Retirement Time

Got both lawns mowed today while temperature was "only" 97°f. :oops:
The Holy Fire doubled in size again overnight, marching northward down the Temescal Valley. Over 20,000 acres burned. :twisted:
We used to go there when we were kids and to the Diamond Bar Ranch to look for fossils. Development followed and some neighborhoods are completely encircled by dense hillside brush, which is now on fire. :twisted:
 
Much less smoke today, visibility about 1/2 of what it usually is. Now about 12-15 miles on the ground. Cooler temps with some low flouds and fog in the morning have helped the firefighters a lot.
Went on a black widow hunt at dusk while the lawn sprinklers were on. Killed 6 big ones and 4 or 5 smaller ones. :shock: Took out the trash cans to the curb in front. Scared up the neighbor's big tabby cat in the process. Two to three times the size of Oliver, but trees like a bobcat.
Common bermuda grass in the back doesn't tolerate the 110°f+ heat as well as the hybrid bermuda in the front. Fortunately temps are back down in the mid 90s for a while. Most of the rose bushes did ok with the excessive heat. Everything else actively growing, but not a lot of weeds. :mrgreen:
Taking a 9 day road trip to Colorado this week, hope to see some of the sights slong the way. Now that school is starting here maybe the road and parks won't have as many crowds. :roll:
 
Made it to Aurora ok. The trip was entirely wonderful, except for my mother-in-law throwing drama around. :lol:
Met some refugees from the Colorado fires, but saw little evidence otherwise. So many trees, not much traffic! :mrgreen:
 
Can’t see the mountains because of the smaze.
Smoke + haze = smaze :x
A word my aunt in Denver used in the 60’s. She used to say “You’ve got smog (smoke + fog) in LA, we’ve got smaze. :lol:
 
Colorado and New Mexico are so beautiful. Saw quite a few pronghorn antelope along with the horses, cattle, and sheep.
Air quality was a little bad so very hazy except from Colorado Springs and southward for about a hundred miles.
We had some fun in Old Town Trinidad Colorado and Las Vegas New Mexico.
Spending the night in Las Cruces, then on to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon before heading home.
Over every hill and around each corner another wow moment with oohs and aahs all around. 8)
 
You could come up toward my place and wait it out, assuming you can get past the traffic you're in.;) Up near Metrocenter on i-17.
 
Thanks AW! We made it to the hotel ok and I passed out when we got there.
At 4:15 in the morning some lady woke us up when she barged into the room with a key and turned on the light. The desk gave her one thinking that we had checked out. I got up and she was standing outside looking confused. Then the desk called the room 3 times and woke everybody up again. At checkout our stay was free. :D
That ecliped the event of a lightning strike on the roof right outside our hotel window at the Radisson in Aurora, CO several nights before. The TV went out for about 20 minutes but the electricity stayed on.
The highlight of the road trip was the Grand Canyon yesterday. The rain subsided just as we got there and the visibility was good. Got a yearly pass for $20 so saved 15 bucks off of the day use fee. Was not crowded at all and got a front row spot. WOW! Was amazing to see it again.
Then we drove back home. The 40 from Needles to Barstow was the worst. Made it home around 1:30am.
Now this morning going to get the mail and return the rental van.
 
Got some days off coming to get the lawn mowed weather permitting.
Oliver got his shots and whatever they sprayed up his nose made him wheeze for several days. Got him clipped, bathed and groomed for his birthday.
Hate to admit it but I miss Chomper more than I miss my mother-in-law. :lol:
 
One year since we moved into this house. Retired June 30th, lived in hotel for 2 months, lived in a rented house in Temecula for 30 days. All the while with our stuff in 4 storage units. Plus the couple of years before that were an extremely difficult whistleblower harassment period. :twisted:
Mowed the lawn today and used the electric hedge trimmer on the pittosporum by the front porch to get ready for the expected rain. Spot watered a hard spot on the lawn to help the rain soak in.
Can’t wait to turn the sprinklers off but by then I’ll have lots of leaves to rake up from the ash tree. Next spring I will fertilize near the end of the rainy season, this year I spent my time battling the weeds.
 
Was going to try and mow the lawn and clean up the leaves tomorrow, but with more high wind in the forecast I think I’ll focus on the apples near the south fence, trim some brush and let the lawn and leaves wait until next week. It’s cooler now especially at night so it shouldn’t matter. :)
 
I've got to mow the lawn, vacuum up the leaves, trim the bushes, and clean off the patio and front porch before the critters start ringing the doorbell this evening. Then I get two days off in a row to recover. :wink:
Three people left their jobs at work. Two fired and one quit, so everyone else's hours got bumped up. Recent TV ads have not increased business as they hoped. Simpletons running the place doesn't help either. The average worker has greater intelligence than their job requires. Not so for managers and supervisors. :roll:
Santa Ana winds could destroy the yard with more leaves any day this time of year. The air quality is really bad lately, even with no fires burning. Also sick and tired of all the stupid political mail and TV ads. :x
 
:shock: The doorbell rang just once last night. We have enough peanut butter cups and cheese balls left to choke an elephant. :lol:
Maybe the neighbor's phony graveyard and loud spooky music combined with the lack of sidewalks and streetlights scared the little critters away from this normally quiet cul-de-sac. Last year there were at least 50-60 kids. :?
 
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