Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

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

Monsoon Glory

Monsoon Glory

Crepuscular rays swept the sky this afternoon just an hour before we had a nice late afternoon monsoon pass over the area. This actually was the follow-up to monsoons that swept through Wickenburg early this morning – like at four in the morning with lots of rain, lightning and thunder. It was quite the wake-up call, although we did get to sleep again to wake at our regular time. Click on the image to enlarge.

04 Sep 2014 by Arizona Environment Photography

Interim Accessorizing the Truck

Heavy duty Truck Bed MatEventually, we’re going to get the blown-in liner recommended by friends and the dealer, but, in the interim, we needed something to line the bed for our upcoming trip to K-stan. I bought this relatively inexpensive custom liner through Amazon; they have a feature that evaluates whether products they sell will fit my particular vehicle. Thus far, everything we bought using Amazon’s fit utility fits as advertized.

The reason we haven’t put in the blown-in liner is one of logistics. The folks that do that are down in the west valley and the job takes 2 to 2½ hours. We can’t just drop off the truck and do something else unless we BOTH drive the 43 mile round trip. We’re trying to be creative and figure a way to do it without sitting around for the duration of the installation.

In the meantime, the bed liner will spare the wear and tear to the bed of the truck when we load up the stuff to make the trip. Click on the image to enlarge.

03 Sep 2014 by Arizona Something Shiny Travel

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

Devil’s Tongue Cactus Flowers

Devil’s Tongue Flowers

As Second Spring approaches the desert, my Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus latispinus) is flowering again. This is the barrel cactus that started out in my California cactus garden and was transplanted to Arizona a little over three years ago. Judging from the number of flower buds, I’d say the cactus likes it here in Wickenburg. Click on the image to enlarge.

From How Stuff Works:

Ferocactus latispinus (devil’s tongue cactus) gets its name from its long, broad, red-colored spines. Another with a flattened, red, central spine is Ferocactus recurvus (devil’s pincushion). These cacti are easy to grow and can get quite large eventually. They like bright light, heavy soil with excellent drainage, house temperatures and good air circulation.

In Mexico, the skin and spines are peeled off and the flesh is diced to be eaten raw or candied. They also provide an emergency source of water in the desert — you slice off the top of the plant, stir the pulp with a stick and drink the sap.

31 Aug 2014 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

A Frog in Congress

Frog

Yesterday, Damsel and I hauled some canned goods up to Yarnell for the food bank there. We read in the on-line edition of the local newspaper that the food banks there were experiencing a shortage of non-perishable food, so we decided to head up there and drop off our collection of goods that have accumulated here one or two cans per grocery store visit for the express purpose of helping out those less fortunate.

As for the frog, the story goes back to the early 20th century when Sara Perkins, a resident of the area near Congress, AZ, decided to make a frog-shaped rock formation look more like a frog:

Originally, it was nothing more than a huge boulder perched on a hillside amid several other large rocks. Then along came Sara Perkins, a homesteader’s wife who observed that this particular rock, when viewed from the proper angle, resembled a frog.

She told her husband, Eli, about it, but he wasn’t as much of a visionary as his wife, so the story goes. He was also very busy with his work as a newspaperman – at various times, he owned both The Phoenix Gazette and The Wickenburg Sun – and as a state legislator. But he did suggest that a paint job would make the rock look more like a frog. His wife and their two sons hauled three large cans of paint and a ladder up the steep incline, and within weeks:

Voila! A rock became a frog.

[more]

Image courtesy of Damsel’s camera. Click on the image to enlarge.

30 Aug 2014 by Arizona Arts

National Dog Day

The Dog Park

We didn’t know it when we took Beethoven and Cabela to the Wickenburg Dog Park today, but today is National Dog Day. I discovered that it was dog day while browsing the book of face after we got home.

The dogs really enjoy running around the dog park. They don’t generally get off their leashes when outside, but they run around sniffing everything and, as usual, give us an opportunity to clean up after them. Today, they enjoyed it so much that they took an extra lap around the park perimeter and didn’t seem to want to get on their leashes until after that.

After I discovered it was National Dog Day, I searched for it on the internet and found Holiday Insights:

National Dog Day has two goals: to honor dogs, and to rescue dogs from homelessness and abuse. It’s an opportunity for us to recognize and appreciate the value and importance of dogs in our lives.

This day is intended to honor dogs for all that they do for us. In addition to giving love and companionship, dogs help us out in countless ways. They are watchdogs for our safety. They lead the blind. Dogs aid in search and rescue, and they seek out bombs and drugs.

The second goal of National Dog Day is to rescue dogs in need. On occasion, dogs need us to save them from homelesness and abuse. The goal of the National Dog Day foundation is to rescue 10,000 dogs a year. Lend a hand to help a dog in need today, or any day.

26 Aug 2014 by Arizona Critters Holidays

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