Weather Report, Big Black Cat and the Bathroom Sink

The weather forecasters have been reporting that we are in the "dog days of summer"...which in Arizona means it's hot and muggy. When you walk out side of your air-conditioned house, it's like stepping into a sauna.

What is a big black cat to do to keep cool?

Stretch out on the cool ceramic tile away from the house traffic...

No...even better, curl up in a ball in the  bathroom sink. Now the big black cat can stay cool and inconvenience anyone wanting to wash their hands or brush their teeth...a happy, cool cat.

Arizona Flower Fairies

It is that time of the year here in Arizona, when we hit in the neighborhood of 115 degrees or higher during the day. Which creates a real hardship on our “Flower Fairies”. 

In Arizona we can pretty much garden year round...except July, August, and most of September, then it gets a bit rough for any thing to grow, except weeds. During the rest of the year our flower fairies reside in among the flower and vegetable gardens.

In the winter while the rest of the country is freezing cold and up to their knees in snow...Arizona has beautiful gardens and the flower fairies are doing their happy dance.

 

Are you wondering where the Arizona Flower Fairies go to in the Summer...
 they hide out at the mall or the movies where they can use someone else Air Conditioning to keep cool, just like everyone else!

Easter Egg Hunt in Arizona

We do Easter egg hunts a bit differently here in South Central Arizona. We do dye hard-boiled eggs, which promptly go in to the refrigerator. Theses eggs are for eating not hiding. Temperature can get up to the mid 80s around Easter time. If the Easter Bunny hides the hard boiled eggs and any of those eggs do not get found, long about the end of the week you will know it...the whole back yard will smell like a Science project gone wrong. Instead the Easter Bunny hides plastic eggs with surprises inside...candy and money. The Easter Bunny messed up big time one year. In a effort to be more health conscience he filled the plastic eggs with stickers...that was a Easter Egg Hunt disaster! Since then the Easter Bunny has redeemed his self with the “good” kind of candy and dollar bills.

So what do we do with the dyed hard boiled eggs... we eat them, deviled eggs, egg salad, hard-boiled egg with a bit of salt and pepper

Spring Time in Arizona

In Arizona we plant the "spring flowers" in October so they will bloom early and beat the heat (we expect it to be in the high 90s by the end of this week). The Sweet Peas I planted in the Fall have been bloomed and have a wonderful fragrance:

I have a vase that was given to my by a dear friend that is perfect for a bouquet of Sweet Peas...the neck of the vase has a small opening  that flairs out ...that way the flowers don't flop about in the vase.

The flowers may only last a few days, but the memory of their fragrance last forever.

Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday Arizona, Happy Tuesday

I had planned to post a vintage Valentine's Day and a souvenir Arizona postcard in honor of...Valentine's Day and Arizona's Centennial which both  are on February 14th,  to celebrate the days occasions. Instead I'm going to share the Valentine card  my Tucson sister made and sent to me. It combined both celebrations... 

  For those of you not familiar with the Arizona State flag there is a  copper color star in the center of the flag...for Valentine's Day TS replaced it with a heart...very clever!

Road Trip

With all the Winter and Spring rain we have had this year, the Arizona Desert wildflowers are in full bloom. While Mom was down from Flagstaff for a couple of days we decided a look at the wildflowers was a good excuse for a road trip.
Lupin was in bloom...

along with Desert Marigold...

this one was occupied...

Mom said this purple one is called "Owl's Eye Clover"...and Mom knows her wildflowers.

The orange flowers are Globemallow.

While really not a wildflower...the hot pink color of the flowers on this Cactus were spectacular.

It was a dark and stormy day...

Arizona has been in a drought for so many years we had forgotten what rain was...we have been making up for it in 2010.
The Valley of the Sun gets about 2 1/2 inches of rain in a "dry" year and about 5 inches of rain in a "rainy" year. Since January 1st (66 days) we have received about 4 1/2 inches. So while this may not be a big deal to somebody in Seattle...it's a really big deal here...good for the garden, the farmers, ranchers and the desert...the desert should be full of wildflowers this Spring.
And, it was a great opportunity for me to play with the options on my camera!

Winter Garden

Even in the central desert of Arizona gardens tend to freeze in the winter. Some plants will make it through with no problem...but if you want a winter vegetable garden...you have to protect it from the frost. This winter my DH put together a "green house".
He selected an area of the backyard that would get the most direct sun during the day. DH fashioned a frame made out of PVC pipe, taped together (not glued, this way it can be taken apart) 2 large pieces of heavy gage plastic are clamped in place.

When the sun is out, and it is nice and warm...we open the green house to let the sunshine, rain and the bees into the garden...hey bees are a good thing...how do you think all the vegetables and flowers get pollinated?!? On the nights the weather forecast is close to freezing...we pull the plastic back over the greenhouse and clamp it down.

The whole project worked out great! This was our first attempt at broccoli... it taste wonderful!

There is no comparison to the tomatoes you get at the grocery store and the ones you grown in a garden...these are full of flavor!

This little guy zipps around the back year "beeping" at us...he sat still long enough for me to get a picture.

Another Oh By the Way...

If you are looking for some excitement this Friday the 29th of January, I will be teaching my Heritage Scrapbook Workshop 4:30 to 6:30 at Mystic Paper...give them a call to sign up!

You don't have to rake a marigold!

Autumn has come to Arizona. In the mountains the Aspen leaves are turning beautiful shades of yellow and gold. There is a chill in the air and snow on the San Francisco Peaks. But wait...don't I live in the desert? How do I know about the Aspen trees and the snow? A Flagstaff weather update from Mom...
We do have Fall here in the Valley of the Sun, you just have to have lived here long enough to know the signs. After spending all Summer cooped up in the air conditioned house we are now able to open all the windows and doors to let in a cool breeze. We can take a stroll in the garden in the middle or the afternoon and not feel like we are going to get heat stroke. This is the time of year the flowers that survived the desert heat show off their colors.

My DH took wonderful care of these marigolds all summer long. The bushes have dozens of yellow and gold blossoms and buds ready to bloom. This is our Autumn show of color. The best part...we don't have to rake leaves!

Hot Hot Hot Garden

Not everything in the garden is brown this time of year. With temperatures over 100 (last week over 110!) your would expect every flower in the backyard to be a burnt to a crispy brown. These beautiful Rain Lilies have been blooming despite the heat.
On the other side of the yard we have hot pink Lantana. Now this is a flower that does well in the Arizona heat...as long as it gets watered!

When it gets this hot in the Valley of the Sun we stay inside during the day with the Air Conditioning and admire the flowers in the early morning.

OBTW-

I'm gathering all my "toys" together for my Heritage Scrapbook Class this Saturday August the 15th at Mystic Paper. If you have been waiting for "someday" to get all those old family photos in a scrapbook, but aren't quite sure where to start, this is the class for you. We will talk about how get organized, copy photos, what kind of patterned paper to choose... all this and much more. You will leave with a note book full of information to get you started.

It's not too late to call Mystic Paper and sign up.

Wedding Cards a bit on the Wild Side

We have a nephew getting married next weekend. A lot of the family is coming here from Up-State New York. They should be in for a shock when they get in to town... July weddings in Arizona are always a "hot' time.
I went looking in my card stash for a wedding card and discovered I was out. Which was a good excuse to break out the glitter, ink pads and vintage photos and play!
This is an image from my collection. A somewhat conservative card, your basic bride and groom, a bit of Star Dust Stickels and ribbon.

I dug in the freezer and pulled out the instant coffee I keep for company to "coffee satin" the background and tag. Rubbed with pink and blue ink pads and dry brushed gesso. Some wrinkled tissue paper, lace and pink braid for a different kind of look.

Suzee Que had shared this wonderful post card on Flickr. She has the most amazing stock of images that she generously posts.

THANK YOU SUZEE QUE!

The red postage stamp was on the front of the post card, along with the bride and groom. Fruit Punch Stickels on the daisies, a bit of lace, pink rhinestones and distress ink. This card is a little on the wild side...

I think we will go with this one for the nephew's wedding.

Keeping it Cool in Arizona

It's only May and the Valley of the Sun is...hot...Hot...HOT!
I found this guy in the back yard trying to keep cool

Arizona Cardinals

For all of you in Arizona, the reason the Cardinals won today is because I left the room. I haven't watched one of their games this year. If you could care less about Football...I understand. But...not only was this game a big deal for the Cardinals, but for Arizona too. Today's game was for the NFC championship, and I would bet most of the TVs in the state were tuned to the game.
We went over to my daughter and son-in-laws, had dinner, played with the grand kids and watched the game.
The Cardinals were ahead 24-6 when I sat down to watch in the 3rd quarter. The Eagles scored 19 points and were ahead by one point. I figured I better go in the other room before they scored again. While my granddaughter and I were playing Barbie's (because that's what you do with your DGD when you are a granny) the Cardinals won...and are on their way to the Super Bowl. I would have never had blogged about football except ...

A It's an Arizona team...what other excuse do you need.

B It really is a big deal. The last time they made it to a championship game it was 1947 and they lost 7-0.

C I could not come up with anything else to blog about...sad but true. I'm in between projects, and I don't have any photos of the flowers in the garden, the cat or birds. I promise to do better.

Feeling HOT HOT HOT!

I am a fifth generation Arizonan. While I did spend my early years living in other states, as an Air Force brat, Arizona has always been home. I love it here, I don't understand why someone would move to the "Valley" and be so surprised that in the middle of July it's 120 degrees. We live in a desert for crying out loud! So the Arizona summer got pages in the "Summer Book". The birds (see "Fancy Colorful Birds" blog) got their tribute on these pages also.