love lucy

I loved watching the I Love Lucy Show growing up. Every once in awhile, I run across re-runs on TV. Still funny! Probably like everyone else that loved Lucy, the chocolate factory episode was one of the best. That and Vitameatavegamin. Give me thirty minutes in the afternoon, with an old episode, and maybe even a box of chocolates and I'd be a happy girl.

Did you know that Lucille Ball would have been 100 years old this year? Lets all have a piece of chocolate in honor of her. Hey, it's certainly better than a tablespoon of Vitameatavegamin in the afternoon.

color wednesday

Cousin's boat.

                                         
                                          Lemons off of our tree.

      Happy pansies planted early in the spring. (long since baked in the summer sun).

                                             Sunset caught under a backbend.

                                           Prom shoes.

                                          A flower called Rose with her buddy near by.

                                                    Blooming cactus.

                                                      Clouds at sunset.

                           

                                       Construction paper sombrero.

                                             
                         Resting spot for a butterfly and a wasp.                        

                 Double heart shadow art on the wall in my Colorado kitchen.

                           Today's post was brought to you by the color yellow.

i be jammin'

Along the driveway, at our old blue house in Colorado, we had a big old plum tree. When we first moved in to that house the local farmers told us it was an Italian Plum tree. It only made sense that the plums were Italian, since that area of town was originally inhabited by mostly Italian people. In fact, many of the farmers that still farmed the land around our house were Italian and the first time they saw my husbands grandfather they excitedly asked..."is he Italian?" They were more excited when they were able to speak back and forth to him in Italian. It was at that time that we were "accepted" into the neighborhood, being that my husband was half Italian and all. 

The first year that we had a bumper crop of plums on that tree was the first time I tried my hand at making jam. It was delicious. That was around the time that I discovered my now favorite scone recipe too. Plum jam and scones soon became my most served breakfast item, especially to out of town visitors staying at our house. In fact, one of my old friends who came with her family called our house 'The [insert last name here] Manor' and thought it was a perfect house for a bed and breakfast. Well, the house definitely had the look and if you spent the night in one of our beds you probably got breakfast the next morning, so I guess it was kind of like a bed and breakfast.

We didn't get plums every year due to the fact that spring weather in Colorado can sometimes be pretty winter-like and the poor little blossoms would often freeze just as they were looking pretty. Or, if they were lucky enough to withstand a spring freeze and snowfall, they would often get blown away with the fierce spring winds that blew through the rockies. However, every other year or two, the little blossoms would hang on for dear life and end up producing the best little purple plums. The kids loved to ride their bikes by the tree, pluck off a plum and devour it before making their next loop around the driveway. They would help to pick the plums, wash them, cut them open and remove the pits on jam making day. We loved quietly watching the cooling jars of jam sit on the counter waiting for the little "ping" of the lid, letting us know that the jar had sealed properly. Every ping was like a pat on my back saying "good job you successfully made a jar of jam!" The even greater success was tasting the first bite of jam. I always skim a little off the top and put it in a bowl on the counter. A little fresh warm jam spread on a Townhouse cracker is about the best little taste treat ever.

Just one of the things I knew I would miss when we moved away from that old blue house was the plum tree. Our homemade plum jam would never be again.  

Until I spotted these at Costco last week!

 The package says they are Italian Prunes and they were in a plastic box from Oregon rather than off an old tree by an old house in Colorado. But they look the same. So, we bought a box. Yesterday, I didn't have little hands helping me wash, slice open or pit the plums... but I made jam.

                                                  Plum jam. Italian Prune jam.
         And even though the plums/prunes came in a plastic box from
                                                 Costco, it is delicious.

It was one small batch. We did have the warm, skimmed off jam on crackers. And this morning I am smiling at my table centerpiece. And...I can recycle the plastic box.

I think I will be making scones.

first day of autumn

I'm seeing a little fall color despite the fact that it is still reaching 106

degrees. Last night we drove down and took the college girl out for 

dinner. When we came out of the restaurant we commented how cool

the night felt. After we said our goodbyes and were driving back up the 

highway, I noticed the outside reading on the car temperature... it was

a cool 94 degrees. It only took us a year and a half of living in Arizona

to think that an evening temp of 94 degrees feels cool. It did get down 

into the 70's by wee early morning and that is cool. Way cool man.

So, mostly today I am showing off my new skills...do you like the

extra large jumbo photo? 

Happy first day of autumn.

color wednesday

                                A magical dandelion.

                                                       A small chapel.

                                                       Water droplets.

                                                       Stacks of plastic chairs.

                                                      A weathered outhouse.

                                          Clouds.

                                                       A stucco wall.

                                         A giant magnolia flower.

                                          Our welcome to Arizona tee-pee.

    The snowman sister before she had her melt down. (click if you want a reminder.)

                                          Snow on Arizona mountains.

                                          Snow on Colorado mountains

                                          Blooming cactus flower.

Markings on the road the runner girl came across one early morning.

                                         The moon.

                              Today's post was brought to you by the color white.

swallowtail

As I was looking through my pictures yesterday, I came across this one from the summer. It was taken during the graduation festivities and I think it was taken by one of my sisters. It's a pretty one, perfectly resting on the rose bush. The unfortunate thing is that it is missing its 'tail' section on the bottom of its wing. Otherwise, the right side is almost a mirror image of the left. Strong wings, vibrant colors... quietly fluttering. Amazing.

Also, if you look closely you will see that a sneaky bee flew into the picture over there on the right. Not so silently buzzing around the butterfly, admiring it's vibrant colors. The bee was probably thinking...
"honey, those are some pretty beeutiful wings you have there!"

It is really quite something how a butterflies wings are so delicate and soft looking yet they fly around with such strength and determination. They make us happy every time we see one flutter by. Each one  uniquely different. Today I say...

Be strong like a butterfly.





post edit: o-kay, photo credit goes to my brother-in-law Mark, not one of my sister's after all. It's quite a beeutiful photograph and yes... the spelling bee was intentional. 

calling all saguaro

I wrote about this amazing cactus not long after we first moved here. You can read about that post by clicking here. They are pretty crazy looking giants, each one different from the rest. When you think about the fact that they are usually 75 years old before they sprout their first arm, it's hard to imagine how old some of these must be. If you want to read more about the saguaro, you can do so here.  They are abundant in this area where we live. Some of these pictures you may have seen before and some of them are new to the photo gallery. You can see just how different and unique each one really is. Sometimes, along the horizon, they look like a row of telephone poles lined up along the highway.

I just took this photo yesterday and when I uploaded it I actually thought, "hey, it looks like there are some fall colors in the desert!" The changes are so subtle and plants bloom through every season that it is hard to recognize a fall color explosion that we are used to. But, I see it, I see it!

This one has all of its 'shortish' arms clustered at the top.

Whereas this guy has a whole bunch of really long arms.

It seems this one is a bit young as it is just sprouting its first arm.

"Hello. I said hello up there."

Looking pretty stately.

And then there are some that are tangled and entwined with each other.

Here is another one. It looks like one just jumped on the other to hitch a ride across the desert.

This one has some holes that the woodpeckers make to nest inside. Other birds take over and use the deserted nests. A place they can call home.

You might remember this unusual one below from our walk last winter after the big snowstorm. It looks like an open hand reaching up to the sky.

Here is another with a lot of tangled arms. It is as if they couldn't decide which way they wanted to grow.

See, here is the same one from further away. It is huge! And look at the arm that stretches down and grows along the ground.

This has a lot of smaller arm buds sprouting off the long arms that reach straight up.

And a cluster of these grand cacti in the shadow of the setting sun.

Okay, so there is something a little phony about one of these saguaro in all the above pictures. Did you notice anything unusual?  Look at them again.

**************************************************************************

The one that the birds can "call" home. Ha. 

I told you there was something phony. In fact...it is phony.  It is not a real cactus at all. It is a cell tower. Yep, they disguise them to blend in with the 'natural' landscape.  Even the rock to the right is artificial. It must be hiding something, but I'm not sure what. This cactus tower is a new one just up the street from us. In fact, they have installed quite a few in the area. We should have better service from now on.

Like I said. Calling all saguaro...

Can you hear me now?

color wednesday

    Refreshing pool water enjoyed by the visiting bobcat last summer.

 Plaid shirt worn by favorite son while jamming with his cousin and sister last New Year's Eve.

 Mushroom picking in shirt that makes her eyes look the same color.

              Hot air balloon last October in Albuquerque.

                                          Pretty door seen in Jerome, Arizona last January.

                    Today's post was brought to you by the color turquoise.