This is a picture of me with ur antique patio clock we just bought at a garage sale. It sits on a cast iron stand so won't blow over if the wind blows and we can face it where ever we are sitting out on the patio and always know the time. I love it!
This is my old woman of the mountain cactuc starting to bloom
Our orange and lemon trees are in full bloom and the scent is heavenly. My allergies would argue with that though - I am finding I can't sit out back right now as my nose starts to run and my eyes water like crazy. I'll have to sit up front until the flowers are finished - what a shame!
Not sure what this cactus is called but flowering in a neighbors yard. Aren't the flowers magnificent? They are dinner plate size!
We went for a 4 hour ride with 2 other couples out into the Sonoran desert this past week. We went out to our owl's nest and Mother owl is sitting on eggs. Should be babies soon
The brittle bush is in full bloom so many of the hillsides are bright yellow at this time of year
This is the second Gila Monster we have seen! A much bigger one last year and now this juvenile one
Doug was out wandering in the desert and came upon this Gila monster. It is the only venomous lizard in Arizona. It is rarely seen by people as it is usually nocturnal but this is the second one we have seen. Last year's lizard was about 2 times this size but they are so neat to see.
You can't even see it among the wildflowers it blends in so well
I love the clouring and the designs on its body. Very south western
Couldn't get enough pictures of it!
Doug and Trent are looking at a fallen saguro skeleton out in the desert. That was one of the main reasons we were on this ride. Our resident artist Sharon Keyes was wanting to find some saguro boots so she could paint and animal on them for each of us. She is a very accomplished artist. She painted Doug and I a Sonoran desert scene and we have it hanging on our dining room wall. It is lovely. None of us but Sharon and her husband Craig knew what a boot was so we needed some education if we were going to find any for her!
Now you are probably asking yourself what the heck a saguaro boot is - well join the group! It is when the birds peck a hole in the side of a saguaro and the cactus heals itself and forms a firm crust around the hole. Birds use these holes for nesting. After the saguaro dies and falls, you can break away the ribs and find these "boots" intact inside. Sharon cleans them up, lets them dry out and then paints a bird or animal on the outside. They are just unreal when you see one of her painted boots. She is going to paint a coyote on one for us.
We met another rattle snake in the middle of the trail and though he was a small one, he sure was aggressive. he just wouldn't move off the road for us. He coiled and hissed and rattled at us. We tried throwing rocks at it and Trent poked it with a long stick and that only made him madder (notice I called it a him?) Eventually he moved off to the side of the road and let us pass but he continued to hiss and rattle the whole time as we passed!
We finally found a small amount of shade to stop and have our picnic. From left is Craig and Sharon (artist magnifique), Ann, Trent, Sharon and Doug taking picture
When we were nearly home, there was another rattle snake out on the road but this one must have been female as she quickly removed herself from our way! That was some trip for us, to see a Gila monster and 2 rattle snakes within a few hours was pretty incredible.
This is my neighbours cactus and if you look closely you will see a bird's nest right in the centre with 3 bright blue Thatcher eggs in it. Cool eh?
The vintage planes were back flying over the house. Quite a show they gave us
We just loved watching them
Doug & I just love our Gamble's quail. This is a male quail coming to the feeder
This is the cute little female
They are the cutest and most entertaining birds around. They are very skittish so most of our pictures need to be taken from the inside the house through the screen door or they will fly away
They absolutely love my new cholla bird feeder
They are the silliest birds - you can see this one jumping up trying to get at the suet block. They stand right under it and just jump straight up and try and peck at the block. You can't help but laugh at them!
They will stand around looking up at the block and I figure they are trying to get their little pea brain to tell them how they can access it
Here is another quail attempting to beat the previous quail's record for the highest jump!
Now they've decided to just jump into the bowls and eat the seeds from them
Two in one bowl - now that's a record!
Doug got a really good picture of the horned owl on her nest.
Trent and I were out in the desert getting bleached saguaro wood to use for crafts
This was another rattle snake we saw the next day when we were out in the desert. Note they all look like they want to take a chunk out of us!
This is hedgehog cactus in a neighbour's yard
A prickly pear cactus flowering in a neighbour's yard
Well that's all the news for now. I'll try and do one or two more posts before we head home to Canada. We are planning to leave here April 20th and camp a bit as we work our way home.
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