Dust and Cool Breezes!

The weather is FINALLY cooling off a little bit!  Today it was only 88 for a high!

When I walked out of the church building today (at 2 PM), my car told me it was 87 - wow!

And we had lovely breezes most of the day 

(which led to the dust around the San Tan Mountain Regional Park, pictured above).

I took a little nap this afternoon outside on the patio on a blankie with the cool wind blowing on me.  

While I was editing the photos for this post, I found some photos I had forgotten about!

Cuddled in little Allistair:

The following photos are from a store in Minneapolis called Ax-Man.

It is a crazy and inventive store, where they sell surplus ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

You never know what you will find!  

I get fits of the giggles every time I go there because each treasure is labeled, usually with amusing illustrations.  Here are some priceless ones from my last visit (in July).  You  might have to enlarge them to read the funny captions for yourself (click on the photos to enlarge).

"10 ¢ will wash the grime off your hands but nothing will clean them of the crime . . . "

"Gain the trust of all cats with Litter Mitts!"

"You can have your very own half boyfriend!

Bottom half only.

He looks good in tights.

He stands.

Looks pretty.

Holds clothes.

Doesn't talk.

Doesn't spend money.

No kids.

Doesn't cheat.

Is yours forever.

And . . . he's single!"

"non-name-brand, perfectly acceptable, less expensive tool belts"

Doesn't everyone need a Zaklan-Taarn?!?!?!?!?

Moving away from Ax-Man . . . I caught Baltazar playing with Maud (a toy mouse)!

He's not dead yet!

Allistair's Armor

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Greg figured out what Allistair has been doing when he pounces on the floor - 

chasing his own shadow!

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Part II

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Allistair playing with his pink fishy - he loves to toss the fishy high up into the air and then leap after it.  

In this clip, he tosses the fishy up into the air, but it lands near Stephen and spooks him, causing him to jump into the air and almost spill the food all over.  Ha!

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Playing in a chiller grocery bag:

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And then Stephen needed to investigate!

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Stephen has the tiniest little mew ever heard in a grown cat!

Here he is making it because he wants to get into the laundry room, where Bjarne is having some delicious wet food!

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A couple of weeks ago (I didn't have the gumption to edit videos until today!), we got a lovely sunshower!

With thunder and lightning!

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Here's the thunder and lightning!

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Do you need some lovely rushing river sounds to brighten your day?

Here you go!!!

This video is from my hike with Sage last Saturday to Grasshopper Point near Sedona.

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Have a great week!

Grasshopper Point!

thanks to Sage for taking this picture of me in the middle of the river!

I went to a beautiful little hiking spot near Sedona, Arizona on Saturday with my wonderful friend, Sage.

It was the first hike I have done since I got really sick, and I am GLAD it was short (probably about a mile in and a mile back out)!

Sage and me!

Beautiful red hills near Sedona

A strange acorn-looking seed.

It was NOT on an oak tree; it was on a little spiky bush!

It was NOT HOT!!!

We spent some time lying on a nice big rock in the middle of the river.

I hopped along these rocks out a little farther across the river.

The spots with wet footprints are in where I was!

Sage is a photographer, and she took some great shots from the top of the big rock.

 The view along the hike was beautiful!

The path is along the bottom of a little canyon, and the red mountains rise up on either side. 

There's a river at the bottom, and we meandered up alongside the river for a ways.

A little ways up, there's a calm pool with a red rock wall where the water is shallow (knee-height for us) 

and cool.  The water is very clear there.

Of course, I have some cat pictures to post, too!

Allistair sleeping (and taking up a good portion of the couch!)

Bjarne looking sleepy

Allistiar expressing that he didn't think I should be working!

(I was editing curriculum illustrations)

Claude relaxing with criss-crossed paws.

SO CUTE!

Two babies on my desk while I was working . . . 

It's nice to be loved!

The lighting was just right so I could get a good picture of Stephen's adorable face.  

The kittens also love yoga!

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to actually practice any yoga while they are taking up most of my mat, but I still try!  I might have to let them have this old mat and get a second mat for ME.

This is what Stephen looks like when he's spooked!  Look at his dinosaur spikes/mohawk!

Allistair enjoying a recently-emptied soda box

I am feeling significantly better health-wise.  My digestive system is calmer, and my mood has been very good.  I was able to work six hours yesterday (with breaks in between)!  I then stopped and chose to take a nap (which was wise!)  Today I'm having a slower day (printing rather than editing) and it's a good choice because my brain is slower.  But it's ENCOURAGING and I am thankful!  

Hope your week is fantastic!

My First Trip To Prescott!

Cindy and I went to Prescott yesterday to celebrate her birthday 

(Happy birthday, Cindy, my dear, dear sweet friend!)

(FYI: "Prescott" sounds like this in Arizona: "PRESS-kitt".

NOT "Pres-COTT"!)

Look at the lynx lying on the wall!  (Secret: he's not a live lynx; he's an awesome statue!)

It rained much of the day and we couldn't have been HAPPIER about it!

First, we walked down Vernon Street and looked at all the beautiful old homes.

One of them looked like a house maybe made of candy where maybe a witch would live who might possibly cook and eat little children named Hansel und Gretel!

And I could have had my brain integrated (see the sign below), but I wasn't sure what that meant, so I passed on the chance to investigate.

The plants and wildlife were fantastic, too!

I took this picture of the raindrops on a plant, and when I got home and looked at the pictures on a bigger screen, I saw a weird black and yellow spider.  I circled it for you!

Look at these cool blue berries with red stems!

Beautiful pink rose with raindrops on it . . . 

Yellow rose in front of a beautiful white fence

Beautiful close-up!

And baby green pinecones!

White hibiscus!

And while I was taking a picture of the hibiscus, Cindy said there was a hummingbird right above my head, so I tried snapping a picture of him and sort of got one (though he's a little blurry).

And the SNAILS were out having snail parties!  

(Hint: by "snail parties," I mean crossing the sidewalk.)

They are CUTE!

This one must be older because his shell is a little cracked.  

And he was a lot bigger than any of the other snails we saw.

And a Cicada!  A big one!

Here's what the downtown street looks like from the beautiful square.

Here is the gorgeous square from inside a shop on the second floor of a cool old building!

And the beautiful square has leaf imprints in the sidewalk!  :)

And look!  In Prescott you can buy chocolate covered bacon!!!

Here is a bar on Whiskey Row!

It said they've been serving the lawless since 1877!!!

Here is Cindy, checking out the menu at the above restaurant.

This place didn't have gluten-free options, but a number of other restaurants in Prescott did.

Hooray! - that makes it even a better destination! 

And hee hee!  Look at this sign I saw!

As per usual for our day trips, we went to Target more than once.  

Here is our Target stop in Scottsdale.  With rain!

Here is the Target in Prescott!  Look at the beautiful backdrop!  

This might be the prettiest location for a Target I have ever seen.

The gorgeous road home . . . 

And this morning, Cindy texted me and said that she had the most brilliant idea of her career this morning already.  I am convinced it's because of our refreshing time away!

Also, with cooler weather (it's only 76 here right now and it has been raining almost all day!), I feel more energetic . . . I found a couple of studies about how heat leads to more IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) flares.  So perhaps cooler fall/winter weather will assist me in being more like the Christie I want to be!

Hope you had an equally restful and wonderful weekend.