This is my Swan Song….

Okay, so this is really a flamingo…but I didn’t have a picture of a swan in my photos. It was this or a duck and I decided this was prettier.

This will be my last post.

I find that the muse has left me and that time is hard to come by on some days, so I have decided to shut down my blog. I will continue to work with Tracy on West Valley Daily Photo blog as long as she will have me.

Thank you to all my friends and family who in the past have come by to partake of my humble fare and encourage me and share the moments of my life with comments.

Get out and enjoy life…try new things….challenge your mind and creativity…be kind to one another.

Things you don’t expect to see at the beauty shop….

Okay, I don’t know if there is a list anywhere of things you don’t expect to see at the beauty shop, but if there is, I’m sure a capuchin monkey is in the top three.

This is Maggie…she’s four months old…and yes, she was at the beauty shop today when I went in to get a haircut. No, she wasn’t being beautified!! She made the sweetest little sounds….more like a bird than a monkey.  She was very well-behaved and fascinated everyone who came in.

Aren’t her hands amazing? And her ears were just too human. She had a really intelligent look about her.  The lady who owned her, said that capuchin monkeys were trained to live with and help paraplegics and that they live to be around 40 years old.

She’s clinging to a stuffed bear that is like her security blanket. She made some of the funniest faces. It was hard to stop watching her long enough to get photos.

Not that I would want to own one – that’s a long-time commitment to make and they’re just a little to human-looking to feel like a pet – but she was fun to watch.

Those were the days, my friend...

I'm just sitting here this morning looking at the usual places on my computer. It's Nicole's late start day for school and she's up and in the shower. It's cloudy outside and that reminds me of our Rainy Day Monday song we used to sing when she was little. The clouds are comforting and the house is warm. I'm reading all about friends and family both near and far. I'm safe and content in this moment...then I hear this haunting song coming from the bathroom and realize my sweet, loving, tender-hearted daughter is singing the Star Spangled Banner. It was reassuring to hear, it completed the feeling of the morning. This is a time - like our Rainy Day Monday days - that I will look back on and remember fondly and with longing.

Up, Up and Away…

This weekend Joseph went to the flying field with Grandpa Greg and Uncle Richard. He was initiated into all the deep, dark secrets of the flying field…like how Grandpa Greg always has a chocolate cupcake that he shares with Uncle Chad and how Uncle Richard always has the orange cupcake – that he’ll share with anyone who wants some. Like how Butch brings the beef jerky every week and there’s Dr. Pepper in all the ice chests. That Milky Way candy bars always seem to find their way into Uncle Richard’s ice chest. You know, the really important stuff that he should know about flying.

But he also learned about friends being friends, sharing parts and tools and advice, how everyone is eager for new kids to learn to fly, and how guys always try and out-lie each other. (That part he may already have known about)

 

 
                                 Proud moment after his first flight.



We’re so glad that we were able to spend the weekend with him. We look forward to the next time he gets to come and stay.

When Grandpa makes breakfast…

Our grandson, Joseph, spent the night with us last night and we get him again tonight. Yeah!!!  Grandpa made breakfast for the kids this morning. The house had that lovely smell of fresh cinnamon rolls…mmmm….

But then Joseph started laughing….

It seems Grandpa somehow had left the lid to the icing on the bottom of one of the cinnamon rolls and Joseph got that roll!! (What? You didn't really think they were from scratch, did you?)



Who can complain? Greg is very good about doing his part to help out and you have to take the good with the bad.

We all had a good laugh, but obviously it didn’t stop the kids from finishing the cinnamon rolls…all gone….


Now Grandpa and Joseph are headed off to the hobby store…guess who gets to do the dishes????

One of those plaguing questions…

Richard and Lisa were having a discussion yesterday. You know sitting around like an old married couple and pondering the mysteries of the universe. And the question came to them, “Where do the birds go when it rains?”

Now since we can’t climb to some high Tibetan mountain and ask some sage old guru guy, I did what most Americans would do….I goggled. The most popular answer is trees. But this was the very thing that made Richard and Lisa ask the question to begin with…they didn’t see any birds in their trees. So I guess it will continue to be one of the unsolved mysteries - except for these two little guys…they like to stay out in the rain.

Rainy Day Thursday…

Today Greg had the day off and we spent it together just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. We had lunch at Olive Garden…I wasn’t totally careful about what I ate. I must admit I had a bread stick…as in one. Anyone who likes bread and has been to Olive Garden knows how hard that is. Greg had the all you can eat Soup, Salad and Bread Sticks. He liked the Chicken  and Gnocchi soup….he really liked it.

 

 

 

 

 

We only had room for a “wafer thin mint”…that’s some obscure reference to an episode of Monty Python.

 

Hero that he is…he ran to get the truck so I wouldn’t have to get out in the rain.

Then we hung out at the Barnes and Noble for an hour or so – got some neat books on the bargain shelves.

 

We killed a little time looking and reading while we waited for our movie to start.

 

 

 

We even fogged the window up a little.  Been awhile since we did that.

 

 

 

We went to the movies and saw the Book of Eli. It was good, but we probably could have waited to rent it. We didn’t even have any popcorn!!

 

 

I love the rain, I love spending time reconnecting with my wonderful husband, and I love getting home safely.

Aha! I think I’ve got it…

Quite awhile back, I put out a suet feeder. It hung out there for a long time…nothing eating on it. So I decided I would move it closer to the regular feeder. And miraculously, they figured it out. This is the second suet block and now they’re old pros at it.

 

 

 

“Oh, this looks interesting…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Can’t quite reach it from here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“That’s the ticket. Success! Mmmm, this is good stuff.”

Jewels of the air…

Today I was out enjoying our wet weather and got a few pictures of a precious little hummingbird…

He’s a chubby little thing, isn’t he? Actually, I think he looks so round because he’s just pushing off to go get a drink from the feeder.

 See, he’s much trimmer than he appeared in the other shot.

Such a little cutie….but he guarded his feeder fiercely. Chasing off any would-be trespassers.   

I think I’ll name him….Rambo….he’s such a tough guy.

Leslie – this post’s for you…

I have a few photographs that I think my niece, Leslie, would really enjoy. So I decided this was the best way to let her see them. So Leslie, I hope all things you wish for come your way and that you enjoy your journey in life.

 

 

Ebony…

 

 

 

 

 

Ivory….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, shoot….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is between here and Wickenburg if you go up the back way through Buckeye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vulture Mine – Wickenburg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t you love these…

 

 

 

 

And this….

 

 

 

 

How about these….

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed these like I thought you might. Take lots of photos in the weeks to come and be sure to share them.

Love you, Worm.

Winter in Vermont…

I’m not in Vermont (as I’m sure you all know), but Lisa has a very close friend who is in Vermont. Her name is Linda and she has been sending Lisa some absolutely beautiful shots of the snow around her part of the woods – literally. Lisa has been kind enough to share them with me and I wanted to share them with you. I’m glad we live in Arizona where right now the days are in the 70’s, but I do miss the cold, crisp air that comes with living where the snow falls.

 

 

 

Is this not just gorgeous?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The white against such a blue sky is breathtaking.

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn’t it just make you want to curl up in a comfy chair in front of a fire sipping the warm beverage of your choice and reading a good book???  It’s required that chicken soup would have to be cooking on the stove.

And Arizona isn’t the only place to see the sky painted all in pinks and purples. I love the snow laying along the branches of this tree.

 

 

 

But I believe this is my favorite. I couldn’t tell you why exactly. It just feels all Currier and Ives and speaks of another century and days gone by.

 

 

 

Thank you Lisa for sharing your friend’s lovely photography and thank you Linda for giving us a glimpse at your snow- covered corner of the world. 

All Twitterpated.....

Today while I was out driving around looking for my Mom’s car keys (it’s a long story), I decided to stop by and get some pictures of this little burrowing owl that I noticed lived down the street.  When I first got there, there were a lot of cow birds under the tree eating something. So the owl was  a little hesitant to stick his head out….so I chased them away. Yeah, yeah, I don’t want to hear about interfering with nature and all that.
So he decided he’d see what was going on…
Then he got a little braver….
 





He got used to me being there…..an ignored me….

Then he got a little sleepy…..

Then I think he just wanted me to leave….

One thing I didn’t ever see him get though….that was two legs. I don’t know if one is just tucked up or if he’s missing one.

Just some stuff….

 

 

Artwork at the Park West shopping center at 97th Avenue and Northern.

There’s supposed to be a farmer’s market on Thursday evenings…not such a good turnout lately.

 

 

But they had this neat fountain…is it a fountain if the water doesn’t spray up?? Maybe it was a wishing well…there was money in it.  It did kind of gurgle every so often.