Monday, July 18, 2022

The Desert Southwest


 We are home after a short vacation to see our oldest daughter and her family. We spent one fun filled, lovely time with our grand children. I enjoyed every minute. Of course time goes by so quick and its time to come back home. The monsoon's seem to have followed us, and we got up this morning to cloudy skies and rain. Very rare for July. We rented this lovely house in the hills above Tucson. You had to drive down this rocky, washed out looking road, really more of a track than a road. The whole time we were there, we only saw people once. One morning there were five coyotes in front of the house. Three teenager coyotes fighting and wrestling and a big Mom and Dad. Lots of wildlife. A funny lizard who thought the house was his, who barked at Ron when he came up on the porch one day. 


 That was the house, and it was made out of adobe. It was wonderful and cool. I am so glad to get back to my windows and light. Of course, green. I never think its that green here but driving home yesterday, its really green here. Ron is down there watching me because I am up on the hill exploring. It was higher than it looked from sitting in the living room. We were only 10 minutes from town. 

I don't post pictures of my grands very much just because I don't like Google having pictures of them and using facial recognition software on them. I bought some sewing kits and the older girls loved them. This picture made me so happy to see them all on the couch sewing. I am in the background with the babies. I would sit with them every so often and sew a bit. It was lovely. 

So it was just the best kind of trip. We have seven grand children there five girls and two boys. I always loved this age in my life. There are teenagers to talk to and the middle ones to laugh at the funny things they say, and the babies to rock. I was thinking about my daughter and this time of life really is the best. Nothing better than sitting with them all and just talking while rocking a baby. 


 

 
This was my sewing and hooking partner. Before we left, I knew I had to put her to sleep. I knew she was getting worse, and I knew she was coming to an end. She had cancer and I knew she wasn't going to get better. I haven't been able to blog, because every time I sat down it was all I could think about. This was by far the hardest thing I have done in such a long time. I have cried just going down the dog food aisle. I dreaded coming home to a no dog house. Especially this dog. I have had so many dogs in my lifetime, but never one like this one. That was her chair and we sat together every afternoon like this. I don't think I will get another dog. But we will see. Never in my whole life have I been without a dog. One of my first memories was of my Mom's dog named Chick. She was like a Border Collie, and she guarded me when I was at my grandparents. So having a first memory of a dog, its hard to think of the rest of my life being without one. But, after having the best dog of my life, why mess up perfect. 
 

I didn't get much sewing or hooking done. I hooked 7 loops. That's it. I had so much more to do like going outside to see sun sets and sunrises. To see the monsoon start rolling in about 3:00 and watch the light shows from the porch and finally the rain. I loved watching the birds come on the porch with the lizards to get away from the heat and the lighting and thunder. 

I hope you have a lovely new week. Its so nice to be home. We still have Max and how thankful for that cat. I thought moving was hard, I thought giving up my chickens was hard. But saying goodbye to Sasha was by far the hardest thing ever. Its going to take me awhile I think. 

Bye for now,
Kim


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
---Robert Frost---
 

 
 


12 comments:

Rugs and Pugs said...

So nice you had a good visit with your daughter and family. What a cool house you stayed at!!! Seeing the grands stitching is too sweet.
So very sorry to hear about Sasha. It is not an easy decision, but you did what was best for her. Big hugs coming your way.
xoxo
Lauren

Come Away With Me said...

Hello Kim. I'm so sorry about Sasha. It's very sad when we have to say goodbye to our pet-family members, I know from experience. Hugs to you.

You are so right, it seems very green here compared to the desert. Of course, compared to the Pacific Northwest, Southern California seems like a desert. That's usually the comparison I am noticing. But each place has its own unique beauty.

You have a very lovely family.

TheCrankyCrow said...

Your visit looks absolutely perfect. I LOVE the house! Wow!! You had me at no people LOL. But all my joy for you washed away when I read the news of Sasha. 😢 I am so very sorry. My heart breaks for you...because I know exactly what you must be feeling. Snowdog is getting closer and closer to his last days with me and I do not know how I will survive it...or the torture of what should be happy memories. It started with thinking about what it will be like walking on the point at the lake without him. It was his absolute favorite thing to do...and then the snowbanks in the winter, his favorite foods to share with me, etc. etc. And he isn't even gone yet. I have already made the decision not to get another dog. It is too difficult to go places and I do hope someday to go a few places at least....and, as you said, some dogs are irreplaceable. Praying for some peace and comfort in memories of her rather than pain and sorrow. Hugs my friend. ~Robin~

Saundra said...

Will start with the worse and saddest...the passing of Sasha. I know that feeling all too well as I've had to put down 2 dogs due to end of life issues and ending their suffering. And then the last love (Benny Ben) died while I was a rug camp. I'd had enough pain losing a beloved pet so decided to have no more. Yes the time with them and fun memories were wonderful and even now I will speak out loud to Ben even tho he isn't here. No more.

Now a little levity~ the house you rented is wonderful and was eyeing that gorgeous southwestern rug design. Of course something like that would look out of place in my home but love it nonetheless.

Good for you to take stitching for the girls to learn and keep them occupied plus teaching/fun time with gran. Good to get away but always nice to get home.

Julia said...

It's good to see a post from you. I'm so sorry about the loss of your beloved Sasha. I can relate to your pain. Saying goodbye to our beloved pets is so hard. I cried like a baby for days. It hurt too much and I decided, no more cats or dogs for us.

I'm glad that you could spend some quality time with the grandkids. How lovely seeing the girls all sewing.


Hugs to you and Ron.
Julia

Kessie said...

I love seeing all the pictures! It really was such a nice trip. The kids keep talking about all the fun things we did.

Kerin said...

Great to see that cool house in AZ that you stayed at.
So glad that the Grands had such a nice time doing all the fun activities...baking, sewing, etc.

I love that picture of Sasha. She was such a good dog, and I'm so glad that you had her for so many years :)
She had a great life!

~K.

Debbie said...

oh kim, there's no place like home!! the pictures are wonderful, family time is always best!!

it is always so hard to say goodby to our beloved pets, i hope maybe soon you can focus on all the love she provided.

i have been knitting a lot. it is 100 degrees here today and the next 3 days are forecasted to be the same. the pool water is 92 degrees because of the heat. today, we are enjoying the air conditioning!!

yaya said...

Hello Kim! I'm YaYa from Whispering Pines and I saw your comment on Cathy's blog (Acorn Hollow). Many of the bloggers that follow you are also my blog buddies so I thought I'd stop and say hi. Looks like you had a wonderful vacation and being with Grandkiddos is the best. Thanks for letting me stop by! Have a good rest of your week!

Gretchen Joanna said...

There is surely a lot of happy and sad in this post. I am so sorry about Sasha :-( These dear pets are never with us long enough.

The joy of your grandchildren is overflowing. I'm glad you had such a rich time, and possibly to comfort your heart a little, that is broken over Sasha. And I hope you can go back soon!

Susan Kane said...

I am over from yaya, and like your site. We miss 5 gr-kids who live in Chicago and Switzerland, and my heart hurts when think about them. We have 2 teenager girls, and they live nearby.

Pom Pom said...

Sasha was such a fine girl. I have to tell you something funny about Jenny's aussie Rocket. I will tell you next time we "talk".
You DID have such a lovely time! The photos are beautiful!