As Our Winter Begins Fri

For Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five and Tricky's Five on Friday, as well as Eileen's Saturday's Critters:

1.  As many of our nights bring freezing temps, I have continued to cover the lettuce bed with blankets and am harvesting some lovely butter lettuce...

I ended up with about thirty green tomatoes after it started freezing.  We had harvested maybe ten ripe ones during the season.   I only like tomatoes that ripen on the vine, but I picked a few that had just started turning and managed to get a couple of decent red ones out of that.  I picked about twenty green ones to make fried green tomatoes and left a few of the lesser nice green ones on the vine to turn back into the soil.  It was such a disappointment not to get more ripe ones, but I planted too late for this area.  Still, getting tomatoes is a HUGE treat since I couldn't grow them in Tucson no matter what!  The fried green tomatoes are delicious too!

2.  I have been extremely fortunate to make some wonderful finds of odd furniture pieces I have needed at really great prices by looking at Next Door (and also a little on Craigslist too)  since we moved in.  I had a little table I was "making do" with as a sewing table...and then I saw an ad for a real sewing table for sale for $25.!  When I called I said we had no way to get it here, and they offered to deliver it (I gave them an extra $10 for that).  Such an awesome deal!  A couple in Redmond had kindly delivered my buffet a few months back also.  Anyway, here is my wonderful new sewing table...

 

It's 59" long which I really needed for my quilting.  The quilt I am working on is for my grandson and will be posted later.

3.  There was another benefit to this find!   The couple who delivered it to us have now become good friends!  Monte and Diana.  We had them over the other day for a visit so we could get to know each other better.  This is Diana's ADORABLE service dog, who was extremely well behaved.  His name is Truman, because he was born on President's Day....

4.  I've had several birds fly into our windows, and even found some blood on the window!  I had to get something to keep them from trying to join us in the livingroom!  It was also good to hang a couple of my hummingbird light catchers to help out. 

 

 

5.  Speaking of hummingbirds...I ordered a heated hummingbird feeder as soon as I found out the Annas overwinter here.  It's amazing that the little guys stay, as cold as it gets!  I understand they eat sap from trees that are pecked on by the woodpeckers, to keep from starving while there are no flowers.   The heated nectar feeder should bring them back to my window because for three weeks they have been avoiding the frozen nectar I've had hanging there!

Friday Five

For Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five and Tricky's Five on Friday here are my postings for this week....

1.  Just retuned from an amazing trip!  Visited my husband's sister who lives in Brookings, way down SW of Oregon on the coast.  It was my first time there, though Russell has been there a few times in the past.  His sister and our niece came to Tucson to visit us a few times also.  We went to see the Redwoods in N California and the Northern California beaches (had to...we were so close!) and drove up the coast of Oregon before heading home.  Will have lots of pictures to post soon, but here is a teaser....

2.  Here are a few shots from my front yard:

3.  Here is my neighbor's garden...well PART of his garden.  He's growing everything you can imagine over there, and I am so jealous!

Almost as "high as an elephant's eye"

These are raspberries...you can actually see a few fruits!

4.  My tiny little veggie/herb garden (well after all, this was my first year, and I can't do too much physically) with two tomato plants, two basil plants, two bee balm (monarda dydima) and two thyme plants.  I have left space for two pepper plants.  This stuff is growing next to the fence so my neighbor's massive plantings can keep them company! :-)

5.  Finally, a shot of my little flower/herb garden in the front yard, fenced heavily to protect from the deer and rabbits.  I have a lilac, two lavender plants and a rosemary.  They should get really big by some time next year.  The lilies were originally in this bed but the leaves were blistered by the afternoon sun so I moved them to the back where they were promptly lunch for the visiting rabbits!

Random Five Things About Manual Photography

Connecting with Nancy's Random Five Fridays once again!  Love this meme!  Check it out!  And Today's Flowers too, a meme by Pupo, Sandy and Denise...lots of gorgeous blooms to enjoy!  This is a post about manual photography....

1.  I am very tempted for number one to say "It sucks"....can you sense my frustration!?  My hubby is still away, and still has the inefficient little digital, which even as old as it is, beats the stuffings out of my attempts to use either Nikon manual!  Case in point:

I was SOOOO looking forward to showing everyone my cantaloupe!  The first pictures I took of the ripe one, peeled and cut open, juicy on the plate, did not turn out.  So, I waited till I could take pictures of our grandson picking the last "large" one we had from the garden.  As you can see, his face reflects the tug he is making on the vine to pick said cantaloupe.  At least you can see the size.  The ones I took of him smiling and holding it up closer to his face....did not come out!

2.  See this yellowish tint to the picture...indoor shots with no flash, but the indicator said I had plenty of light!  Anyway, this has to be the SMALLEST cantaloupe ever harvested and eaten! :-)  Yep, that's a cantaloupe perched on top of my french toast.

3. Flower shots...only a few have been semi-successful!

A Tucson variety "bird of paradise" You can see the Mexican version, which is orange, in the background.

A close-up....hmmmm,macro doesn't NOT work with this lens!

My plumeria. Out of focus.

Once again....not much luck with macro.  This is my hibiscus.

The two miniature roses our daughter gave us when we moved in. They are in the little metal cart I won at the book fair.

Sweet volunteers that grace my front yard each summer.

4.  I never learned to use a manual camera.  I know that's what my problem is!  I don't know what I am doing.  The thing I hate the most, though, is paying to develop the whole roll and then getting half a roll of half-way decent pictures back and throwing the other half in the trash!  All the shots of a GORGEOUS sympathy bouquet sent by our friends because my husband's Dad died....you guessed it!  Did NOT come out!  And that bouquet was amazing, too.

5.  OK, I think it's high time to buy a new digital camera!  I mean, even the little older one my husband still has with him is far better than what I am dealing with now.  I miss erasing a mistake IMMEDIATELY!  It's like it never happened.  Wish life was like that! :-)  Oh, well.

F is for Fields of Cotton

Joining the delightful meme, ABC Wednesday...check it out!

The fields of cotton here in Arizona were such a delightful perk of moving here from the SE.  This is a field at the U of A Agricultural center that I photographed last year.

 Cotton is a very ancient crop, grown in the Middle East and South America before written language.  Aztec and Inca warriors wore armour made of quilted woven cotton fabric, which was actually very effective against most early weapons...not against firearms unfortunately, as can be attested by the outcome after the arrival of the Spanish to their areas.  Cotton was introduced to Arizona by the Hohokam Indians (who lived here from the time of Christ till about 1400 A.D.) Hohokam had extensive irrigation techniques and a fascinating culture.  They are the ancestors of the Tohono O'odham Indians who are here today. But they also largely "disappeared" from here when other cultures began to encroach upon the area, from 800-1400 A.D. and it is possible that they "moved south" and joined the Olmecs and others in the Mexican-Central American regions that became the Aztec strongholds.  Much of their culture is similar.

Cotton is an important American crop, grown in the South.  Here are some fields in Virginia (photos taken a few years ago).

The reason the foliage is brown in this photo, is because of the modern usage of defoliants on the plants which then lead to easier harvesting of the bolls.  Cotton plants are also taller than they used to be...picking by hand off rows and rows of short plants was backbreaking labor.

If you have never seen a cotton boll...here you are!

Cotton in Arizona

At first this may seem strange to you, but it isn't as strange as you might think.  Cotton is native to the Americas, Africa and India, developing in each continent independently.  The greatest diversity of cotton types is found in Mexico (something I learned while in Texas where I saw naturally colored cotton bolls!)  And, cotton has been found in prehistoric pueblo ruins dating from 5000 B.C. Our native Hohokam Indians were masters of irrigation, digging canals to water their crops. But, I thought I was leaving those beautiful cotton fields behind when I left Virginia.  I was VERY wrong!
(You might want to click on this first photo to enlarge)!

This is the University of Arizona Agricultural Center

 On Friday afternoons the center is open to the public....

We got to see lots of beautiful cotton!

Closeup of the fluffy bolls.

The Grandson and I enjoyed our visit....we even have a Camera Critters post for later this week! Check that out on Saturday!

There was a pumpkin patch too.

And, wonders never cease....a post for Barn Charm!  Only my second one ever...you just don't see many barns here in Tucson.

For those who are interested, the Agricultural center is located just off Campbell Ave on Roger, not a half mile from St. Phillip's Plaza and well within the city limits of Tucson.  It's across Campbell from the section where our grandson's class went on a field trip to the Learning Farm.  Some of you may remember that post from last spring.

Can Do!

This is becoming a busy summer!  Now that the rains have come (we had another heavy storm for about 30 minutes today!--and by today I mean Monday, though I likely won't post this for a few days) I see more growth in the garden.  There will eventually be okra and lima beans and other veggies!  I've been harvesting yellow crookneck squash all along, though, and have been canning some, even though the usual method for preservation of squash is to freeze it.  Having my roots in rural Alabama, I watched and participated in canning and freezing during summer.  Dad always planted far more than was needed to eat, and time was spent shelling peas, snapping beans, husking corn....many very time-consuming projects that had to be tackled almost every day.  But, oh, how wonderful it was in the winter months when all the canned and frozen bounty could be eaten!

Just a little of my yield.

Sliced and ready to can.

I cover the squash in the jars with hot water and place in a hot water bath for 40 minutes.  It's much better to use a pressure cooker for  vegetables, but I don't have one!  Still, this is working out for me.

My canning for one afternoon.

I depend heavily on the information in this wonderful book!

Two gallons of purchased organic cherries (oh how I love fresh cherries!) covered in two cups of sugar.

Five pints of cherry compote! (And isn't this the prettiest tea towel!)

And I haven't just been canning!  I finally got my Husvarna Viking Sapphire sewing machine paid for, and I have been sewing up a storm!  Check out my quilting blog piece-fulness from time to time to see what I am making!  The thread stand is handmade of wood, and belonged to my grandmother who was a wonderful seamstress (much better than I am!)  It's a treasure!

Life in Our World...with an occasional surprise

I am linking this week to Our World Tuesday...a wonderful meme I used to do every week!  It's been a while so forgive me meme hosts!  I will try to join in more often!  Here's the LINK!

Life here has been so different from the past "lives" we've enjoyed in many different places.  It's different because of our ages and health but also because of where we are and what Tucson has to offer.. We have been here a year and I have had a LOT to post about.  Everyday life can be so interesting in small ways, but there are also the occasional surprises like the hawk and the roadrunner that keep things pretty exciting.  Here is my "life" from the past month with all its little joys, and a couple of surprises thrown in:

Anticipation!

Surprise lilies that popped up in the front yard

Sunrise

Hummingbirds singing and chirping

Gorgeous summer skies

A rabbit visitor to the yard

The Texas Sage (Salvia dorrii)--also known as Purple Sage for obvious reasons-- in bloom!

The bees have been loving it!

A dove flew down our chimney and became trapped...the poor thing was in there a couple of days in triple digit heat with no water.  Our landlord came to help us get him out.....He also covered the outside opening with chicken wire so this will not happen again.....

Success!   Poor little mourning dove!

The dove spent the night in a box with food and water to get his strength back, and then the next morning our grandson had the honor of letting him go.....

About to fly away......

The barrel cactus is blooming!

My miniature roses, given to us as a house-warming gift a year ago by our daughter and son-in-law, are also blooming.

And my lovely plumeria are still blooming....

Sunsets.....

Morning grandson sweetness.....