Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Home & Garden

Vendela Roses

Vendela Roses

Our regular shopping schedule has been perturbated by the holidays. Today, we shopped for the weekend a day later than usual.

I bought a dozen of these pretty cream-colored “Vendela” roses at the flower concession in the supermarket today. I put them in a vase where I already had some white Asian lilies. I expect that they will look very nice together as the roses and lilies begin to open up.

The Vendela is a very popular rose according to FiftyFlowers.com:

Vendela Ivory Rose is our #1 selling cream rose. Its very large head opens into a cup-shaped bloom with well defined, slightly curled edges. Vendela is greatly admired for the hint of pink found on the petal edges. This champagne ivory rose would add a special touch to a wedding bouquet, table centerpiece or flower arrangement.

26 Dec 2014 by Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Winter Cactus Flower

Winter Cactus Flower

I bought a potted seasonal cactus at the supermarket earlier this month. The flowers have been opening on it ever since then.

This variety is frequently called Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus since the plant flowers bloom during our year-end holidays. See the Wikipedia reference to Schlumbergera.

I took this photo yesterday in our outdoor patio. Click on the image to enlarge.

29 Nov 2014 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Office Upgrade II

New Chairs and Mats

I spent a couple of hours putting the new office chairs together today and they are quite nice. Our old office chairs were almost 13 years old and had seen better days, although the gas piston air cushions were still functional. The surfaces were worn and the padding was pretty flat (Damsel used a patio chair cushion on hers to soften it up).

The finished products above are (left) my new chair on a new roll around pad and Damsel’s new chair and pad. Click on the image to enlarge.

We use these chairs not only to work at the computers, but sit in them to watch movies on the DVD/TV in the office. We’re looking forward to this evening’s movie in the new chairs. I wonder if we wll be able to stay awake with all the comfort . . . 😉

31 Oct 2014 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Office Upgrade

New ChairWhen we moved to Arizona, we brought only a few items of furniture from the California house. Damsel had designs on furnishing the new house with all new items. That was true for the bedroom-turned-office as well. We bought two new desks and a short filing cabinet for computers and peripherals storage. However, we did not buy new office chairs; the old ones were brought for that purpose.

Now, the original office furniture for the old house had been there for a while. I checked our financial records and found that the office furniture – including the chairs – had been purchased in December of 2001. That’s just under thirteen years ago – time to get some new chairs. Damsel and I both went down to the (greater Phoenix Area) West Valley today and purchased two new chairs similar to the one shown in the graphic.

We also bought two chair pads that sit on the floor in front of the desks for the chairs to roll around on. We had been using area carpets for this, but the plastic pads seemed to be more durable and easier to clean and maintain.

This minor office upgrade is just the beginning. Damsel and I have decided to redecorate the great room and dining area with all new furnishings. The old tables, table lamps and sofas will be donated to charity (as will be the old office chairs) and replaced with new items in the near future.

30 Oct 2014 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Second Spring Butterfly

Second Spring Butterfly

Signs of Second Spring have persisted for several weeks. Today, there were dozens of butterflies browsing the flowers on the sage, red birds and Rosemary. The nice thing about using Rosemary for ground cover along the RV drive, is that butterflies of all sizes, colors and descriptions are attracted to the tiny blue flowers.

I captured this photo of a yellow and gold butterfly lighting on a Rosemary just under the top of the little hill out back. Click on the image to enlarge.

09 Oct 2014 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Our Little Desert House

Desert House

Damsel and I prepared our weekend dinners trying to keep from having our usual leftovers, which we consume during the week. But, since we are in California for the week, leftovers are a problem. Saturday, we grilled some pork chops with side dishes and on Sunday, Damsel cooked up some Southwestern skillet chicken enchiladas and the works.

The chops were consumed along with the side dishes, but the Southwestern dish (like a casserole) had some leftovers that we would have hated to throw out. Our bachelor neighbor, who lives across the road, gladly accepted the leftovers, since he was remodeling the bathroom in his house and hadn’t thought about dinner in his haste to finish his project. Damsel and I were happy to furnish him with dinner.

I took this photo of our house while I was coming down the hill from the neighbor’s house. As you can see, it was another beautiful day in the desert. Click on the image to enlarge.

08 Sep 2014 by Arizona Food & Dining Home & Garden Photography

Butterfly and the Red Bird of Paradise

ButterflyAmong the main reasons I wanted the Red Bird of Paradise shrubs in the courtyard was to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I am not disappointed since both species frequently browse the flowers of not only the red birds, but the sage flowers as well, when they are present. With second spring coming, the sages should also have more flowers to attract the critters.

In addition to the hummers and butterflies, this year we began noticing Sphinx Moths, also sometimes called “Hummingbird Moths” browsing both the red birds in the courtyard and the rosemary bushes out back. Interesting little critters, they are about 1/3 the size of hummers but act quite the same in that they hover and sample the nectar and move on to another flower.

I photographed this encounter with a very pretty black butterfly about to descend upon one of the clusters of flowers on the red bird closest to the middle of the courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.

02 Sep 2014 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

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