We received a memo from the Irrigation folks yesterday: the Board has voted to increase the hourly rate from $12 to $15.   

While that $3 represents a hefty 25% hike, happily it's not nearly as much as originally discussed; for quite some time there's been serious talk of charging $20/hour. (No surprise that there was a lot of negative feedback regarding that!)  Since the rate has stayed the same in the 14 years we've lived in this house it's been inevitable that at some point they would need to raise the rates.  And now that time has come.

It is necessary that we make this change due to a steady rise in the cost of delivering water to our irrigators. Since our last rate change in 1996 we have faced increasing electric bills, water usage taxes, and insurance, along with an increase in our overhead due to our reorganization under the guidelines of the Maricopa County Irrigation and Water Conservation District.

Since even $15/hour is still WAY cheaper than city water (and with our wonderful oasis we require a LOT of water, especially during the hotter half of the year) it'll still be a bargain - just not quite as large a bargain.

And WMID irrigation water costs WAY less than that!

 Our property needs 2 hours, so the twice-monthly irrigation during the (seemingly unending) Summer had been costing us $48 each month; now that will be $60.  But on City Water I shudder to think how many hundreds of dollars we'd need to spend each month to keep all of our shade trees and bushes thriving.

Yesterday afternoon Summer brought her four boys (ages 2 through 8) over to visit/feed Pokey (I'd saved the previous night's bowl of watermelon, strawberries and lettuce for them), climb trees, taste test grapefruit, and otherwise enjoy our backyard.  Once school is out and the pool has warmed up a bit more I expect they'll find it even more enjoyable.  Dad Karl hauled off Alex's bike ramp, and I expect it'll get a lot of use in a family with 4 little guys with their bikes and skateboards, and any other modes of transportation.

Then Patti came by, and together we came up with a perfect solution for tailoring the new bras I bought for my trip.  EVERY woman will confirm that comfort in that department is SO important... and why so many of us go without whenever possible!!!)

I grilled up some steaks for dinner, and we had just sat down to eat when Alex stopped by (unexpectedly) on his way home from work.  (He sure does clean up nicely.)  We were able to divvy up our steaks and salads (he turned down the baker) which no doubt gave him the strength to then make it home.

An evening trying to watch a movie on TV was frustrated by some serious issues with the cable on various channels (involving both TVs), which indicates to me that it's the feed from their end, and not a sign our TV is dying. I didn't mind the video being outrageously pixelated since it did make for quite an interesting effect, (and no, there were no drugs involved.)  Ours was worse than this.... guess I should have taken a picture!

 Unfortunately the accompanying disruption in the audio made it impossible to follow what was going on, so we ended up watching our current Netflix (a B&W movie from 1934, Academy Award winner It Happened One Night.)  Tom had originally declined to watch it (which was why he opted for a movie on TV), and (of course) there were NO surprises in the plot, easily predicted within the first minutes of the movie.  But as Dad used to say, beggars can't be choosers, right?

And Tom did get a lot of finishing work done on his tomahawks, knives, and frames of points (he's getting ready for a couple of upcoming events) without the distraction of having to really concentrate on the plot.

(He's totally taken over my sewing table, but I won't be using it for the next 5 weeks, so that's okay.)

Now it's Sunday, and the official start of the last week before my trip.  So today I get serious about packing!