April

Greetings to all.  Our weather is back to perfect again after we suffered through a weekend of 102 degrees.  Hope this lasts a few more weeks as we're loving it.  We did have some clouds and wind yesterday and even about 3 minutes of rain........just enough to muddy up everyone's car but certainly not enough to measure as rainfall.

The cactus flowers love this time of year as send their blossoms skyward for some fresh sunshine.  Too bad they only last such a short time.  Found these beauties at Bob and Lucy Cadwell's site 1059. 

Many of you pickleball people know A.J. Fraties.  He pedals all around the park on his scooter so you never know where you'll find him.  We stopped him this morning and teased him for being on the cell phone while driving.

Carol Hendrickson at Site 1853 laughs when she waters her flowers as a 'friend' planted a stalk of corn in one of her pots.  Flowers and corn are doing well.

Water volley ball continues as long as there are enough players to staff teams.

T'is a sad day when the flowers must leave us.  The blooms just aren't hardy enough to withstand the hot temperatures.

 

The front entrance looks so barren now.  I'm glad to see the little green bushes they planted last year.  At least we have something growing there in the off season.

 

Activity at the softball field is at a stand still for now.  The fence is down.  Guess they're waiting for the next step.

That's all my news for today. 

A Quiet Weekend

Hello to all our loyal readers.  No big news or fancy pictures today but thought I'd post anyway just because I like to chat.  We hit our first day of 100 degrees yesterday and will probably do so again today.  This is NOT normal for April but if we have to suffer through inclement weather, I opt to take the heat rather than a tornado or snow storm.  It will cool back down to our perfect 80s early next week.  At least it still cools to the 60s at night making for wonderful sleep and open windows.  The AC units busily buzz during the afternoons but all get quiet again when the sun goes down at days end.

We drove around the park yesterday and commented on the empty lots and closed up houses.......and smiled at the number of folks out packing their cars.  I'm guessing that after May 1, we'll be among a select few that are still here. 

Here is a note of interest to those folks who complain about our dove population.  Just be thankful for the doves because at least we're not plagued by pigeons like they are over at Mission Royale.  Read this news article:
Pigeons at Mission Royale

Speaking of birds -- I received a nice email from Darrell Wright (Site 649). Darrell is back in Iowa now but sent this picture of a baby Great Horned Owl found in his neighbor's tree.  The babies (3) fell out the nest so they tied up a basket and placed the babies there for safe keeping.  Mom and Dad owl were grateful and are now tending to their wayward children.  A happy ending.

One more tidbit for the day:  Irene Clise (site 1851) has a short little cactus in her backyard but the little guy certainly seems to be happy there as he proudly sprouted a plethora of huge blooms.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by for a chat.

P.S.  Thanks for writing in the guestbook and for your emails.  You like reading the blog but I also like hearing from you readers.  Your feedback keeps me motivated to write more often.

Pickleball News

I just read some WOW news about the new pickleball courts.  Check it out on their blog:
PC PickleBall


This photo is just too cute so want to share it with you readers.  My son was in the Virgin Islands and stopped at a mangrove area to use their WiFi.  He said there were so many lizards around that they were really a pest but very cute.  This little guy hopped up on his keyboard and kept leaping at the mouse cursor.  The big guy was about 3 feet long and crawled right under his chair.  Mother Nature can be very entertaining.

Down comes the softball field

The back hoes have been busy!  They're scraping up all the gravel around the softball field and saving it for future construction and parking areas.  Then they have to dig up around all the fence posts to get them out of the ground.

 

 

 

Fernando and crew are busy!

 

 

 

It looks like Tonka Toys for all the boys.

This saguaro resides at 1088 and is getting ready to explode with blossoms.  I'll be watching it closely and will share photos when it pops.

Our streets have acquired some spray paint.  I'm assuming these are all areas that are being prepped for repair.  They're all over the park.

 

April has been a beautiful month so far....absolutely perfect weather....but we're supposed to creep up into the upper 90s this weekend so I'll alert you when my thermometer hits the triple digits for the first time.

Summer Begins

T'is spring time in the desert and the cactus are strutting their stuff with colorful flowers.  The prickly pear come in various colors and must have had a great season as they're loaded with blossoms.  The petals of the flowers are real waxy in their effort to retain what little moisture they have and are the bees are happy.

 

 

The ever present weeds are they're usual nuisance.  The park landscape personnel are busy at work to keep the weeds down.  I'm so pleased to see how they also control the weeds in individual sites or the resort would be looking quite shabby by summer.

 

 

Moving day for the softball field has started.  The fence is coming down.
The storage area for RVs has been moved to the far north end  to make room for all the new construction.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, water aerobics is going strong as we enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

 

Looking for a good home

I received (another) strange phone call today from a man who said he and his wife found a little parakeet out on the golf course.  Evidentally the little guy is quite tame as he is now in a nice new cage and has plenty of new toys and a good home.  BUT....now it is time for the long journey back to the home state and the little bird can't go along.  Would anyone like to adopt him?  Call Jerry at Site 267.  Free bird with cage, toys, and food included.

I spotted this cool golf cart over by the golf course this week.  See Mike and Janet Weese at Site 1859 for a cute story about the history of their cart.

Mama Killdeer is carefully guarding her nest of four eggs.  They're so well camoflaged you can hardly see them as they lay flat in the gravel.  She is directly over the eggs.  See if you can spot them.  When the young hatch, they are as cute as can be.  They look like little golf balls with legs as they scurry about in search of bugs. 

Mother Nature Items

Awwww......Eddie from our maintenance department found another dead owl out on the golf course.  This time it is a beautiful barn owl that met its demise.  No wonder these birds can fly so silently as their feathers are so very very soft....especially along the top inside edge of the wings.  I did some research and found that little barn owls like this only have a life expectancy of 1-2 years so he may well have passed due to natural causes.

 

 

 

In his prime (photo from internet)

The flowers up by the 4-way stop are absolutely stunning right now.  Thank you to the landscapers and our volunteer deadheaders for helping with this lovely showcase of flowers.