summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Thursday, September 28, 2023

critters and creatures....

Yesterday I wrote about the tarantulas, scorpions, and snakes one could encounter here in the desert.  Marilyn has been here countless times and hasn't had any show up.  The thought, the consciousness that an eight-legged hairy being too big to squash, or something slithery and coiled, or...a scorpion, which to my north-eastern mind seems almost ridiculous, untrue, made up, COULD be in the yard (or the corner of the bathroom!  Or on my extra pillow when I pick it up after dropping it off the bed in the night!)...just the knowledge that it's possible, makes me a little wary.  (Remember the movie Annie, with Kathy Bates as Miss Hannigan: Now, have I ever spanked any of ya?  Annie:  No, but you've threatened, and that's worse.)

Anyway.  Yesterday we didn't go on any adventures, we had two nice outside swimming sessions, the afternoon swim...ahh, 102 degrees and nice cool pool water, so refreshing.  I got out to bake in the sun for a few minutes to dry off, Camille was still floating around...when she abruptly got up and marched out of the pool...there's a lizard in there, swimming towards me!  It's interesting how one person gets freaked out, so the other person HAS to be calm-cool-collected, and I'm not the very best candidate for that.  But.  I'll just get the skimmer, I said, and scoop it out.  It was struggling in the water, but I was hesitant, because if I got in there, it might just swim towards me.  I wasn't afraid it would hurt me, but rather that I'd hurt myself by trying to get away from it ha.  In any case, I got in and scooped it up with the leaf skimmer...then took it over to the edge of the patio blocks and dumped it out.

I took a pic using my Seek ap, I usually use it to identify plants.  It's a Whiptail Lizard, and it can run 17 mph!  It's not poisonous, but can bite.  (I didn't tell Cam that).  We were done being outside at that point, so in to the nice cool lizard-free house we went...I checked a bit later, and it was gone...we questioned why I hadn't dumped that net over the fence, but I wasn't keen on walking across the yard carrying the net, because if it crawled out and went up my arm or down my suit, it might have been heart attack time.  
Yes, I do make a big deal about everything.  :)

Are we all excited to go back out into the pool?  One of us has more hesitancy than the other, I told her the chances of that happening again...she said don't say it.    She's not superstitious, just a LITTLE stitious, ha.  

Anyway.  I've enjoyed this:

Imagine just pushing a button and voila, a double espresso!  You have to fill the water tank, put the coffee beans in it, empty the grounds...but not every time, just when the indicator tells you to.  You can make other things too, but I like my Americanos.  
Camille's dessert from last night.  I had a sugar free Greek yogurt with some strawberries, and some chocolate.  Our dinner:  bacon and eggs, and leftover meatballs.  Meatballs are always better the next day, or two.  

Nothing exciting is happening here, so bye for now...and let's hope nothing exciting happens, right?


8 comments:

Marilyn said...

Brahahahahahahaha 🀣🀣🀣 You are so funny πŸ˜† Yes I would have heaved him over the fence 😬 He’s quite pretty though, isn’t he?

The pool looks heavenly……… I can imagine Camille as a lizard was swimming with her in the pool! I can laugh because it wasn’t me!! 😬😬😬 That coffee maker looks wonderful. We have an Nespresso and I really like it a lot. It has so many different coffees.

The desert has a certain beauty all of its own. Different to anything else. Sunrise and sunset can be very beautiful.

Have a lovely day! 😊

Marilyn from Canada πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦

PS …….. I get to drive my vehicle today! I am so excited. I’ve had to wait 6 weeks post surgery. πŸ₯³πŸ₯³πŸ₯³πŸ₯³πŸ₯³

Cindy said...

I don't mind lizards at all. I'm not a fan of snakes but they don't scare me to see them or even touch them (under certain circumstances.) Spiders however are on a whole different level! My sister lives in San Diego and told me the male tarantulas are out in force this year. Nope. I told her I wouldn't visit again until after spider season is over! I don't even like the little spiders. That pool sure looks inviting!

Kara said...

We have so many of those lizards in our yard in Phoenix. They have a death wish sometimes. When my kids were younger, they'd pull the dead ones out of the pool and throw them up on the roof. I wondered why there was such a terrible smell in the yard, only to find 10 decaying lizards on the roof.

Debbie said...

I'm catching up on your last few posts and am guessing that you're visiting someone. And somewhere with lots of outdoor critters, which would 100% keep me inside!

My mom lives in South Texas and for the first few years after building her home, she had a tarantula migration trail that went straight through her backyard. I didn't visit her for years (we did see one another, but at my aunt's). I was saving myself from a heart attack :) Seriously!

Then we went to my aunt's (near San Antonio) while evacuating from a hurricane and she had scorpions in the house (which they have to spray for, but hadn't done it before we arrived).

It puts things in perspective, that even though we have spiders here, they are mild compared to other places.

I hope your time there is uneventful in the critter department! Oh, and we have a dog named Banjo too.

16 blessings'mom said...

Marilyn, Camille got in the pool yesterday with no issues, but we were both keeping our eyes open ha. Cindy, I don't care for spiders, but Cam absolutely hates bugs, so I hope we don't see any. The pool has been amazing. Kara, that is way too funny/not funny. kids. ha. Debbie, I'm in Peoria Arizona, visiting my son and son-in-law. They went to Scotland and Austria, so my husband and I and youngest daughter are here watching their three pups for them. They'll be home Tuesday, and we'll have a few days with them before heading back to New York...16 days is a LONG time to be gone, but it's been really nice too. A tarantula migration trail? That cannot be real. It's HORRID. I can't wait to tell my sister, wait, she reads this...Cheryl, are you freaking out? wow. Banjo, wow, that's interesting! Is your Banjo crazy and energetic too?

Marilyn said...

Tarantula migration!! I would have a seizure!!! 😬😬😬

Marilyn from Canada πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦

Anonymous said...

Seriously. I broke out in a sweat reading this. Snakes, lizards, no problem. ( unless startled!). But those other unmentionables, EEEEEEEEKS!!!!

Anonymous said...

That anonymous was me, btw. Cheryl.