Brrrrrrrr! LUKE ENJOYS THE POOL

 
Tomorrow is Oct 1st and when Luke jumped in the pool yesterday the pool temp. was 76 degrees.  It did inspire me to think back to his picture in the pool in 2003.  This year he will be 12 in November.








And no....I did not join him.  I will have to wait for next summer's water temp of 90.  So, he amused himself with the hose from the pool cleaner.  Ummm, I might have suggested it.  He likes gadgets.  And yes, Papa, he put it back together.

Guess I'll have to bring this blog up to date. Having 3 blogs takes time but hopefully I'll get faster!

BRUCE AND HIS ITSY BITSY SPIDER!

After Halloween one year the toys were reduced in price. Bruce loved his new spider toy. He constantly carried it around for us to play with it too.

Luke and I spent time trying to get a good picture since he looked so cute.  This was the best shot from last year.

We had a baby Dove  incident this weekend. Bruce wanted it. The baby's mother wanted it back. I chased the thing into the atrium while Bruce was locked up. The baby quickly flew to the roof and his mother quit yelling.

I noticed black legs sticking up from under a flower pot. Scary!  Well.....it could have been some new giant bug. Luke said uncover it. I bravely dug it out and realized it was Bruce's beloved spider. It got washed. It still squeaked. He walked around with it again.

Today I glanced out the door and this time I knew what the black legs belonged to.  Too funny. He reburied it. I must teach that dog to talk and explain himself!

EARLY MORNING VISIT TO THE PHOENIX ZOO

ZOO HOURS THIS MONTH ARE 7 AM TO 2 PM.  THIS IS DUE TO OUR VERY HOT DAYS.  TODAY IT IS 112 DEGREES. 

LARRY VISITS OUR LIBRARY ON THE DAY THEY PUT OUT THE CULTURAL PASSES AND THE LATEST PAIR OF FREE TICKETS WAS THE ZOO.
 

Who? Me? I didn't do it.

Beautiful eucalyptus bark.

Look everyone. No hands.

Happy elephant!

Listen up now people!

What? A purple dragonfly?

Hungry giraffe

Just stretching.

Heron

It feels soooo good.

So many reflections!

JUNE'S VISIT TO THE DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN

The garden in Phoenix is on Galvin Parkway and on the web @ www.dbg.org/. With 140 acres filled with desert plants there is always something great to view. It holds the world's foremost collection of desert plants and many come from our Sonoran Desert here in the Southwest.

The entrance is highlighted by the very beautiful Chihuly glass display.

On our walk through the Garden this trip  provided  the appearance of the beautiful Echinopsis cacti blooms.

There are always plenty of butterflies, birds and wildlife around to observe and of course photograph.

Quail are usually always running around staying under plant growth, seeking shade I suspect and staying away from feet. Today there was a whole family with the youngest baby quail I ever saw. So cute with their little head feathers just developing.

MAY VISITORS FROM TEXAS

LARRY'S BROTHER BOB AND HIS WIFE PENNI DROVE UP IN HOPES OUR WEATHER WOULD BE COOL.

We were busy from the moment they arrived and within minutes drove to Mesa to attend Luke's violin concert.
 He wanted to make sure we could find him but only waved his baton when the teacher turned her back to them. Every student is required to take a stringed instrument class so there were a lot of rows of students.
 From the looks of it he's glad that's over.
 Sophie had a t-ball game at the same time and we dropped by before the game and now she still has energy left to climb poles after her game.

The pool was great entertainment when the grand-kids, Howard, Ellen, Mark and their Yorkshires joined us.
When Eunice moved to Arizona she brought her prized 5 legged dining room table along. Now that she moved with us it came along and is perfect for family gatherings.

The five of us drove north and visited the Grand Canyon National Park. It was Bob and Penni's first visit there. We caught a sunset and sunrise and then headed out the east exit and back through Flagstaff.

It was so great to have their company. Thank you for a wonderful visit.

ROADTRIP IN MAY TO BISBEE, AZ

Boot Hill Graveyard

Bisbee is in SE Arizona at an altitude 5000. We traveled with our friends Asghar and Kaye in their new auto. Arriving near the town we were drawn into Tombstone's Boot Hill.  I loved the prickley pear and cholla blooms and concentrated taking their pictures.

In the center of town we encountered the stagecoach giving tourists rides to experience travel as back in the old days. I'm  sure the paved roads don't really tell the whole story.

Bisbee is now a town for tourists.  The season was nearly over for them. The town is hilly and the streets are narrow. Most of the businesses were closed. 
The guys took a tour of the internal Queen mine while Kaye and I looked at the huge excavation created by the strip mine. There is a trolley in town to explore the sights of Bisbee.

waiting to go on mine tour.

open pit mine

entrance to mine

Larry relaxes in the lobby of the Copper Queen Hotel

Copper Queen Hotel on left.

We spent the night at Hotel Lamore and the next afternoon we headed to Ramsey Canyon only to find it was closed. Fortunately a few yards away a B&B had numerous bird feeders and we were able to add a few new bird conquests to our bird photo collection.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Acorn woodpecker

Lazuli Bunting

Broad-billed Hummer

Mexican Jay

Painted Redstart

 After lunch we headed home but saved time to explore the large BLM managed Empire Ranch. Wandering through the grounds I found many Barn Swallow nests built from mud on the ceilings in the barns and porches. I saw barn swallows sitting on power lines in Bisbee too but have no good photos from there.

BarnSwallows

 

Blue skies reflected on tin roofs.

Kaye and Larry

Asghar the gunslinger

I loved the fences and grasses on the ranch. The doors of outbuildings were all different. The main ranch house built between 1871 and 1874 had many additions added through the years as depicted on the poster

Another great road trip!