St. Philips Plaza Market

Corona de Tucson

October 7, 2022 

The historic St. Philip's Plaza is a Tucson landmark...well known for the beauty of its Spanish-style cobblestone patios complete with fountains, rose gardens, and towering eucalyptus trees.  In addition to boutique shopping, galleries and restaurants, there is an open-air market every Saturday and Sunday year round.  The summer market is small and doesn't get much attention due to the hot temperatures.   The winter market (10:00-3:00 every Saturday and Sunday), however, has over 100 canopies filled with tables celebrating "everything Tucson"...potters, painters, photographers, silversmiths, metal art works, woodcrafters, rock, mineral and gemstones collectors, jewelry, plants, and clothing.  We are always looking for "westernie" things to use in our home and the market offers lots of choices. 

Last year, we met Scott Carlson, a local potter, at the market when we purchased a utensil caddy and spoon rest from him for the kitchen counter.  The launch for the winter market was this past Saturday and his was the first canopy we looked for.  

Scott had an all new collection with all my favorite colors and amazing textures.  We bought a couple of mugs to add to the collection and a vase we couldn't walk away from.  

Randy had never been to the plaza and Randy had never had a Sonoran Dog...oh boy, oh boy...you know what that means !  He picked us up and we all enjoyed the beautiful morning, laughs, and perusing the plaza.  Afterwards, we were off to BKs.  I'm pretty sure he liked the dog...

 Monday morning, Joe and I both had appointments at the dermatologists...Joe goes every 3 months and I am on a 6 month schedule.  Joe faired much better this visit with only 3 biopsies (and my fingers are crossed they are all negative) and to my surprise, I had 1.  We were done with our appointments around 9:15 and it was off to breakfast at Baja Cafe.  Once again, we were too late for their famous liege waffles.  So Joe settled for pancakes and I really splurged with a cinnamon roll French toast.

One of those pieces was boxed up and went home with us...

Both (pancakes and French toast) are served with two eggs cooked to order, your choice of bacon or sausage and hash browns.  We waddled to the jeep !

Back at the oasis, Tuesday was a windy/rainy/stormy day as Orlene made its way north from Mexico and brought much needed rain.  

I have had fun trying to photograph hummingbirds this week.  It seems the sun is never right to capture their shimmer...I only get a glimpse and then they are off.  It is definitely a challenge to get a decent hummingbird photo in focus...shimmer or no shimmer. 

Just look at those tiny little feet.  Did you know that hummingbirds come from an order of birds called "Apodiformes"?  The term comes from a Latin word meaning footless.  They do have legs and feet, it is just that their feet don't stand out as a visual feature of their anatomy.  Because they are such excellent fliers, they don't need to walk and hop like many other birds. They have four toes on their short, knee-less legs. Their toes are quite lengthy compared to their legs and are used for perching, scratching themselves, fighting and building nests. 

Hummingbirds are remarkable in many ways, and one of them is that they have exceptional eyesight.  They can even see colors undetectable by the human eye...

A good look-out perch is important to hummingbirds.  They also perch in safe and secure places at night.  At night they enter into a state called torpor...an inactive state in which their heart rate and breathing rate are reduced to conserve energy.  They may even find themselves upside down...their legs and feet are sufficient to allow them to stay upside down clinging without falling.

On many of our morning walks, we see a male Vermillion Flycatcher.  His brilliant orange-red color is easy to spot.  This week, this stocky, generally solitary little fellow appeared on our fence during coffee.  I was so excited as it was so unexpected.  Flycatchers feed on insects...often catching them in midair by quick flights called sallies.  

We offer a nice variety of seeds, nuts and suet...

...but the insects are scarce.  He was only there a couple of minutes or so before he flew to the bush on the other side of the fence.

 

On one of our walks this week, we rounded a curve on the cart path and there stood a huge mama javelina in the middle of the path.  We stood still...she stood still...and then she figured that perhaps we were not a threat.  She had three babies enjoying their breakfast on a large prickly pear plant a few feet away.  We could barely see the tops of their heads as she walked toward them.  I don't carry the big camera when we walk and was so surprised by the encounter (I always walk in front) that I couldn't get my phone out of my pocket to get a decent photo on the path.  She had moved on when I finally got a not so good picture.

The pups are all well.  Sally and Dover had rabies and yearly shots this week. 

 

   

And Jack held down the oasis while they were gone.

The days fly by...and another week is already in the memory bank.       

So, until next time...

HAPPY TRAILS !