Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

The Titanic 100 Years Later

stern.jpegDamsel and I watched the interesting two-hour documentary “Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved” this evening. It was the story of one of the latest expeditions to document the disaster and to try and determine the actual cause of the sinking of the RMS Titanic (Damsel says “It was the @$#! iceberg – get over it!”).

Underwater image of Titanic’s Stern on the ocean floor

All that aside, it was very interesting. The team of scientists, oceanographers and archaeologists sought to explore and map the entire debris field at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Ultimately, their conclusion agreed with Damsel’s assertion; the accident was a result of the overwhelming force of the vessel striking iceberg. There was no actual fault in the construction and design and the crew was following standard procedures and because of unusually calm conditions, they were unable to see the iceberg until it was too late to maneuver the immense vessel around it.

If you’re a history and archaeology buff or interested in the technologies used by the expedition, we recommend you watch the documentary. We saw the premiere tonight, but I’m sire it will come on History Channel again.

15 Apr 2012 by Science Technobabble

Prickly Pear Trio

trio.jpg

These are three flowers on a prickly pear cactus up the road from our house. New flowers are blooming every day, so expect more pictures of them. I love spring and the desert. 🙂 Click on the image to enlarge.

14 Apr 2012 by Arizona Flowers Photography

The Evolution of Our Desert House

Unfortunately, the aerial image of the property prior to excavation of the pad where a house could be built is missing from the archives. However, the aerial views of our property above represent three stages in the construction of our house; before, during and after.

Click on the images to advance the slideshow.

13 Apr 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

A Desert Lizard

lizard.jpg

I was taking pictures of some of the beautiful spring cactus flowers in the neighborhood when this little guy dashed out from under one of the cacti. A quick scan through my “Desert Critters” reference book and couldn’t find a lizard exactly matching this one. A “zebra tail” was listed but had different markings elsewhere. Click on the image to enlarge.

12 Apr 2012 by Arizona Critters Photography

Ocotillo – Signs of Life

oco-bud.jpg

At the end of rather inhospitable looking spikes on the canes (stems) of the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) planted in front of the house, some flower buds are beginning to appear. Our ocotillo has been dormant, but now we’re hoping that the monsoons will bring it back to actively producing leaves and flowers.

Currently, three of the canes have flower buds. Two of them have bigger buds than this, but are too high for the camera without a step-ladder. I’ll have more pictures when the flowers become mature. Click on the image to enlarge.

Wikipedia says this about the Ocotillo:

For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. With rainfall the plant quickly becomes lush with small (1-2 inch) ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months.

Individual stems may reach a diameter of 2 inches at the base, and the plant may grow to a height of 30 feet. The plant branches very heavily at its base, but above that the branches are pole-like and only infrequently divide further, and specimens in cultivation may not exhibit any secondary branches. The leaf stalks harden into blunt spines, and new leaves sprout from the base of the spine.

The bright crimson flowers appear especially after rainfall in spring, summer, and occasionally fall. Flowers are clustered indeterminately at the tips of each mature stem. Individual flowers are mildly zygomorphic and are pollinated by hummingbirds and native carpenter bees.

11 Apr 2012 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Taking A Dip To Cool Off

We have taken Beethoven to the dog park several times since we adopted him. The first time we took him, he got in the little tub of water, splashed around a couple of times and then got out. Today, I had the camera ready for his dip in the tub. Enjoy the slideshow!

10 Apr 2012 by Critters Retirement

Temporary Spa Shade

new-shade.jpg

We have had our spa since last July. We enjoy it a lot, especially on the warmer days. If we get into the spa late in the afternoon, however, the sun going down on the west side of the house shines directly into the spa.

I asked the gentleman who installed the screen patio enclosure to come out and install a roll-down shade for us. He installed a couple more extruded aluminum supports (the same material used for the original patio) to hold the shade on the west end of the patio.

Image: Before and after – click to enlarge

I say temporary in the title since this shade is a cheap Chinese plastic shade that won’t last in the Arizona sun. We are already planning on getting a custom shade from one of the warehouse home improvement stores. We saw one we really liked at our friends’ house on the Colorado River. The supports installed today will be permanent.

09 Apr 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

Categories

Archives