Kisses

Horse kisses, that is.

New Family Member

If you read my blog, you might recall that a desert tortoise came to live with us, last October. October is when desert tortoises go into hibernation. We built a fabulous habitat for our tortoise, complete with den. Sure enough, she hibernated. However, before she fell asleep, she had me very worried. She didn't seem to be eating. She seemed agitated. I called the experts at the Sonoran Desert Museum - they gave me some tips. I watered her well.
Sadly, she didn't make it through the winter.
So, her habitat has remained rather dead. All the plants we planted for her, died too.
Should we adopt another? Should we give up on this idea?
The decision came rather abruptly last night. I got a phone call from a friend. Someone desperately needed a home for their tortoise. They were moving far away, couldn't bring him. They were moving in a matter of days.
What do you think I said?

Meet Dos. (Spanish for #2)

He's resting in his den - way in the back where it's got to be cooler than it is out in his habitat, where I think it is 110 degrees today...

Here's a view of his home. We planted sod, hibiscus and other plants that he will eat (I hope), and more to plant tonight.
He seems ok.
Wish us luck!!

Rainbow

5am, sound asleep, until a noise wakes me up. What was that? I start to doze off again....then hear it again. Thunder! The storm builds in intensity, obviously it is directly over our house. Constant giant claps of thunder, blinding lightning. Torrential rain.

It's all over in 15 minutes.

No going back to sleep now. Time to get up and start the day. I take the dogs outside. And am greeted by this.

glorious.

wish

wish I was a happy piglet in the sun.....

(112 degrees in tucson yesterday...)

by amberalexander, one of my very most favorite artists that I ever discovered on etsy....

Road Runner Conversation

Yep. They're sitting on a nest - we've seen both Mama and Papa. Yesterday evening, one of them had a very large lizard dangling from his mouth. I chased the black cat away. I have a feeling I'm going to do a lot of cat chasing. Anybody have any good ideas to keep him away, without scaring the road runners? Should I spray around the tree with amonia/vinegar? Put out moth balls?

This morning I went outside and had a quiet discussion with whichever parent-bird was sitting on the nest. He listened to me, cocking his head to the side, trying to understand this strange language.

They are fast, and difficult to get a good picture! I snapped this one from inside my little office - Mrs RoadRunner had come to visit in the little courtyard. Picture is taken from the other side of the screen - sorry!

I'm excited for baby road runners!

It's a wild country with lots of predators, so I'm going to keep fingers and toes crossed.

Happy New Year! It Snowed!

Yep, it snowed in southern Arizona! Temps below freezing, and SNOW! It was rain at my house, but we did see some flakes, and lots of frozen water troughs. We took a drive on New Years Eve, about 11 miles north, to the town of Oracle, where the elevation is about 4000'. SNOW~! Lots of it! A foot in some areas! LOVE IT!

(not the greatest pics, taken with my son's new phone....)

Happy new year!!

Rainbow

It's been a difficult summer. Lots of challenges. Is this a sign that there is something better on the horizon?

Or are more storms on the way?

The clouds cleared a bit, for now.

this moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see. (copyright SouleMama 2010) . Inspired by SouleMama and passed on to me by CoffeeShop Free Actions (Friday Photo Bliss)….why not leave your moment with them as well.

Out the Window

We moved, 6 years ago, from the East coast, to the Southwest. Everything is different out here, even the birds. There are no robins. I miss them!

But, occasionally, we see familiar faces.

See him? A Cardinal. :)

Monsoon Season

Summer is hot in Tucson, Arizona. It is the Sonoran Desert. It is mystifyingly hot here sometimes. Ridiculous.

And don't believe that junk about "But, it's a dry heat!". When it's 105 degrees out, it is like an oven. And besides, in the summer, we have monsoon season. So it's humid, too.

Monsoons are completely wild and crazy storms. Thunder, lightning, high winds, hail. Tremendous amounts of rain can fall in very short periods of time. Dry washes and creekbeds can all of a sudden wash cars away. People drown every year cause they drive down a street that is flooded and get swept away. Crazy.

This monsoon season has been a big 'ol disappointment. Where's the STORMS? Where's the RAIN? It's hot and humid, and NOT ENOUGH STORMS.

We had our first one the other night. Middle of the night. I didn't get to see it. :(

THEN, finally, yesterday - RAIN. Thunder. I LOVE IT.

It was all over in about 15 minutes.

Sigh. Waiting for more.

(That's a giant saguaro cactus you see).

If I wasn't a bit worried about being struck by lightning (which also happens all the time out here), I would have been dancing in the downpour.

:)

Wild Bunnies

A week or so ago, we saw a baby bunny. All alone. She (he?) will let us get pretty close. Just hopping around, doing his bunny thing. Almost everytime I go outside our yard, there he is. We have a bit of land, some of it cleared and nice, and some we leave pretty wild.

Where is his mommy? Where are his brothers and sisters?

All alone.

He could fit in the palm of your hand.

There are other bunnies around - grown up bunnies - but none that he seems to belong to.

We've been watching him now for a week or two, hope to keep seeing him around. Let's hope he's too quick for the coyotes.

Snake Rescue

I was outside with my dogs early this morning - really the only time of day when it is nice outside. Before the air turns into an oven. I went to check on the pool, to make sure there were no desert toads in the water. Desert toads are enormous, and poisonous, and I've already taken many out of the water so far this summer.

But this morning, I had a different surprise. I called my hubby outside, and we rescued him. He had taken refuge on the floating thingy that holds the chlorine tabs.

Just a baby.

He was well and happy to be out of the water. A baby gopher snake - a good kind of snake. About 12 inchs long, and skinnier than your finger - I would say he is only a few weeks old.

I'm a little worried, because snakes hatch from eggs, and where there is one, there are more.

Just glad he wasn't a rattlesnake.

Horse Treats!

It's HOT here, over 100 degrees most days.

Our horses like an occasional sweet treat too!

Watermelon! They love it!

Come visit my garden!

Just a few scenes from the desert this morning.

Hoping the pumpkins keep growing, but as the heat builds, not sure....

Buster sees something outside the gate.....probably bunnies....

Rosemary grows like crazy under this tree.

Flowers in the island. Some thrive, some don't. This winter, I'm going to use this island to grow lettuce.

Behind Buster is oleander. Also known as nightshade. Beautiful, but poisonous. Deadly to humans, dogs, horses. We've let a lot of it die, and have pulled some out. It can grow to 12' or better. Hard to pull out such a beautiful plant, so some still are here.

Sugar wants to go swimming. Yup, we have a pool. Lots o'work. Lots o'fun.

The littlest one in the family.

Enjoy your day!

Tucson Folk Festival

Back in the good 'ol days - pre kids, and even post kids - we went every year to the Philadelphia Folk Festival. SO MUCH FUN. You can camp in the campgrounds with 10,000 of your closest friends, or just go for an afternoon or evening. Incredible music, food - I can even imagine the smells while I sit here writing about it. Late summer, cut grass, campfires, food cooking, funnel cake. :)

If you're on the east coast in late August, this is a guaranteed great time - fun for the whole family.

But, we don't live there anymore. And my hubby is a musician at heart - he plays the banjo (bluegrass music), or at least he used to.

This weekend was the Tucson Folk Festival - a very different kind of affair. But we went for a few hours on Sunday afternoon and had a lot of fun. There are 5 stages, all within easy walking distance of each other, in downtown Tucson (not your typical downtown city....).

Here's some pics of a great Latino band - they were amazing.

The stage was in a small courtyard - surrounded by artisan shops and a small bistro. It was shady and green (rare in Tucson!), and so enjoyable. And this band was awesome.

We really miss the easy access to great music - Philly had so many great venues where fabulous music played all the time.

But this was fun!

Spring in Arizona

Spring is here. It is a subtle difference, as we don't have harsh winters. But we had our first 80 degree day last week.

An amazing thing has happened this spring, that I've never seen before since we've lived here (6 years now). It was a very wet winter - I loved the gray and rainy days, as they are rare here.

Grass has grown. Where it is always brown, it is green. I can't say that it is 'lawn', as that would mean that you might actually have to mow it - which is unlikely. Because as soon as the heat starts - the grass will die. But before it does, I'm going to let my horses graze on it's sweet goodness.

The mountains that you see in the distance are the Tortolitas - not a very tall mountain range. But there was snow on that range a few times this winter!

Question - what is this red grass growing? Anybody know??

Winter Storm in Tucson

What a great week! I love winter weather, and miss the snow! It never actually snowed at our elevation, but the mountains got a ton of the white stuff. We had lots of wind!! and rain!! and cold!! Well, cold for Tucson!

Harris Hawk

He's back again. He likes to sit in my tree, just outside my window.

According to Wikepedia, this hawk can be anywhere from 18 to 30 inches tall, and generally have a wingspan of 3.6 feet.

The biggest bird that usually sits in our trees is a woodpecker, maybe 7 inches tall.

This hawk is huge. And he is a predator. He eats mice, cats, small dogs....

A raptor.

Watch out!

Magic of the Season, once in a blue moon

The last 2 pictures are of the full moon setting early this morning. This is the second full moon in the month of December, therefore named a Blue Moon. The next time it will happen on New Years Eve is in 20 years.

Happy 2010!