25 May 2013 at 17:42:32
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Home & Garden, Photography
Posted by Damsel

This is the native compass cactus up on the hill behind the house. It is hidden up there and requires a trip into the “outback,” our cholla and palo verde forest up there in order to catch a glimpse of it. I got this picture today with only one of several buds open. Click on the image to enlarge.
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24 May 2013 at 17:04:18
· Filed under Beltway Kabuki, Humor, Whacko Politics
Posted by Cap'n Bob
Ramirez snarks about the administration’s lack of access to its own information. Truthfully, they know what they did, who ordered it and why. Click on the image to enlarge.

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23 May 2013 at 16:59:50
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Home & Garden, Photography
Posted by Damsel

I planted some lily bulbs late this winter and now the flowers are beginning to open. Very pretty! Not bad for a little garden box sitting in the courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
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21 May 2013 at 20:57:52
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Home & Garden, Photography
Posted by Damsel

Getting a new flower or two on a daily basis it seems. We expect our big saguaro to keep getting flowers until beyond June. Click on the image to enlarge.
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19 May 2013 at 12:16:39
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Photography
Posted by Damsel

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.
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18 May 2013 at 12:04:34
· Filed under Military, Patriotism
Posted by Cap'n Bob

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.
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17 May 2013 at 10:12:48
· Filed under Beltway Kabuki, Humor, Whacko Politics
Posted by Cap'n Bob
As the evidence stacks up on the Administration, Ramirez does his take on the clueless nature of their response . . .

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15 May 2013 at 16:42:48
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Home & Garden, Photography
Posted by Damsel

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.
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14 May 2013 at 17:41:54
· Filed under Arizona, Critters, Flowers, Photography
Posted by Damsel

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.
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13 May 2013 at 21:28:21
· Filed under Arizona, Flowers, Home & Garden, Photography
Posted by Damsel

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.
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