Apricity West 3

March 10, 2023 - Friday

Had lunch at Murphy’s - Kendra was bartending. Spent most of the day working on our art projects. 

March 11, 2023 - Saturday

Went over to Terri and Jim’s to hang out and lay low. Went to Calle Tepa, a favorite Mexican restaurant of theirs - great food and margaritas. 

 

March 12, 2023 - Sunday

Went to check out a new Carniceria near T&J’s - there are 22 of these in the city of Tucson, but this one has been in the works for about 6 months and opened 2 weeks ago.

Met the owner, Carmen, on the Bakery side of the operation. It is family owned and all but a few employees are family members.

They really did a top notch job putting this market together - in front of the meat case is a variety of different brands of tortillas made in Tucson. The case was well displayed and the meats were fresh and covered in cellophane. 

If you purchase any of these meats, you can take them outside for Calletano (Tano for short) to cook up for you on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We bought some churros and peanuts for snacking but will be back for more. 

On to the original Borderlands Brewery (Kendra was bartending!) to sit outside and listen to Kevin Pakulis and his band. He is an Americana singer-songwriter, master musician and storyteller and now a regular there on Sunday afternoons - we really like his music and his message. 

He draws a big crowd of music lovers and dancers. 

Back at the Parsons’ ranch, we lolled around on the patio and had Rich’s grilled chicken and Terri’s Mexican pasta dish, followed by Jim’s churros with a dollop of ice cream, drizzle of chocolate syrup and dribble of Kahlua. YUM.

 

March 13, 2023 - Monday

Went to Fry’s to pick up corned beef and cabbage to cook on Friday, then to Murphy’s but no one there to open the bar!

 

March 14, 2023 - Tuesday

The winter back home (Lee, MA) had been very mild with little snowfall until today. Spent a lot of time communicating with family and friends who were caught in the 2-day Nor’easter. There was as much as 31” of snowfall and power was out all over Berkshire County. Thankfully, my house was only out for a few hours and my gas heater kept up with keeping the house warm enough to keep pipes from freezing. Randy, my son, did snow blowing at his house and mine. 

It was hard to keep my brain in the right place at the right time as it was 77 degrees, hot and dusty here in Tucson. We went over to Copper Mine Brewery in the afternoon and Marina was struggling (calmly) to keep up. She was calling her boss to let him know that there was no internet which kept her from using the Square register and credit card unit. The place was not real busy, but busier than we have seen it at this hour. The boss dropped in but didn’t really get it back online and had to go back to work at Intuit. Somehow she was able to accept credit cards and ring on the register. During all of this two customers ordered 3 growlers of different beers - about $45 worth - which really slows down the process. She mentioned that they were down a beertender and had to find someone to work. On our way home we saw a dozen Cox Communication trucks and crews burying a whole lot of lines in the ground, so we are assuming they are fiberoptic now. Our TV was offline last night too.

 

March 15, 2023 - Wednesday 

Turns out we got rain this morning and expect more this evening. I worked on some more paisley art in the morning. 

Went over to Murphy’s and Rich ended up helping Tora, bar manager, change a keg of Guinness. She is a tiny little gal and could do it herself using a dolly, but he was happy to help. The way the kegs were stacked, he had to lift one down from behind after shuffling those in the front. They weigh about 130 lbs. Tora has suffered some ex-personnel retaliation as she runs a tight ship - some people don’t like that. The owner, Adam, backs her up, but things happen outside of work too. Wishing her the best.

Dr. DeFalice called me himself. He had been on vacation and didn’t have my paperwork with him. At this point, he agrees that surgery is imminent and he will have his secretary get the ball rolling. I have a dentist appointment for clearance on April 10th already. The weather is the real determining factor so we have to keep a close eye on that. 

 

March 16, 2023 - Thursday

Worked on more art, then went to Murphy’s for lunch. There was a lot of hustle bustle going on to prepare for St. Patrick’s Day celebration tomorrow. It was the busiest lunch we have ever seen, so there was a lot of action. For the third time, Rich was only charged for 1 Guinness when he had 2 - different places each time. Tora said to forget about it. Left there just in time as we got home just before an unexpected rain, so more time for art…