After over a week in rehab, we finally got Mom released back home to her assisted living ranch. We were a little disenchanted with the rehab center since they were not spending much time helping Mom get better. As for Mom, she HATED it. So, after a couple of days of tweaking and pulling chains, they released her. The hospice folks arranged transportation and we fell in behind them while they took her to the ranch. All I can say is that she is back in her element with friends, an excellent caring staff and some actually good food!
I’m not too crazy about oleanders, but once in a while, they have pretty flowers. I took this photo down the road this morning when we were walking the dogs. Click on the image to enlarge.
I guess that oleanders are good for low-water consumption and a good border shrub, but they are high maintenance, requiring a lot of pruning and such. Plus, I always associated them with low-grade trailer parks.
We drove down to Sun City to visit Mom in the rehab center today. Driving on the 25 mile segment of US 60 between Wickenburg and just outside of Surprise, is where you will see beautiful Sonoran Desert scenes like this one that I shot on the trip home.
We don’t really know that the name of the mountain in the background is really “Castle Rock,” but it lies up near the end of Castle Hot Springs Road, so that’s what we call it. Click on the image to enlarge.
Damsel has two hummingbird feeders that hang below the eve of the patio roof right next to the RV drive. We used to get a few hummingbirds now and then, but lately, they literally swarm both feeders. We have seen up to a dozen at a time visiting the area (it’s hard to get an exact count because they move so fast).
A lot of the little birds seem to be territorial and we often see several of the tiny birds chipping away at each other as they attempt to light on the feeder. Damsel notes that the chipping noises they make reminds her of sounds made by the Star Wars robot R2D2. The sound of their wings as they fly by, also reminds her of the Jedi light sabers from the same movie series.
I’m just glad that there are no critters that make sounds similar to the C3PO droid. That would necessitate a shotgun blast or two.
I took the video late this afternoon from inside the patio screen. You can see some of the birds competing, but then a bunch of them feed at once. There are five perches and five feed holes on each feeder.
On the way back from the valley a few days ago, Damsel snapped this photo of the front wheel of an eighteen wheeler. The operator had replaced the lug nuts with this exotic array of spiked cones that reminded me of the Ben Hur Chariot Race where the evil Massala had extended axles on his chariot designed to rip out the spokes of competing chariots. Click on the image to enlarge.
Several of the Devil’s Tongue Cactus Flowers have opened with the coming of Arizona’s “Second Spring” season. And, as you can see, there will be a lot more flowers soon. Last year, we didn’t get to enjoy the flowers because the rabbits and squirrels (and javelina) find the flower pods to be a delicate snack. This year, I enclosed the cactus in wire mesh and thus far all of the flower pods seem to be surviving. Click on the image to enlarge.
