Hieroglyphic Trail

Yesterday I went for a hike with Juildeen!

We hiked the Hieroglyphic Trail in the Superstition Mountains. 

In fact, in spite of the national government shut-down, we hiked in a national forest!

The view was beautiful!

We told God what a great job He did making the mountains!

We saw a type of lizard I have never seen before!

He was a beautiful color of green.

I imagine he's pretty rare to see because he probably hibernates in the winter (when I usually hike).

Yesterday the high was 93, so it was a little hot for the hike we did.  

But it was Juildeen's Fall Break, so she was available!

At the top of the trail, there are very old native American drawings on the rocks.

The drawings are mostly animals and people.

Here is a close-up of a deer (or something similar):

Here are some people (Juildeen thought they were talking to God!)

We ate our picnic lunch at the top 

Some chipmunks wanted to share!  

Juildeen was very excited about the chipmunk taking the piece of bread she gave him.

After lunch, we walked around a little bit at the top and then went back down.  

Juildeen was a brave explorer! 

We saw a saguaro skeleton, which Juildeen decided had gotten hit by lightning.

 On the way down - still in a good mood in spite of heat and a long walk.

Hooray for Juildeen!

 I'm always proud when Juildeen looks right at the camera - she's so cute!

In other news, I have been working hard on cranking out the next lesson and

printing up backstock so I always have at least one copy of each lesson ready to ship.

Assembly line!

And the weather must be cooling off because Allistair decided to 

climb IN my pajamas with me the other night!

 Stephen, being as silly as ever:

Allistiar, completely wiped out by a whole day of being himself:

 Bjarne hogging the remote:

Claude guarding my shoes for me!

Thanks, Claudie!

And a picture of the shadows on the wall at church on Sunday. 

There are beams holding everything up, and the patterns they make are really pretty!

Health Update: The past two days I have eaten a small raw apple and haven't had a whole lot of negative reaction, so yesterday I decided to make a small Greek salad (cucumber, tomato, black olives, feta, & balsamic vinegar).  I LOVE this combination and have been desperately craving it.  I ate a little bit and the burping started almost immediately. Then the rest of the digestive distress.  So I guess I'm not quite ready for veggies yet.  Oh well, I'll try again in a month or two!

Enjoy your Wednesday! 

Court In Session!

Yep, I had my first jury duty!

I showed up at 8 and was only there until 11, though, because I didn't end up getting chosen to sit on a jury.

I was really hoping to be chosen because I've never had the opportunity to see how the system works from up close and I find it interesting.  It's encouraging to see all the people from every different walk of life show up and participate in our justice system.  

I met a hilarious woman who works for CPS (Child Protective Services) here in Arizona who had some great stories about some of her prior clients.  One of them was convinced that her parakeet's feces on the floor was the reason why her child was removed from her home.  She called this lady up one day and told her that the bird had committed suicide because he knew he was the cause of the child being removed.  He was so distraught that he killed himself by waiting until the woman was turning over in bed at night and then swooping down in a dive UNDERNEATH her so he could be squished to death.

Hmmm . . . 

Our cats have not shown signs of wanting to commit suicide.

Well, sometimes they wind in between our feet and try to trip us, but I think that's more a sign of being devious than wanting to kill themselves.

While I am sitting on the couch, Allistiar will often get on the coffee table and dangle his head off the edge.

Or he might just decide that a nap is in order.

Baltazar likes to nap, too, and a lot of times he looks really uncomfortable.

Wouldn't you think he'd get a kink in his neck from this position?

Juvy is Queen of this stack of towels!

And yesterday I caught her cuddling her favorite blue mousie while sleeping.

Aww!

Bjarne has been playing spunky with a new stick & mousie toy we bought!
He takes it away from the kittens and growls at them!  Ha!

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Juvy went hunting the other day, and look what she caught!
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Bjarne, Stephen, and Allistiar love shea butter!
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Stephen saw something he wanted to get up on the ceiling and he demonstrated his adorable little teeny itty-bitty squeaky mews just for you!

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I hope you are enjoying a beautiful crisp fall day.

It is currently 92 degrees and it doesn't feel very much like autumn.

But it IS finally October (my favorite month!) and the evenings cool off.

Tonight my friend Sage and I are having movie (and cookies!) night and I anticipate opening the windows and listening to the fountain.

Three movies are on offer this evening:

"The Valet" (in French with subtitles),

"(500) Days of Summer,"

and

"Johnny English" - in case she's feeling silly!

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!