Mexican Bird of Paradise and bee~Garden Bloggers Bloom Day~091511

The Mexican bird of paradise shrubs have been absolutely delightful this summer in the desert southwest.  Their color has accented many a desert garden.  I don't have this variety.  I have the pure yellow one, but I did plant one of these multi-colored ones in my front yard.  I found this one over in Arizona, at the Desert Ridge Villas one morning as I was out for my morning walk.  GBBD for September 15, 2011.  To visit GBBD, please go to:  http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/
 And, yes, these are STILL blooming here in our desert!

Joshua Trees and sky~SkyWatch Friday~090211

It had just rained Sunday when we drove up to Joshua Tree National Park for the afternoon.  But, everything was clean and fresh and COOL!  It was a wonderful afternoon to visit the park as there weren't many cars on the main road.  We nearly had the park to ourselves!  SkyWatch Friday for September 2, 2011.  Here's the link:  http://skyley.blogspot.com/

"pests"~Sunday stills Challenge~082811

Here in the desert southwest, we have a LOT of pests!  Some are animal, but most of them are plants.  And, the peskiest ones are in the cactus family.  Believe me, you do NOT want to run into a cholla cactus (which I didn't even add here!)  Just looking out my front window, my bougenvilla has awful thorns.  I have two mesquite tree with wicked thorns.  And, our acacia trees...sigh...let's just NOT go there!  I found all of the following at the Palm Desert visitor's center (the old building...they have moved to a new one.) (WHAT kind of visitor center is surrounded by vicious cacti?)  So, BEWARE!!!!!!  While the desert has animals that crawl, fly, sting, and strike, it also has plants that can getcha' too!  OUCH!!!

What are YOU looking at?~SOOC Sunday~082811

This is the squirrel who lived up at the cabins on the Mogollon Rim.  I believe it was a female.  She tempted fate when she was out looking for food a couple of afternoons and the Cooper's hawks were up in a nearby tree.  Apparently she didn't like me looking at her!  SOOC Sunday for August 28, 2011. I took this photo out of the living room window as I didn't wish to go outside and scare her off. To visit SOOC Sunday, please go to:  http://www.murrieta365.com/

Osprey~SkyWatch Friday ~ 082611

The day we drove out to Black Canyon Lake, we arrived to hear the screeching of a young osprey.  The nest was in the top of a tree overlooking the lake.  The young osprey was extremely loud ( apparently wishing to have a meal...) A heron flew over the nest and one of the parents took off after it and chased it away from the nest.  SkyWatch Friday for August 26, 2011. To see SkyWatch Friday, please go to:  http://skyley.blogspot.com/

First sunset and first morning at the cabin

The first evening I walked down to Highway 260 to see the sunset.  The sun was setting over the little western town across the road (see top photo).  The next morning, I eagerly awoke to see my first sunrise up on the rim.

The Cabin~Part 2

 

We rented a cabin in Overgaard, Arizona, which is up on the rim, for 3 nights.  The 4th night was free.  We'd found these cabins back in 2000 when we stayed at another cabin in Forest Lakes for a whole week.  At that time, we noticed that thunderstorms developed every afternoon.  It cooled down and started raining during August and hubby and I wanted to get out of our desert heat and head for the high mountains.  We had been up here over Memorial Day and put a deposit down on one of the cabins which was the furthest back from Highway 260.  It was called the "Coffee Plantation" and was decorated with aspen wood on the inside.  It had a back porch and 2 bedrooms.  There's a lot of street noise along Highway 260 and I'm a light sleeper, but the back of this cabin faced away from the highway.  We ended up staying one more night, instead of driving back to Scottsdale for our final night, so we stayed for 5 nights.  We did our shopping at Whole Foods and AJ's, down in Scottsdale and brought some steaks up with us.  The guy at the check-in said elk came down the wash behind the cabin, but we never saw any.  (I think that was @#$%%^&$!) We did discover a family of Cooper's hawks in the trees behind the cabin and we both watched them all week.  I also heard an owl the first morning we were there, but never saw it.  We were prohibited from walking across the wash as there were "NO TRESPASSING" signs all around the houses behind the cabins.  Some of the other cabins are privately owned, but the majority are rented out during the year.  If you want to read more about these cabins, here's the link:  http://www.azresortcabins.com/