it's just not something you see every day

When I first decided I would feature a post about my adventurous day I had last friday, I thought I would title it, appropriately enough..."what I did on friday." It was all about finding an estate sale out in the boonies and scoring a deal on some vintage jewelry, a great carved wooden box, a few table linens and a stack of old blank western union telegram paper. I was there late enough to hit the half price sale, getting all the above mentioned items for 15.00. Such a deal! After leaving the estate sale I wandered into the Carefree Plaza to check out the farmers market. I went home with a loaf of yummy homemade bread, apricot jam, salsa, cookies and fresh oranges. The farmers market runs from October through May, once again "seasonal confusion" messing with my brain. We enjoyed the bountiful goodness all weekend.

While I was out driving to the estate sale I passed this sign:

So you see, I was still going to title the post "what I did on friday" and include the pictures of the finds from the sale and the goodies from the farmers market. Then I was going to end it with that warning sign and a simple "that's not something you see every day." But then something happened to change my mind.

Keep reading. This is a long one but a good one.

Tonight, we had Chuck's Aunt and Uncle over for dinner. They came late in the afternoon and we went out in the yard to show them around. We pointed out the spot where we had put up our bird feeder and told of all the feathered friends that have been flocking to the feeder and emptying it out daily. Cardinals, doves and song birds, to name a few. The women went back into the house to finish dinner preparations while the men folk stayed outside. A little while later Chuck came running in to get the camera. He wouldn't tell me what he was going to take pictures of he just said "I'll show you in a minute".

Well...guess what other kind of friends like bird seed leftovers!

They're javelinas people!

Four big one's and two babies.

IN OUR YARD!

With beady eyes and long hairy snouts!

Running down our driveway!

Because said men folk* chased them away.....

by throwing a basketball at them!

Imagine my horror when they showed me the pictures.

"IN OUR YARD!"

Do you hear me?

*That basketball chucking man folk is wishing he hadn't sold his bow and arrow in our Montrose yard sale.

thursday night special

Amazing sunset. From the yard. Enough said.

the Saguaro cactus

pronounced: sah-wah-ro

It is the largest American cactus.

It's bloom is the official state flower.

It only blooms April through May and only at night.

It only blooms when it reaches 40 years old.

It takes 75 years to develop a side arm.

Starting from a small black seed it takes 10 years to grow to one inch tall.

When houses or highways are built special permits must be obtained to move them.

It is against the law to willfully harm them.

They are native to the Sonoran Desert.

Inside the full grown cactus there are two inch spines that absorb water.

It can hold about a ton of water.

They can live to be 200 years old.

They can weigh as much as 6 tons.
They look pretty majestic with the sunset behind them.

These photos were taken in our yard.

Don't you feel smarter now?

shadow art

I always loved the sun that would stream in the kitchen windows in our old blue house. Leah captured me signing my feelings on one of the sunny yellow walls the day before we moved. A very good memory.

more on the rain

Chuck said he was starting to see animals lining up, two by two, at the end of our street.

It rained from 3 am Thursday morning until about midnight Thursday night. They are reporting 3.8 inches in this area. The wind was crazy too. So windy that the Phoenix airport grounded flights in the afternoon. We were even put on a tornado alert which eventually became a watch. The rain was pounding so hard and the wind howling so loudly that the girls and I camped out in the bathroom for about 20 minutes until the watch was lifted.

Excuse me...I thought we moved to the desert!

The girls did go to school late in the morning. It was not an official day off, however, attendance was very low. Rachel actually wanted to go to school. Leah did not. Being ever practical, Leah thought it would be a waste of time. "No one will be there and it will be just lame." Perhaps she was right but we thought they should go. Chuck had found an alternate route taking them over the wash rather than through it. So off they went, less than enthusiastic at best.

Some time after lunch I received a text message from Leah. Nothing in the subject line...just the following photo...

This was the attendance level in her Spanish class. She was right...it was a waste of time and not only lame but rather soggy.

when it rains

...you see signs like these in your neighborhood. We saw 1.43 inches of rain fall yesterday. It was pouring so hard last night we started wondering if the pool would overflow. They are saying this was the first of three storms that are expected this week. Today, I got a phone message from the school superintendent, warning of the next storm expected thursday. It said if you live above a certain area "please keep your students home". I'm not sure we are above that certain area, but I do know we are seeing a lot of these signs. Chuck paid attention to the sign (and the fact that there was a river flowing across the road) and waited to cross before he was able to get home last night.

After all those years in a snow zone the kids never had a snow day.

How ironic if they get one here for rain.

update: It is raining and they are home for now. Perhaps they will go a bit later. Reports are that half the kids stayed home. Some of the interstates are closed. How's the weather where you live?

this bud's for you

Because a certain brother-in-law of mine thought that my photos were from a book rather than my camera...I named this post in honor of him. And yes they are mine, straight out of the camera.

Most of the trees here have not shed their leaves for winter. Seeing trees that still have leaves in January is confusing to those of us who are used to lifeless, frozen, winter tipped trees this time of year. Adding to the question "what happened to winter?", today I spotted buds on this little fruit tree in our yard. In Colorado this usually occurs in the spring(April) just in time for the last snow fall.

I know snow isn't going to happen here.

I know seasonal confusion will.

colors we are enjoying right now

Red flowers outside our bedroom window.

Orange flowers on a bush in the backyard.
Yellow lemon on the tree in the front courtyard.
Green cactus in the backyard.
Blue bird left by previous homeowners.
Indigo flowers in the backyard.
Violet flowers also in the backyard.
ROY G. BIV-Arizona style

Those Trees

It took all five of us.

It was the last thing that we did before we drove out of the driveway.

We did a backwards hug around one of our big trees.

One last time.

on and off and on

We are more than half way through the week and so far reports are a.o.k.

The new job was started, mostly orientation and learning how to be on the hospital computer system. After three days he if now off for the rest of this week and next.

The electrician got the ovens to finally come on and heat up. Just a loose wire. I baked some oatmeal cookies that were enjoyed by all.

Rachel was right, she did spend the whole game on the bench Tuesday night. A last minute eligibility question for her new student status got the coach worried. If she played and was not really eligible they would have had to forfeit the game and possibly a few more as a consequence. He didn't want to take the chance, which we fully understood. Rachel was actually glad so she could watch from the bench and have the rest of the week to learn plays.I received an e mail yesterday that she is in fact good to go and will be off the bench and on the court for the Friday night home game. She is impressed with the coach and the team is being very welcoming to her.

Leah is enjoying school and has good reports of boys on the cute list.

Austin and I held things together while we were on our own at the beginning of the week. He will head back to Golden (and the cold weather) on Sunday.

All in all...we are on top of this Arizona life.

P.S. We have received word that we will be having our first Montrose visitors this weekend. Right ON!

Since when do roosters howl?

Today started bright and early with nervous stomachs and chatty anticipation for the beginning of a 'new school' and a 'new job' day. The Dad, heading out for his new job, straightened his tie and hustled out the door at 6:30 am. As I was in the kitchen making lunch for the girls, I was marveling at the fact that the sun was just starting to lighten the morning sky (in other words... thinking "heck, it is still pretty darn dark outside to be starting our day"). Had I not noticed the lighting of the sky on my own, the loud throaty announcement we heard surely got our attention. Though not the normal crow of a rooster one would expect to hear at dawn, it was instead a hearty howl from a neighboring coyote! WHAT?? Just a sign that the sun was coming up or a sign that my family was being thrown to the wolves? I silently hoped it was the start of a sunny new day.

The end of the day is now here with mixed emotions felt by some. Mostly thumbs up for the first day of this new adventure. Rachel and Leah found their way around the campus, which is mostly open air for passing periods. Not bad when it is 70 degrees in JANUARY! Rachel has made her way to the court and is officially a Lady Falcon, wearing number 21 on her new grey and blue jersey. She gets to travel with the varsity basketball team tomorrow to nearby Tempe, where she thinks she will mostly warm the bench. We will see!

Other than that chilly howl that started our day and Leah exclaiming "who wants to be the first one out to the car?"

I'd say... all is well. and by the way...it was a sunny day.

New

For us it is:

new adventure

new job

new school

new house

new car

new state

new life

new year

c.a.r.e.f.r.e.e.

Happy New Year to everyone!