Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Arizona

Torch Cactus Flowers
  a.k.a. Cherry Red

It’s once again the season for the bright red flowers of our “Torch” or “Cherry Red” cacti. One flower opened today and two more buds look like they’re ready to pop open tomorrow. Click on the image above to view enlarged.

Trichocereus Grandiflorus

T. grandiflorus is sometimes called the Red Torch Cactus or the Desert’s Blooming Jewel because of its signature blooms, which are produced in the spring. When in bloom, this species produces vibrantly colored funnel-shaped flowers at the end of the stems.

In nature, red is the most common color for the flowers, but yellow and orange may also be found in some areas of their habitat.

Mature Red Torch Cacti can grow up to three feet in height and about four inches in diameter. They are a columnar cactus with branches sprouting near the base. These cacti have sharp spines lining their 12 to 18 ribs. The spines themselves measure between one and two inches in length.

We may post the opening of more of these on our social media as they occur. Watch for that.

07 May 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography 0

Buckhorn Cholla Flower Season

Not exactly an Easter Lily, but . . .

This is one of the many flowers or flower buds on the various buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) cacti around the yard. Some are open like this one and some are still in the bud stage waiting for their turn.

I was finishing filling the bird feeders today and stopped to snap this shot with my Samsung S23. (I know, I have better cameras, but this one turned out OK, didn’t it?) Click on the image to enlarge.

We have been a little slow on getting blogs to post, and there is a good, but, undisclosed for now, reason. We’ll try to do better over the next several weeks as the disturbances are abating somewhat.

With the season of Easter upon us, may we wish you and yours a very Happy Easter!! HE IS RISEN!!

04 Apr 2026 by Arizona Environment Flowers Home & Garden Photography Religion

Our Oldest Store-Bought Cactus

This cactus, now in The Damsel’s Rock and Cactus Garden in Wickenburg, was originally procured from a garden shop in Torrance, our original abode prior to Arizona. We can’t recall the place where we purchased it, but it was likely at a Lowe’s or Home Depot garden shop.

Although the photo on the left has no flowers, many have come and gone and some can be seen here. It has been a prolific flower-bearer during its tenure with us.

Having developed our Arizona property, we have many cacti, some of which are natural to the area and were here (or their ancestors were) when we arrived. Our parcel is home to lots of native vegetation and some imported as well.

The only photo I could find of the cactus we bought in 2006 is one we took at night in June of 2008 when the cactus was still in a pot and had a couple of flower buds ready to open.

We loaded this cactus and several others including a golden barrel cactus aboard the trailer we used to transport yard stuff to the new house.

Click on any image (or link) to enlarge.

09 Mar 2026 by Arizona California Home & Garden

La Bella Luna

I post this photo of “The Good Moon” that I took earlier this evening as I was out with Damsel looking at all the several planets visible after sunset. This included Venus (seen for the first time this year), Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. It was indeed a spectacle.

However, the moon led the show tonight, with Tycho crater along with the Lunar “Seas” in the image I captured while trying to “fine tune” the camera settings on my Canon SL3 to render the image above. (Click to enlarge.)

My camera settings were 1/250sec shutter, ISO 400, aperture f-13, Focal Length 250mm. I am still experimenting with the SL3 and lenses, but as of next week I will have a new mirrorless Canon R-10 to continue experimenting with my camera settings.

27 Feb 2026 by Arizona Astronomy Notions Photography

Car Show and Fly-In

We attended the annual Wickenburg Fly-in and Car Show this morning on a beautiful January day here at the local airport. Among the sights to see (and hear) was this magnificent PB4Y Privateer which did a 150 foot elevation pass along the runway centerline before circling to land and taxi to its display position. What a sound!

We also saw literally hundreds of cars and dozens of different aircraft.

There were rows and rows of classic cars and hot rods. (Look at the weather – clear sky and 70°.)

Damsel took this photo of a gyroplane on the aircraft line:

One of the more unusual entries in the car category was “El Grinch,” this odd-colored Jeep:

It was a fun and interesting event and a nice way to spend a couple of hours this morning. Click on any image to view enlarged.

17 Jan 2026 by Arizona Aviation Classics Entertainment Nostalgia Photography

Rosemary Orchids

All of these tiny blue flowers that appear several times a year on our rosemary bushes attract bees and other pollinators. Today, they attracted me and my new Macro lens, to wit; an EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The image above is of one of our several rosemary bushes behind the retention wall north of the RV Drive. The image below is one of the tiny flowers up close using the new Macro lens.

I was not in optimum lighting for the above shot since the sun was getting low in the sky, but I managed to get a pretty good look up close at one of the flowers on the bush. Additionally, the wind was a factor and the image may have a slight blur due to motion of the subject. Nonetheless, I am pretty satisfied with the new lens and its close up performance. I am still learning to use the correct camera settings, and as time and experimentation go on, I’m sure that I can improve with it.

I can’t get over the little flowers resemblance to some orchids we see in other photos of flowers. Click on either image to view enlarged.

08 Jan 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Notions Photography

2025 Cops Who Care
 Classic Car Run

Today, we attended the annual Cops Who Care Car Show and Toy Drive. The weather was great and the show was well attended by both cars and visitors. The toy table wasn’t doing too bad either — gonna be a lot of happy kids this Christmas.

When I was a kid in the late 1940s, my folks had one of these Ford Coupes modified with a bench seat for their three little boys to sit behind the driver/passenger seat. It’s a 1933 Year Model, same as Dad and Mom’s.

Also, when I was a kid, there were a lot of these Studebakers on the road as I recall. This Convertible is a member of the local Studebaker Club in the Hassayampa Valley.

We enjoyed the time spent at the Wickenburg Community Center today and look forward to attending again next year.

07 Dec 2025 by Arizona Charity Classics Nostalgia Notions Photography Something Shiny

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