Settling in for the Winter

It took the quail less time to settle back in than I have. We got back to Arizona Sat. evening, put some bird seed out on Sunday and this morning nine quail were here for breakfast. It was 30 degrees overnight and the quail had their feathers all fluffed up, looking like big puff balls. They are so much fun to watch every winter.

Now that it's Monday, I can run over to Sierra Vista this afternoon to re-stock my own pantry and look at the new addition to the town - great big, brand new, huge super Wal-Mart. Oh what fun!

While I was gone the burned out house to the East of mine was bulldozed down. Now I can see Tombstone's Courthouse from the beadroom. It also lets in a lot more morning sun. Nice bright Arizona sun in a clear blue sky, that's one of the big reasons for being here in the winter. I probably have a touch of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and the light filled days always make me feel better with tons more energy.

Then, to get filled in on all the local gossip, I'll go have coffee with my neighbor on the West. She was my high school room mate from Illinois. We often comment on fate; who would ever have thought we'd be wintering next door to each other in Arizona 47 years later?

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I'll leave you with a photo of my welcome home visitor......

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Last night, I looked up and this guy was sitting on top of the window molding. He got caught in a jar while I did my best to find out if it was a dangerous spider. Turns out that we think it's a 3" Huntsman Spider, not dangerous, but beneficial. So, I evicted him outside, across the road.