Caught my Eye

In the hotter months in Tucson, we leave the horses out in the big arena at night. Room to roam, lie down, sleep in the really comfy loamy dirt. I bring them up to their stalls (with lots of shade, critical in the heat) in the morning.

This morning, I went out to bring up the horses.

And something caught my eye.

In the dirt, it blended in.

I was so excited to see this.

He looks just like a miniature dinosaur.

If he gets scared, he will shoot blood from his eyes, I kid you not.

Regal Horned Toad Lizard.

So. Cool.

Hiking!!

As mentioned previously, it is SPRING here in Tucson. My hubby and I started walking/hiking - long on the list of TO DO things.

I just have to share some of our pictures from our latest walk/hike in Catalina State Park, a mere 10-15 minutes from our home.

Enjoy the beauty of the southwest!

The washes are running from the snow melt in the mountains.

Saguaro cactus on the hill.

Grass!






As we were walking down the trail - there was a crash from somewhere just before us. "What was that?!" We kept walking and soon saw what it was. An arm had just fallen off of this giant saguaro cactus. Just like that. Bizarre!





View of Pusch Ridge.




Wildflowers.
:)

Horses

I love horses. No, I adore horses. No, it's more than that. It's an affinity? It's an amazement? This has been going on my entire life. When I was 2 years old, we moved into a wonderful old house. Where the backyard ended, a stable began. Our neighbor had many horses (well, it seemed like a lot at the time), and a few ponies. I used to stand at the back fence and watch them. If I ever went missing, my mother knew where to find me.

I started taking riding lessons at 5. When I was 10, we moved away, and the lessons stopped, much to my dismay. I would ride once in a while, if the opportunity arose.

In my later 20's, I had friends who loved to ride too. We found an awesome stable, and we used to rent horses to ride every weekend.

Finally, my 30th birthday present to myself - a horse. A horse named Blue. Blue was an Appaloosa, and the smartest horse ever. I adored him. He was an older horse when I got him, and I had him for 13 wonderful years. I had to put him down on my 43rd birthday.

Fast forward to our move to the wild southwest. We now have two horses.

Dozer:

Dozer is a big quarter horse. He came from a working ranch, and has the brand to prove it. Steady and strong, he'll do anything you ask him to. I spent a few years riding him in the nearby wild country, until he threw me one day and I broke my back. Not his fault, he was just being a horse. Horses are prey in the wild, and he was scared. My fault, for not sticking on his back while he was spinning to get away from the predator.

Meet Belle:

Belle is a mustang (wild horse). She is a line-back dun and has zebra stripes on her legs. She is brilliant, sweet and loves loves loves kids. I rescued her from a not-so-great situation, almost 4 years ago.

Due to my injury, I don't ride very often anymore. But I still adore these glorious animals, and give lessons to kids.

In my Woolies shop, I love to make horses. Here's my latest one; his name is Winter. I'm planning a seasonal series. Stay tuned for Spring, Summer and Fall.

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!

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!

Little Wildlife Story

Thursday afternoon, I was in my little tiny office, working. It's quiet, the dogs are asleep. All of a sudden, I hear a thud. A loud thud. The dogs heard it too, and started barking. What was that?

I went to the front door - nobody there. Kitchen door, nobody there. Cats are sleeping, nobody jumped up on something. Went to the back door, all seems quiet outside.

OK, back to work, dogs back to sleep.

About an hour later, took a break from work. Let the dogs out back. Instantly saw a bird, on the ground, hopping, trying to hide behind the pots on my patio. Quick, put the dogs back inside.

Bird hops away, cannot fly. So scared of me. Chirping, panicky.

I caught it, in my hands.

Found the cage that we use for injured wildlife.

At least now she is safe. Oh so scared.

I know people that are licensed wildlife rehabilitators. I call. Ack! They are totally full. But they told me where else I could take the bird. It's downtown, so my husband will have to take the bird the next day. She's going to get a car ride!






Such a beautiful bird. Pale yellow breast. Short feathers kind of fluffy on the top of her head.

I feel responsible, for it was my window that she flew into. I'm glad it is only a broken wing, as the last bird that flew into that window did not make it.

I hope she will heal well, and be released back into the wild.

Praying Mantis

Whenever I see these amazing bugs, I stop and look. I want to pick them up and play with them. They are cooler than cool.

I found this guy just hanging on my house - in a nice shady spot on a really warm afternoon. He wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere, and he let me take some pictures of him.

This guy was BIG! and very friendly.

Horned Lizard

also known as a horny toad. Anyway, my husband found him in one of the horse stalls. I wonder if he is hatched from an egg? underground? I know nothing about these miniature dinosaurs.

this one is a baby.

testing out new picture software.....

Horses!

I have been a horse fanatic since I was two. Where our backyard fence ended, a stable began. If my Mom couldn't find me, she knew I'd be standing with my face pressed up to the fence, watching the horses. I love everything about these awesome animals.

I have two real horses, Dozer and Belle.

And I've recently listed two horsey stuffed animals in my Woolies shop.

In case there is anybody in your family who loves horses too.

:0)

Creatures from the west

There's a lizard living in my little courtyard. There's lots of lizards here, it is the southwest. But it always gives me a little thrill to see these critters.

I'm not sure what kind he is, if anybody knows,

let me know! Is he a desert iguana? He's big -

over 12 inches, is my guess.

Can you see him??

Valley Green: A Story

I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Across the street from our little house was a park, and through the park meandered a creek, Wissahickon Creek. The creek traveled through an area known as Fairmont Park. Fairmont Park is big - many miles - all the way into the city of Philadelphia. With the Wissahickon as it's center. There is a jogging/biking/horseback-riding trail known as Forbidden Drive, which follows the Wissahickon.

I grew up there, playing in the creek, riding bikes and horses on the trail, exploring in the vast woods that surround it all. It is an awesome place, filled with magic. Oh, the stories that I could tell...

A long time ago, Forbidden Drive was known as the Philadelphia turnpike. There is an Inn along the way. An historic place, hundreds of years old. It is a restaurant. It borders the creek. There are ducks and geese and it's in the middle of the woods, with vast tall trees surrounding it. As a child, it was where we went for celebrations. The food was always wonderful - the fires in the fireplaces were enormous. And you could always go outside and play with the ducks.

Years pass, many years.

I met my husband, Eric, and fell hopelessly in love. We got married - at Valley Green Inn. On an October evening, with just a few friends and family. On the banks of the Wissahickon.

Years pass.

We take our children to the Wissahickon, often. We bring bread for the ducks, we skip rocks in the creek. We ride our bikes and take long walks. We explore.

Years pass.

My father passes away. He requested that his ashes be cast into the Wissahickon. We found a special little place, and did as he asked.

Now we move away, across the land to the southwest. Ah, we miss the Wissahickon. We talk about it, we dream about it. We bought a little land; we have our dogs and cats and horses here.

We name our land:

Valley Green Ranch.

(note: pictures are by an artist, Nicholas Santoleri. My husband purchased the first one that you see above, as a wedding present to me. Valley Green is often painted and photographed, we have many paintings of it hanging in our home.)

SNOW in the high desert!!!

Wow, am I back in Philadelphia?? The weather changed rather dramatically yesterday! It started as rain - we love rain here, because it doesn't rain 35 days in a row - or 18 weekends in a row as it did our last spring/summer in Philly.
But it got colder ... and colder.... and look what happened!!!

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...

Nothing like a baby goat!

OK, I admit it, I may be a bit obsessed. But you just cannot imagine how adorable these angora baby goats are! These are from Kathy's fiber ranch, which is just a few minutes away from our little ranch.
Check out this baby, I think her name is Willow.

View from my road

We live on a dirt road. I grew up in the suburbs of a big city - Philadelphia, so to say that I live on a dirt road just puts the most gigantic smile on my face. My dream is to live on a dirt road that is 20 miles from my nearest neighbor.....not there yet! (I always seem to have noisy neighbors, dogs that bark 24/7 or blast really bad music). Anyway, that is Mt Lemmon - the highest peak in the Catalina mountains.

High Desert

We are from Philadelphia, so the move to Tucson was a BIG change for us. We love it here, and the incredible beauty of the high desert will never cease to amaze me.
Tucson is surrounded by mountains. We live in the foothills of a small mountain range, the Tortolitas. To our immediate east is the Catalinas - the highest peak is Mt Lemmon, at over 9000 feet. There is snow up there - one road up - with a ski resort at the top (no, not a big resort, just a few runs). Catalina state park is where I used to ride Dozer, and many times riding there I thought I had fallen into a wild west movie.
Here's a pic of a the Canyon Del Oro wash - this is dry MUCH of the year, but when the rains come in the summer, or the snow melts, this can turn into a raging river.