Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Friday the floors were completed ... yay! They came out great. The lighter color makes the room look brighter. I love what the color does for the room. It makes it feel like a new kitchen. It also is great to be back in a full working kitchen again.

Tom arrived Monday and today we got out for a local ride. Good to ride and tell jokes with friends. Looking to spend some quality time together both on and off the bike this week!


IMG_8037.jpg


IMG_8038.jpg


IMG_8036.jpg


IMG_8041.jpg


IMG_8043.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We had a fantastic week with Tom visiting. Riding every day and some great down time just catching up. Rides were a nice mix of adventure, technical and flowy XC. Tom is one of the most positive people I know. I always enjoy spending time with him. Even though he is 12 years older than me, I always feel like I am with someone younger than me. Perhaps I need more of his attitude.

All being vaccinated, we had a night out for dinner and music. Our favorite music venue just reopened. It was outside and not crowded b/c limited seating. Worked out well and glad to see some of the musicians and restaurants able to do business. We splurged with extra food to give them the business, since they were limiting the number of tables.

After a week of riding, I am taking a few days off the bike. The wind is howling right now and we may have some rain and thunderstorms rolling in tonight. We could really use the rain. Hoping we get some.

IMG_8046.jpg


IMG_8047.jpg


IMG_8049.jpg


moon.jpg


IMG_6300.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I am happy to report that we got .38 inches of rain with that last system. ...hooray! Plants and creatures are loving it. Another bobcat came through our yard. It was thinner and lighter in color. Maybe an adolescent or female. Hoping that when we get back next fall there may be a family running around.

Always a little bittersweet, but I have started to pack to head back east. As much as I love this place, I do really miss my friends and riding Sterling. A little moisture in my nose and on my thumb print is cool too. I am extremely grateful to have two places to enjoy the best of weather and riding conditions. The time in AZ always feels like a wonderful extended vacation.

We hope to head out next week. No pictures now, but I will try to get some up soon.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We have been back in NY for a week now. Drive went smoothly but seemed long. We also had some traffic. I have a feeling that people are getting back out to travel by car and people are going back to work and out driving. Also construction everywhere. Well, good to have the driving done and be back riding at Ringwood and Sterling. Riding at Sterling is always enjoyable. I have only been riding every other day because I am feeling run down. Hopefully I will get back in the swing of things now that I am settled back in.

No organized trail work yet, but we did take care of a hanging tree on Stateline Trail. We hope to meet with Ringwood Trail Crew soon so we can figure out what needs to be done this year. Once that happens, I imagine Dirty Thursdays will start up again. Art looks forward to digging in the dirt!

Below is a picture of my temporary life line drip for my potted plants on the east side of the house...

pots2.jpg

... and drips in the garden:
pots1.jpg

... and "thunderdome".
pattypan.jpg


Salt River Canyon on our northern drive out of Az:
saltriver.jpg


Came home to 5 of 6 baby swan, which are now only 4. Life is tough for them between fox, coyotes, bobcats and snapping turtles.
swan.jpg


swanpond.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
It was nice to get a taste of summer, but now I am back in my fleece with the heat on while I watch the rain outside. I do not mean this in a complaining way, but more of an appreciation way. It has been awhile since I have had any real rain, so a few days of it is ok. Friday we received approval from the park on a re-route proposal, so we have much to do outside once the weather clears up. It is always nice to get excited about a new project. No work days on the calendar yet, but we have some meetings, planning, revisiting and flagging to do, both on the approved project and a new proposal.

On the pond : Signet ( baby swan ) count is down to 3. On a brighter note, our pond is nursery to 13 baby wood ducks. The great thing about wood ducks is that they raise their young in groups, so there could be more hatching that swim on our pond. I often see several mothers together, so it is possible that the 13 that I saw, was more than one family. The swan do not tolerate other swan families. Last weekend papa swan spent an hour attacking his reflection on our patio window.

Anyway, I am enjoying all the green.

IMG_6427.jpg


jack and p.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Pond life: So, no more baby swan. They have all been eaten, or whatever happens to them. The wood duck nursery school is happening, though! :) Art counted 18 on one outing. I do not have any pictures because they are shy and take off if I get close. I guess that is why they are still alive. Perhaps the swan should have had some lessons from the wood ducks. I also spotted a mink a few days ago. Have not seen one in a few years, so that was cool. Blue heron, green heron and king fisher are out and about on a regular basis.

In the Park: I saw a bear today in Ringwood. Second sighting since I've been back. Been out mostly getting ready to set up trail work. With an approved major re-route, and another in the proposal stages, we have been on foot as well. Sometimes we have to revisit a dozen times before we can find something that will work, but last few times out were really positive. New trail (re-route) is always exciting. However, we have some repairs to complete first. Having so much rain is a good reminder, to get right out and tend to any wet spots before jumping in on new stuff.

Family: My brother came down to visit from Vermont. It has been a few years since we were together because of covid restrictions. He is a trail builder too, and even gets paid for it in Vermont, which is pretty cool. While just a short visit, it was fun. Hopefully we can get together in Vermont for riding this summer.

No pictures today.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
The laurel have bloomed and faded and I am just now putting up a picture. Anyway, Art and I have had 2 Dirty Thursdays in the books and are poised to start the big new project on Cooper Union north end. The new section of trail is 3/4 of a mile long and has quite a bit of bench cutting. It does not look overly rocky, but it is Ringwood. I expect rock in there most the way. Art says 3 months of work, but in my estimate: I say about 4-5 months. We are hoping to get some volunteers in there to push things along. There are many things happening around the state, so we are not looking to steal volunteers away from other areas, but would love to see Ringwood locals come out and get involved.

It seems like it rains here every day. Not all day, but for some part of the day. Good for the plants, and enables us to get some work and rides in. I can not complain, especially when the west is having another severe drought. I think it rained more here in 3 days, than it did at our place in Arizona all year. I wish I could send some rain out there.

tiny plant.jpg


sandy.jpg


laurel.jpg


clover.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Since we have been back, we have been trying to get our walkway redone. We had an old paver walkway that was settling and crumbling in spots. We also wanted to add a front border garden and add some nice pollinating flowers. We asked for an estimate last fall and were having the toughest time getting a quote from this guy. He kept making us look at different pavers. I was beginning to think he was crazy. It was getting frustrating as he came with so many high recommendations and showed really nice work, but never seemed to get us the quote. It finally became apparent that the covid home improvement movement was selling out pavers like the new toilet paper. We finally found something, and he had to immediately pay and pick up. The walkway was in within a few days. It looks awesome! We decided to purchase plants and plant ourselves. So, in between trail work was some yard work too. We wanted pollinating flowers, and bees, dragonflies and butterflies were checking out our plants before we even got the in the ground. Some of the bushes look small now, but they will fill in over the years.

The walkway flows like our trails ! :cool:
walkway done.jpg


IMG_3512.JPG

before^
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
What happens to the old pavers?
Usually they end up on Craigslist so cheapskates like me can grab them for cheap or get ripped off thinking they got them for cheap.


Generally the contractor just takes them away. I am not sure if they get reused. I know you can reuse stone.
Did they charge you a fee to dispose of it?

I’ve seen a few Craigslist adverts where the seller charged some $100 for a whole lot of pavers, except you had to go and remove them yourselves...best case scenario you pay to do somebody else’s job, worst case scenario you pay to go steal pavers from an unknowingly third party...you’ve got to love people!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Yesterday I did a ride at Waway. My first ride there this year and I only did one full ride there last year, so I was overdue. The huge rhododendron were all in bloom. It was pretty fantastic! My technical skills were a tad off to start, but I started to come around as the ride went on. It is always nice to ride at Waway, as it is both beautiful and somewhat less ridden than RW or Sterling.

Art and I have been plugging away on our Cooper-Union Re-route. We have had 2 dirty Thursdays with volunteers and a bunch of days up there with just us. I feel pretty good about our progress as we have had other stuff going on as well. Some work days have been pretty humid. On those hot humid days, Art will work until the sweat on his pants soaks down to his shoes. We have just about completed the first of 3 legs. The middle leg is the longest so we still have a long way to go. Hopefully we will have a bunch of Thursdays that do not rain, so we can move this thing along. We also have a Saturday work day coming up this weekend.

shroom.jpg


rhode.jpg


sweaty art.jpg


squash blossom.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
It has been quite a delight watching the wood ducks grow up. They spent a week or two flapping their wings trying to figure out what those wings do. Finally they climbed up on to the damn to get some altitude and took the first short flight, one after another. Some of the little ones waited another week, but they are all flying in some capacity right now. They also are getting some blue feathers on their sides, yet the male colors have not come in yet. They are quite the clan of the pond. I really have no idea how many will come back next year, but this has been the largest group to date.

Our new butterfly bush has had a few monarchs and one ragged tiger swallow tail that probably got ripped up in a thunderstorm. God knows we have had so many storms! I am trying my best to embrace the rain, but the constant cloudy days start to grate on my outlook. Monsoon has arrived in Tucson, thank god! They needed rain and with fires last year, there have been some more trail closures behind my house. Mostly ATV roads because of flash flood danger. I saw some news clips of trucks up to the windshield in raging water. Things come in extremes out there for sure, and with climate change, these extremes get more extreme. I am just happy to see them get some long needed rain and cooler temps.


IMG_6469.jpg


IMG_6498.jpg


IMG_6492.jpg
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I've been out of the online loop for a few weeks, but trail building has been going on!

In short, I have Lyme with some dizzy and eye issues, and have been stuck inside. I am on the meds, have no pain, and hope some of this stuff clears up enough to be able to drive, walk or read. I hopefully will know more in a few days, but for now I am ready to hang in for the long haul on this one.

I will leave you with a picture of one of the late hatching 3 robins in our front tree.

robin.jpg


doxy.jpg


butterflybush.jpg
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I've been out of the online loop for a few weeks, but trail building has been going on!

In short, I have Lyme with some dizzy and eye issues, and have been stuck inside. I am on the meds, have no pain, and hope some of this stuff clears up enough to be able to drive, walk or read. I hopefully will know more in a few days, but for now I am ready to hang in for the long haul on this one.

I will leave you with a picture of one of the late hatching 3 robins in our front tree.

View attachment 164720

View attachment 164721

View attachment 164722
Sorry to hear that, I hope you get better soon. I don’t know what I would do if I could not read, can’t imagine how you would cope with that.
 
Top Bottom