Captured Sunshine

Tucson Spring is a time of gold splashes over the desert landscape.  A time of pleasant temps and little surprises.

The bees love these prickly pear blossoms!

Wildflowers are everywhere.

Unfortunately this year the Palo Verde trees weren't as gorgeous as last year because of lack of rain.  This is one of the prettier ones not far from my home, in a bank parking lot where I am sure it was watered.

They always make me so happy...like huge forsythia bushes! :-)

Spring is almost over....by mid-May it will be hot, and summer will be starting.  There will be other blooms, however.  Right now I am enjoying this, and finally got some good pics to share with you!

Flowers and STUFF:-)

I have been busy this week.  There's no other excuse for it being a week since my last post, except also that I just haven't gotten a chance to get out and get more flower and wildlife pictures.  The weather has been gorgeous...and I promise that I will.  Still, here are a few...

The ocotillo are blooming...always a beautiful showing every spring.  This one is in my neighbors yard.  The stalks are heavily laden with thorns and were used for centuries for fencing material.

The lily I bought for Easter.

And my new geranium. Ooops, it's price is showing! :-)

My macros just don't come out in focus too often!

Easter was wonderful!  We went to sunrise service, then stayed for breakfast and later morning services of Sunday school and Church, then an Easter egg hunt for the kids that they all enjoyed immensely. 

This was the table decoration that our grandson did on our diningroom table.  Lots of ceramic items I own, plus a few little plastic bunnies, etc.  He had fun setting it all out.

His  goodies at home.

He enjoyed coloring eggs.

Some we added some painted designs too as well.  Here he is with the final 18 all decked out in their finery.

This was our breakfast at church.  We love our church family!

And the kids at the Easter egg hunt!  I don't show other people's children up close, but you get the idea. :-)

Our grandson joined right in!  And had a great time.

Goofing off with grand-daddy.:-)

And, finally, here is the best I could do with shots of the blood moon--the first of four, that happened on Passover.  The next will be in September. I know most people in the eastern section of the US didn't get to see it.  Sorry that my camera doesn't like it much when it's dark, but it didn't do TOO badly! :-)

The "star" to the right is Mars, which is larger now than it has been in a very long time.

Easter

It's the most wonderful celebration of the year!  Christ's Resurrection!  We tend to get tied up in our celebration of spring, and our Easter basket fun with the kids, but it means so much more than most people appreciate.  I hope you all have a very blessed Easter and may God be with you throughout the coming year.

Since we are approaching our 45th Wedding Anniversary next month I wanted to show you the two Easters we had together before we married.  One was in Alabama, and the other in Washington D.C.  Strangely I wasn't able to find the D.C. photos. If I can ever lay my hands on them I will share them another time.  But this is our Easter in Alabama, circa 1969, before we married in May.  We were at my Grandmother's house and very much in love.

That's my little sister Susan down in front.  Willie is Latane, my Mom--some of you probably visit her blog Living Life on Main Street-- and this is in front of my Grandmother's house.

Had to add these other two....love this one particularly of me hugging Mom!

Have a happy Easter!  May it also be a special family time for each and every one!

Making guacamole & a "funny"

I keep thinking I will have lots of gorgeous flowers to post, but frankly, since we didn't have much rain this spring, the palo verde trees aren't as pretty as last year, and I'm not finding many other flowers to photograph!  Soooo, I thought I'd do something a little different.  Have you ever made homemade guacamole?  It is SOOO easy!

Guacamole can be made in a blender, or I suppose even using a hand mixer.  But, I own a hand blender given to me by the kids for Christmas about six years ago.It is the perfect thing to use! 

 Peel your avocados and slice them into the container, slice up tomatoes and add them also, then add chopped green onions, cilantro (no need to chop) and some lime juice.  I just throw it all in...there's no real recipe I use.  You can add jalapenos if you want some kick, but we like it mild.

Then, place the metal agitator into the cup of ingredients, and press the button to mix, lifting the agitator up and down as needed, and blending to the consistency that looks good to you.

When it looks like you want it to, simply spoon into small bowls and start dipping your chips!  It doesn't store well in the frig, so it's best to make small amounts at a time (about four avocados and 1 tomato) and eat it all immediately.

 Now for the funny....

If you don't talk to your cat about catnip, who will?

Have a wonderful day!

Palm Sunday Flowers

It is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, and Easter will be upon us in 7 days. May  God's blessings be with all of you....

Linking with Today's Flowers and InSPIREd Sunday.  Thanks to the hosts of both these wonderful memes!

My first hibiscus of the season!

Bougainvillea blooms catching the sun!

Closeup of last week's bouquet from the grocery store.

Another desert church! Kind've like the three saguaros in place of the three crosses. You know they are meant to represent the cross, but also say "This is Tucson."

Spring Training (Random 5)

1.  What a delightful sight when the firemen jog down our street!  I love firemen...they are brave, good souls who do an important and dangerous job.  To see them so serious about their fitness makes me feel very secure. They are so important to our world, like military members and police officers, and each of these dedicated groups have such difficult jobs.

2. Our next door neighbor is a fireman.  He just went through EMT training.  Not only is he a nice guy, and his family also very nice... he's definitely an asset to our street!

3.  The men halt in the cul de sac across the street to exercise.

 

4.  The regimen looks awfully tough!  And on asphalt, no less!

5.  And then it's back to their jog.  I wonder how many miles they had to run!

I'll check and see if Nancy is back with Random 5 Fridays and link in if she is!  Have a great weekend!

Hummingbird Window

I have fed hummingbirds with varying success here.  There's some frustration with the number of songbirds who attack my regular nectar feeder, and even the woodpeckers who hang upside down trying to get the sugar water out for themselves, spilling most of it on the ground!  So, even though I still fill the regular feeder out back, I devised something a little more ingenious for the front window.

This is my hummingbird window.  I discovered that I could hang a small feeder INSIDE the bars and the hummingbirds will actually fly through the bars to come feed!  I plan to hang another longer feeder inside the bars later (look for future photos) but I have one small one inside and one outside right now, and the birds use both.  The awesome thing is....the songbirds won't bother these feeders!  Nor will the woodpeckers.  Only one really small little songbird sometimes makes an appearance, and I need to document its type and get a photo.  Look for this later also.

On the other side of this window is my sewing table!  I sit and sew and watch the hummingbirds come to feed!  It's wonderful.  Also, note the stained glass hummingbird window displays I have hanging inside as well.  They help make this truly a "hummingbird window."

So I have some happy hummingbirds...AND I can also with my new camera finally get some decent photos of the little sweethearts!

This Annas looks over at me with my camera before getting a drink.

Meanwhile, on the back porch. :-)