Sunday, February 14, 2016 DITL

[spryng]

In which our heroine journeys into the arid desert and miraculously emerges again unscathed by thorn or spine. Warnings: Books, naps, and baked goods.




Coffee first thing, as always. For the record, it's now half-caff for me.



Mornin'.



First things first: gotta check the internet. Somebody has to.



Audiobook time. Listening to Rising Strong by Brene Brown.



Make some more, full-caff coffee for Lady.



Blurry cats get fed.



Pull up an old recipe for scones.



Start the bacon.



Start the scones.



Shape the scones. They're much stickier than they should be, but thankfully gluten-free scones are way more forgiving and they just end up deliciously moist.



Now, time for eggs.



A wild Lady appears!



We eat breakfast together <3



Kona comes to eat the rose leaves join us.



Begin looking up possible trails to hike.



I have a lie down because apparently making all that food tuckered me out.



When I get up, Lady is skyping with her family.



Caaaaaaat



Time to put on my hiking shoes.



Car & time check.



We're trying out a whole new range of mountains - the Tortolitas. The trailhead is in a resort area and those bathrooms are the swankiest trailhead bathrooms ever. They even have soap!



Trailhead.



We don't make it far before Lady spies her first popcorn flower.



Saddle. I am pleased with the rainbow scheme.



We pick this way.



Aaand we climb.



What is even going on here.






I make a friend.



The mooooooon.



The ocotillo are re-leafing - it must be spring.



This is a chain-fruit / jumping cholla and this is exactly why you wear good shoes in the desert and stay far, far away from chollas. All those bits beneath it are covered in spines and hurt like the dickens.



Back at the car and time check.



Home again and cat check.



Lunch. Not pictured: the leftover pizza I also ate.



Spend some time making lists and researching.



Blurry quinoa for second lunch/dinner.



Cat watches us internet.



Check the mail. Nothing but junk. :<



Time check - in the car again.



No Valentine's Day is complete without a trip to the bookstore. :)



Our true purpose: to see what they have on a certain topic. That is a lot of What to Expect.



Gorgeous sunset on the way home.



The books we ended up getting. One has been on my TBR list for ages. The other is less informative, more ridiculous.



...dinner? Then we cuddle on the couch and read Let's Panic! together.



The upstairs neighbors return home after being gone for two (blessed) weeks and wildebeest around. We turn on some white noise to drown them out.



Darjeeling expressed my feelings for those neighbors exactly.



Time to read a little bit in bed.



And then pass out. G'night!