If it's May... you chase!

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Hey everyone... I have so much work to do after the last week. I have been planning to make quite a few website updates but have been chasing storms for the past week. May 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th were all chase days. I also went out locally around sunset to timelapse some distant storms on May 3rd. After all of that time in the car I've been recovering and getting some work done the last few days and am finally getting around to work on things. On May 1st... I chased in Southwestern Minnesota and Northwest Iowa and got a brief tornado warned supercell! There was also a decent light show after dark! Then on May 2nd, I chased in Southern Nebraska where the cap finally broke just before dark. A supercell tried to wrap up above my head! Then I captured the best cloud to ground strike I had ever gotten on the way home! On May 3rd... I went out around sunset to timelapse some local convection, I also included a timelapse of the supercell developing near Fullerton the previous day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDiZ1RAS0TIMay 4th was a very frustrating day, where supercells tried to get going and constantly weakened right as we would get to them. Here is a quick shot of some mammatus from a dying storm and then a stack of lightning images after dark near Norfolk.May 5th was the worst day of the bunch... a strong cap stopped storms from developing and we basically got a tan with 1000 other chasers. That being said it was great to chat with friends and put some facebook faces to names in the real world. Ill keep you updated here as I get these accounts done! Thanks,Chris

Catching Up - Fun Times in South Texas!

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Hi all, Dianne here.  Well, our winter here in South Texas is coming to a close.  It's already springtime down here, the weather is beautiful, but we're all starting to get "hitch-itch" -- that phenomenon where the traveling spirit in RV'ers takes hold and we're ready to hit the road.  Once that happens, we'll update our blog regularly.  For now, though, here's what we've been up to the past month or so:


My friend Sue devised a fun pirate scavenger hunt for her two small grandchildren during their recent visit.  Since we all had costumes from last year's pirate party, the hunt ended at our place with the treasure being guarded by "four-legged pirates."  None of my photos were as good as this one our friend Jim took, so I'm "pirating" it!


The treasure chest was hidden beneath our beer cooler.






Here come the little pirates!  Will they find the treasure?

Where can it be??

We found it!

Little children sure are fun.  So are seniors when they congregate in the south for the winter.  I've heard it described as "senior spring break," except that it lasts all winter long.

To illustrate how silly and fun it can be, this week our village hosted a "Not-So-Newlywed Game," complete with some hilariously clever "commercial breaks."  Roger and I had a bit part, so my good friend and neighbor, Linda, agreed to use our camera to take some shots of the fun for us.

After a wonderful spaghetti dinner, the fun began.  As an example, one of the questions asked of the husbands was:  "What secret does your wife have that she doesn't think you know about?"   Needless to say, the guys were smart enough not to touch that one with a ten-foot pole!  Lots of laughs all evening long.

The bit part Roger and I played was in the final commercial for "Depends."  First, Barb modeled the Texas Bling version for that special night out on the town...
.









Then Greg modeled the male version for special holidays...

Finally, Roger and I modeled the "Special Day" Depends.  Roger's even had pinstripes!
Thanks again to our friend Linda for agreeing to some camera duty that evening.  We were seated behind all the activity so that we could quickly change into our costumes.  
The very next evening was another special occasion, complete with homemade maple ice cream and made-from-scratch birthday cake for a certain husband of mine who has been working very hard lately in his duties as chairman of the village advisory board.


Our good friends and neighbors gathered 'round and we all kicked back and enjoyed a beautiful evening together!   It was so pleasant we lingered after dark and lit a campfire.  Life is good!





The lure of new places and travels does call to us, but I can tell you we will miss these nightly happy hours and the camaraderie of friends.  At least we know next fall we can pick up just where we leave off this spring.

The pet pictures of the day are two close-ups of Bandido and Tequila in their spiffy pirate costumes:
                       A pirate...
                          ...and his wench!

"It's Only a Shed"

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Hi all, Dianne here.  As shown above, the cattle next to our dog park have watched our return with interest!  Our coach house sits right behind the tree line in the background of the photo.  

Not much to update, but I wanted to share a link to a blog which recently showcased our tiny coach house in Texas.  Even if you've seen photos of our coach house on our own blog, there are some great photos which really showcase it here:

"It's Only a Shed"

I've added a permanent link to this blog at the left margin of ours, if you are interested in future tiny coach house posts.

Aside from that, here's a quick update:



I've been riding my bike through the state park next door for exercise, and Tuesday morning I came upon this large bobcat. 

He ignored me for a while, turning to look at me from time to time, then hopped into the brush along the road.






This morning on my bike ride I saw a road runner.  By the time I got my camera out and rode up to him, he ran into the brush to hide.  You can just see his shadow in this photo.  Maybe next time....


Then I had to stop and wait for this flock of chachalachas to cross the road.



Our plantings are growing like weeds!  My tomato plants already have blooms --

They are growing in big pots that we can roll inside in case we get an overnight frost in January.  


My morning glory experiment has been a success! They have already grown to the top of the wire trellises, and each day have more and more blooms.




My wildlife cam has mostly captured opossums and early morning birds, but I did find two rabbits...


A cottontail...









And a jack rabbit...








That's all for now.   We'll post again if and when there's something to report.


Our pet photo of the day shows Bandido taking a break in the water tub at the doggie park after retrieving his beloved blue whistle ball a hundred times (exaggeration -- just seemed that way).  November is here, and a lot more of his Texas buddies are on their way south for some winter fun.  Bandido and Tequila can't wait to see them, and neither can I!

Visitors, Christmas in Paradise, then a Nor'easter

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Roger here....  Since we are not posting as often while stationary in south Texas, we are combining the events of our lives into a few blogs.

VISITORS....  Our first visitor is pictured in the opening photo.  Dianne has a motion-activated wildlife cam that she attaches to the fence behind our coach house.  We are usually visited by jackrabbits, armadillos, feral cats, and an occasional coyote.  A few evenings ago we discovered a LARGE bobcat.  Bandido occasionally barks in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.  Now we know why.  Living in the wild!  What fun!


Speaking of wild (just kidding), my brother, Dick (my only sibling), and his wife, Pam, came to see us for a couple of days.  It was their first visit to our home in south Texas.  Since their visit was short, we spent most of our time swimming, hot-tubbing, and just catching up.  Oh!  And eating Dianne's delicious food. 

 We spent a wonderful day bicycling through Bentsen Rio Grande State Park --- looking at the birds, and cycling to the National Butterfly Park, just down the road.  During our obligatory daily visit to the dog park, they enjoyed watching me take Bandido through the portions of the agility course that he could master.  This shot shows a feeble attempt going through the criss-cross stakes (We need to work on that).


In this shot, Bandido had just jumped over the hurdle and was looking for his treat. Good boy!  Tequila was also looking for a treat, even though her only effort in the event was watching.  I honestly do think that with some effort on our part  Tequila could also learn to do some of the agility tricks.  She learns things quickly.


On the morning of Dick and Pam's departure, we took them to one of our favorite local restaurants, the Diaz Diner, for breakfast.  Good food, great local atmosphere.  Sorry to see them leave so soon.


Christmas in Paradise....  The weather on Christmas day was perfect.  86 degrees with a cooling breeze.  We sat in the shade of a tall palm tree, pool-side, enjoying Christmas dinner with friends.  (Anne, Mike, Lorraine, me, Dianne).  Anne's husband, Graeme, took the picture.

Then, a Nor'easter....  The weather changed the day after Christmas.  Brrr!  Well, it really was not a Nor'easter, in the New England sense.  Here in Texas they call them blue northers.   But, the wind was from the north and it did get really cold, well cool.  We spent some time covering our plants so that they would not frost in the predicted 39 degree approaching weather. 

 I thought the protection for Dianne's morning glories resembled a New England fisherman wearing a slicker.



All the plants that could have frosted were covered.










Our neighbors, Bob and Linda, are in Sacramento with their family.  They had just planted an extensive garden area behind their coach house.  Dianne was worried about their new, tender plantings and made sure that the new plants were protected.  Does anyone else think that Dianne's protection of their tomatoes looks like a big girl's giant pair of pantaloons?  I know, sick mind.




While we were in our neighbors' back yard we could not help but take a picture of their new tropical-colored furniture (from Amish-country in Ohio).  Looks great!  We just ordered a couple of end tables from the same vendor to add some color to our patio area.


Back to the impending cold weather....  Bandido is looking for a place to protect one of his beloved tennis balls.

Tequila is saying "Cold weather?" What is that?



The temperature did not actually drop below the low 40s.  We did not experience anything like our friends who were in the blizzard in Indiana.  The lows for the next two weeks are supposed to be in the mid-fifties.  Tomorrow, it should get up to 75 degrees.  Ah!  We are in the right place.  

The pet picture of the day is of Tequila with one of her best friends at the dog park, Houdi.

Former Cinderella rescues, now playing in paradise together!