May 2011

Around Town

We ran a couple of errands this morning. After that, we took a drive through some parts of town that we had yet to explore. One yard had this rustic scene with an antique kerosene lantern hanging on a gate, a fencepost with barbed-wire and a saguaro getting ready to bloom. Our town is a charming little place. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Peanut Cactus Flowers

Last month, I brought several of my cacti from the California patio to their new home in Arizona. Every one of them seem to do very well in the desert climate. Many of them, like this peanut cactus, have produced many beautiful flowers this spring. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Red Birds at the Feeder

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We just sat on the back porch today, called our Moms to wish ’em Happy Mothers Day. I heard from my kid, wishing me the same. I must have taken upwards of 400 pictures of the birds and critters out back. There were so many, it was hard to decide which one to post today. At any rate, I hope that Mom enjoys these red birds, a house finch and a cardinal, at our feeder. Image taken this afternoon – click on the image to enlarge.

Quote of the Week

football.gifMy kind of football . . .

I am also disappointed if what I’ve read about bin Laden’s final send-off is true. Was the creep’s corpse actually washed, wrapped in a white sheet and had an Islamic prayer read over it before it was dropped into the sea? If I remember correctly, bin Laden played a major role in the murder of 3,000 Americans, forcing a number of them to leap from skyscrapers because their option was to be incinerated, and we’re giving him a respectful burial? If it had been up to me, I’d have wrapped his cremated remains in a pigskin and then had a midshipman punt him off the poop deck. – Burt Prelutsky

A Gilded Flicker

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As we sat on the patio today, this colorful Gilded Flicker (colaptes chrysoides) helped himself to some of the seed bell we put out this morning. His mate (without the red cheeks) also helped herself to both the seed bell and a nearby seed feeder. We seem to go through a bell a day but the feeder lasts a few days before reloading. Click on the image to enlarge.