a nest above the other

Two doves.

Same idea.

Different location.

We will see how it works out.

the surprise

I hinted that the birthday might just go on all week!

That's how birthday's should be. Today we managed to pull off a surprise party for her right after school. She and her friends have been wanting to "taste cheese", so we had a "cheese tasting" party. And when she walked in the door...she was surprised! They tasted and tasted and gave their opinions as to which one they liked the best.

There was a swiss cheese fondue. A sharp cheddar cheese ball covered in almonds. A midi blue cheese, gruyere, vegetable cream with cucumber slices, gouda drem, and a goat cheese with orange fig spread for them to feast upon. And of course, a sampling of cheese cake for dessert.

Here is the cheese spread:

To compliment the cheeses, we had fresh fruit, celery slices, dried fruit and honey roasted almonds. When they had sufficiently tasted all the cheeses, they each had different favorites, but they all decided that the blue cheese was the least enjoyed. Too moldy looking.

I paper crafted a few decorations to make it look a little festive. She loves her name banner and has already decided it will look great in her bedroom. It's a good thing I thought ahead and coordinated the colors to match her room!

A few fun paper pinwheels.

I folded some paper fortune tellers that I left blank. They had fun adding the words and fortunes. I hope some of them come true...

And because the theme had to carry on...a few little butterflies were sprinkled around the table.

A sweet 16 surprise and a taste of cheese...a pretty good combination.

a theme emerged

The little floating butterfly inspired the decoration on her cake. The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was her idea. Adding the butterfly on top was mine. She was pleasantly surprised.

It was a good day starting with our tradition of "Birthday Breakfast" in bed. Her dad made her french toast which was served at nearly precisely...6:16 a.m. Then, a good day at school including a chemistry test. Yay! Next, her sister surprised her with a trip to the yogurt shop after school. Later, a swim in the pool with her dad followed by homemade pizza.

All in all, a good day to celebrate her Birthday.

I think, however, this just might go on all week.

butterfly kisses

No matter where you land...

There will always be someone to give you a hand.

Spread your wings...

And fly.

Happy "Sweet 16" little Leah Loo!

I love you to the moon and back.

~momma~

art-full

The husband and I met during our first semester of college. We were in an art class together. We were both fine arts majors creating...art. We painted, sculpted and sketched our way through the beginning of what would be our life together. A few competitive moments shined through during that first art class, he usually came out victorious except for one fine drawing that I still like to remind him of occasionally. Eggs! Plain and simple, my still life of eggs was much better than his. He eventually changed his major and went a completely different route. Although somewhat artistic in nature, he just sculpts life in a different way.

And painting?...he still wins.

We passed along some artistic genes to our kids and certainly love it when they shine too. Moving to a new state and a new school (at semester) during your high school years can be a challenge. But, these two have taken on this new adventure with great gusto. After just a couple of months, Rachel painted and sketched her way to art victory. She was one of a group of students that won art awards at the "Celebration of the Arts" achievement night. They recognized the students on stage in the very nice performing arts auditorium at the high school. The local arts guild members were there to give out "art-filled" gift bags for each of the winners and a nice certificate. Go Rachel!

Her complimentary colors painting. See how she has been influenced by the landscape around us?

As a final project, they were assigned to make yard art out of recycled items. She and a classmate painted this old screen door. They were inspired by the warm spring day and had fun!

First semester back in Montrose, Leah had taken a pottery class which she absolutely loved. She was so inspired in the class and has really taken a love for throwing clay on the wheel. Her Dad had his own wheel that he had built from a kit in high school. He and I both took some pottery lessons from a potter in Montrose about 10 years ago. We use the bowls that we made every day. So, it is no surprise that she developed a real feel for clay. She had one piece that she had worked on before the Christmas break that she was so excited about and proud of. Sadly, it had not gotten fired before we had to leave with the moving truck. She was very heartbroken.

One of the best things about living in a small town is knowing so many people and having those relationships. I happen to be good friends with the mother of her pottery teacher. So, I spoke to her and told her the situation. I asked if she would talk to her son. So she did. And he did. He found her piece...and promised to save it for her.

Not only did he save it for her...he brought it with him when he and his young family came to Phoenix for spring break a few weeks ago. He hand delivered her hand made piece of pottery.

Isn't that the best! Teachers need our praise.

Art is worth celebrating...isn't it?

more than a day

Shouldn't Earth Day be more than just a day.

Perhaps it should be Earth Week, Earth Month or Earth Year.

Maybe even Earth for Life.

In the town we came from recycling was pretty evident. We ourselves had trash cans in our garage where all of our aluminum, tin, glass and plastic went. We had crates in our back closet for newspapers, magazines and catalogs. Sometimes it got to be a big mess when the bins would over flow. Every couple of months it was all loaded into the old pick up truck and hauled off to the re-cycle center. Here we have curb side pick up. We have a nice big blue trash can for recycle stuff and everything can go in together, no sorting. The regular trash cans are tan.

I don't see many blue one's in the neighborhood.

One of the most noticeable ways that people were doing their part in Montrose, was with re-useable grocery sacks. The clerks rarely had to say "paper or plastic", because most people brought in their own. I would feel a little embarrassed to walk out with my cart loaded with plastic bags, if I had forgotten my re-useable sacks. It had become habit and there was rarely a time when I would forget to bring them with me. And really, they are so much easier to carry. No thin handles that break with everything droping to the ground. Admit it, you have had that happen to you.

Here, it is rare to see anyone with re-useable sacks. I have been pretty surprised really. The clerks are rather intrigued by my assortment of sacks and always comment on them and ask "what is City Market, I've never seen that before?" I feel pretty proud to say, "on the western slope of Colorado where everybody shops and uses sacks like this". I have even asked, "don't people use re-useable sacks around here?" The reply has been... "it just hasn't caught on."

Maybe it is just this area where we are living. I do see people using them at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Ok people of Arizona that shop at Safeway, Albertson's and Basha's....

it is time to catch on.

flower show

April 22, 2010 is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. It was first established by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Interestingly, it is celebrated in the spring in the Northern hemisphere and in the autumn in the Southern hemisphere. So many good and beautiful things come from Mother Earth and this is a day to celebrate. Here is a nod to some of the beauty we are enjoying right now in this yard.

So, in honor of Earth Day, I urge you to stop and smell the roses.

And to say thank you for all that is beautiful in your world.

also... remember to recycle!

Mama Quail

I was so excited yesterday afternoon when I looked in to see that she had made it a perfect dozen. She had even put a few fluffy feathers around the edges to perhaps soften the "nest" in preparation for the little one's to hatch. I marked the calendar with another number, so I would be able to keep track of the days. I wanted to be prepared myself.

Me with my camera, Mama Quail with her soft feathers.

Over the weekend we could hear a screech of a sound that we had not heard before. Both mornings it started at about 4 or 5 am. After we got up on Sunday, Chuck went out and saw her up on the garage, perhaps announcing to others that she was excited and proud of her little eggs. Maybe she was trying to tell us something.

Because this morning, I heard a different sound. One that I didn't recognize . It almost sounded like the little cry of a baby bird. I grabbed my camera thinking perhaps I didn't mark my calendar right. Did 21 days already pass since the first two eggs were spotted? But when I looked over the edge, I felt a little cry pass over my lips. And I felt so very sad.

Something got to them before they reached their 21 day mark. I don't know what this predator was. I thought about it all day long and felt such sadness for Mama Quail. I wondered if the little cry was her? Were those screeching sounds we heard just her trying to keep her little eggs safe? Was she distressed and worried?

I felt sadness for Mama Quail.

I felt sadness for those 12 little Quail babies that would never hatch.

I felt sadness for myself ...

Because I was so excited and proud of those little eggs too.

a jazzy day

Sunday arrived clear, sunny and warm. After the busy week that Chuck had, he was in need of a little relaxation. Earlier in the spring, when my sister was here visiting, she and I stumbled on to a beautiful courtyard in this local shopping area. I had never been to it at all, so I was surprised to see that along with a few nice shops and restaurants, there is a big outdoor stage hidden away in the middle of the plaza. I picked up one of the brochures that they had announcing the upcoming events. They have a free wine and jazz concert almost every Sunday afternoon. Yesterday was the first Sunday that we didn't have something else going on, or that he was not working. So, I didn't tell him where we were going... just told him it was a surprise.

They had tables with umbrellas set up and rows and rows of white folding chairs. Many people brought their own chairs too. We were not there early enough to snag a table or a chair, so we opted to sit up on a wall in the shade.

They were a band that played New Orleans style jazz. The lead guy and a couple of the others were from New Orleans, the others were actually local. The tuba player is a professor from ASU and when they spoke about each one they said that in the tuba world, he is known as the best tuba player in the country. He was quite good. The banjo player was excellent.

The lead player was really good on the trombone and showed his skills playing two horns at once. He entertained by showing his dance skills as well.

The event lasted three hours, with a few intermissions. We didn't stay quite that long, but certainly enjoyed just listening to the music and people watching. There was wine and food available but we opted for bottled water.

More of the plaza.

The last song that we listened to was one of my all time favorites... Louis Armstrong's, "Oh What A Wonderful World." The guy that sang it did it with the same deep voice as the original.

It was an enjoyable afternoon. We went home and Chuck made dinner. Steaks on the grill, baked potato's and spinach salad.

Now that is a wonderful day.

mama quail update: there are now an even dozen!

because

because Chuck got to spend some time here this week.

because I still miss it.

because the yard needed to have it's spring check up.

because I still miss it.

because some wonderful friends helped him while he was there.

because I still miss it.

because I cried when he sent a few picture's via his phone.

because I still miss it.

i kid you not

It's a GILA MONSTER!!

When the girls and a friend pulled up the driveway yesterday after school, Rachel saw it walking across in front of her. She stopped quickly, jumped out and got this picture with her cell phone, as it was slowing making it's way under some dried up cactus. As she was calling me to come out and look, the friend was shouting... " they're poisonous...watch out!" By the time I got out there (camera in hand) it was well hidden and we didn't see it again. I can easily say I'm kind of glad I didn't see it. So, one cell phone picture to document this "excitement".

Here goes:

They can grow up to two feet long. This must have been a young one as they all held up there hands showing me it was about 10 inches.

They can exceed 5 pounds in weight.

They are the largest lizard native to the U.S.

They were first discovered in the Arizona Gila River Basin-hence the name.

They are one of only a handful of venomous lizards in the world.

Their venom is a fairly mild neurotoxin.

Their bite is extremely painful-none has resulted in a "reported" human death.

And now the fun part...they latch on to the victim & chew to allow the neurotoxins to move through grooves in their teeth and into the open wound.

Nice.

The Dad that came to pick up the friend said they have lived here since 1988 and have NEVER seen one. Chuck's Aunt has lived here for over 30 years and said she has NEVER seen one.

We have been here almost four months.

Go figure.

too much sun exposure

In our yard in Colorado, we would see dragonflies that were vibrant and iridescent. They were usually bright blues and greens with wings that would sparkle in the sunlight. We have a few nice photos that Rachel and I have gotten over the last few summers. They are certainly a pretty insect, as insects go.

Today I might have caught a glimpse of an Arizona dragonfly.

One that kept flying off and returning to this same spot.

And one that likes the sharpness of a desert plant rather than some of the prettier foliage that we have in this yard.
One that didn't mind when I got closer and closer with my camera.

And one that obviously forgot to apply sunscreen.

What an interesting color, don't you think?

mama quail update: as of this posting... there are now nine eggs!

five and two

Late this morning I was leaving the house to run some errands. As I went out the door I glanced over and saw the little "mama" sitting in the planter. I dug out my camera and zoomed in as closely as I could without frightening her away. She seemed to be o.k. with me taking her picture as I was standing in the corner of the patio. I was happy to see her there, because I was worried that she was just laying the eggs to be laying them and not planning to hatch them. I had not seen her sitting on them to keep them warm. Maybe she doesn't need to since the weather is already warm?

Peek a boo...

So, as promised I did my research.

They are Gambel's Quail, common to this area. They are also known as Top Knot or Desert Quail. I like the name Top Knot because Chuck used to call the girl's "top knot", when I would put a little water fountain ponytail on top of their heads. (cute memory).

They usually lay a clutch of 10-15 eggs, which hatch after 21-24 days incubation. The chicks are "precocial", which means they will leave the nest with their parents within hours of hatching.( I can't believe that). I hope I'm around the day they hatch so I don't miss getting their picture. Predators of the little eggs are (gasp) rattlesnakes, gila monsters, great horned owls and bobcats. Any of these sound familiar? I hope the fact that they are under the shelter of the patio and up off the ground will help them to stay safe.

This afternoon when I got home I went over to peek in and check on things.

Guess what?

Five and two make:
Seven!

don't you love how each one is different? and do you suppose there will be more because it says they lay a clutch of 10-15? is it common that they lay them over the course of several days? does that mean they will hatch on different days? i am keeping a count on my calendar.