Tag Archives: Arizona life

A glorious visit

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A page from my parents wedding album given to me by my aunt who visited last week. Mom and Dad were 23!

A strange thing happened during my aunt’s visit. I glanced over at the sofa and Olive the cat was sitting next to my aunt licking her fingers! Now this is a first. Olive has never let a guest touch her or vice versa. Olive does sleep with my daughter, but that doesn’t count because she was my daughter’s cat until college took my daughter away.

My aunt and I did most of the things on my list and we found ourselves very compatible. We both got hungry at the same time, wanted quiet time in the afternoons to ourselves and went to bed early to read. Having a house guest doesn’t get much better than that!

It cooled down considerably, we lit the outdoor fireplace and cooked s’mores. We hiked in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. We went to the farmer’s market in Carefree and explored consignment stores in Cave Creek. We had some delicious lunches and dinners out, plus I cooked. We visited the Musical Instrument Museum and to my delight, they changed up a few exhibits so there were new things for me to enjoy.

You might wonder what would be exciting about visiting a museum of musical instruments.

From the MIM, here’s the Artists’s Gallery experience:

ARTIST GALLERY

Celebrate music’s most influential artists.

In every time and place, there are musicians whose art deeply touches the lives of many. MIM’s Artist Gallery highlights these personalities with ever-changing exhibits that span sound, style, and era. Through generous partnerships, MIM features historic instruments owned, played, and loved by the musicians who have created a shared soundtrack to our lives for generations.

Nearly 40 displays showcase instruments and artifacts from some of the greatest musicians in the world. See and hear instruments played by icons such as Elvis Presley®, Tito Puente, the Carter Family and Johnny Cash, Roberta Flack, Glen Campbell, Joan Baez, Maroon 5, and many others.

https://mim.org/artist-gallery/#

The exhibits not only have the artists’s grammy awards, gold records, costumes and instruments, they have a large screen that plays selections of their songs on the headsets you wear. I think my favorite was “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. On display is his hand written lyrics on a yellow legal pad. So not only do you get to sing along with Roy, you get to see how he wrote it, along with a photo of him and his pretty woman. There are many other galleries from all over the world. I haven’t touched the whole of MIM yet.

Here are a few photos from my aunt’s visit:

What is your idea of a perfect house guest? What do you like to do when entertaining company?

When daily life changes

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Olive the cat sensing change in her daily life.

Here’s the thing that happens when we have guests. Olive’s world turns upside down.

First, her litter box is moved from the casita bathroom along with her food and water bowl. They end up in our bathroom in the Master bedroom. She knows that something is up.

So she disappears, showing her displeasure. Why should we turn her life upside down when everything is exactly how she likes it? Why do we let people into our house when she’s a fraidy cat?

Because maybe our house guests down’t want to share a bathroom with a cat.

She’ll disappear for hours at a time. I look under beds, in closets and then I find her in my closet. Sometimes, it’s only a little paw or a hint of a tail that shows. But today I saw this. She was giving me a look. I have no clue how she gets up to the top of my closet. My daughter is convinced she she powers up “Beam me up Scotty” style.

The only time Olive shows more displeasure is when the suitcase comes out.

Olive cat in suitcase.
Olive blocking me from packing. She has wicked polydactyl claws and is not afraid to use them.

Do your pets feel change in the air? What triggers them?

Our wild neighborhood

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We saw two mule deer on our morning walk.

Unfortunately our nest of quail eggs did not hatch. It makes me sad, because I was looking forward to our own hatchlings. We do have a couple families of quail visit our backyard. I also was thrilled to see deer yesterday morning.

I’m not sure what to do with the nest of eggs. I’m leaving it alone for the time being, but think I should throw them away?

I never get tired of the wildlife in our neighborhood. Across the street we have the McDowell Nature Preserve with more than 130 miles of hiking trails. That’s probably why we get deer, coyotes, javelina and bobcats waltzing through our backyards and streets. There’s so much building going on in Arizona, it’s reassuring to know the 30,580 acres of Sonoran Desert across the street will not be developed.

Here is one of the quail families that visit our yard. The babies look like teenagers.

Another deer in a neighbor’s yard.

Here’s a video of a mule deer walking across a neighbor’s driveway.

What is your favorite thing about your neighborhood?

Saguaros in bloom

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This year is fascinating with all the blooming cacti and plants. This is my third spring in Arizona and it’s truly amazing. I’m sure it was the rainy winter we had that is encouraging all the plant life to come alive with flowers. Right now the saguaros are blooming, something I didn’t see much of the past two years.

We have a nature’s preserve across the street and it’s gorgeous to see saguaros topped with white flower crowns. They remind me of the floral crowns we swim moms ordered for my senior day for my daughter’s college swim team.

Saguaros topped with white crowns of flowers at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

A saguaro in bloom at a neighbor’s house.

In our back yard.

What unusual plants, flowers or wildlife have you seen this spring? Did you have more rain or snow than in the past few years?

Spring is in the air

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Sitting in our backyard, I’ve noticed a change. Flowers are beginning to bloom!

Leaves are beginning to sprout on once bare branches. Color catches my eye as I rest in the backyard, enjoying the sun and soft breeze.

Springs is officially here. Time to get rid of the styrofoam cups protecting our cacti from freezing.

Here are a few photos of flowers in my backyard:

yellow flowers
honeysuckle

I love the honeysuckle climbing our wall.

I used my plant app and it said this is an aloe vera. It’s wrong about 50% of the time, so I’m not sure.

I’m working on identifying the flowers and plants, but I had very little luck! I have a wildflower guide from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, but I bet the plants in my yard aren’t wildflowers found in nature, but plants bought in nurseries.

If you have any idea what these plants are, please let me know!

What is in bloom in your neck of the woods?

On the trails again!

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That’s me standing next to a giant Saguaro that must be several hundred years old — at least.

Sunday morning we woke without plans except to go for a walk. I suggested going out on the hiking trails at the preserve across the street. It’s been a while since we’ve been out there. That’s because the weather has been literally freezing cold with strong winds.

It was a perfect temperature Sunday, around 60 degrees with clouds in the sky to block our strong sun. I can’t express my joy at getting out of the house, being in the middle of nature. We’ll try to get out on the trails twice a week until it’s too hot and snakes come out.

Here are photos from Sunday’s hike:

McDowell Sonoran Preserve trails.

A view of a saguaro framed by two distant mountains. Staghorn cactus in the foreground.

Green grass in the desert.

I couldn’t believe how green it was. Grass was everywhere thanks to our rainy days.

Yucca with a bloom

I think this is a Soaptree Yucca.

McDowell Sonoran Preserve trail signs

The McDowell Sonoran Preserve has signs everywhere so you can’t get lost. They are numbered so if you need help, you can call and tell someone what number sign you’re near.

Saguaros in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve

I wanted a picture of my husband. This was all he agreed to.

Harris hawks on Saguaros

We spotted two Harris Hawks checking us out at the top of two Saguaros near the end of our hike.

The trailhead starts and ends near Power Line Trail. Notice the Harris Hawks followed us back to the end of the trail.

When I got home, I stood in our freezing cold pool for as long as I could, then elevated my legs on the gravity recliner and watched the birds in our backyard.

P.S. I changed my avatar photo. My old one was at least nine years old when I started this blog. I felt it was time to update it. The new photo is from last Christmas.

What were the highlights of your weekend?

It’s cold out there!

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Teddy Bear Cholla

Teddy bear cholla down the street.

Monday we had snow. Tuesday it was 30 degrees when I got out of bed. I skipped golf on the snow day and I was feeling sluggish due to lack of exercise.

My husband and I bundled up Tuesday and took our usual walk around the neighborhood. Although it was so cold, it was bright and sunny and we didn’t die! In fact, I felt so much better after getting out and moving araound.

This is about the Teddy bear cholla or jumping cholla:

Teddy bear cholla, or jumping cholla (C. bigelovii), is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States and is sometimes cultivated as a desert ornamental for its showy golden spines. 

https://www.britannica.com/plant/cactus

I guess they’re called Teddy Bear because they are fuzzy looking. But they are not cuddly. They are a hazard. They’re called jumping cholla because they throw off little bundles of spines. If you accidentally step on one or brush them with your shoe, they may go all the way through your shoe to your foot.

My husband spotted this teddy bear cholla in front of a neighbor’s house. He pointed it out to me because of this:

In the center of the cholla is a bird’s nest. What a perfect place to keep eggs and chicks safe!

What’s the weather like where you are? Is it colder than normal?

What do you think of birds choosing a cholla for their nest?