Baby Blue Eyes….

 

This is Shaelyn with her great grandma.   Shaelyn will turn 9 months old on my Mom’s 80th birthday on  this Thursday.

 

Doesn’t she have the most beautiful blue eyes and eye lashes?

 

Some promised art….

 

I promised to share more of Joy McArthur’s art with you.  I loved talking to her about her paintings. She has wonderful memories of each of them.

 

Annie found the perfect frame for this one that some say bears a strong resemblance to her Uncle Hollis. 

 

This is called Storm Clouds. Joy was outside painting when the storm came up quickly. As the rain began, she ran inside with her paints and returned for the canvas…which she had to chase as it tumbled across the yard! Since the paint wasn’t yet dry, there is still some dirt imbedded in the painting.  

 

Joy, is very talented and has done several paintings over the years.  She tends to enjoy doing desert landscapes, but I enjoy the uniqueness of her seascapes.

 

This is my favorite one of her paintings.  It is called The Broken Gate.  She started painting this piece one day and was consumed. Her son mentioned to her that he was hungry and she just agreed and kept painting. Her mother stopped by to see her and she just kept painting. She finally finished the painting around 9:00 at night.  The muse got a hold of her and wouldn’t let go. That’s how I imagine I would be if I had any talent. 

I have one more to share with you…but for another day. :)

Artie Choke….

 

Some things look beautiful in every stage of their life.

Corn…

 

 

as far as the eye can see.

Happy Halloween….

 

On my trip to the Tonto Basin for the wedding in September, we stopped in a little (and I emphasize – little) town called Punkin Center. I’ve been waiting all that time to share these photos with you.

 

He’s a bit of an evil looking pumpkin, don’t you think?

 

But the place did have it’s priorities in place for parking.

Happy Halloween!  I hope all your little ghosties and gobblins travel safely tonight.  

The Birth of San Xavier del Bac….

 

On my recent photo-taking trip I met up with Annie and headed out to Tonopah.  Tonopah is a small farming community in the far west valley. Some joke you can see the Pacific Ocean from the mountain tops. 

Annie’s mother, Joy McArthur, is a very talented artist.  I so enjoyed stories that she shared with me about some of her paintings and will share some with you in later posts.   This is a piece she is doing for one of her granddaughters, Sara.  It is a painting of San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona. The mission was founded by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.  The current structure was started in 1783 and completed in 1797.  Mass is still celebrated at San Xavier. 

Since Sara is Annie’s daughter, I know I’ll be able to enjoy this painting when it’s done.

Just ripe for the pickin’…..

 

Cotton is a big crop for Arizona and some fields are ready to be picked.  Depending on when crops were put out, what kind of cotton it is, and the weather, there will be cotton being picked right into and maybe through December.

I’m hoping to head out tomorrow (by myself) and get some pictures taken.  Haven’t got a clue where I might end up.  Annie has been teaching me to “fly by the seat of my pants” in life, so I’ll be taking her advice.

Happy Weekend!

Guest photographer…

My sister-in-law, Lisa, hails from Vermont.  She recently spent three weeks back there enjoying the beautiful fall weather and her family.

 

I can’t tell you a lot about where all the pictures were taken.   She had a whirlwind couple of days at home before heading off on the fishing trip (that I’m NOT on).   :)  

 

But I do know that wherever they were taken there were lots of happy cows and beautiful fall colors.

 

It’s pretty obvious why they call this milk weed.  

 

It must have been hard to leave all this gorgeous scenery behind and come back to Arizona, but we’re glad she did.

Alas, poor me…..

 

This is what I’m missing this week.

Each spring and fall, my brothers and their families and friends get together for a fishing trip. 

 

Greg and I aren’t going to make it this fall.  Maybe in the spring. I hope they have a good time and that the fishing’s great. 

What’s missing????

 

These are “river” beds….

What’s missing? 

Spine tingling…

 

Tracy and I ventured out this morning to try and get some photos.  We should have started earlier than we did, because it didn’t take long to get too hot to be out walking around.

 

There just wasn’t much out in our little desert area, but lots of spiny things.

 

I’d like to tell you this was a cool, moist layer of morning fog, but you all know differently….smog.

 

I’m ready for a different kind of spine tingling experience.

The skulls have it….

 

At the car show recently, Tracy and I saw lots of unique vehicles. There did seem to be a favorite theme though.

Skulls….

 

More skulls…

 

And even more skulls….

 

And then don’t you know someone has to out do everyone else….

and have the entire skeleton.  :)   

Rust-mobile….

 

At the car show that Tracy and I went to on Sunday, there were all kinds of cars…bright, shiny, beautifully restored cars.

And then there was this gem….

 

I knew it would be right up Kathy’s alley.

 

 

Wish you were here and could go ramblin’ with us, Kathy.

Brick Art for my Buddy….

 

This is the side of the San Linda Hotel in downtown Buckeye.  Well, it was the San Linda when I went to school, but obviously well before that it was a grocery store.  When removing the brick facade, this original artwork was uncovered, so they left it like this.

 

 

I asked my most reliable source on all things Buckeye (Annie) and she wasn’t familiar with Harvey’s Place.  I’m thinking it was a bar, but Annie is going to ask around for me and let me know.

 

Tracy and I were out on a picture-taking expedition, when we saw this brickart and immediately thought of our blogging buddy, Kathy at Kathy Goes A Ramblin'.  We had such a good time getting out, but it was so hot!!!

First Solo Flight…

 

My youngest baby bird got her driver’s license yesterday and she made her first solo flight this morning.

See those spots of light?  Those are her Guardian Angels. 

She’s on her way to band practice at the school.  Her school will compete in a Marching Band Competition at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher tomorrow.  No, she doesn’t have to drive there…they’ll ride a bus.

Making a “right” turn into her future….

Walk like an Egyptian…

 

Now, I know you’re going to be terribly confused and I don’t blame you.  Back in the heat of the summer, Tracy and I went on a picture-taking excursion.  I don’t remember if we shared all the details with you all or not, but this is the day the battery died in my truck, my husband had to rescue us and Tracy’s camera jumped out of the truck to the pavement below…not a good thing.

 

 

We had dropped by the local Park-n-Ride where there was supposed to be some artwork inspired by the Egyptians…

 

This is all we could find.  While although beautiful, we just couldn’t see the Egyptian connection.

The day did have a serendipitous ending though….Tracy has a new camera she’s having a lot of fun with.  :) 

Oh, barnacles….

 

 

I know these aren't  barnacles, but that’s what they remind me of.  There have been some tough days at our house of late. Mom is struggling through some dark days.

 

 

We’re all learning to “go with the flow” and ride the twists and turns that her reality has become.  These days are teaching us all lessons in love and patience.

 

 

And to trust in promises made and kept.

I got a bee in my……

cactus??? 

Not sure why there are dead bees on the top of this cactus…not sure I want to know. :)
Sorry, it’s not very clear.  It was a tall cactus and I’m a short photographer.

Saturday night lights…

 

I know there’s all kind of excitement about Friday night lights, but these Saturday night lights are more my cup of tea.

 

Sitting on the dock of the bay….

 

Okay, I know he’s standing and not sitting, but I wanted to come up with another song title to get stuck in Randy’s head all day.  :)

 

Tracy and I had a wonderful time out playing with our cameras.  I need to stand up right now and admit, “Hi, my name is Magpie and I have camera envy.”  She’s having so much fun with her new camera.  I know what’s on my Christmas list.

There were a lot of people out enjoying the not-so-cool evening.  It was still like 97 degrees and very humid when we were out taking pictures.

Keep humming, Randy. :)

Crystal Blue Persuasion ….

 

Remember the piece of artwork that Tracy and I checked out at the Goodyear Dog Park?   Well, we promised to go back and take some night shots since it had solar-powered lighting.

I didn’t want to drag out my tripod and it had gotten quite dark by the time we got there, so I decided to play with some movement and long exposures.

We had a lot of fun – as always.  It could have been cooler though and we didn’t get any of the rain that was promised.  We did crash a wedding though.   You just never know what kind of trouble we might get ourselves into.

And that’s just what we did….

 

We had a wonderful time at Tracy’s yesterday.  Good food, funny movie and great conversation…oh yea, and just a sweet little Riesling.

In celebration of the first day of October, Tracy is coming over to have some Pumpkin Turkey Chili and go out taking pictures.  We may even have some clouds building up to make things that much better.