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The coyote is without a doubt the most famous desert animal, the very symbol of the west. He is prominently figured as the Trickster as well as the Wise One in Native American myths and legends. The coyote fascinates us with its intelligence and adapability. Coyotes are omnivores, which means they will eat or try to eat just about anything. In the Sonoran Desert coyotes vary their diet with the seasons. Cactus fruit, mesquite beans, flowers, insects, rodents, lizards, rabbits, birds, and snakes make up some of their dietary choices. It can survive eating anything from saguaro fruit to roadkills, and is able to live in any habitat from cactus forest to the city.
The coyote is not only intelligent, curious and playful, it has very keen senses that adapt it for survival—acute hearing, excellent vision, and an extremely sensitive sense of smell.
Coyotes are often mistaken for small to medium sized domestic dogs. They have a long, bushy black-tipped tail, pointed ears and a narrow pointed face. Their fur varies in color, from light brown to grayish. The fur on their belly is usually white.
A desert coyote usually weighs between 15 to 25 pounds. They stand about 25 inches tall and are 4 feet in length.
Coyotes “sing” as a way to communicate with other coyote families and as a way to keep track of their own family members.
Because coyotes are not picky eaters, they have even been known to eat domestic cats and small dogs.
(This is not my photo)
You REALLY know you’re in the wilds when you spot a coyote not 50 feet away from you.
We’ve started taking Winston out really early on a morning (between 4:30 and 5 AM) to beat the heat that starts as soon as the sun comes up. He’d been really starting to suffer the heat when we were taking him out at the usual time and was pulling towards any small amount of shade. Poor thing was panting up a storm and it usually made him rather out-of-sorts the rest of the day.
So I take him out this morning and it’s just getting light at 4:30 and I wonder why there were absolutely no rabbits around. I know it’s not too early for them because they’re out in the middle of the night and most mornings when we’re out and about… and they’re usually out in droves. But this morning there were absolutely none.
Then I get down to the doggie park which is right next to the goat pen and the goats were all out of their little house there and were standing right up at the fence looking outward past the doggie park. They usually do this when they’ve spotted Jack and are waiting for him to come let them out. But when they do that, they usually make quite a bit of a ruckus calling to him. This morning, they were dead silent and locked in place.
I was just about to let Winston off his leash when I saw the coyote right there… just about 50 feet away from me.
I decided to keep Winston on his leash because I didn’t want him to start going crazy barking and not sure if this coyote had seen me and/or if there was any danger there – rabid coyotes could attack I’ve been told.
So with nothing but a chain link fence and about 50 feet between us, I 
made myself quite known to this guy who was solely interested in the chicken coop. By “quite known”, I mean that I went and stood right in the open in the middle of the doggie park, and didn’t move. I was wearing all black from head-to-toe… The one time I wish I wasn’t looking so much like a ninja in stealth-mode.
The coyote kept looking over at me, then back at the coop but I reckon he knew with my being there, any attempt at a chook breakky was out of the question and finally took off. He was a bit skittish, and before he decided 
there was absolutely no way he was getting any breakfast at this place, stopped one more time just past the chicken coop and gave one last ditch look to see how he could get at the chooks. He looked at me one last time to make sure I hadn’t moved, and then trotted off down the lane.
After we were done at the park, I thought it would probably be best to not walk around the site as normal but to come right back home, but I did walk part way further past where we’d normally turn up to get home, where I have a good vantage point of the entry road, just to make sure he wasn’t still lingering around… all was clear. Just as I turned to walk up the way home, there was a rabbit sitting right there on the path ahead of me, and all was well in the world again. I figured that he must be gone as it was safe again for the rabbits to come out.
So I know you must be wondering what was the thought that ran through my head as I put myself between the goats and held Winston’s leash taut, and him behind me in a protective stance…? Nope, it was not “OMG! I hope I don’t look good enough to eat” but rather “SHIT! Why didn’t I bring my camera out with me?!” Urgh… this lady is never going on a walk again without her camera!
Yep… I BBQ too…
Why is it that people think that when you’re vegan, you don’t BBQ? Obviously from this blog, it’s evident that I absolutely love BBQ-ing! So, tonight, what did we have for dinner? Yup BBQ. 🙂
What was on the menu tonight? Oh my goodness gracious me, it was super yummy! Ooops I digress… mouth was having a quick flash-back to dinner…Â
Ooops… Was so hungry I almost forgot to take a photo for you all!
Acorn squash, round zucchini, onion wedges, sweet corn on the cob, potatoes (lightly spiced and cooked in aluminium foil with a bit of vegan butter), and vegan burgers. I flavoured the acorn squash with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder with butter and started off with cooking it in the aluminium foil – but the foil kept opening so thought “sod this” and took them out the foil and put them direct on the grill – best thing about that was the butter had almost all melted so poured it over the squash ummmm. I did pretty much the same with everything else (spice-wise) except adding paprika to the potatoes, onions and zucchini with the 
addition of smoked paprika to the onions. With the burgers, I did the same spice (omitting the smoked paprika) and then added chipotle BBQ sauce over top. Oh yaah…Â
But alas… what would our blog post be without at least one “issue”? Today we picked up a bag of charcoal and Ben doused the coals in lighter fluid, but not everything took! So it took another good dousing before we had a good fireball and the coals finally took. Even Jack had a chuckle as I explained the “issues” we’ve been having with this BBQ! BUT… it finally caught and we got to cooking – although Ben was fretful that we’d not be having dinner tonight.Â
One of the highlights was when I came out the vardo and spotted Billy the goat up round our neighbour Ron’s rig and said “Hello Billy” and he came trotting over to me at rather high speed. First thought “Oh shit! Is he going to attack?!!” With a picnic table and BBQ between us, I had a quick thought of backtracking at a relative high speed back up the steps into the vardo. But no, he was just happy to see me and eager to come for his scratch. I guess I’ve felt a bit comforted having a natter with them all while they’re in their pens with a fence between us. But a goat on the loose high trotting it over for a visit…
Vegan candy being sold at Walmart – and only $1!!!
He’s a damn smart cookie though as he realised that he was not able to get round to me with a table and BBQ in between us, so I told him to walk round the table and BBQ and he totally listened to me! Came for a quick scratch behind the ears and then proceeded to munch on the Nopales cactus right behind the picnic table.  Jack came over for a quick visit with Cleo (who I’d been erroneously Chloe) and I told him about Billy’s rushing over to visit and he told me that he only does that with people he knows and likes. Yep… I beamed. Billy the goat likes me! 😀
Even says “VEGAN” right there on the packet! It’s kind of like Starburst candy, but not quite.
Popped up to Anthem today to hit-up Walmart and while we’re checking out, Ben picks up a packet of sweets and gets all excited and exclaims “WOW! These are vegan – even say’s it right there on the packet…!” That’s a pretty big thing for Walmart! Noticed it first with the new packet of Earth Balance (butter), but it’s still a novelty.
If I thought simply wearing hijab to Walmart out here brought out people staring, wearing full abaya (long dress) and hijab brings people to a literal mouth-gaping-open standstill… C’mon, I wore my nicest abaya today and all – they must have been mesmerized by the beautiful designs over it… 😉
It was a rather uneventful day all-in-all other than getting up to “the big smoke”, an incredibly delicious BBQ dinner, and Billy the goat near making me pee my pants with momentary thoughts of being mauled by a goat… But while I love it out here, and Billy the goat is a huge anchor (ha!), I’ve been feeling my feet itching… Ready to move on to the next destination and adventure… Could be the heat getting to me or has the wind changed direction and it’s calling deep within my soul…?
I was craving chicken satay the other night… something I have not had in years. Having easy access to the BBQ, I figured that was the perfect opportunity to make these delicious morsels and experiment on my own vegan version of satay. I gotta say… I was so happy with the results. Delicious!
Of course… you have two nimrods operating the BBQ and I swear there must be a You Tube video up featuring us… again. This time, Ben got the 
BBQ started well, but then popped the satay’s on the grill right away instead of letting the coals heat up first… Just another laughable experience on our adventure here. But I gotta say, he sure is learning from these experiences… Eventually, we’ll be expert BBQ-ers. 🙂
Seitan Chick’n Satay
½ Onion
1″ piece ginger
3 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemongrass (white parts only)
½ teaspoon Salt
2 TBSP Sugar
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Sweet Paprika Powder
½ tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp Tamari
3 TBSP cold water
2 cups and 1 TBSP vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp Vegeta vegetable bouillon powder
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 cup cold water
3/8 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp Tamari
12 bamboo sqewers (soaked in water for 2 hours)
1. Mix the first 15 ingrediets together in the food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
2. Mix the next four ingredients together in a large bowl until very well mixed and then in a separate bowl, whisk together the next 3 ingredients plus the mixture in the food processor. Add it to the dry ingredients and bring together into a dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes and then set aside for 20 minutes.
3. Take 2 TBSP of the mixture and knead the dough very well, then form it into a log shape and flatten out slightly. Sqewer the dough through the bamboo sqewer and set on a tray. Repeat until all the dough is on the bambook sqewers and set on the tray.
4. Steam the seitan in the oven while on the skewers until it is cooked through (20-30 minutes). Place the skewers of seitan satay on a baking tray which is sitting over a basin of water and cover seitan with aluminium foil.
5. Heat BBQ until very hot. Brush about 2 TBSP vegetable oil over the grill
(I placed an aluminium foil over the grill and then brushed the oil all over the aluminuim foil). Add the skewers of satay and then let cook on the BBQ until browned well.
Serve with steamed rice and chunks of fresh cucumber, sweet onions and satay sauce.
Satay Sauce
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (I didn’t have so I used 3 TBSP smooth peanut butter – if you have chunky peanut butter, that would be better)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup coconut cream (from can)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp sweet paprika
3 TBSP sugar (I used white but brown would be best)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 TBSP Tamari
1-2 tsp Sriracha chili sauce
1 TBSP lime juice (or lemon juice or 2 TBSP tamarind pulp)
1. Place the peanuts in the food processor and process until they are chopped and still chunky (do not over process). Remove from food processor and set aside.
2. Put the remaining ingredients (unless using smooth peanut butter, if you are using this, add it now) into the food processor and process until smooth. Add the mixture to the peanuts and mix very well together.
Obituary…
It is with great sorrow and profound sadness (especially after cognition that there shall be no more water boiled for tea [and less painfully, for dishes] or mug cakes made), that we report to you that after 8 1/2 years of dedicated and devoted service, offered with only love to please in his mechanical heart, our dear microwave died suddenly, and without cause or provocation this afternoon after his final act of service… boiling noodles for spaghetti. Several attempts at resuscitation were made but were in vain.
In lieu of flowers, and proficient disposal of dear microwave, donations are being accepted in order to replace said microwave…
RIP dear friend…
Ben went to bed early and I got a desperate urge for dessert – what to do? Ignore my craving, or be selfish…? Selfishness won out… 
easily. 😉
Chocolate cake flashed through my mind and my mad craving launched me on a frantic search for cocoa powder in the pantry in hopes of making a chocolate mug cake. Can’t even blame mid-month hormonal surges or PMS for this… URGH, we’re out of cocoa powder. Damn! What to do…? Ahhhh spice cake, yes I think so.
I raid the pantry in hushed silence grabbing everything that I need to make this secret cake, curbing my midnight mega snack attack, and not wake Ben up – his bed is right opposite the pantry. Mission accomplished, yaay! Who says I can’t be stealth? hehehe
I make my mug of cake and just as I sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top as a perfect finale, the scent of fresh spice cake desperately pleading with me to grab a spoon and dig in, a sound shocks me back out of my reverie and silent preparation of jumping face first into this mug of deliciousness… “Are you making a dessert?!” DAMN! The man has woken up! I then hear a small, child-like voice pleading… “I want sum…” Stealth-mode has been compromised. Here we go… round two.. slaving over a hot… er… microwave. Thank goodness this cake only takes a couple of minutes to prepare and 1 minutes and 45 seconds to “bake” in the microwave.
This is a perfect size individual serving, and I love that I don’t have to bake a full cake, plus not having a stove that works at the moment, this is a great alternative especially when the sudden desperate midnight urge for cake hits.
Vegan Spice Mug Cake
4 tbsp all-purpose white flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix all the dry ingredients together very well until incorporated. Add the wet ingredients and mix together very well. Cook in microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. If the cake is still a bit wet after 1 minute 30, add another 15 seconds to the cook time.
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Now if I can only convince Winston that he doesn’t need to go out for a walk… He’s snoring, maybe I can pop into bed without him waking up? But then again, I do need to walk these calories off…
What a gorgeous day out here in the desert today. It is overcast with a very cool 
wind. I’ve the windows and front door open and the lovely breeze is passing right through the whole RV. Best part is, no air con today and Winston is not even panting!
Had a lovely visit outside with ol’ Jim – the resident worker here, this morning. He really is such a nice man and he has so many stories to tell too.
I’m not sure if I mentioned in a previous blog post about this “scream” we heard the other night when we were taking Winston for a walk. The closer we got to the pool area, the louder it got and I was pretty sure that it was either a frog or a sick cricket. I went down to the store yesterday and asked Jack, and he said that they’re toads and that’s their mating call. He told us that they have red bumps all over their bodies and they secrete a toxin that is a hallucinogen. He explained that the Indians used to lick them to get high.
Red-spotted toads – occurs in Southern California, mainly in the deserts east of the mountain ranges and north through much of the Mojave Desert. It’s small, rounded parotoid glands and lack of a back stripe will distinguish it from its neighbors. It often has many red spots on the body, but sometimes the red is lacking.
So this morning, I was still in bed – trying to get some more sleep from the horrendous night sleeping – or lack thereof, when there was a knock on the door. It was Jim. He’d brought me two toads in a bucket to have a look and take photos of. After, he was taking them over to the lemon/orange tree and setting them free there. While we were talking, suddenly this “chirping” sound came out of the bucket. These little guys actually chirp, like birds!!! I was astounded.
Jim stayed for a bit and we had a lovely visit and he shared stories about his time in Vietnam – some things made me cry. He even showed me his old dog-tags and told me that they had been with him all through his years in Vietnam. I fet so incredibly honoured that he shared his stories and showed me his dog tag – which he carries on his key ring now.
He was in Vietnam for four years, and to this day, he still suffers from PTSD and pains in his body from being shot on several occasions and being blown up – he explained that he had shrapnel in his shins that when his kids were little, they thought it was “awesome” that they could put a magnet on their Dad’s shin and it’d stay! He said “what they didn’t know, was that them doing that, hurt so much”, he went on to explain that the shrapnel was in his bones and the magnet was like pulling them out.
Of course, Ainey climbing through the blinds to look out the window and watch us talk while we were out there, knocking over a glass vase and smashing (and breaking) it into the sink, didn’t help poor Jim’s PTSD. He’d just told me about how loud and shocking noises could “set” him off… Ainey’s lucky she didn’t get turned into stew!
I have met several people, had several friends even, who have served in Vietnam, and not one of them has ever spoken about their experiences there. Too painful, too difficult, or they’ve sworn it to a self-imposed secrecy – or maybe not so self-imposed.
We talked about many things about his experiences this morning; as I said, some things made me cry, but for respect I’ll not repeat everything. It was a very humbling and emotional experience. One that I am not likely ever to forget. One that I honour categorically, and am so humbled that he would share such deeply personal stories with me.
Soon the topic drifted away, and we talked about the different cacti and the fruits they produce. He told me that he would bring us some cactus fruit when they’re ready for harvest and teach us how to eat them. He said that he’d teach us how to live off the desert, and that one truly can live off the desert if they know what they’re looking for. I’m excited to try some of these fresh cactus fruits! Let’s hope he gets to them before the birds do.
Ben hung one of my wind chimes up on the tree here – I did get permission from Jim to do so as the website had said to not hang 
anything from any trees. He said that the KOA doesn’t want people hanging washing lines from RV to trees with lines of clothes drying, he exlained that they don’t want us looking “like trailer trash”! lol
My windchime sounds lovely, and I don’t think it’s ever had such a workout living down in the Valley. The green of my windchime blends in nicely with the green of the tree so it’s very subtle.
Last evening, I took Winston down to the dog park and brought my camera with me. Just observing, and taking photos of, all the wildlife, it was absolutely blissful. It’s almost like each time you step foot outside the door, take a walk, or even sit in the house here and just tune everything out and tune nature (which is all around you) in, you’re living in a state of absolute meditation. I’ve never felt so at peace. Even with the stress of finances, and lacking food, no running water and all that “stuff”, it’s almost as if it all becomes “blah blah blah” with no real ability to “touch” us in this meditative bliss we’re surrounded in.
I’m comfortable here. I’m happy. I feel fulfilled. I have my husband, our four furry kids and our own home on wheels – and I feel like the wealthiest woman in the world. We’re starting to meet people here and make friends. Last night, we had some neighbours from “The Rollin’ Green Project” (a film documentary) come over to visit. Rick was helping us figure a leak in the back and where it comes from – seems like we’ve a potential crack in the black tank (urgh) and Ben was helping Samantha with websites and such. They’re such cool people, they “speak our language” and we’re so much alike. It was a lovely visit and I think we should organize a pot luck of sorts. 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/TheRollinGreenProject?fref=ts
I have to say that this place SO feels like home, I’d even be willing to stay put here for a while with no complaint. I am SO loving the people here – this “small town” friendliness from the residents here and long-term visitors… it’s what I’ve missed living in the Valley for 10 years. SO SO SO happy! 🙂
Here are some photos taken on my walk with Winston last evening…
Saguaro cactus. Right under the crown of flowers “halo” on the tops, are the fruits coming into being. I can’t wait to give them a try.
I am SO angry! Woke up this morning to find that my beautiful new blinds – which took us 5 hours to put up, and Ben so expertly customized to fit, and looking so gorgeous… were chewed by one of our naughty girls! Grrrrrr SO mad.
Ben swears he thinks it is our middle girl, Nari – out least naughty furry, and I did get after her last night when I closed the blinds, so possibly… But regardless who is the guilty party, we now have to get another set to replace these pieces. Not thinking we’d need to keep them, we threw the other ones out. Gotta think ahead in future – maybe save up and get some wooden blinds… and bitter apple spray. I’ll douse the blinds in bitter apple I swear!
You cannot make all of the cats “pay”, you just let it go until you catch them in the act. But swear I’m going to get a motion-activated video camera… *pout*
NOT a happy camper today. 😥
A minor emergency started our day off this morning when Ben went to get something from the freezer and nonchalantly tells me that the popsicles in the freezer have melted. WHAT??!!! He’s all calm and composed telling me that the popsicles have melted and so that means that the freezer has packed in! Battle stations people, I launch into full-fledged def-con 1 mode and begin pulling stuff out the freezer and then remember that the fridge is cooled by the freezer, so I check it… yup… warm.
How the heck did this happen? I mean, the vents in the back of the fridge were all frozen and iced over yesterday, and in discussing with one of the resident workers here, he told me that when that happens to make sure that we do a defrost – but obviously I am not going to be able to defrost the darn fridge/freezer, as it’s gone kaput.
We start a frantic search for some way to get this thing cooling again, and finally Ben gets online and starts to look up user manuals. Turns out, the fridge/freezer does an automatic defrost when it starts freezing up the vents. You’d think it would be polite enough to inform US that this was the case. In the meanwhile, the bloody popsicles have leaked out of their individual baggies and big bag and so everything has to come out of the freezer so it can be washed down. Oh and did I mention I am 5’4″ tall and the freezer is at least 5’4 off the ground?! That means that for me to clean, I’m up on tippy-toes and still can’t see or reach the back of the freezer – so yep, it became a job for Ben to do.
A couple of hours later, I checked on the freezer, after deciding to give it a rest and see if it magically decided to work again, and noticed that there was condensation on the back top of the freezer – several more hours later, I was able to just reach enough to feel the condensation which turned out to be ice. WOO HOO!!! Major catastrophe averted!
Before we ripped these horrid blinds and valance out
Well, this experience spurned us on to a couple of DIY’s. First item on the immediate list to be taken care of, the horrid broken blinds over the kitchen sink. No matter how much I would clean the area around the sink, each time I would lift the blinds – securing them open with clothes pegs (or close the silly things), it would still be filthy with a layer of dirt. These things HAD to go. The fact that they were broken amplified the fact that they were the first to be replaced.
Before we moved into the vardo, we picked up a really inexpensive set of blinds from Walmart – less than $4 for them, but they look really swanky and nice and Ben even “custom-fit” them. Now THAT impressed me… except that I had to hold the bloody thing up while he was “customizing” it – that was agonizing for me. I think I need to spend the next week with my feet up just to recover… 😉
So when you’re doing a fix-up, you can do it relatively inexpensively. There are tons of free things you can pick up from design centers too – they always get rid of their previous season materials and you can pick them up for free. While you won’t get reams of materials and such, and sometimes not even identical pieces, but you could make throw pillows (or pillow cases) from what you do pick up to create a whole new design. And you can change the designs each year if you like. You can even make “handkerchief” curtains from the material to create a larger piece. Like these… BTW I didn’t make these, but I am thinking of doing something similar with the material I have on hand. 🙂
Ben needed a couple of things which were kind of necessities for this job – a screwdriver and a measuring tape. Both of which we have… Where? We’ll stumble upon them somewhere… sometime… But today? For this job… Nope. So… we did what I am very good at doing, gerry-rigging and estimating. The difference is, Ben was working this job and not me, so it wasn’t a matter of simple estimations and attempt after attempt before it was half-arsed done. He is so much a perfectionist – so when he told me to get out of the way, I complied… and grabbed my camera instead.
He managed to borrow a screwdriver and drill from Jack (the owner here), so we were good to go, right…? I mean, how difficult is putting up blinds yeah? But then, this is us and there wouldn’t be a blog if it were… We are two of the most inept individuals, but hey, we try and when we do, we actually do a good job.
 
While we had these tools, Ben took advantage of the fact that we had them and took the old microwave out. Good thing we’d brought a shelf (from one of our old cabinets) with us because we had to put it into the hole for our microwave to fit in. Went to plug in the microwave and remembered that we only had two prongs on the plug as we’d had to pull out the grounding third prong as our last place only had a 2 pronged plug. We put the microwave in and… the shelf moved… Well, Ben got to use the drill as he screwed it into place. Now we were secure and good to go… put the microwave back in again and… it doesn’t work. I think there is something wrong with the outlet – which means the ancient microwave that was in there might actually work, it’s just the outlet broken. So… gerry-rigging to the rescue, we plugged it into the extension cord and basically use it the exact same way we had done when it was on the stove, only now it is high up. Oh and did I mention that it’s on about the same height as the freezer… grrrrrr being short sucks!
Microwave after
We started the blind DIY just after 3PM, it was finally finished just after 8PM. Yep… it took it’s time for sure, but it was so worth it. I cleaned the whole area up, cleaned the windows and the “sills”, fixed the stove top, and oh gosh it’s gorgeous.
 
 
After it’s all done, how gorgeous it looks
So… we plan on putting in a tile back-splash, and I think we’re going to put it right behind the stove itself, while the small area around the window, we’ll paint. I removed some of the wall paper which was peeling and bubbled. As money comes in, we’ll have to redo all the walls and get insulation put in to ensure it’s winterized as it’s just a wooden panel on the walls. I’m now wondering about painting as I think the undercoat will more than likely get soaked up into the wood, might need a fair few coats just to hold the top coat(s).
The area behind the stove is where we’ll put the tile backsplash
Well… now that the kitchen window is done, I’m eager to get the rest of the windows done. The rest of them, I’m also going to get curtain dowels and put up curtains over the blinds – extra privacy and pretty it up for us in here too.
So what do you think? My very own DIY! HA
While Ben was sweating it up in the over 10o°F temperature, I did my own “DIY” (HA) project… tell me, what do you think…? 😉
Winston had another very hot day today. Poor lil guy, he was panting most of the day, but he was very happy when he got to sit up on the sofa right in front of the floor fan and cooled down. As you can see from this photo, he’s smiling. 🙂
And of course, can’t not share with you how relaxed and at home the girls are… here they are chillin – although I think Ezmi really was the one lounging the most today…
Ezmi
Ainey
Nari
Ezmi’s perfect spot to bird-watch
Popped out to Anthem to grab some much needed cat food and toilet paper this afternoon – note to those shopping at Walmart Anthem – yes, I am a Muslim woman… Yes, that is a headscarf (commonly known as a “hijab”) on my head… NO! I am not a terrorist, so when I smile at you and say “hello”, I mean just that, a friendly “hello”. I’m there to grab these essentials just as you are grabbing essentials, and I do not have a bomb strapped to my chest… that’s all boobies…
I honestly do not think that people in Anthem have ever seen a Muslim woman wearing hijab… and seriously, I looked uber cute today too… *sigh*
On the way back, we pull into the campgrounds and the strong and pungent scent of cat pee flooded our olfactory senses. I cleaned out the litter this morning, but pretty sure we chucked that garbage bag, and why were we smelling it so strongly just then…?
Hmmmm… an investigation needed to be ensued…
Had Ben drop me off at the main building and office so I could check the mail box, and had a little talk with the owner of the KOA, Jack. Asked him why it smelled so strongly of cat pee, specifically in that one area. That’s when he told me that we do have feral cats here, but more so, bobcats.
He then informed me that one of the campers found a bobcat in his BBQ the other night. He’d just finished cooking and gone inside to eat, when he heard noises coming from his site outside. He popped his head out to investigate and found a bobcat right in his BBQ! That must have been one hungry bobcat.
I asked him where this was located in the camp – prepared to make mental note to avoid that area (I was mauled by one of our cats several years ago which put me into the hospital undergoing 2 emergency surgeries); when Jack informed me that “Ron” was our immediate neighbour… Yes, pretty evident Ben and I keep pretty much to ourselves as we’ve not met our neighbours yet. So yeah, we’ve bobcats in the very immediate area… this now makes my late-night walks out with Winston just that much more nerve-wracking…
Talking about cats, our baby Ezmi turned 1 year old today. How fast time has passed and yet, seems like she’s been with us forever.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZMI!!!
Arranged our steamer trunks today – well, our TV sits on one and so we were thinking of putting the other one in the storage bin underneath the RV, but it actually fits in perfectly in front of the TV and can be used as a puffey for our feet. Although I’d eventually like to get some (East) Indian-inspired pillows for it – if you have any you want to part with… 😉
Winston flashing a huge grin… photo-bomb!
Came home from talking with Jack and Jim in the office, and was going to put groceries away, and what do I stumble in on? Afternoon siesta time in the vardo. Winston, Ainey and Nari all lined up in a row sleeping! I’ve got to nab my camera next time I spy all of them doing it, because some days walking to the bathroom is an obstacle course in dog and cats when all four are lined up in a row like that…
For dinner tonight, I made a kind of buffet dinner for us. I sliced up the left over seitan from the pot roasts I’d made, made a green salad, steamed rice with vermicelli noodles, homemade hummus, together with tortillas (they didn’t have any pita bread over at the shop), and pickles. It was so good. I’d say it was a “light” dinner, but I’d be lying because Ben and I are both stuffed, stuffed, stuffed… did I mention we were stuffed? But it most definitely was a healthy dinner.
Dessert was going to be homemade coconut vanilla ice-cream – but I didn’t pick up any ice, so I didn’t make it. Instead, we’re going to have mango cherry ice popsicles.
This week my burkini (Muslim ladies swimming costume) should arrive, and I can’t wait for that to get here, a birthday gift from a dear friend of mine, and then start swimming… happy-dance for then…
S0me more pics of the kids…
Beautiful Ainey
Oh and update to the whole “skunk” debacle I was talking about yesterday… Ben’s initial evaluation was correct. This was learned after a bit of yellow mellowing, I decided to flush it down. Literally a minute or two later, the entire bathroom began to stink like skunk. That experience followed by my mad-dash out of the bathroom in frantic search for the Glade automatic air-freshener spray and pump, then fumigating the bathroom with Cashmire Woods… which kinda gave an accoutrement to the skunk smell and then just smelled like we were living in the deep woods that smelled actually kinda nice… Yeah I’m certifiable…
Bouncin' Around 