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.

:)

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!

Wordless Wednesday

Rotten Tomatoes

What is happening to my tomatoes? Is it bugs eating them? Lizards? The plants are growing, it hasn't been burning hot yet (next thursday it's supposed to be up to 106, gag puke vomit), but look what happens to very single tomato.

Am I doing something wrong? Don't they have enough water? Sun? WHAT?? Are birds eating them?

This damn desert.

In Philadelphia, we used to have so many tomatoes we could feed the entire neighborhood. Not that I'd WANT to feed my neighbors here (not fond of my neighbor next door, one day I'll write about that), but at least I'd like to eat a tomato that I grew myself. Like in the old days.














These are squash plants. And there are some baby squashes growing. Are they going to rot too? Or get eaten?


In case you didn't see my previous post about veggie gardening - I decided to plant in pots in my courtyard - away from marauding bunnies, javelinas, etc.


Not having much luck.



:0(




My friend Cathy gave me some of these plants - and they bloom everyday, in a corner of my courtyard. My office looks out onto the courtyard. And they're propogating...yay. I have no idea what they're called.

This is my pretending to be living in Philadelphia, with 'normal' flowers blooming. Note the cactus behind them.

We do have big trees on this property - mesquite trees.

So if anybody can tell me what is happening to my tomatoes, I'll be very grateful....

SUMMER in Tucson, Arizona

We moved to the southwest. From the east coast. To be near family. I wanted my kids to know their grandparents. Mission Accomplished. Now I'm done. The summertime here is just ridiculous. Beyond hot, and humid besides. Monsoon season. Mosquitoes, tarantulas, scorpions, black widow spiders, rattlesnakes, poisonous desert toads (don't let your dogs touch them, often fatal). I hate to be inside; I want to be outside. I sat outside the other evening, with my horses. I can't count how many bug bites I have. It is not pretty.

BUT

Here is some desert pretty:

Southwestern thornapple?

Juvenile giant saguaro cactus, surrounded by 'nurse' trees. The saguaro doesn't grow arms until it is 40-50 years old.

I'm not sure if this is a creosote bush or brittlebush. All of this stuff just grows wild.

Rabbitbrush? I think......

Back east, I knew the names of most flowers and shrubs. Too hot to learn them all here.

And here's a shady thicket of different shrubs and small trees. That's prickly pear cactus, with fruit on it. I have a friend that makes a syrup from the fruit, it is delicious. And javelina (wild roaming animals that look like boars, but aren't) love them too. You can always tell when they've been around, because there will be mashed fruit all over the place.

So, it's a wild place to live. And one day, in the not too distant future, we will leave for higher ground. And cooler climate.

:0)

Wild bunnies!

We have lots of wild cottontail bunnies. They're all over the place. Unfortunately, so are coyotes, hawks and bobcats. Not so safe for the bunnies!

Bunnies like it at our house, because we have lots of hay, for our horses. But it blows around, and there's always some loose hay, and it's yummy to bunnies!

Of course, in the spring, there are babies. This year, some new bunny holes appeared right near our horse arena. There were two babies, now I'm only seeing one. He/she? is the friendliest of bunnies. He's been known to fall asleep during riding lessons, sleeping right next to whoever is watching the lesson. Yesterday evening, I was able to get some really cute pictures of this half-grown bunny.

Trees in the desert

This is the property I've always wanted to own. We have about 1 1/2 acres. We're allowed to have four horses on our property, but content ourselves with just two. Personally, I'd like donkeys and little ponies, but how many horses can you afford to feed?

One of the greatest things about this property is that there are trees here - big ones - mesquite trees. We have 3 huge ones in the front of our property. The shade is extraordinary, although in summer - really - nothing suffices but air conditioning. You cannot live without that around here. Our land is in the foothills of a mountain range, the Tortolitas. Not a tall mountain range, but pretty nonetheless. In the very front of our house is a little courtyard, very cool and shady. It's been sadly neglected lately, but my dogs enjoy it. It's a safe place to let them out, especially little Boo, due to the predators that would be very happy to steal a little dog for dinner. It happens all the time out here. I refuse to let it happen to Boo.

Anyway, here's some pictures for your Saturday viewing enjoyment.

View from our road - this is the Catalina mountains, to our East. The tallest peak is Mt Lemmon, which is over 9000 feet. You can drive up there - it is a vast wilderness. We've played in the snow up there in the winter, collected pine cones in the fall. This summer I want to explore Rose Lake, where you can fish. It's an amazing retreat when it's 110 degrees in the summer.

Morning

Just wanted to share some morning pictures with you - Happy Thursday, is it the weekend yet?
things bloom in the desert. I have no idea what kind of cactus this is, but it has really pretty flowers. this is a view of our front 'yard', we have some trees! and it really needs a good raking. What are you doing this weekend??


Dozer is worried about the camera, Belle couldn't care less. Dozer moves away to be nearer his girlfriend, it's safer in the herd.

Have a great day!

Giant Saguaro

The only place in the world that Giant Saguaro cactus grow is in the Sonoran Desert. That's where I am. I'm an ocean-kind-of-girl, who ever thought I'd be living in the desert? The desert isn't what you think of - there are not just vast wastelands of sand. There's tons of vegetation, trees (although not very tall), cactus. There are lots of things to stab you. All different kinds of cactus. None of which you want to touch. I've heard lots of stories of people falling into cactus, being thrown off of horses into cactus...then there are the jumping cholla cactus. You don't want to get too close to them, or the cactus will jump off and attack you. Seriously!
Our first house here was very pretty, in a development. However, still in the desert. I was planting flowers by the front door, near this huge agave plant - a succulent. It stabbed me in the upper arm. I couldn't lift my arm for a week. It has poison on the ends of the little spikes! Who knew??
Anyway, the giant saguaro don't grow arms until they are at least 50 years old. And they are protected - the builders building their vast armies of houses all right next to each other have to replant the saguaro. Or build around them. Here's one in my front yard...

Spring in the Desert

This is why people move to Tucson (yes, besides the mild winters). SPRING! is incredible here. Mild soft breezes, constant blue sky, FLOWERS everywhere (wild flowers) and everything is blooming.
This is a picture of a barrel cactus, with fruit. I'm sure in bygone era, the native americans ate this fruit. But now, it is the javelina that eat it. I'll write about the crazy javelina in another post....