shake, rattle and roll

Or should I say snake, rattle and roll?

No, shake is probably what best describes me. Screaming and shaking. Running.

Holy rattlesnake! R.a.t.t.l.e.s.n.a.k.e!! Snake. Rattler.

Slithering.

Here is what happened. Because I know you want to know.

Last night. Still light out. I walked to the studio with clean sheets to prepare the bed for my sisters visit. Walked back to the house to get my phone to call said sister to confirm flight time. Walked back to the studio dialing my phone, listening to it ring. Looked down. See snake all stretched out, presumably crossing walkway in front of me. See it 3 inches from my foot. Not exaggerating a bit. Scream into phone (good thing sister hadn't answered). Jumped probably 4 feet to the left and ran. Yelled "IT'S A SNAKE!" ....."I THINK A RATTLESNAKE!" Stayed way back.

Thanked my lucky stars the..."Reptile Wrangler" was home. He saved me with his hoe. I couldn't hear if he muttered any of those newly acquired reptile expletive's. The girls came out to see. Rachel heard my snake scream from inside the house. She is her mother's daughter and had my camera with her when she arrived. Well trained.

My next house? A high rise penthouse suite.

looking for cinderella

Have you ever wondered what would happen to your rubber flip flops if you leave them out in the hot Arizona sun too long? Me either. But if I did... ever wonder... I now know the answer.

They shrink.

Quite a bit.

They no longer fit either sister. Or the mother. And if Cinderella would come knocking on my door, I'd let her try them on.

Then I would politely ask her to help me clean my house.

sunset hike

Recently, the four of us went on a hike. To the Black Mountain. It sits above the town of Cave Creek. Interestingly, when we lived in Colorado, we were just minutes away from the Black Canyon and enjoyed going there many time's during the years that we lived there. Now, we live near the Black Mountain, and perhaps we will frequent this spot during the time we are living here. We will have to work towards conquering it, a task I may never accomplish. It is a pretty steep climb. So steep in fact, that this particular night I could not make it. My knees failed me.

The goal was to get to the top so we could watch the sunset. I turned off the path at a spot that I could still see the setting sun, just not from the top. Rachel decided to stay with me as the other two went on. The ol' dad lost steam too, and because he was concerned that we wouldn't be able to make it back to the car while there was still some light, the two of them almost made it to the top. The two of us had a pretty good view of the setting sun. We just didn't have the camera. The two of them had a pretty great view from higher up and did have the camera. These pictures are from their view. Leah asked that I be sure to give credit where credit is due. So I will. Because I'm the Mom and I like to tell my kids they are awesome.

Photos by Leah.

awesome!

those bloomin' cacti

I've been collecting picture's of cacti during the last couple of months. In different stages of bloom. Some are in our yard and neighborhood, others are just here and there and... everywhere. Today seemed like a good day for a cactus display. I don't really know the names of most of them, and I am sure that there are many, many varieties that I didn't get a picture of. These are just a few.

The great saguaro.

The end.

photogenic palms

There is a view in the yard that is quickly becoming a favorite spot to take a picture. It is these two palm trees. They look pretty good with anything in the background and probably with anything in the foreground, for that matter. I just thought I would share some of the photos we have gotten. We, as in Rachel and I. She needs to get credit for one of these.

She took a whole bunch one night trying to get the moon. She used different settings on the camera, this one was the night setting which set the flash off.

The sunsets are pretty great as a backdrop to these trees.

And this. It was quite dark and I did a timed exposure. I like this one.

I'm sure this won't be the last time you see these palm trees.

later on

As I was writing the post about our little bobcat visitors, Rachel noticed that they had moved over by the pool. She's good with my camera and snapped these cute pictures. So, I had to follow up and add these photos today. Notice the cute little black tips on their ears? The girls named the lively adventurous one, who was busy climbing the tree...Gus. We did not see them again on Sunday. That is good. They were fun to watch for a morning, but I hope that is it. They are wild animals. We have to keep reminding the girls, because they think "they are sooo cute". They are, but I don't really want to have them hanging around. And no, we will not be putting out any tuna.

I guess after all the playing they were a little thirsty.

Click to enlarge this one. The tongue is cute.

And off they went.

Oh man. This is a great photo. Don't you agree? He's thinking..."I can do this.I know I can."

This too.

That is a long way up. But he made it.

And then they were gone. Okay, admittedly they are pretty cute. And it is a little fun to see them. But, it is our backyard. And I won't kid you in saying that I'm a little apprehensive to walk outside without first shouting....

"HERE I COME!... EVERYONE THAT HASN'T BEEN INVITED TO THIS PARTY....GET OUT NOW!" most especially if you have scales and slither on your bellies!

p.s. I got word last night that a sister is coming for my birthday! She's like Gus... adventurous. She is hoping to see some exciting wildlife in our yard.

Should I start sending out the invitations now?

mmm... no.

update: Chuck has been outside this morning and said Momma and two little one's were out there. It didn't phase her a bit that he was out in the yard. Even when he banged on the trash can. Oh boy. He is going to block up the little gap in the fence that we saw them coming through. Although, they will be big enough soon to leap over the top like the Momma does. Great.

just don't feed them any tuna

Back in 1999, in Montrose, someone left a litter of kittens on the corner by our house. It actually happened several times when we were first living there, but this particular time the kittens found their way closer to our house. The kids and I spotted them and thought they were cute and fun to watch. That night, The Dad, told us not to feed them because he didn't want them to stick around. Two of them just kept hanging around. They were small and skinny. Well... a week later, while we were at the dinner table, he said, "I can't believe those kittens are still hanging around." Rachel, at her cute young age, blurted out..."well that's because they like tuna fish so much!" And that is how we got our two cats, eventually just one, Fidgit, who was adopted by my sister's kids when we moved.

If you have been keeping up with my blog you know about the bob cat that Leah and I saw the other day when we were in the pool. I didn't have my camera with me, because I was... well, swimming. So I didn't get a picture to go along with the story.

No problem. She showed back up this morning.

Along with her babies!!!!

Four of them to be exact. We watched them through the window as they wrestled, rolled and played with each other. These two tumbled around for quite awhile.

And then one of the others spotted them.

And leaped right over the two of them!

They scampered around while the Momma kept a close watch on them. I actually think she saw us, but it didn't seem to matter. Rachel was taking these pictures as Leah and I watched. The Dad is at work today.

A couple of them had fun climbing the palm tree. This one seemed to be the most brave or adventurous of them all.

He kept trying and trying and finally got pretty high. The other one just couldn't keep up.

At this point he looked down and we thought he was probably thinking..."uh oh, now what?"

But he managed to work his way back down.

With a little encouragement from a sibling.

Momma finally came out of the bushes to check in on them.

I guess she thought they had gotten dirty and needed a little cleaning up.

Here is another look at that little guy climbing the tree.

And this shy one peeking out around the flowers.

They are pretty darn cute. My brother-in-law, from California, called after we had our wild life experience this morning. I updated him on all this wild life we have had in our yard. He said you are living out there in "the transition zone" you know. Transition between big city and wide open desert land. That brought to mind the Alfred Hitchcock post. So now we know....we are living in...(in a sinister voice)..."the transition zone."

I texted Chuck and said, "what's in your backyard this morning?" We then texted him a photo of the little kittens.

His response..."just don't feed them any tuna fish."

fruit

We have a few fruit trees in the yard. They all have fruit that is in different stages of growth. From the peaches that had grown and were starting to ripen when something ate them, to the little tiny tangerines that are just beginning to grow. We had a great old plum tree in Colorado that I made delicious jam from almost every year. These trees are all young, so I'm not sure we will get enough to do anything more than just sample, if we are lucky. Here is where they are in their development right now.

Plums. Almost ready.

Key limes. Looking like a lime.

Lemons. Looking like limes.

A little tiny fig. Looking like a little fig, I guess.

The very tiny tangerines.

And we also have some grape vines. These are pretty cute.

And here is a creative shot.

So, if nothing gets to this fruit first, we might each get a little taste.

Anyone placing bets?