ArizonaRanch

  September 2008 at the Ranch by admin on Sep.02, 2008, under Seasons 31 Aug 2008 Raining Again It was raining again when we arrived for this trip.  At least we didn’t get stuck this time.   Raining again 31 Aug 2008  Playing in the Rain A big old Juniper had blown down in the meadow since our last visit.  The boys are going over to investigate.   Boys heading for a blown down tree   31 Aug 2008 Blown Down Juniper Hunter approaches the blown over tree.  You can see it was pretty big.  Must have been quite a wind to blow it over.   Hunter near blown over tree 31 Aug 2008 Alex playing on the downed tree Practicing his balance skills.   Alex in cool Tree Fort 31 Aug 2008 Alex and Nana playing Nana got in on the action too.  It was raining out, and she had to protect her hair, though.   Nana and Alex playing in the rain 31 Aug 2008 Hunter Playing Hunter is making mud shakes in a water bottle.  W...

  LittleHouse – More Exterior Trim by admin on Sep.02, 2008, under Trim & Paint 31 Aug 2008 Exterior Trim We made it back up over Labor Day. It was raining again when we arrived, so the first day was pretty much shot for working. We played with the Grandkids, instead. The sun came out the next day, and we started the trim on the West side of the house. We have two vertical pieces, and one horizontal piece over the butt joint where the two pieces of siding adjoin from the bottom and top. For that joint, we looked for Z-channel to slip in between them for weatherproofing. The only stuff we found was for thicker siding, and wouldn't fit right for ours. So we used 30 year sealant at that joint, which is pretty good stuff. We had to take some off around the French Doors when we were re-doing the flashing, and it was stuck very well. Anyway, we covered that joint with a horizontal trim piece, more for looks than anything. The top of this trim piece was also...

  August 2008 at the Ranch by admin on Aug.12, 2008, under Seasons Summer Rain August 9th, 2008. Afternoon. 2008 has been another good monsoon season. We are several inches ahead on our rainfall for the summer. Here, we are arriving at Markham Pass Gate right at the end of a pretty good shower. You can see Markham Wash running pretty good.   Markham Wash Flowing The road improvements of last winter improved the road quite a bit, as the ruts were only a couple of inches deep. We did get stuck pretty bad once we got to our own driveway, but we didn't get any pictures of the attempts to free ourselves. Anyway, it's nice and green at the ranch again (for a while).

  LittleHouse – Exterior Trim by admin on Aug.12, 2008, under Trim & Paint Muddy Day 08 August 2008. Just to explain the lack of progress on this trip, we arrived in the middle of a summer thunderstorm that had dumped quite a bit of rain on the ranch. We made it through Markham Mudpit OK, and all the way to our driveway. That’s when things went horribly wrong.   Markham Wash Flowing After going up the driveway a couple hundred yards, (carefully staying out of the ruts that were running with water), we had to veer across the drive to avoid trees in our path. The attempt to veer was futile, as the wheels of the trailer fell into the ruts, and the tongue of the trailer dug into the ground. This pulled the jeep right into the same ruts, and we became stuck, high centered on the suspension front and back. We worked for 3 hours trying various ways to dig ourselves out, then we finally gave up and walked up to Bruce and Lidia’s place to beg for help. Bru...

  LittleHouse – Finishing the Siding by admin on Jun.16, 2008, under Siding Siding Install 15 June 2008. Here is the west side after the siding was installed. You can tell that it was a pretty dirty trip in this time. There will be a fan installed up near the peak on this side, covered with some decorative cover.   West Siding Finished Siding Install 15 June 2008. Here is the north side after the siding install. Again, there are some dirty patches on the siding, but they will be cleaned off and painted over. So the next trip (probably in August, due to the trip back to Nebraska in July) we will bring up some paint and give it a more finished look.   North Siding Finished

  LittleHouse Siding by admin on May.20, 2008, under Siding Siding Install 17 May 2008. We brought up 16 sheets of Hardi-Board siding to cover half the house. We had a little adventure with losing half of two pieces on I-40 coming up. Fortunately, nobody was near us when that happened. Hardi-Board is a cement fiber board that does not rot in the rain or sun, the way most sheet goods do. It is also highly fire-resistant. It cost about twice as much as T1-11 siding, but we think the reduced maintenance will be worth the extra cost. Here is the south side installed (including replacement of the two panels at the door). The seams will be filled in before we paint, and it should look as good as any house in town.    South Siding Siding Install 17 May 2008. South side awaiting trim and paint.   Front Siding Siding Install 18 May 2008. Here is a view of the door, after replacing the two pieces of siding that were cut too big. There is a drip ed...

  More May at the Ranch by admin on May.10, 2008, under Seasons Globe Mallow May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these. They stood about waist-high.   Globe Mallow Small Violet Flowers May 28th, 2003. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these, too. But they were small, so you didn’t notice them as quickly.   Violet Flower (Some perrenial grass - fillile?) Remy May 27th, 2006. Morning. This is our pup, Remy. She was about 8 months old when this was taken. A very curious and smart dog. She was a big hit when we visited our neighbors.   Remy Horned Toad Lizard May 26th, 2006. Early Afternoon. As we were unloading a load of water from our trailer, this little guy was found scurrying around in the trailer bed. I didn’t want to squish him, so I just tried to get him to jump out of the trailer. He decided to jump on my pants leg…   Horned Toad Lizard Guardian Bee May 25th, 2006. Early Afternoon. This gal hung around...