all babies are cute

Even a baby javelina is kind of cute. And, if you really look close and ignore her ugliness, maybe the momma is a wee bit cute herself. In an ugly sort of way.

She was enjoying her snack... but it made me think that my leg bone could sound just like that if she were to get a hold of it. I'm really glad the previous owners to this house had the foresight to put the re-bar fencing up there to keep these guys out of the yard (there were a bunch of them chomping away). Listen closely, you can hear Reptile Wrangler say..."are they eating our flowers?" Listen really closely and you can hear her chomping and chewing.

I keep hoping my camera will come back to life on video mode... sadly it's a little blurry still. But I thought it was worth a view.

Remember what your Mother always told you..."chew with your mouth closed!"

Now you know why.

windowsill

Just a shot of the windowsill above the kitchen sink. It is a 6 letter word worth 14 points. Unless you have a triple letter or double word space... then it's worth a whole lot more.

yellow polka dot flowers and bikinis

I've been out walking every morning this past week. Up until then, it has been pretty sporadic because I'm just not one to "exercise". But, I was told by one of my daughters, "time to get into bikini shape Mom"! Oh yes, I forgot that I wanted to wear my bikini... you're right. So, whether subconsciously I'm thinking about that bikini that I haven't worn for 20 years, or I've just finally crossed that "walking enough that you start to enjoy it" line, I've been out there every morning this week. I have even jogged a couple of stretches while on my walk. Leah was with me the first time I kicked up my heels and she said "Mom, I'm so proud of you!"

Another incentive that I have are these pretty little yellow flowers. They grow wild around here and line the streets and are sprinkled around in the front of people's homes. I love sunflowers and daisies and miss having them in my yard. These seem like a perfect blend of the two and you don't have to water them. The problem is, we don't have any in our front "natural" landscape. And I want to have the little sprinkling of yellow dots around my house too. My solution is this... while I am on my walk, as I come around one corner there are a bunch of them that are going to seed. It is an area that is really just open space, not really anyone's property. So, I pick off a few of the seed heads each time and keep them in my hand. As I am walking up our driveway, I sprinkle them around and let the breeze catch them and settle them wherever they want to go. I'm hoping next spring I will see some yellow flowers.

Today, and this is really the whole point of this post, as I was reaching down to pinch off a few of the dried flowers I hear someone shout out..."hey there sexy!" I stood up and looked behind me and there is a "woman who runs all the time with her ear buds in" running up the hill towards me. As I look at her, with a loss for words, she says "Berle?" To which I say, "no...but I'll take the compliment!" Because, I'm thinking... well, this walking is paying off and I must be getting close to that bikini!

But, as it turns out her friend Berle lives on the corner and she thought I was her. I told her the funny thing is, I have a good friend in Colorado whose name is Berle and I miss seeing her.And it is a name you don't hear very often. As she was jogging off she said, "well, she just lives right up there and you look kind off like her, but her hair is a little more red than yours." And that was that.

So, with my seeds in my hand I continued walking. In fact...I started to jog again thinking about those cute little yellow flowers and that yellow polka dot bikini that I could be wearing if I keep this up.

Chances are... the yellow flowers will probably come up sooner than I will ever be wearing a bikini... polka dot or not.

finito completo

Done.

Three albums.

Two hundred and seventy eight pages.

Kindergarden through twelfth grade.

A whole lot of memories.

A whole lot of pictures.
First days of school.

Last days of school.

Field trips, field days, teachers, friends, awards, handwriting, notes, sports, dance, milestones, accomplishments and smiles.
All there. All documented. A life of school days.
My gift to her, as I did for the boy when he graduated from high school four years ago, and one I will do for the younger girl next year.

Because, as a Mom who was fortunate enough to be there for all those accomplishments and memories, it is an honor to give it all back for them to have forever. Hopefully, when their kids someday ask them... what did you do when you were in fourth grade? They can pull out an album and show them.

I officially started in February and finished this week. I could have started when she was actually in kindergarden, but then I would have missed out on all the days of reminiscing I have done these last few months. And, I probably would not have had teary eyes if I had done it as it was happening. You can bet I have reminisced and had teary eyes. Lots of them.

This is what I have been doing to prepare for the big graduation. There are a few bits and pieces that will need tweaking at some point. But for now, the albums are done. The mess is being cleaned up and I will look forward to it again next spring.

Ahhhhh.

A few weeks ago this rose bush was loaded with flowers. It is a topiary of sorts. I'm not sure what kind it is but it has the most beautiful red flowers. We have a few of them in the yard, as the previous owner was a bit of a gardener. Last summer, while one of them was fully loaded with flowers, we had a huge wind storm. Unfortunately, because it was so top heavy, it blew over snapping the skinny little trunk. It was too bad, because these particular bushes really have some beautiful roses on them. You may recognize it from my Memorial Day post.

This is how it looks now. It bloomed for several weeks, as did all the roses in the yard. It is past its glory for now. But it is still pretty and hopefully it will bud out and bloom again. It is by this little tree that we saw the cardinal and I was finally able to snap its picture. See, right next to it on the bricks is the clay pot tray that I put out with a little bird seed for them. When I say them, I mean the female and the male cardinal. They have been around a lot lately. We are able to see them darting around that area every day. I even commented...I wonder if they have a nest somewhere because they sure hang out over there a lot.
Here he is. He loves to sit on this yucca. (forgive me Arizona people if I'm wrong about this being a yucca)
And then he quickly takes off.
I zoomed and cropped the photo for a closer look. Although it is not a crisp picture I think he looks so great in action. None of my pictures here will win any technical awards. I was sitting quietly on the patio with my zoom lens. My hands had been a little shaky for some reason (heat? age?) and the bird was moving back and forth so quickly. So, a tad blurry, but fun to see anyway.
He would leave the cactus and zoom right up to the palm tree.
Then over to the prickly pear. Back and forth.
Then, after one last quick landing on the yucca and then he quickly darts into the rose bush. You can just barely see his body on the lower right disappearing into the rose.
And there he is.... right in the middle of the tree.
Of course I zoomed and cropped for a closer look. Hello Mr. Cardinal! Even though I am way far away from him it looks like he is looking straight at me.
And then out again he goes to start the process all over again.
And guess what? Yep... there is a nest right there in the middle of that rose tree/bush. And the female is in there too. When she leaves, he takes over. She just zooms in and out quickly and does not go through the whole back and forth from one plant to another routine like he does. I think he does all that while she just goes straight over the fence and right into the nest. Perhaps he does all that flitting back and forth to keep others looking at him and all his bright splendor so that she isn't as easily noticed. It is certainly fun to have them around and I probably won't be getting any closer to take pictures. I don't want to take any chances. Besides, guilt gets the best of me. And I love having these two cardinals around.

Speaking of guilt. There have been some sparrows that keep coming up under the patio building nests. The sparrows and the doves are notorious for getting under the patio, on the ceiling fans, on the plant shelf and anywhere else under the patio roof they can. They are quick and they are messy. So, to discourage them from coming up under there and leaving their evidence (you know what I mean) we brush down the nests before they really get comfortable. There is one pair of sparrows that has been pretty diligent.

Yesterday, I reached up with a small rake and brushed the nest down into a bucket. Sadly, there were two little eggs in there. I did not realize they had laid any because they have not ever gotten to that point before. Then, while I was still sitting outside the female came back. She flew up in there and started to squawk and chatter. She kept looking all around. Flitting out and back in, chirping like crazy. I imagined her crying out..."my nest, my babies! where did it all go?" And then the male flew in and she really went at the chirping and the chattering. "what happened? my babieeees!" He actually would put his beak into hers while she was chirping and crying. Oh man...I felt awful. They went back and forth like this for a couple of minutes. They would fly out and in and chirp and screech and and and...I had to go inside.

Over my shoulder I said... "I'm so sorry...I didn't knowwww!"

Last night I dreamed of talking birds. Ugghh.

a fly

Sharp things hurt... do you think this fly was being cautious while he was sitting in the cactus? Do you think he found himself caught between those sharp spikes with nowhere to turn? Or do you think he was able to fly away without knowing that to someone like me, just getting close to spikes like that would probably cause pain and draw a little blood. Those things hurt I tell you and if you are not careful, they will get you when you least expect them to. So, I am cautious... maybe too cautious. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.

the progression of a tree

We have a Magnolia tree in the front courtyard. Our neighbor says he thinks it might be one of the only of its kind in Scottsdale (general area). I can't claim that to be true. What I can claim to be true is that they are an interesting tree.

Last year, as it progressed through the months of April and May, we thought we had killed it. Having not lived here through a spring and not being familiar with any of the foliage around here, as this tree started its spring showdown, we just didn't know what had happened. Too much water from all the rain? Not enough watering from us as it was warming up? Were we suppose to fertilize it? Not fertilize it? So, after asking a few people at the garden stores, reading on line and getting a visit from the former home owner...we found out it wasn't dying but rather doing what many trees usually do in the fall, just in the spring instead...

...drop most of its of leaves. Messy, messy, messy tree.

The leaves start to turn yellow, then brown, then they fall off.
Until it is pretty bare.
But then these big velvety buds appear.
And the velvet starts to peel away.
Until there is the smoothest white bud.
And then it begins to open.
And then there is a beautiful, gigantic, wonderful smelling magnolia blossom.
They are really gorgeous and you just want to bury your nose in them and breathe in all the lusciousness.
You just have to watch for the bees. Because they love all the lusciousness too.
And then, just as quickly as they opened, they start to turn brown. The petals almost turn to leather and fall off one by one.
Until all that is left is this. Those stay on until they are very hard and dry an eventually fall to the ground too. They almost look like a pine cone after they are really dry.
As one flower buds, another is opening, while another is dropping it's petals.
And then, while all this is happening, new leaves are starting to bud out, filling in where all those others had vacated the tree.
The leaves are fresh and green and the blossoms are pure white and beautiful.
And then the tree looks like this. Big and healthy once again, with big white blossoms sprinkled here and there.
It is a pretty tree. Messy but worth it. You just can't rake all the leaves into a pile and jump into it like we are used to.

The pay off is in beauty rather than fun.