PERFECT STORM

Why a perfect storm?

It all began with a nice dinner in El & Doug's backyard, with Gary and Dawn.

Comfortable temperature and a little sunshine.

In what seemed like minutes, clouds rolled in and .....lightning!

That's what Brian and I are pointing to.

Thunder joined the party as well.

You can see the rain over there. There were rainbows too. 

The sky was alive with colour! This is looking east.

This is looking west, and oh wow, it was gorgeous! 

Where you see grey, actually looked green to us. 

In all, we may have felt four drops of rain. 

So you see, perfect storm. We could see all the beauty and wildness of it, without having to run for cover. Very memorable for us, and all everyone talked about the next few days. Pictures can't do it justice but Doug got some beauties. Thanks Doug!

CATCHING UP- PART THREE- SILLY MOUNTAIN

Silly Mountain. Botanical Walk. We chose the BW so we could have fairly level terrain to explore.

Why? Well, one, we don't climb, and two, look what he's holding.

Sure-footedness  is needed when the Ace is flying the quad. He is standing near an ocotillo cactus. All tall and spindly with bright red and orange flowers on top.

Botanical Walk is also an interpretive trail.

I like little signs telling me what I'm looking at.

There are so many varieties with signs but we'll only share a few.

There are views like this to enjoy too.

I'm planning another post, filled with local cacti and flora. 

There it is- Silly Mountain. A very popular spot.

It's 7:30 in the morning and there are ten cars in the lot.

What's he looking at?

You need to click on the pic to see what's in the circle.

It's a bird, a plane, no.... it's

super quad!

Ta da!

These views never get old.

Superstition Mountains in the background.

A beautiful saguaro in the foreground. It has a bird nest for a cactus wren, and a chewed up base. 

So many of them are chewed and beat up, but they keep living on. Tough guys. 

A bit of colour here.

Dog friendly.

A last look as we were leaving.

One minute later.

That's a brief showing of our trek to Silly Mountain.

Did you know that Brian has a youtube channel?

IT'S HERE.

You should check it out!

CATCHING UP- PART TWO

Last week, we got together with El & Doug, and Gerry & Lorraine, to play Dirty Board. We've done this a few times over the winter and got one last evening in.

The guys won ;P

After two games, we break for food. They had already won 2 games, but humoured us to play a third.

It just wasn't our night to win the game, but a good time was had by all!

Yesterday, we went to Freezer Clean Out dinner. Mostly appies but they combined to make a tasty dinner. There's nothing like this in our freezer- not anymore.

Do you think Brian and Doug may be up to something?

El and me.

Yes, the thermometer is showing over 80'F. It was 88' when we first arrived an hour earlier.

See the bougainvillea behind us-

Stunning!

These doves were cooing and cuddling until they were startled and flew off.

Spring is definitely in the air- we almost had dinner and a show!

The next post will feature our little walk around Silly Mountain.

Stay tuned!

LOTS OF STUFF TO SHARE, OR- TRYING TO CATCH UP- PART ONE

I admit it, we are lurkers. We go very rarely, onto FB and lurk. And are we ever glad we did! We saw a post from Cinda, got in touch and discovered we were minutes away from eachother, and decided we must 'do lunch'.

Cinda is one of Brian's cousins and this is the third time we've visited in 37 years. Oh my.

We had a wonderful visit. Hope to see you sooner next time Cinda!

March 5th, we headed to Gila River Arena to have dinner and take in a hockey game. The Canucks were playing. Brian got this beautiful panoramic pic of the area outside the mall and arena.

This guy was hanging out by the water fountains.

We had the wonderful company of these two- they are awesome!

Doug & Ellie picked us up and brought us in together for the evening.

Another obligatory 'ussie'.

Near the center of this pic you can read the shirts on the fans behind the goalie. 

Go Canucks Go!

Not enough cheering I guess. We couldn't wake those guys up at all. 

Phoenix deserved the win.

(our opinion only, others may have another view)

Now, let's completely change gears. The LaHa park had a craft show March 13th. Nothing was for sale, it was strictly a show and it was amazing! It had the work from all of us 'students' from the classes we took here.

This is Bev. She is so patient and sweet natured. A great teacher and so talented!

A sampling of beginner and advanced baskets. I love basket weaving and I'm so grateful I could get such great instruction while here.

Hey, we know that guy!

This piece had to measure 20 x 30" and it is all cross stitch. This one is for you Deana! From a distance, it looks like a photo or a painting. I got close so you could see it was stitched.

Wood carving. Another fun class but these guys are masters.

There is carving in the round, relief carving and some wood burning.

It is ALL fabulous!

These stained glass pieces feature curved glass petals that were shaped in a kiln, over a mould. It's called slumping- I call it gorgeous!

These are Ellie and my projects from two beginner classes.

I will be doing more of this, and Ellie has done tons more already!

The RC guys displayed their crafts as well.  :)

Okay, that's enough for now. I hope you liked playing catch up with us, 

and look forward to PART TWO.

GOIN' TO THE MOUNTAINS

Just before sundown, last month, we took a drive in the desert, to the Superstition Mountains.

These homes are on the last street, closest to the mountain. Can you imagine?

We went there, so that THIS guy.........

....could fly his quad copter.

Took this pic from the car on the way home. I was captivated by the sky- all the clouds, jet streams, colour and light. Beautiful!

It was a lovely drive and fun outing. 

AMAZING!