seat and installed in inside the pagoda. The pagoda and swing was then painted white. We used 1/4 inch square wire material to run the clematis up to the top of the pagoda. So far, it looks like the flowers are flourishing with the new trellis. Pictures will be posted later when the clematis has covered the pagoda .




We now have a good place to sit in the afternoon to enjoy the quiet of the day; watch all the birds and other animals in the back yard; plan our future trips; and have a cold beer.




As the commercial states, "It doesn't get any better than this". So here's a toast to all our friends. You all are invited to spend a leisure afternoon in our swing to contemplate worldly events. And Tim, we will even let you have our budweiser.

Harley's

My brother whom we visited in Florida last week is an avid Harley fan and he and his wife own 3 of them.

The yellow and blue one is a fatboy "screaming eagle". It is custom made at the Harley factory and only 500 were made. Frank said that one mechanic made the screaming eagle and signed the bottom of the gas tank. He could not get one in Florida, but did find this one in Nashville, TN and had it shipped to Palm Coast, Florida.

Frank also has an electraglide that he usually rides. The fat boy does not get ridden too often.

Cheryl, Frank's wife, also has a soft tail that she rides. Frank's next door neighbor, Doc, also has a Harley soft tail that Frank asked him to bring over for a photo shoot. Doc is very knowledgeable about Harley's and Frank said that he is his mechanic. We started all the Harley's and Doc took them for a ride to charge the batteries.

The video clip is of the Harley's. The sound is the fat boy.

Movies

Owls in our Yard

Baby Screech Owls are so cute. We got a chance to see them up close. We didn't know that there was a nest in the tree by the patio until I looked out the upstairs window and saw this ball of feathers clinging to the tree. It had crawled out of the nest but wasn't able to fly yet. We watched it climb higher in the tree and then we lost sight of it. Momma owl had come along by then and was also sitting in a nearby tree. We gave up and got on with the days task of mowing the yard. I found the little guy later when I was mowing behind the patio, it had come down out of the tree and was hung on an old chair. I carefully got it on the ground and then the rest of the day we spent checking on the baby. A call to Glen Helen Rapture Recovery Center gave us information about the owls and said that momma would come back. They also said that usually the babies can't fly when they come out of the nest and can be on the ground for up to two weeks. After watching the one baby all day, they make a clicking sound with their beak when approached, we discovered another one under the porch. Now, we have two!!! We put them together and we spotted momma owl in the tree above us keeping an eye on us. One baby came out from under the porch and by dark it was gone, we think and hope that it flew away. Next morning the baby owl watch began again with the other one huddled behind the air conditioning unit. All day we checked on it and searched the tree for momma and just as we had been told, momma came back at dusk. First thing this morning we checked and the other one is gone. I'll be sure and check the trees tonight and see if momma is back, if she is the babies are still nearby. Hopefully, they have flown away...we can't get any work done.

Owl Update:

The baby owl appeared in the same location that we first saw it. Momma owl is in the tree above it. We could hear her around 4:00 PM in the woods screeching. Baby owl is still not afraid of us. We can walk up to it and all he does is click his beak and wink at us.

I saw a stray cat sneaking along our fence line. It does come into our yard at times. Hopefully, it will not come in tonight. If the mother is around she will attack the cat if it gets too close. We will check on it tomorrow.

Owl watch continues: Friday
This morning the little guy was still on the ground out in the open. I put it back under some cover. I went to Home Depot and when I returned, I couldn't find it, went inside and later went back out to have another look. I could hear Momma screeching so knew it was somewhere around. We also have a hawk nest in the top of a locust tree and I looked up at it and there our little guy was sitting on a limb. It can fly. It didn't pick the best of trees considering the hawk nest is high above in the same tree. After searching the trees, found Momma and TWO other babies. I'm getting a crick in my neck from looking up so much. It has been great fun trying to find them in the trees. Tomorrow they may all be gone. Fly away, fly away, free as a bird..

Spring Flowers

We came home from vacation and had spring flowers in bloom, not as many as I would like but some. I think the squirrels have enjoyed the bulbs a little to much over the winter. I have something burrowing in my flowerbed. I fill the hole with dirt and next day it's dug out again. Will I have to set a trap? The red tulips on the south side of the house are in bloom and the others around the back and north side will pop open next week. Pretty soon it will be mowing time.

Sedona Day 8

Our last day in Sedona started out like the rest--bright sun and a little cool, but with a promise of warming up later. We left Sedona around 9 AM and went to Phoenix, AZ. We went to Snow Mountain,a city park which had excellent mountain views of Phoenix. This is billed as the biggest city park in the world containing over 16,000 acres. It was mostly a high desert area witn many different kinds of cactus, miles of walking trails, cliffs from which to hang glide, and many high mountains with breath taking views.

We left the park for downtown Phoenix to find the old historic section. After much searching, we found a city museum and was told we were in old Phoenix. All the old buildings had been razed to make way for new developments. The mayor of Phoenix at the time convinced the city council to buy one old house and about 3/4 blocks to preserve. The house is in the slide presentation and is an excellent example of houses of the time.

After the tour of the museum, we went to the Botanical Gardens. This was a desert botanical garden and was one of the best gardens I have been to. Dale Chihuly gave a presentation titled, "The Nature of Glass". He was sold out, but they did have displays of his glass creations throughout the garden. Most of the pictures in the slide show are of his glass art.

The plants in the garden were fantastic. A lot of the different varieties of cactus were in bloom and had very beautiful flowers. The glass displays were amoung the flowers. The flowers made an excellent backdrop for the glass pieces.

We caught a 11:45 PM flight out of Phoenix to Atlanta, then to Dayton. We finally got home between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. We had a very enjoyable trip, but were glad to get back home. We left 80 degree weather and returned to snow showers...a true Ohio welcome home.

Sedona Day 7

The last day in Sedona and we took it a little easy today. We sent to Soldiers Day at Fort Verde whiich is an old fort that is now a State Park and Museum. Unfortunately, we got there before the enactors had set up so we did not see much, but did take a few pictures. I tried to take pictures in the museum, but most displays were behind glass walls. There were so many windows that it was impossible to get an angle that did not reflect light. After about an hour we left for Prescott, AZ.



Prescott is a nice old town, but I did not take many pictures. We went to one of the oldest saloons in Arizona. Wyatt Earp, his brother, and Doc Holiday supposedly spent a few nights at the Saloon. For more information go to www.historicpalace.com . The had a good restaurant, but we decided to eat at a Microbrewery to try their beers. Their food was great and the beer even better.



We made our way back to Sedona around 3 PM the earliest we have returned on the trip. Both of us were a little tired after so much traveling and walking around. We went to another local brewery to try their beer and had dinner. When we got there, we were told they no longer served meals. We enjoyed a pint of their beer and ate a lot of their shell your own peanuts. After the beer and peanuts, we were no longer hungry and returned to our Cottage.

To end the night, we went to another flute concert if you can call 1 flutist and 20 people a concert. The show was good, but not as good as the flutist we heard last night.

Tomorrow we check out and head to Phoenix for a day. Our flight out is around 11:30 PM. I think by the time we get on board, we will probably sleep all the way back to Dayton.

Sedona Day 6

Day 6 has been the worst day for weather that we have had. When we got up it was cool and cloudy. Our first stop of the day was at a State Park called Montezuma's Well. This is a sink hole which contains water fed by a spring. The water stays at a constant 76 degrees throughout the year. There have been many generations of Indians who have lived around the well and you can see some of the living structures on the sides of the cliff as well as on top of the hills around the well. It was an interesting stop for us.



Our next stop was at a State Park called Riordan Estate Grounds. This is a beautiful 13,000 square feet house. It is actually 2 houses joined by a great room which is about 1,000 square feet. Two brothers who ran sawmills, railroad, and other ventures married two sisters. The brothers built the houses and the families lived there the rest of their lives. One house was furnished in period furniture and we could not take any pictures. The other house was set up as a museum and did not necessarily have period furniture. We were allowed to take pictures here. The first house was loaded with Gustav Stickley furniture--all in outstanding condition.
We enjoyed the museum and then went into Flagstaff. Go to http://www.azstateparks.com/Parks/RIMA/index.html to view their webpage



When Linda and I were here with the Schmdt's, Frank and I went to an old hotel that served imported English beers and Ale while Linda and Nancy went shopping. I enjoyed my time there and decided to try to find the hotel and eat lunch. The ranger at the Riordan Estate Grounds told us it was the Weatherford Hotel and the restaurant was called Charleys Pub. We found the hotel and it was the one I had visited over 25 years ago. Zane Grey had stayed in the hotel and had written one of his books while there. They have a webpage, www.WeatherfordHotel.com , that you can check out.

We decided to go through Williams, AZ to the Pine Country Restaurant--the place we had dinner a few nights ago--to get a slice of pie and travel some more of Route 66. The pie and coffee were great.

We left Williams and went to Prescott, AZ to check it out. We planned on going there tomorrow. We stopped by the tourist information center, got brochures on Prescott and returned to Sedona via Jerome and cottonwood.

The winds were extremely high today and not a pleasant day to drive, but, we did enjoy the things we saw. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.