Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
It had been many years since I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I had to look up how to cook turkey and all the fixings, but it all came together well on Thursday. I even had a spare hour to walk to the mail box, which is a few miles down the road. I passed a bunch of cows at the vineyard on my walk. Since, I have been enjoying leftovers and turkey tortilla soup.

I have been getting out to ride every few days, but unfortunately Art has suffered from a partial separated shoulder from a front tire wash out. He is not in constant pain, but can not do any heavy lifting, over head movement or riding. We hope that that things will improve with a few weeks of rest. If you have to be laid up, being laid up when it is 60 degrees and sunny is not too bad. This has given him a good excuse to work work on his tan. Although this has got to be a bummer for him, I think we are both feeling thankful to be here enjoying the weather and sunshine.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
This morning on our way out to the trails, Al and I ran into a round up. I heard non army helicopter all morning and was thinking that the rancher was rounding up cattle for market. Sure enough, as we turned up the first dirt road we heard mucho mooing, and cows were all over the place and cowboys on horses herding them down the road. I guess the helicopter helps spot them from above. Although the ground crew were on horseback, the helicopter is a slightly more modern tool. They bring the cattle down from pretty far up. Probably up where we were headed out to ride. Needless to say, we encountered a bit of cow poop today. :rolleyes:

Climbing up to cowboy slick rock, was beautiful. The sun was shinning through the dried grasses, and the hollows were all green with vegetation. I am glad to get up there this time of year. It was a perfect day except for the fact that Art could not go. :( Hopefully he will be able to get out there soon. Maybe we will do a hike after Al heads back east. I wanted to get Al up here to check out the technical possibilities of these trails and to see the vegetation and biomes up at 4000 ft. Even with some hike a bike, It was a great ride and I am so happy to be out here in the Sonoran high dessert.

Art has started with some renovations in our bedroom. I will post up some pictures in a few days.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We were glad to have Al here to help carry some big cabinets up to our bedroom, but he left yesterday. Now we are in full swing to get our bedroom renovated. This is our last big project. We waited so long because we had a hard time figuring out what we were going to do. The closets were too small, like you had to angle the hangers to fit. The shag carpet was very stained and starting to decompose. The room was extremely large and had a very low ceiling making it seem awkward. Our solution was to build a partial partition with a rustic beam on top to close the room down to 19 X 20. Then we would enlarge one closet and add built ins in the partition. Art had to rewire some of the recessed lights to accommodate 2 rooms.

His shoulder is getting much better. Trying to reach over his head doing the lights may have helped stretch his shoulder out some. Hopefully he will be able to ride in a week or so. IN the mean time, we have some work to get the BR ready for new carpet. We had considered cork, bamboo and wood, but were talked out of it. The dry climate does not work well with bamboo and wood and cork fade in the strong sun. Carpet seemed more practical. Either way, we still have much to do ( framing, stucco, painting ) before that happens.

There was a spectacular ever changing sunset last night with clouds. Today some rain, snow above 7000 feet. What we consider a special day in Arizona.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We have had some rain and cooler weather, cooler like 40 at night and 53 high during the day. That may seem warm compared to back east, but it is on the cooler end out here. At breakfast this morning I spotted a bobcat walking by our back door. I know there are bobcats around, but this was our first spotting in our yard .... pretty cool!

I have been off the bike for a few days while redoing our bedroom. Yesterday Art built a partition ( with beam ) and prepped for stucco. Today we did demo on my closet. Art tore off stucco and framing and I pulled up floating floor and hauled debris out to truck to go to dump. Usually I struggle with heavy work, but today I felt great. I lost count how many trips I made up and down hauling debris, but as long as I felt good, I can not complain. Art's shoulder is doing much better. Perhaps the work has been good therapy. Art still has some more electrical to do, and I think he likes the challenge of trying to figure it all out. As we get older, I think it is good to challenge ourselves mentally and physically. Much of this stuff falls into that category.

I think we kicked some butt the last few days and should be ready to call to get measured for carpet.

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pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
. As we get older, I think it is good to challenge ourselves mentally and physically. Much of this stuff falls into that category.
I find that there is more that does challenge myself mentally and physically as I get older. For example, the kitchen sink clogged last week and i had to rent a machine to unclog it. I find myself getting aggravated with this type of stuff but realize it's just a part of home ownership. When you stop doing stuff like this it's harder to face challenges, so in a way it is a good idea to keep up with challenges, other wise you become like Rick and move to Florida and bitch about everything. ;)
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Finally the stucco is done! For those that are not aware of how it is done, I have put up a picture of the wire prep that Art puts up first. The wire helps give the stucco something to stick to. When you trowel it onto the wire, the stucco penetrates through the wire to help it stick to the wall or ceiling. A lot falls off, and I will be honest, when I do it, I spend all day picking up balls of stucco off the floor and pushing them back in with my hands. Art is like F-it and keeps slinging the stuff. Needless to say, Art is better than me and has become the stucco slinger. I clean up the next day when the balls on the floor are dry. Today I started painting the inside of the closets, and it was satisfying knowing that we are over the hump on this project. Once all the stucco is dry we will need to prime and paint, but we are close to being able to have carpet installed.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the bike path to see if Art is able to ride a bike. His shoulder is much improved and he has been using some of that stretchy support tape. I got out for a short ride today and the mountains and clouds were spectacular. We had some rain the last few days and the moisture in the mountains and the lingering clouds hung up on the mountains made for a great back drop.

We have a new coopers hawk at our house. Our endless supply of doves keep the predators fed well. At night raccoons climb up on our wall and raid both hummingbird and seed feeders leaving sugary foot prints all over. One of those night cams would be a hoot to watch them pour the sugar water on themselves. Our friends down the street have several and get all sorts of footage. They even have a live cam on their website. Maybe some day we will look into getting one. Once the weather gets warmer, we will be out more at night, but right now it gets chilly at night.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We finally finished the painting and were able to hang doors, install electrical fixtures etc. Still no carpet so we pulled out most of the old carpet since it was filled with stucco and dust, and covered the plywood floor with paper so we could move back in to our bedroom. It felt great to be back in the space. Carpet should be installed in 2 weeks. We still plan to get a laser cut metal panel for the door panel on the built in and Art will make sliding barn doors for in-between the BR and office. So not completely done yet, but the messy stuff is done.

I was starting to feel sick ( congestion and clogged ears ) again, probably from construction dust in the carpet. Today my ears unclogged so I got out for a ride. It felt good to be back on a bike after a few days off and not feeling great the last week. Art is riding some after his partial shoulder separation, but not feeling too stable on techy or upper body stuff. He will probably road ride and ride places like honeybee for another week or so.

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pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Art is riding some after his partial shoulder separation, but not feeling too stable on techy or upper body stuff.
Does Art do any load bearing excersise for his upper body? It may help him, hope he heals up soon.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
i'm thinking that rosin paper and painter's tape is a look!

very well done - love the built-in, which is a "surprise" because of no clue from the other side.

do you have those funny looking mule deer out there?
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art's work is his upper body workout... lifting beams etc. He probably should do some more stuff but he is not into working out type of stuff. He would rather go out in the woods and move giant boulders. Maybe it is time for some rock work in the yard ;).

There are deer out here, but I do not see them on our property. I have seen them down or up in meadows. It is hunting season now.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Hoping everyone is having a great Christmas week! This is a shot from my Christmas day ride. It has since rained and dropped in temperature a bit. My teammate Dar is out visiting, so we are trying to get outside most days, even though it is chilly for Arizona. Mt lemon now has a dusting of snow and should be pretty white by tomorrow morning. Lots going on this week, so pictures and detailed post will have to wait until the weekend.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
The weather has gotten pretty cold out here. Well, probably not cold in NJ terms, but cold for here. When I ride my bike, I wear everything that I brought for cold weather all layered up. A few days only got to mid forties and at night we are frost clothing all our fruit trees and flowers. We are expecting a super dip in a few days and I have already put christmas lights on the fruit trees to help warm under the frost tarps at night. We are actually expecting snow down low tonight.

Hummingbirds are feeding like crazy. We have 3 varieties, maybe a few dozen total and not all are supposed to be here now, so as a hummingbird feeder I feel like we have to be careful to make sure they get enough nectar when it gets cold. Feeder holes can freeze shut under 28 degrees, so we may have to play musical feeders at day break on any super cold days. This means keep a few in the house warm and rotate for morning feeding.

Anyway, I am not a fan of real cold, but I have been in my down coat all week. Art and I even went out to hear music one night, ... and it was an outside venue. The house was rocking ....although, in down coats. Good news is that we should see some 60's soon.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I set my alarm for 7:10 this morning, but when I got up and saw that it was 6:45, I threw on clothes and jacket and attended hummingbird feeders before it was light out. Good thing, because all that were out were incased in snow. As soon as I got open feeders hanging, they were coming to feed. All in all, we may only have gotten an inch or two of wet snow, but the sun did not come out to melt until 1:00. The desert is looking beautiful right now.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Sorry, but no photos today. It finally got up above 50 degrees and after 6 days off the bike, we got back out to ride the last few days. Today was Art's birthday, so I let him choose the day. He chose to meet up with some friends at Sweetwater. I think it actually hit 72 degrees today. It was an awesome ride! Sweetwater is fun but not epic type of place. That being said, it probably is the most overall well built trails in town, rocky but not technical like Ringwood. It also was Saturday and filled with hikers and dog walkers.

We have some more rain moving in, so I may be off the bike for a few more days. Carpet in the bedroom is finally in, and I will try to get some pictures soon. We also picked up 8 foot posts and barbed wire to complete our cattle fence around our property. Utilities are close to property line, so we need a mark out before digging. They are supposed to mark out in a few days. Hopefully we can get digging next week. Not sure if we need a come along to tension wire. This is new to us, so I will post up details as we go.
 
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pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We are still waiting for two more mark outs. The wash is running and 2 utilities would not cross the running water or bridge, so we wait. We had over an inch of rain two nights ago. Today the sun came out and it got back up over 70 degrees, .... so nice!


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Riding on some *inspirational vibes, I did a ride at Starr and Robles on Thursday and surprisingly felt good. I made sure to really stretch well before and, well maybe the stars aligned or something. I got in about 20 miles and 1600 ft climbing with lots of chunky rock. It was my first ride on the Explorer Tr this winter. Explorer is a 1 mile technical climb. I was able to hang longer than usual. I almost felt like old days before all this tired stuff. Not expecting this all the time, but I will take what I can get.

* Inspiration from watching ''Blizzard of Ahhhs". Utah Joe may be the only one knowing what I am writing about, but to put in common understanding: "Blizzard of Ahhs" is a cult ski movie from the 80's. I was a big Greg Stump movie fan and would watch his movies weekly during winter. It was more than ski motivation. I had a connection with the music scene as well. Anyway, it brought me back in time to remember those times.

Art finally starting digging holes for the cattle fence. You can see from the picture that the top post is the electric and the red dot is the electric line to the neighbors. The lines are on poles up the street, but go under ground to the houses. This is great for not obstructing views, but dicey when digging holes. I finally planted seeds for herbs and vegetables. I have never done this before, so I am not sure if they will actually grow. Since it has been cooler, I am starting seeds inside. I hope to be able to plant outside by February. I also got some other plants as well. I really enjoy working outside in the yard.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Yesterday Art completed digging holes, placing posts and braces. Six wood posts and the ends of each wire get bracing. The poles are 4 feet in the ground and the braces are lag bolted and set in concrete in the ground with a cross piece of rebar. In-between are metal posts 1 foot in the ground. The digging was easier than expected. Good dirt I guess. Next is the barbed wire.

I pruned in the yard. There was much overgrown, and with fence going up, I needed to create a new path to get our cart through the steep uphill with out taking the old path though the neighbors yard. The neighbors kids and dogs and have been using this path and so have we. Now the neighbor put up a fence and so are we. However, I think the neighbor may have put up their fence to keep their pets in. We are keeping cattle out. Their dogs still find ways out. I see tufts of hair in many spots on the bottom of their fence. As I removed cholla and prickly pear, I planted some in front of the tufts of hair in hopes to help discourage them from escaping.

I bumped a few cactus and needed to keep tweezers in my pocket and soak in the tub afterwards to get the last few broken spines out. All in the life of an Arizona gardener. Today a ride over by gates pass at Brown Mtn. Not a great riding spot, but met up with friends and a beautiful drive over the pass. I might like to ride that pass on road bike sometime.

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