One of these days when we get some free time...

We have been in Tucson for ten days. It's not that I'm trying to hold out on you, but there is so much cooking, building, scrounging, playing, dilly-dallying, planning, and resting to do that writing about it seems frivolous. This time you get lists and pictures. 

Here's what we have been doing:

• moving in to our excellent new place where we will stay for a while until we don't anymore

• going to farmers market for meat and vegetables

• ordering weird stuff from amazon now that we have an address 

• slow cooking meat and vegetables in the slow cooker we got on amazon 

• drinking cans of fruit-flavored fizzy water

• making herbal iced tea in mason jars instead of drinking cans of fizzy water (hibiscus-blueberry is exceptional on hot days)

• playing with the neighbors' cat

• getting old bicycles to tool around the neighborhood (uh huh... '68 Swchinns, baby)

• tooling around our new neighborhood, The Lost Barrio, which we love

• playing with the neighborhood funny cat who has one argyle sock

• sending greeting cards to my auntie

• writing admonishing letters to Priceline and Sheraton customer service (we'll keep you posted if they change their minds about being a-holes, because good news is fun)

• eating chocolate

• chatting with our kooky-beautiful artist landpeople (landlords sounds so unfriendly), Ruth and Rafa and their adorable child, Ving

• fixing our funny, old bicycles

• going to the beer brewing supply store for airlocks and rubber gaskets

• drilling holes in mason jar lids

• pickling cauliflower and jalapeños and making ruby red sauerkraut (again)

• going a bit nutty in the head on occasion (mostly James)

• being lovely and incredible (mostly Ben)

• watching sunsets from our little "yard"

• washing clothes

• washing dishes

• washing Billy

• knitting slippers (these felted down to Ben-size... his feet are not 17 inches long)

• visiting Leslie's friends' homestead farm (unbelievably great)

• planning an indoor garden

• buying organic seeds, except for the okra, which I could not find in organic flavor. Scallions, beets, kale, chard, tiny tomatoes in red and yellow, cabbage, basil... I went overboard. There's a lot of light here!

• starting seeds in eggs cartons (need to eat more deviled eggs)

• dreaming of land to raise vegetables and chickens 

• tinkering with a gorgeous, ancient sewing machine we picked up from another friend of Leslie's (Ben is quite the handy bloke)

• lurking about the Home Depot collecting dirt and not finding suitable pots for an indoor garden

• knitting more slipper prototypes

• planning a trip back to Seattle to get our stuff out of storage so we can have all of our tools and Ben can drill and build and weld and tinker and I can sew and cook and pickle and tinker

• researching how to build raised-bed garden boxes

• watching zombie apocalypse stories on Netflix 

• coming home from walks and sighing at how peaceful it is to be home (Ben took this one)

• inviting people we know to visit us in Tucson (yes, you. You should come visit us in Tucson--it's a magical place)

• inviting hummingbirds over

• pondering the sustainability of our retirement from corporate life

• looking for a place to call home for real--where we can work and make beautiful things to use and share and we can eat and sleep and house all our machines and imaginary future animals and grown cabbages and okra and perhaps also very old someday.