Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Home & Garden

Mothers Day 2025

We have no children or other descendants living close by, so we will be celebrating Mothers Day quietly while remembering our departed Mothers in Heaven as we prepare a nice Sunday Feast of smoked London Broil steak. The meat is marinating as I write this and will be put in the smoker soon.

Damsel is a Mother and Grandmother as well. We will celebrate her with a card and a gift from myself and the puppies for whom she does a good job of “mothering.”

Our three grandchildren living in California are now all Mothers since the birth of the latest (5th) great-grandchild in early March of this year. We will be wishing the young Mothers a very happy Mothers Day.

Mothers day falls in the spring when flowers from the various cacti are popping up. The (clickable) image above is of a saguaro cactus flower taken earlier on Saturday (05/10/2025), complete with some pollinators doing their thing.

So, we wish God’s Blessing on all the mothers out there, past, present and future. Happy Mothers Day!

11 May 2025 by Culture Flowers Holidays Home & Garden Notions

Cardinal Camo Failure
  and Happy Easter Weekend

With all the newly-grown green and yellow colors on the big mesquite tree out back, this Cardinal shows up big-time against the cooler desert hues. Seriously, these Cardinals come to the bird feeders up there and are a delight to see when they grace our area with their brilliant red-orange feathers and black trim.

I took this photo this morning (Good Friday, April 18, 2025) with my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 with the EF55-250 telephoto lens set to 250mm. I think that I took five or six images as the bird moved from left to right across the tree branch; this one was the best of the group.

Now for the message for all, that Jesus died on that fateful day when the sins of mankind were lifted from us on the cross at Calvary. We will be celebrating the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord this weekend. Happy Easter. HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Happy Easter!

18 Apr 2025 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

“Cherry Red” Cactus Flower

Our Cherry Red (or sometimes Red Torch) flowers are starting to open in the courtyard. This is the first of the spring season. There are buds on several of the cacti and we’re expecting more soon. Click on the image to enlarge.

About Trichocereus Grandiflorus:

The Torch Cactus (Trichocereus grandiflorus) is a species of cactus from the Patagonian Desert in Argentina. The Torch Cactus is notable for its huge display of dramatic red colored flowers that open in late spring. When adult Torch Cactus flower they can often produce displays of flowers that cover the top of the plant and can look like a carpet of red flowers from above.

15 Apr 2025 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Revival of the Compost Bin

In the post on Imbolc Weekend, I mentioned that our compost bin needed rejuvenation by virtue of a new bag of worms. I ordered 500 wrigglers from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm at that time; today, the worms arrived and I followed the recommended instructions to introduce them to the heap within the bin. I assume that they are happily getting busy with their program of converting our compost items into vermicast.

When we replaced our old compost bin with this one, I predicted that it, also, wouldn’t last very long in Arizona, like it’s predecessor, but it has hung in there for nearly 10 years now. Here’s a photo of the bin then and now:

As you can see, the lid is a little warped and needs to be secured with a bungee, but the ol’ bin is still doing its job of keeping the compost heap, worms, castings and soil contained within.

05 Feb 2025 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden

Cardinalis Cardinalis

I took my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 camera with me on my morning walk, when this Cardinal lit atop the anti-squirrel cone on the bird feeder crook. Zoom lens set to 250mm in the camera’s “program” mode, which is the setting for automatically adjusting aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed. Clickable image.

It is a nice, sunny morning here with temperatures in the 50s F. The forecast is for possible rain over night and for the next few days. We need it.

UPDATE: [02/05/25] In the interest of being fair and balanced, I took an image of the Female of the Cardinalis species in a mesquite tree out back near the birdfeeders. Click to open the image viewer.

26 Jan 2025 by Arizona Critters Environment Home & Garden Notions Photography

Arizona Sunset

We’re cozy and warm inside our little house here in wintry Arizona where the temperature actually went below 32°F last night. B-r-r-r. Tonight is forecast to be a little warmer at perhaps 39°F.

I realize that much of the country here in North America has much cooler temperatures than we do, but we’re summer fans which put us comfortable at temperatures on the order of 100°F as acceptable. So, we’re allowed to complain.

I took the photo above just after sunset this evening while walking the dogs down to the road for their final outing until late tonight, when we will again brave the cold to walk them before bedtime.

Camera phone photo — click to open the image viewer.

Note to self – Today we had the plumber over to flush out the Tankless Water Heater which seems to be an annual necessity. ~$200 expense.

24 Jan 2025 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

November Cactus Flowers

It seems unusual to have flowers from the Cherry Red (Trichocereus Grandiflorus) cactus this late in the year. Nonetheless, these two opened up today on one of the several Cherry Red cacti in the courtyard. I looked around for more flower buds but found none.

The late arrival of these flowers may be due to our unusually warm temperatures in September and part of October. Keep in mind, however, that the Sun and not man-made climate is the cause of weather fluctuations on planet Earth.

Click on the image to enlarge.

01 Nov 2024 by Flowers Home & Garden Photography

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