Category Archives: Mini-Rancho

Kitchen to begin

Posted on March 2, 2020 | Comments Off on Kitchen to begin

Kitchen remodeling got held up by ordering of laminate (formica) countertop. Finally in and work set to begin tomorrow. Also lots of rain Tuesday night and more on Wednesday when the work should still be going on—refurbishing of cabinets, painting and crown and window molding.

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Posted in Mini-Rancho, Neely's Canyon

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Meditation

Posted on February 21, 2020 | Comments Off on Meditation

Getting back into daily meditation again, because it helps keep me calm, cool and collected. I like mantras, used with slow breathing, but I also like guided ones with a voice and music. Like any free recording by Suzanne Giesemann.

Like the Abraham-Hicks Getting Into The Vortex. Strange that the Abraham-Hicks folks canceled a planned workshop in Austin tomorrow. Have to find out what that’s all about. It seems to be the inevitable problem of being an aging woman trying to solo after the death of her husband nine years ago.

UPDATE:  A good mantra is Hineini (He-nay-ni), Hebrew for Here I Am. It’s from the Torah.

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Posted in Mini-Rancho, Music

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Another scorpion

Posted on February 19, 2020 | Comments Off on Another scorpion

A small, red one about an inch long, in our bedroom at Neely’s Canyon. I smashed  and flushed it. Called Bugmaster for a re-treat. They’ll come on Monday.

That’s four I’ve seen since we moved into the Mini-Rancho: three red ones (one big, 5-incher) and one brown. The sting of the browns are said to hurt less but I don’t want either one. Will continue to shake out my shoes and other clothes in the morning. I worry most about our kitty getting hurt, and Bar who pads around the place barefoot while I wear shoes.

UPDATE:  I’ll let Bugmaster continue, since it kills the bugs scorpions eat, but for the little bastards themselves, I’ve ordered an insecticide praised by reviewers in Arizona, land of millions of them.

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Squirrels in love

Posted on February 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Squirrels in love

Ever seen squirrels make love? I did this morning, out the kitchen window to the slope of the canyon. They used their fore paws to hug each other and what looked like kissing. Rolling around on the ground and up a tree. Then one of them mounted the other from behind, briefly, before resuming the hugging and kissing. Love is everywhere!

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Jewish Birthday of Trees

Posted on February 5, 2020 | Comments Off on Jewish Birthday of Trees

“Tu Bishvat could easily have faded away after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, since there was no longer a system of fruit offerings or Temple priests to receive them. However, the kabbalists (mystics) of Tzfat (the city of Safed) in the Land of Israel in the 16th century created a new ritual to celebrate Tu Bishvat called the Feast of Fruits.”

So, technically, the birthday, or new year, which begins in the evening of Sunday, Feb 9, and ends in the nightfall of Monday, Feb 10, is only about fruit trees. But the rabbis have extended it to all trees wherever they may be. Including the big grandfather tree off the porch at the mini-rancho.

Via Yahoo

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Posted in Israel, Judaism, Mini-Rancho

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Just the kitchen to go

Posted on February 2, 2020 | Comments Off on Just the kitchen to go

Repairing the sagging bottom shelves in the existing cabinets and the sagging doors and painting them white inside and out. Then painting the ceiling white and the walls pale blue, applying crown molding and window molding and replacing the pantry door with a six-panel pine painted the white of the cabinets. And finally a new blue laminate countertop and a new white porcelain sink. Whew.

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Mild winter

Posted on January 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Mild winter

Going into the final week of our usual winter, i.e. January, it’s time to pronounce this a mild one. Not a hard freeze yet. Let alone a week in the 30s. Which is sort of too bad, since it means more bugs this year.

Cedar fever still elevated. But nice amount of rain, so we get the trade-off. Wildflowers should be good in the spring, starting in about four weeks.

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Posted in Mini-Rancho, Neely's Canyon, Weather

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