five for five on friday plus five

These three funsters make it possible for me to have a little piece of the day on Sunday!

                              Hey Austin, Rachel and Leah...Thanks for making me a Mom!
                          I love you guys!!!

quote monday

Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

 - Algernon Charles Swinburne

Happy Monday!Happy May!

5 for friday

Today, just because it is Friday, here are five pink blossoming cacti photos.

This flower mimics the spikes. Sometimes, at the store, you will see cactus that have little straw flowers glued to the top of the cactus. A fake bloom. I understand the idea behind it and it almost looks real, in fact...some people do think they are real blossoms, until you see a blue one!

If the snake was the king of the snake world then this is surely the queen of the cactus world, with her pink crown of flowers! Or a hippie cactus wearing a flower crown!

Twin bloomers. You can barely see the remnants of the one behind to the right. It had just finished blooming and its flowers were at the base of the cactus . It is so interesting how they all bloom differently. And I have noticed, that they tend to bloom in phases of color...orange seems to be first, then yellow, then pink.

The Argentinian cactus has these blossoms that start out pink. They are huge, beautiful white flowers after they open, which is at night. They are night bloomers wth the most beautiful scent. As soon as the sun hits them the next morning, the flowers start to wilt. They are quick bloomers.

These are the photos I was taking the other day when I had the king snake sighting. I haven't seen him since that day and of course, I do often think about what is going on below. You know, the underground snake system that could be out there. I guess if it's underground, that is... ok?

But, I wondered about how much "underground" might be out there. And then my sister sent me this:

Although, she said, "don't worry, they aren't your kind of snakes!"  Thanks Helen, that made me feel so much better and I haven't thought about this image since then either. In fact, I haven't really thought about how that photo of the snakes all standing up together looks a bit like some of the tall clusters of cactus around here. Nope, I don't think about things like that at all.


Let's just think about those pretty pink cactus blossoms instead, shall we?

Happy Friday.
Happy weekend!

to her

  A very Happy Birthday to our Argentinian girl! 

She is living and working with a research team in the southern-most city on the planet!
They are in Ushuaia, the capital city of Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina.

 Located at the southern tip of South America, the Tierra Del Fuego archipelago includes one large island (18,571 sq miles, 48,100 sq km) in size, and a series of smaller ones.

It was reportedly named by the Portuguese adventurer, Ferdinand Magellan, the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe. His chosen route (shown with red arrows) through the Magellan Strait proved to be the fastest and safest connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for sea-going commerce and exploration.

The western half of the main island, as well as all islands to the south and southwest are politically part of the Magallanes Region of Chile. Positioned on the edge of the Magellan Strait, the capital city of Punta Arenas was once one of the most important supply stops for mariners of the day, until the Panama Canal opened for business in 1914.

The eastern half of the main island is a part of Argentina's Tierra Del Fuego Province; its capital is Ushuaia (the southern-most city on the planet) and the gateway for expeditions and guided tours to Antarctica.

We skyped with her this morning to wish her a Happy Birthday. She was wearing a cute headband. Her tiara she said. A tiara in Tierra. Del. Fuego. I wish I had thought of that sooner because, I would have sent along a birthday tiara. 

She has a birthday tiara. She wore it on her 4th birthday and for a long time after that. Every day. Until some little wise guy in her pre-school class made a comment. Then she didn't want to wear it after that. Except occasionaly.

Wear your tiara today Leah! In the tierra region of Argentina! Because, it's your birthday!

Just one of the adventures she has made while on her grand adventure. Sailing.

                                         

                                      This is one birthday you will remember forever.
                                                            Keep on researching.
                                                               Keep on smiling.
                                                                Keep on sailing.


                                                          When the water is rough
                                                            When the water is calm,
                                                                   Sail on. Sail on!

                                                                       Twenty-Two!

                     Happy Birthday Leah!!

We will see you soon!

quote monday

                            The sky is lilac, the sky is rose;
                       Fainter and fainter the redwood glows...
                                  The dove is calling,
                                  The dusk is falling...

                                                                                          John Vance Cheney, "Sunset in the Redwoods" 1902


Photo taken April 5th at the Jack London National Park in Sonoma California. 
A quiet day amongst nature. Walking, thinking and reflecting. 

5 for friday on earth day

Here are five photos of all things nature-y on this Earth day Friday!

Hello little lizard surprising me while watering one of my plants.

                           

                            Hello big jelly fish we saw in an aquarium in Spain last fall.

                                   Hello really cool trees we also enjoyed while in Spain.

                                   Good morning little hummingbird splashing in the fountain!

                   And a big buenos noches to these beauties that opened during the full moon last night!
     (Buenos noches -good evening/good night in Spanish. This is an Argentinian cactus and since our Leah is in Argentina being all Spanish-like with her vocabulary, I thought it fitting to say it like that.)
                                               Photo credit goes to Austin on this one.

                         These are just five things that  made me smile!

I hope, wherever you are, on this beautiful earth today, you can get out and enjoy a little fresh air and green grass. See if you can count five (at least) little things that make you smile!


                                                        HAPPY EARTH DAY!

what's black and white and hides in a hole?

A king snake!

Oh my murgatroyd! 

Whatever that means. It sounds better than the word that might have came out of my mouth as this guy passed in front of me on the path to the studio. Seems a popular place for me to run into SNAKES!  I had been watering...back and forth across the same path and decided to get my camera to take some photos of the cactus that are blooming. I headed back with my camera in hand and bazooka! There he was... slithering across the path I had just walked moments before.

I called Austin to come out and take a look at what I spotted...he was... thrilled! He is his mother's son when it comes to snakes and spiders!Ha!! As he was in front of me taking a picture, I had a fleeting thought to tickle the back of his leg. But the fact that I can scare the heck out of myself...all by myself, just backing into the branch of a plant...I thought better of it. Plus, just thinking about it set me into a nervous giggle which clued him in pretty quickly. He jumped just with my giggle! We watched it creep along as it went from one plant to the next... completely trailing out of sight. So, for those of you daring enough to be in our yard...trust that there might be something hiding. And for those of you not daring enough to ever come visit me, because I have scared you so much with my photos and true tales...know that you are missing out spending time with me here in Arizona AND really...if you can't see it...you don't know it's there. That's my motto.

See...just a big giant agave that has such sharp spines you really aren't going to get very close to it anyway. That's why all the dried leaves are around the base of it. 
I'm not sticking my hands in there! Especially now that I know he was there and I couldn't see him at all!

As I went over to take a photo of the blooming cactus that I had originally gone out to photograph, the snake had made its way out from under the giant agave and I thought partially hiding under the leaves. But, when I looked closer, I noticed it was heading down a hole!

We have holes here and there and always wonder..."just what makes those holes?" We've suspected lizards, pack rats and rabbits but, we never thought snakes!  I'm pretty sure all of those other creatures are down there too and when I told Chuck what I'd seen, he said..."no, the holes aren't that deep. I've stuck a stick down some of them, but it doesn't go in that deep."  I'm just now thinking..."well...did it ever occur to you that there was actually something down there keeping the stick from going all the way down"??? HA!

So, there he was and there I was...just watching. He would pause for a bit just like this...

           and then he would move on in a little farther. Inch by snakeskin inch he began to dissapear.

 I wondered if this would be as far as it went...you know..the ol' theory 'if I can't see you, you can't see   me!' Problem was, I could see him! Cool as it was...I still don't like snakes!!!

                            It was about now that I was hearing all the people recently ask me...
                                                    "So, Norma...see any creatures lately?"

                                                 "Ummm...yes. Yes I have! Darn it."

So, do you suppose there is a big den-like space down there or just a long tunnel? Better yet...does the snake back its way out or is there an opening somewhere else...at the end of the tunnel? Good thing I didn't think of that then...you know...the exit hole could have been right next to my foot?!?!?

  And just like that. Gone! Out of sight. As if it had never been there. I know there are things lurking in the dark shadows of the night but, hello...underground now too?! Like, it could pop out at any second when I am raking up some of those leaves!  Or pulling those rogue weeds. I didn't get any closer to look at that hole because...well would you?

But I did snap a photo of one of the other holes I was talking about. These are always in this area of the yard. We have filled them in with a little dirt before, but they appear again. I can say for certain, this one is much bigger in circumference than the one that the snake disappeared down. Let's just think about that for a moment...shall we?

I don't have video on the camera I was using, so I made a little GIF, which actually sped up the whole process of him sneaking his way down that awesome hidey-hole!

Berle and Melanie...if you happen to read this entire post... please know that I'm a really good friend and I will walk in front of you when we are in our yard WHEN you come to visit me. I will do my 'clapping-hands-here-I-come' routine that I do really well.  I also promise, if I spot something before you do, I will not push you out of the way to get into the house first.

I will be a really gracious hostess and just scream..."RUN!"

Also note...most people that come to see us never see an animal or creature other than a bunny or a bird. Some people wish they would see these cool creatures and never do. Some people have lived in Arizona their entire life and have never seen such things. Some people wish you'd feel ok about visiting!


Spring tally: 
1 rattlesnake (flattened in the middle of the road)
1 javelina (on the other side of the fence)
1 coyote (in my headlights crossing in front of my car)
1 king snake ( in the underground system)