Woke this morning to this view out of the window. Warning Sunrise by Trevor Laight, on Flickr Then it started snowing. Not that much but this is top of Her Ladyship car two hours later. Cold by Trevor Laight, on Flickr
Got to love those Defenders, proper 4 wheel drive and I’m guessing suitable tyres, not like the so called 4x4 Chelsea tractors all electronic this, electronic that, drive goes to the wheel with the most grip. Utter bollox.
Beautiful photos, Oldskool! I especially love the first one. We even got a bit of snow ourselves here in the Sonoran Desert overnight although it's up towards the top of the Catalina Mountains where the biological zone is definitely NOT desert. Tucson is at about 2500 ft elevation and the tippy--top of the Catalinas is just shy of 9000 ft. Predictions are that we might get a bit of snow even right in town at some point in the next day or two. It was a bit nippy on my walk this morning. Fortunately I don't walk fast enough to create a wind chill. Rillito Park is the horse racing track in Tucson and that building in the photo is the grandstand. It's a very cool place right in the middle of the city. Mr. Sandi and I have really enjoyed going to the races over the years, but unfortunately the racing season was cut short last winter/spring due to COVID. I've not heard a peep about there being a season this year, and it usually starts right about now or early in February. So I'm quite sure that this racing season it has been completely cancelled due to COVID.
It was beautiful out and about but very, very cold. We walked for about 4 miles. The temperature was around -2 but the northern wind gave a wind chill of -4 according to our weather app. But well worth the cold to get some fresh air. We are only around 720 ft above sea level, so nowhere near your giddy heights but definitely not Speed Triple weather......In the 2nd photo of mine, you can see Tring Performing Arts college. It’s a bit like the old Fame programme . Young, talented kids go there to learn to be actors. It is an old Rothschild mansion. The Rothschilds were a famously monied banking family who invested a lot of money in this area. In the far background you can just about make out another mansion also owned by a different Rothschild family member at Mentmore. This was bought by the moonie Cult The Maharishi foundation , back in the late 70’s. There were several Rothschild mansions scattered around this area but none are now owned by the family. Shame about your horse racing weekends this year. Like so many things, a pleasure you will have to forego for the time being.
Wouldn't touch one with two barge poles taped together. Had a LR Disco 300Tdi some years back which is why I'll never have another one. Now Here's a proper 4wd, 80 series LC, as used by the UN, NATO, UNICEF etc, the vehicle of choice in Australia and Asia. No electronics, viscous coupled centre diff with mechanical diff lock, front and rear cross axle diff locks. Revered by those who know them. Just sayin'.
Used to work for an oil exploration company many moons ago, they always went for these. More reliable, more comfortable for the crews, cheaper and just generally a better all rounder/off roader than the land rover and other equivalents.
We woke up this morning to a vision lots of overnight snow in the Catalina Mountains just to the north of us about 5 miles. The snow level was lower than it has been in some time. I took these photos with my little iPhone SE about 200 yards from our back gate on the walking/cycling path along the Rillito River . It's hard to get the full gorgeous effect in a photo but here are a few pics nonetheless. Now the sun has disappeared and it's raining at our house again and the current temperature is 39ºF. Thankfully it's raining--we really need it. That's a type of prickly pear cactus in the foreground of this photo. This type is very large and this particular plant is much taller than me.
And a bit later in the day today, Mr. Sandi was in the office and saw this bobcat on our back wall! He said when he first saw her, she was laying in the sun on the wall right by our gate. Then she got up and strolled nearly the length of the wall before jumping down into our next door neighbor's yard.
Not really, @Oldskool. Well, unless you're a chicken. We've seen bobcats in our neighborhood multiple times over the years and they've never bothered Mr. Sandi or me or our dogs (boxers) for that matter. But I wouldn't be completely confident that a small dog / toy breed would be safe. But our neighbors lost nearly all of their hens to a bobcat a couple of years ago. About a year ago one strolled right past our kitchen window on a wall just like the one in the photo. The window and the wall are only about 10 feet apart if that. Then it jumped down and wandered through our front yard and the yards of a couple of neighbors. Often they are looking for water which they can find in fountains, landscape "water features", and outdoor dog water dishes. Now mountain lions are another story altogether. They've even been known to attack people now and again. But I don't recall ever hearing of one in Tucson proper in all the years I've lived here (since 1991). They have been spotted in the mountains that surround the city, though.
