Trees!

We planted some apple trees yesterday.......Fuji and Jonagold. We planted two Fuji trees because Cooper broke one if half before we got it in the ground. We had to go back to the nursery and get another one. That darn dog! Kelly put protective netting around them.....because of you know who.

We also planted two Cottonwood trees on the west side of the house. They will give the downstairs rooms and the garden some much needed shade. Cottonwoods are a native tree in AZ and they usually grow along the riverbanks.

We had to put a pressure reducing valve in because the drip irrigation system couldn't handle all of the pressure. It popped and we had quite a flood for about 20 minutes. We planted about 25 bushes....most of them near the front door. We also have five small lights along the driveway.

Cooper has been running around all morning chasing lizards and anything else he sees. He discovered that he can go into the big culvert pipes and come out the other end.....in a whole new spot! I just hope he doesn't run into a javelina. One of our new neighbors has been feeding several female javelinas with babies......a very bad idea. We also have been hearing coyotes every night. One coyote lures a dog into an area and then the pack attacks. It's a worry and we don't let Cooper out after dusk unless we are with him and he is on a leash.

Planting

We went to the Plant Fair Nursery today and choose some plants for several areas of our lot.

We met Kelly, our landscaper, at the nursery and he showed us which plants grow well in our area.

This cypress is fast-growing and will work well near the street to camouflage the house.

We chose some juniper, Oregon grape holly, wintercreeper and a heavenly bamboo for the spot near the front door.

Kelly gets a 20% discount which is nice. He loaded up his truck.

The plants are small now but they will grow quickly....we hope.

In this photo you can see the continuation of the little stream bed across the front walkway.

The "disturbed" area got some plantings too....what a difference.....the rocks were rearranged and Kelly transplanted some native grasses. He is using many things that are already here which is the best.

I found a great person to refinish some of our furniture. Steve took our end tables and made them match....they look great. Next he took the oak table and five leaves. This is what the table looked like before....

This is what it looks like now......much darker. We liked it so much we gave him the hutch. He is going to try and get it close to this color. He did the table in less than a week.....he's amazing.

New blinds are being installed on Monday and the large cabinet for the great room should be finished early next week. It has been so humid lately that Bob is having trouble with the paint drying.

Irrigation, Landscaping and Canine Good Citizen Cooper

Kelly and crew have been putting in irrigation pipe all over our lot. We don't have to put it in deep trenches as it self-drains in the winter.

There is a steep area off the south deck where we need to walk to get to the lower yard where the garden will be.....Kelly is using the rocks that we have (We have a lot!) to make natural looking steps.

We had to "disturb" this area to put in a pipe that contained the electrical, cable and phone, Tv and water. Kelly is adding some rocks and returning it to it's more natural state. We will be planting a tree where the bobcat is parked.

This area is next to the front door. We created a bowl of rocks where the rain will pool as it runs down the chain, and a little stream bed. We added some larger rocks and we are going to the nursery tomorrow to buy some plants.

Cooper and I spent a grueling three hours being tested for the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. A dog has to accept a friendly stranger, sit politely for petting, walk on a loose lead, walk through a crowd, sit and stay on command, come when called, not react to another dog or other distractions, and be away from his owner for three minutes.

He passed!! Although he has had a rough week......ate a new $50 door mat, chewed a throw and also took all the stuffing out of a pillow. He does not like to be left alone and he does not like to be excluded. As my son, Jake, said..... "Cooper was not so super this week!" We love him anyway.

This lovely creature was at the end of our driveway just cruising along at a slow and steady pace. He (or she) was beautiful. Cooper tried to sniff him and he reared up. Tarantulas are very common in our area. I find them fascinating. It's the scorpions I could do without. (We have had several in our garage.)

Building a Fire in July

Yup, Randy built a fire at 5:00 this morning. It wasn't cold......about 68 degrees outside with a high expected of about 93 degrees today.

We had to build a fire to cure the cement that holds the damper that was installed a week ago. The damper broke and had to be replaced. We are happy to report that the fireplace works great and we will love it in the winter. The air conditioning did come on a little earlier today....oh, well.

Our garden will have to wait until next year. We just haven't had the time to make raised beds. Randy didn't want the llama poop piles to go to waste so he planted some pumpkin, squash cucumbers and sunflowers. As you can see the plants are growing.

We have just started working with Kelly, a landscaper. He is digging irrigation lines today. Stay tuned.

Still Working on Lots of Projects

Randy has been puttering in his greenhouse. Most of these plants can go in the house or on the decks. He just ordered some new begonias and he planted some saguaro seeds....they are slow growers....in the "wild" they grow an inch or so in 8 years but can live for 125 years and weigh 6 tons or more AND be as tall as 50 feet!

I went shopping for lamp shades in Phoenix. Thank goodness for GPS....it's the only way I can get around in Phoenix/Scottsdale. Mary, the interior decorator, told me to get light shades if we were going to use the lamp for reading. I had fun choosing the finial at the top....black jade circle.

I went to IKEA in Tempe (1 1/2 hr. drive) to pick up this cabinet. It's perfect for storing weights, stretch bands, CDs, etc. in the exercise room. It came in white but the red just spoke to me.

We have slowly been hanging art work. It's hard to commit.

Guest room got some art too.

I have so many vintage family photos that I decided to put some away in an album and hang the rest on two picture rails in my office.

This pile is waiting for a bookcase that Bob, the cabinet maker, is working on. I would love for it to be done this week.....fingers crossed.

Today we are waiting for the Direct TV man to come....we can't get saved programs to show up in the exercise room. And the painter is coming one last time for touch up work.

Slowly Getting Settled

Randy has tethered his iPhone and we have some Internet at our new house. The cable company says it will be September before we have cable (phone, TV, Internet). We are seriously thinking about signing a contract with Direct TV.

Most of the boxes are unpacked and out of the garage. The master bathroom is functional and we love it.

We love the dual head shower with room for two.

The master bedroom is the "most together" room in the house. I bought new bed linens at a Macy's super sale a year ago. Everything....rug, lamps, pillows....was at least 50 % off.

I have lots of room in the bookcases for books, photos and some nicknacks. The chairs were in our living room in CA and I had them reupholstered for the bedroom.....charcoal car upholstery fabric. (No fading, I hope.) The Emerson fan works great and the view from this window is fabulous, day or night.

I have too many family photos.....three boxes left in the garage. I found this picture ledge online and thought it might be a solution. I hung it in the short hallway leading to the master and chose some photos for it. I am going to put most of the ones in the garage in an album.

I unpacked all of the art/photos......too much!! We have so many windows that there will not be a spot for all of these. Plus....I am liking the bare walls and I'm thinking that less is more when it comes to wall art.

Kitchen is looking pretty good. We love all of the appliances. I REALLY like the farmer's sink.

The great room is our trouble spot which is a bummer because it's probably the most important room in the house. An interior decorator lives across the street from the rental property we were living in and she is coming over on Tuesday to give me some ideas. I donated a chair, ottoman and coffee table and it still seems a bit crowded or something......I need a plan and I need HELP.

This lighting fixture has to be moved so it hits over the table. It's about 6 inches off. Oh well, we tried. The electricians also have to hang the entry way light and the pendants over the bar in the kitchen.

This guest room is almost done.....I need to hang the mirror over the chest and maybe find a bookcase for the room. It could also use a few things on the walls.

Guest bathroom is looking good. I love the rack I found on Etsy.....very functional for lots of towels and/or clothes.

The exercise room is a bit of a mess. I haven't used the treadmill since we moved. It's so boring without TV. I need some storage in this room for weights and other paraphernalia. I think we are going to give the bike away as we never use it. That will give me more room.

Cooper has been enjoying his private door. He can go out into a fenced yard. I wish the cat would start using it so I could get the litter box out of my office!

My office is coming together. I have unpacked all of the books. I can't make these two chairs fit so I think the rocker is going to go. I love the closet for my printer and other unsightly stuff.

This is the other guest room but we haven't bought the twin beds yet so I am using it as a "catch all" room for now. If I don't know where something should go, I throw it in this room. All of my kid's books are in the bookcase and some of this furniture will stay in the room.

Whew......we both have sore backs and feet. We are loving the house and feel very lucky every single day!

All Moved In....No Internet

We have been in our new home for a week. The boxes are slowly diminishing but it is still a bit of a mess.

We LOVE our house.

I can see the rocks, outlines of tree tops and stars from our bed each night. That was a nice surprise on our first night in the house. There are so many other wonderful things about it.....I will try to capture them in a later blog because......

We have no Internet at our house. I am sitting in a coffee house that has WIFI as our cable company has not been able to provide us with access. The company was recently bought by another company in St. Louis and everything is on hold. (We contacted them in October and they said no problem. Right!) We don't know when we are going to be able to have Internet. It's a bummer to say the least. So.....blogging is on hold for a while I'm afraid.

We don't miss TV and we can answer emails on our iPhones but we are so used to doing things via the Internet (like online banking!) that it has been a challenge. We could contract with a satellite company and have one tenth the speed we are used to.....ugh! We don't know how long we are going to have to wait.....that's the frustrating part.

I hope you all have a happy 4th of July weekend.