I was sitting out by the pool when I heard fluttering near my ear. This little hummingbird buzzed me a few times – photo captured with the iPhone:
In other news, we went out to dinner last night for the first time since mid-May. Enjoyed a nice dinner at Tonto Bar & Grill, and were gone just a little more than an hour. Nothing exciting planned for the weekend, just relaxing 😎.
Edit: Being gone only an hour for dinner is important if we want to keep getting permission from the dogs to go out 😂.
Today’s dentist appointment went well, and Lou now has a full set of teeth in his mouth. He is supposedly free to eat what he wants. He decided he wanted a burger, but didn’t want to go out. I had just read recommendations for Blu Burger Grille, located less than 3 miles away. I used their online ordering. It said it would be ready at 6:19pm – about 20 minutes. I drove over, and was out the door with dinner at 6:22pm. Not bad.
My BLT was very good, and Lou is enjoying his burger. I think it might be a place we would like to visit for in-house dining. Check out the dessert options:
So far, Tonto Bar & Grill at Rancho Manana Resort is our favorite go to place, but it is nice to have other options.
Our birthday month went by in a flash. We celebrated with Beth and Todd on Sunday – toasting Lou’s 78th, and my 70th. Spring chickens!
Beth, Todd, and the pups got an early start yesterday and made it home by 1pm. It was a very nice weekend.
The ladies who take care of the house were here yesterday. The spots are a mystery to them as well. They haven’t done anything different, and haven’t seen it before. The worst of the spots that I cleaned up have stayed gone. The rest are fading some, but will need a little attention. Weird. Most are still voting for an alien-related phenomenon.
Took care of another errand today – got both vehicles registered in Arizona. Lou had both titles organized in a folder that was right where he said it would be, so that made it easy to complete the registration process. Lou’s Denali needed an emissions test, but the Tahoe didn’t, because it is less than 5 years old. I got the emissions test done last week – they have quite an efficient system … you drive in to line up:
Then, they have someone take your information:
Oops, wait a minute – that last pic was taken at In-N-Out Burger:
The emissions testing was just as efficient as the line up at In-N-Out (which goes surprisingly fast, even if there are ten cars ahead of you). You pull into the bay, you get out of your car and sit in a booth for a few minutes while they hook up and run the test. In-N-Out in less than ten minutes!
Lou goes back to the dentist tomorrow, supposed to get his permanent bridge – hoping all goes well.
Beth and Todd arrived yesterday afternoon, driving in from Southern California. We had previously suggested they bring their two dogs, Ace and Bunny. This would make it easier for them to get away, and be fun for the whole family.
Natasha and Stitch have had occasional dog visitors at the house, but never had a sleepover. None of us knew what to expect, but we played it cool when they arrived, and everything was chill. No barking, a little sniffing as expected, but soon they were each going about their business. The girls, Natasha and Bunny, were more curious about each other:
Here are some snapshots from the visit so far, including a cute one of Bunny in her swim jacket. Apparently the water was not a big hit. Ace and Natasha sleep a lot, and Stitch is being very discreet, just keeping an Eagle eye out in case someone drops a snack. I will see if I can get a photo of him interacting with the crew tomorrow.
It is great having Beth and Todd visit, and we are enjoying the pups as well. Bunny is a professional cuddler, even more so than Natasha. Ace is very calm. I didn’t realize Frenchies are so much smaller than the cocker spaniels.
As for our Mystery Spots – no news. I do think we can get them out, but putting off the cleaning process while company is here.
Thanks for all the comments on our mystery spots. We still don’t have a definitive answer. I am kind of leaning towards the thought Beth just posted:
“Based on timing and that there aren’t new spots showing up, could it be something that leaked from the cleaning crew’s cart or a bag with a very small hole…” If someone was carrying something in their right hand, it might make sense where most of the spots show up. Our housekeepers are so particular, I would be surprised if they dropped anything. We haven’t had any other maintenance people in (thank goodness!)
I believe the floor is made of 24” slate tiles – they were installed in 2006, so it is unlikely that we are seeing something coming up from below. More likely something dropped on the surface – but what?
I have tried a number of things to remove the spots – dishwashing soap and water, hydrogen peroxide, acetone, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide & baking soda paste, acetone & baking soda paste, as well as a couple of stone cleaners from Lowe’s. So far, the dark spots on the stairs are greatly reduced, but they need to dry overnight and then get cleaned up.
Note, the dark square in the second photo is just a shadow – too tired to retake the photo, lol. I can still see evidence of the darker residue, but additional applications might show further improvements.
This is where we are today. Will update as more unfolds. Presence of aliens or unknown critters has not yet been debunked.
We are puzzled. Lou first noticed these spots on the floor yesterday (or maybe late Monday, not sure).
The spots are most pronounced on the edge of the steps going down from the bedroom entrance, then they follow along the path to the foyer / kitchen:
There are just a few spots as you go into the kitchen, almost none when you exit on the other side of the counter by the bar. None looking into the dining area (the dark areas in the last photo of the dining room area are natural to the stone):
looking out towards the front door, there are just a couple of spots. There are a few spots on the tile in the entry way:
Now you have an overview of where the mysterious spots are located. I know we have some puzzle solvers reading this blog. Does anyone have any ideas? What caused the spots, how did they get there, and how do we clean them without damaging the stone tiles?
I will give a couple of hints – the spots are not water soluble. Lou thought to try isopropyl alcohol – no affect whatsoever. We are both chemists, and we are both baffled at the moment. This is an example of one of the things I used to investigate while working in the technical side of the cement and concrete business. I am fairly comfortable diagnosing stains on concrete. This is a little different – I doubt the homeowner would appreciate having cores drilled or scraping off the surface of the tiles.
The cause and solution may be simple once we figure it out. It may be (in my case) having just turned 70 has further befuddled my brain. Not sure what Lou’s excuse is, since he has had a lot more practice in his 70s 😂.
Please do let us know if you have any ideas.
Stay Safe (and spot-free)!
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Amy on A Little Visitor: “Just to inform you and so you know, that is not a hummingbird, it is a drone…keeping a very close…” Jun 3, 22:18
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