Kitty Litter

Am I "scraping the bottom of the barrel" with the subject of this post?!?!? 

When we stopped at Walmart recently, we were looking at the kitty litter options available...

This one indicates that it is a "Tofu-Blend Cat Litter" -- it was rather expensive, but... (personal opinion) we might think that this is a better use of Tofu than for food!

Then we saw this one -- Plant Fiber clumping litter. We are looking for a more satisfactory choice of kitty litter (we want it to clump, but *not* to attach to the walls of the litter pan and *not* to get tracked through the house). We decided to give this one a try!

Oh the joys of kitty servitude (because, of course, we are Miss Kitty's servants!). When we return from being out for a while, we always report that either, "The hunt was successful!" (aka "we are bringing home cat food"), or, "The hunt was unsuccessful!" (aka "no cat food was acquired"). On this trip, we indicated that the hunt was moderately successful as we got something for her needs!

Out for a drive -- wildflowers

When we had gone out with the hiking club a few weeks ago, one of our fellow hikers had recommended going to see wildflowers at the intersection of Bush Highway and Route 87. After striking out on seeing the wild horses, we decided to continue up Bush Highway to see if there might be wildflowers to see...

... we did see some Brittlebush...

They were blooming but weren't particularly impressive...

We stopped at another spot along the road where we could see lupine ...

some lupine and brittlebush beyond...

Close-up of a lupine -- though Google is telling me that this is a bluebonnet (Texas has a *lot* of bluebonnets which are generally in mass patches along the highways!).

When I heard from the fellow hiker that the wildflowers were really great there, I was expecting the masses of wildflowers that we would see in Texas. The flowers were more singles that were separated from each other, but we were glad to see what we did!

Out for a drive - Salt River

Last Thursday, we had one of our normal events cancel during the day, and so we decided to head out to try to see the Salt River horses. We had read that they are often visible down near the river near dawn or sunset, so we thought we'd try to locate them...

We parked at Goldfield and walked down toward the river. As we were walking down, we saw a guy coming up with a camera and long lens and asked if he had seen the horses. He said that he had, but that we needed to walk upriver a little ways (Carl heard a mile, and I heard 1/8 mile). As we got down to the river, we saw herons in the water...

Pretty view of hills on the other side of the river

Heading on up river, we saw pretty reflections in the water from the land on the other side, but no horses. The land on the other side here is undeveloped; I don't know whether it is part of the We-Ko-Pa reservation or not.

We continued driving up Bush Highway and stopped at Saguaro Lake...

This is a lake formed by a dam on the Salt River; there is a marina and a boat cruise (Desert Belle) that goes out from the marina.

Looking up the hill on the side of the lake

We have seen postings from other visitors who saw horses on the day we went, but I guess we were either at the wrong time or the wrong place (or both!).

Miss Kitty

Miss Kitty is still with us...

Isn't that an innocent face?

We're not sure what keys she is pressing while on top of his keyboard, but she frequently gets Carl's computer in a strange condition so that he has to work on it for a bit to get it to be usable again!

Miss Kitty is still losing weight. We weigh her about once a week and she has lost 11 ounces over the past year. She still seems to feel fine, still gets zoomies sometimes (but not very frequently), is still very loving, but she is very bony. She is just barely over 5 pounds now, will probably be under 5 pounds in the next few weeks. Her high weight was just 7 pounds, so she has always been small. She used to eat just "kibbles" and we could leave food down for her and she would self-serve and stay at a good weight. About 3 years ago, we noticed that she started drinking a lot more water and peeing a lot more -- symptoms of kidney disease. Since then, we've tried a lot of different foods to try to get her to eat more and maintain her weight, but, I guess her body tells her to drink water, and that makes her feel full, so she doesn't think she needs to eat much. Carl reminds me that, when we were first dating, I said that she was not food-driven -- and she wasn't. She ate her kibbles, the same kibbles day in and day out. Now, however, because we are wanting her to eat, we have created a food-driven cat -- she doesn't really want to eat, but she wants to be fed! It is discouraging to open a can of a food that she used to eat well and now she might lick it a few times or maybe just sniff and walk away. Ugh! Finicky cat! 

Valentine's Dinner and Dance

A week or so ago, we enjoyed participating in the Valentine's Dinner and Dance.

The tickets went on sale when we were out in Quartzsite, so our friends Jan and Dan got tickets for the table and invited us to join them.

Upstairs in the ballroom the tables were decorated with candles and flower petals.

The event is sponsored by the softball club, so they serve the tables down in the bistro (black tie, white shirts, black slacks) and they and their wives do the set up for the ballroom and host the event.

We have gone the last few years and enjoy having a nice dinner and dance for Valentine's Day. The event sells out each year so you need to get your tickets early!

Feed My Starving Children

As part of a service project, we went with our Bible study group to the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC, https://www.fmsc.org/) location in Tempe last Saturday...

Before starting our jobs, we were given a presentation about Feed My Starving Children's work.

There were quite a lot of people from many different organizations...

... churches, schools, family groups.

FMSC creates food packs which are shipped out around the world.

We were packing MannaPack Rice, which is what they produce the most of.

A young woman presented the information to us. She was a "blue hat" (the staff have blue hairnets on). We had white hairnets as part of the packaging team (the majority of the folks volunteering are packaging). You can also see some with red hairnets -- they were the "warehouse" staff -- they would bring supplies to the packaging teams and take the finished product away. There were also jobs for those who needed to be seated -- they were putting labels on the bags for the food identifying when and where they were packed.

Some pictures from the presentation

We were briefed on expectations for cleanliness in the process.

Our team being patient while we waited to be called -- some of our team had already left to be on the labeling crew.

When we entered the packaging area, we could see the tables where we'd be working.

First order of business was to wash our hands.

We then donned gloves and found positions around the packaging tables and got to work.

This picture was taken at the end -- we were too busy during the packaging to take any pictures! At the end of our table closest to the camera, our friend Don is standing -- he and Carl scooped the product from those bins in front of him and put them into a large funnel on the blue stand that you may be able to see on the table between Don and me. Dee Dee and I were responsible to get the bags open and positioned under the funnel (an easier-said-than-done task!). Just beyond us there was a lady who would weigh each bag -- they need to be within a certain weight tolerance of grams per bag -- so she would add or remove rice to get it to the right value. She also gave feedback to Carl as his addition of rice could either make the bag too light or too heavy -- she was SO polite - thanking Dee Dee and me whenever we passed her a bag and congratulating the scoopers whenever the amounts were right on target! Just beyond the lady doing the weighing, her husband was sealing the bags and getting them to the boxes. The lady weighing and her husband sealing had come just as the two of them who come in to volunteer once a month or so (not part of our group).

You might notice that the steel table in front of us has quite a bit of product on it at the end of our packaging -- more on that in a couple of pictures.

Some of the other stations in the room as we were finishing up.

The warehouse volunteers (many of whom are through the doorway in the next room wearing red hairnets) were getting the last boxes taken out to the warehouse.

The staff had come through and cleaned up some of the more sensitive equipment (the funnel, particularly). Then it was time for us to clean up our work area. The area under the funnel had quite a bit of product on it (sometimes the scoopers might accidentally pour before the bag was in place, and sometimes the product didn't fall down well into the bag and some fell out when we pulled the bag out from the funnel). That product could go back into the rice bin for filling in the next shift. The product on the table itself was not considered sanitary enough to bag again, so we cleaned it up and put into buckets that are provided to locate livestock growers for animal feed.

Our preparation of the work spaces made them ready for the next set of volunteers who would be arriving within the next hour.

At the end of the session, we were invited to go into the warehouse and pray over some of the product that had been packaged during our session.

Product in the warehouse -- some of these pallets contain finished packages of food to go out, other pallets contain the ingredients that we put together to make the packages of food.

Carl in his "garb" -- guys with beards had to wear beard nets too!

Post-cleaning -- everything is ready for the next shift of volunteers to come in. This is a better view of the funnel too -- and you can see the labeled bags on each side that the packaging team will open and put under the funnel.

Back in the gathering room, we were given information about what had been accomplished during our session. I think that the cost was how much the ingredients cost that we used during our session.

As we were leaving, we could look through a window and see the stations all ready for the volunteers for the next session to come in.

We were grateful to get to participate in this session with our Bible study group and to learn more about Feed My Starving Children. Carl and Sue had participated at the FMSC center in the Chicago area (Naperville) in the early 2000s, but this was my first time to be involved with this ministry. 

Exercise at Venture Out

There are a number of exercise classes available to us here at Venture Out... 

We enjoy pool exercises -- the pool is heated so even if the air temperature is cool, exercising in the pool is comfortable unless the wind is blowing -- which means getting *out* of the pool is chilly! The pool exercises use an audio program with music that makes it enjoyable.

We also enjoy a couple of morning classes in the ballroom, "Early Bird Co-Ed Exercises" (which uses an audio program -- same program every morning, Monday-Friday), and "Stretch and Tone" (which also uses an audio program but a different routine each day, Monday-Friday). 

For all of the classes, the number of people grows week by week through the season, reaching their maximums somewhere in late January or early February. After Stretch and Tone last week, the leaders got us all together to take a picture of the whole group:

We are in the back, almost the last two on the right side.

Isn't that a good looking group? The couple in the front on the floor are our faithful leaders who are there every day demonstrating what the audio program is directing us to do so we can get a visual reference too if needed! (And we often need it!)

Bocce Ball shot

Our play in the bocce ball league has been non-stellar so far this season, but we enjoy "trying"!

Last week, after the other team (using the white balls) had thrown all of its balls, Cleo and I had two last balls to throw...

...and we ended up getting our two (blue) balls right next to the pallina. 

At the end of all of the throws, whichever team's ball is closest to the pallina gets a point, and if that team has additional balls that are closer than any of the other team's balls, they get as many points as they have close balls to the pallina. There was no doubt that we got two points (and that's how many we needed to win the game!). 

Thusfar in the season, we are 3-3, 3 wins, 3 losses. Better than more losses than wins! 

"Century" plants about to bloom

There are a number of examples of the Agave americana, more commonly known as "century plant", around our community. 

The common name "century plant" stems from its monocarpic nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. After flowering, the plant dies but produces adventitious shoots from the base, allowing its growth to continue. Although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread around 6–10 ft with gray-green leaves measuring 3–5 ft in length, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce deeply. Towards the end of its life, the plant produces a tall, branched stalk adorned with yellow blossoms, which can reach a height of 25–30 ft. (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana)

The "adventitious shoots" are also called "pups". 

One of the bloom stalks outside one of our buildings with meeting space.

Close-up on the lower part of the bloom stalk where the blooms seem to be coming out.

I had heard from some other folks in our community that they grow to a certain age, bloom, and die, but... so many of the plants in our community have bloom stalks up right now, I didn't think that was the case. Of course, they *could* have all been planted at about the same time. The community is 55 years old, this side of the community was the last to be developed, so maybe plantings on this side are 40ish years old? And maybe this is the second round and the plants we see now are "pups" of an earlier bloom?

I haven't found anything on the web that substantiates that they bloom at a certain age. I think it is more likely related to being in drought conditions for a few years, and then the relatively wet summer we had last year, followed by a warm and dryer winter may have sparked their flowering. 

At any rate, we are looking forward to them fully flowering! 

Getting together with Alaska trip friends

We got together with some of the folks who were also on the Alaska trip with us in the summer of 2024:

We met at Waldo's BBQ -- they had lots of signs around the restaurant -- I got a picture of this one outside.

Being as I grew up in Virginia, I still enjoy pulled pork as my favorite BBQ offering. (I didn't know until I met and married Dwayne that other parts of the country (specifically Texas) consider only beef to be a valid BBQ option!)

Our group at lunch - Peggy and Mory, "sister" Peggy (as she and her brother, Don, were on the Alaska trip, called "sister" to differentiate her from "Mory's Peggy" and a "Peg" who were also in the caravan!), and Patti and Carl.

It was good catching up with what these friends have been doing and find out what trips they are planning this year and into the future!

Some views from closer to Phoenix

Carl had a doctor's appointment in north Phoenix so we drove out a bit further than our usual trips...

On the freeway, there was a Waymo car on its way to Sky Harbor airport.

Waymo—formerly the Google self-driving car project—makes it safe and easy for people & things to get around with autonomous vehicles. Take a ride now. (https://waymo.com/rides/)

Check out the video on this page: https://waymo.com/waymo-driver/

Are you ready to go for a ride in an autonomous vehicle?

I was trying to figure out if I would be wise to follow it as maybe it knew more about traffic patterns on the roads we were driving on -- but it was going to the airport, and we were not, so we didn't. 

This was on another street on our way to the doctor's office. I thought the palm trees looked like they had their "hair" up in a pony tail!

It is always interesting when driving around!

Taking care of business

Last week, the Annual General Meeting of our Condo Association was held. Since our community is run by the owners (via a Condo board), this is the time when the general manager and active committees can report to the owners.

The condo board members were there on stage. At this point, our general manager, Steve Byfield, was reporting on projects that have been completed over the past year. It was quite an impressive list!

There were also committee reports from Architectural, Green, and the Safety and Security Committees. All of the members of the condo board as well as all the members of the committees are owners of property here in the park. General Manager Steve Byfield indicated that he receives assistance from owners who have expertise in areas of concern to the park which helps all of us. One example from this past year was that the laundry facility was not being used as much as it had been in the past (more and more people have their own laundry machines) so they reduced the footprint of the laundry allowing the released space to be allocated to the real estate office. One of our residents had run commercial laundries and was able to advise on newer technologies -- the new machines do not use coins, but rather can be charged on credit cards or used via a phone app -- so no coins to have to managed by the community staff. The company supplying the machines is responsible for maintenance. $0.80 out of every $1 spent at the laundry is returned to our community. Seems like a good solution for our community.

After the Annual General Meeting, I was running off to a dental appointment... 

This picture was on the screen in the examining room where I was taken. I was wondering what it was a picture of, and I asked the young lady who was taking x-rays and she didn't know. I got Google Lens to take a look at it, and it said, "This image depicts a moment at the Badwater Basin salt flats in Death Valley National Park."

More information about Badwater Basin:

• It is the lowest elevation in North America, sitting 282 feet below sea level.
• The polygonal patterns are created by the constant cycling of salt crystals growing and drying in the basin.
• After heavy rains, a shallow, temporary lake known as Lake Manly can form, creating reflections on the salt flats.
• The basin is surrounded by mountains, including Telescope Peak, which is often snow-capped in the winter.

My dental hygienist and I agreed that the pictures they display should have captions for the curious!

Updating exteriors

A couple of weeks ago, one of the houses across the street from us was re-painted...

Painting in progress -- we thought that they had painted more blue than intended...

... when the painters finished, it didn't have as much blue at the bottom, but they did paint around the roof line, and freshened up the white/cream color too. The thing at the peak of the eave is a piece of "art" -- we don't remember whether it was there "before" or whether it was added after the paint job.

One of the houses that is a few doors down from the one that was painted is having stucco put on -- that can really make an older unit look more modern.

Here's another older unit that has had stucco put on -- it not only looks more up-to-date, we understand from friends who have had it done that it helps with insulation too.

This is an older unit that has *not* had the exterior updated (like our "casa", though this one does have a lower Arizona room). It looks more dated than the ones with the stucco facing.

We like seeing that owners are doing things to improve their properties. It keeps the community looking good and shows that the owners care about their properties.