Oleanders aren’t one of my favorite shrubs, but these that are growing down the road from our house are very pretty with their spring colors. I used the telephoto lens to take this photo of the neighbor’s border row 200 feet to the east of our driveway. Click on the image to enlarge.
As patriots gather to honor the US Military on Armed Forces Day, may we all take a moment to thank them for their service and for our freedom.
Click on the image to enlarge.
As the evidence stacks up on the Administration, Ramirez does his take on the clueless nature of their response . . .
The landscape crew replaced our old saguaro last August. Finally, now that we’re halfway through May, the flowers are starting to bloom on the transplanted cactus. I took this image from our driveway of the first flower to open. Notice there are pollinators already working on the flower. Click on the image to enlarge.
We took Mom to the podiatrist today. I walked out into the courtyard next to the physician’s suite and took photos of this lovely koi pond with flowering waterlilies. Some of these koi were quite huge. You don’t see this in the Arizona high desert very often. Click on the image to enlarge.
We were in the Northwest Phoenix Metro Valley today. A lot of the Red Bird of Paradise shrubs were in bloom. We stopped at a little shop that had these in their landscape plot, so I took several photos of flowers on my favorite desert shrub. Click on the image to enlarge.
The valley gets their flowers about a month before we do in Wickenburg due to the elevation and temperature difference, I guess. My three shrubs in the courtyard have already started their spring comeback with sprouts from two inches to a foot. They grow really fast, so it won’t be long before we have these flowers in our courtyard.
Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms, especially to my 93 year old Mom. “Kate” moved to Wickenburg in March to become the newest resident of our local retirement ranch.
We were worried about how she would take to assisted living having been in her own house until just this year. The good news is she LOVES it here. The food is very good, the people are very nice and everything is done for her. The staff keeps the seniors busy with activities and games. The best news (for my sister and me) is her 24/7 care is quite affordable under our budget.
Mom has made a lot of new friends and seems to enjoy being with the other retirees in the assisted care program. She is always happy when Damsel and I come to visit, although she misses seeing my sister who still lives in California. The sister is planning to come to town next month sometime. Mom is anxious to show the sis her new, beautiful accommodations.
A pair of curve billed thrashers built a nest in a cholla in front of our house. They have three eggs in the nest as of today. We hope to be able to get photos of the birds feeding the hatchlings soon. Click on the image to enlarge.
Here’s more of the spring crop of cactus flowers. These three were adjacent on a cactus paddle. I had to duck under a palo verde tree in bloom to get to the cactus underneath. Notice the center flower has a bee gathering nectar. Click on the image to enlarge.
Most of the cholla cacti on and around our property have yellow or copper flowers. Not far from our house, however, there is a cholla that produces these bright pink flowers. I stopped and got a photo of one of the flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
