Sierra's First Christmas Tree

We weren't using our medium Christmas tree this year. Sierra and her roommates wanted a Christmas tree, but ran out of time and funds. So we took the tree up to them in Flagstaff.

They did a pretty good job.

12 hour turnaround

Left at about 8:45 am to Flagstaff.
Dropped off all the stuff we brought up for Sierra at about 11:00.
Took Sierra to Breakfast (yes, breakfast) then to work.
Did some shopping around.
Had a number of breathing issues. (Altitude, air quality from prescribed burns, and just asthma)
Ran into an old friend at Target for a little while.
Took Sierra to Dinner after work.
Replaced her windshield fluid with de-icer windshield fluid.
Headed back to PHX.
Pulled into the driveway at 8:00 pm.

Christmas Tree 2018

With Sierra up in Flagstaff, we decided to down scale to something we can handle more easily.

Tree Trimming

Every year for quite a long time now. Some friends have a tree trimming party. I think we may start our own tree trimming party next year.

Thanksgiving 2018

Had quite a table full for Thanksgiving. Sue and I, Sierra, her friend Collette, Theresa and her plus one, Mike.

Bok Choi 2.0

"Dumpster gardening" Taking scraps and getting more growth.We have done this with Celery, onions, potatoes, and as pictured, Bok Choi and Butter Lettuce.

Morning Glories

Happy Halloween 2018

Weekday night, not too many trick or treaters.

Sierra Visits Sept. 22, 2018

Sierra did a quick trip to Phoenix  Sept. 22. It was a real nice, if quick, visit. Sierra had just had her hair styled and it was not what she really wanted. Sue went to work on it and Sierra was very happy with the results.

Sierra in Flagstaff

Sierra picked up one of her roommates and drove up to Flagstaff. She will be scouting her new area and applying for a job.

August in Phoenix

August in Phoenix seems to always have a challenge. It's like things just decide they can't handle the heat any more and break. Most of the car batteries that die seems to be in August. The other night, it was our A/C. Yes, Phoenix summer without A/C. We managed the first night while what was left of the freon in the system kept the temperature at 81. That changed quickly Sunday as the heat rose. The repair guy said we had a leak he couldn't find. He added some freon in an attempt to give us a little time. We bought some good fans and foam coolers. Put ice in the coolers, Sue cut out holes for the fans and created some ice coolers. They got us through the night. The repair man thinks he's got the leaks fixed. Hopefully so. Unit is only 3 years old, so under warranty, that's the only good part. I guess we found out how to stop a Trane.

Monsoon Storm time

We have had three really big monsoon storms so far. In two cases the power went off.

Here is a dashcam of one storm I drove through heading home from work.

Hot time in Arizona - July 5, 2018

The whole country is under a heat wave. In Arizona, business as usual. We have had a relatively mild summer so far, hovering around 103-105. Today it got HOT.

Theresa gets a new car - July 4, 2017

Theresa found a new car she liked at Bell Honda. So the entire family got into the act at the dealership.

Theresa Gets In Auto Accident - May 28, 2017

Theresa got into an accident with her Smart. The other driver hit her but she saw it coming and was hitting the brake to slow down. When they hit the force of the impact traveled up the brake causing severe damage to her foot. The medical term is Lisfranc fracture/dislocation. It will take a few months and a number of surgeries to fix this. Luckily this is the only injury.

Sierra Graduates from Paradise Valley Community College - May 11, 2018

Associate Degree, next up NAU to work on her Bachelor Degree.

Garden Bounty - May 19, 2018

We have been enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of our garden labor. Golden Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Green Zucchini, and lots of Tomatoes.

Koi Pond Rebuld - May 12 - 14 2018

The Koi pond liner was four years old. One year into the liner the Algae became impossible to manage. The main question from people was "Are there really fish in there?" Yes, 3 large Koi and 1 Comet. So we finally replaced the liner with a better quality one and replaced the filtration system. The results are marvelous.

Cat on a Warm Asphalt Shingle Roof April 5, 2018

Orchid Trees in Bloom April 2, 2018

Preparing for the Roof Replacment February 23, 2018

After twenty plus years, we decided to get the roof replaced. Sierra graciously volunteered to cut and remove the grapevines that were growing on the roof. As you can see, she was tired at the end of it. Musette of course, supervised.

Rotting trunk to Art Piece

Sue took what was left of the old willow tree trunk outside the back door and turned it into a Succulent fairy garden.
I helped, I added firefly lights.

She got these cute mushroom people characters to add to it.

DIY Salad Bar

A friend of ours was given a tabletop Hydroponic garden by some people because they were moving. Knowing that I've been interested in the subject, she gave it to us.
Originally it had lots of Basil. I wanted to try to keep lettuce to see how long I could harvest it. Outside it bolts too early with the Arizona heat. So Romaine it is.

Web Page Update

I just made a few updates. There was a problem where if you clicked on a recipe the page would not open. Now it does, so all the recipes are now available.
The Family Weather tab wasn't working because of a javascript issue. That has been fixed as well.

Can't see the weather page?

If you can't see the Family Weather page, it's because of the https setting in the address bar, remove the s making it http:// and you will be able to see the page.
Or Click here:
http://fulkersontimes.blogspot.com/p/family-weather.html

Winter Harvest

It has been a very mild winter, actually a virtually nonexistent winter so far. We took full advantage of that to get some veggies in.

We had some Rainbow Carrots. The purple ones are really sweet.

 Also some yellow Pear Tomatoes that are very sweet.

And more Green Beans.

Next weekend looks like the weekend to pick Navel Oranges.

Then we work the beds and start placing the spring garden.
Many of which are in the greenhouse as seedlings.

The New Fulkerson Weather Station is online!

Call it a side effect to growing up in Tornado Alley. As long as I can remember I've been a weather watcher. Seen a few Tornadoes, lots of rain, big hail.
So I've also had more than a few weather stations, starting when I was 9. In the late 70's I put together a nice kit station, was the closest to a professional system that I could afford then.
Mike and Sam enjoyed using the wind vane and wind speed cups for BB target practice. To see how fast they could get them to go.
I still have that wind vane with the pockmarks.

 In 2007 I got an electronic system with remote sensors. It was great.

The Arizona climate kills plastics and one storm ended part of the system. So I bought another system. It finally gave out at the end of the year.
The new system has a lot of great features, one of the best is that I am part of the Weather Underground weather station network.
You can see near real time weather by going here:
https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KAZPHOEN620