Colorful Spring!

Corona de Tucson

April 15, 2026

Our walk to the park...

Since I last posted, Joe, Lucy and I have been home bodies.  Home is such a comfortable and comforting place to be.  Some days are lazy and some days are not.  It is so nice to be in this stage of life when it is our choice to make.  Busy days have included a few appointments...hair cut, the last of Joe's radiation treatments, teeth cleaning for me, eye doctor for Joe and completing and mailing in taxes, etc. 

The weather has been spring-like with cool mornings and mild afternoons.  It is nice to be able to take our walks whenever the mood strikes. The neighborhood has been a vibrant display of colors.

Mornings when the Palo Verde trees have a radiant glow against our Arizona blue skies... 

or evenings when it is glows against the dark hues as the sun sets. 

The vivid colors of the cacti is also an eye catcher this time of year.  

Cholla

 

Prickly Pear

And the muted colors have a "calm whispering" effect which can't go unnoticed either.

We had a nice Easter weekend.  Jamie, Andra and Ozzie came to visit.  

Ozzie is such a sweet boy!

On Saturday the four of us went to B&B Cactus Farm.

So many choices and this is just one of the huge covered sheds for all kinds of cacti and succulents from small seedlings to very large landscape plants.  It's not just a nursery, but an "attraction" for folks as well.  

Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch at El Charro.  

We chose the front porch for lunch...

Carne Seca  (the famous sun-dried beef) Burros filled our tummies and a couple of us sipped on a delicious mango margarita.  

So yummy!  And I can't help but think of Jeff and Fran Pierce when we eat here.  Jeff loved the Carne Seca at El Charro and we didn't miss a chance to meet them there every time they passed thru Tucson.  

At our little oasis, we have fun repotting some plants.  A few years back, I bought a tiny Queen Victoria Agave.  It has been in a small pot so this year we decided it needed a new home.  We also had a Squid Agave that needed a new home. Jamie suggested we transplant two of its "pups" to another pot which we did.  And last, we gave the Artichoke Agave a new home too.  I had a fun time choosing pots when we visited Son Silver West in Wickenburg. 

Queen Victoria Agave

Squid Agave

Artichoke Agave

And a new succulent this year...an Aloe "Blizzard" in my new favorite pot.

Our torch cacti have bloomed and new buds appear everyday.  

And the decorative cacti that Jamie and Andra have given my for my birthday the past three years also bloomed.

March 2024

March 2025

March 2026

Our feathered friends are slowly returning after having no food for a few weeks while we were gone.  A pair of Gila Woodpeckers, Cardinals, and Curved-bill Thrashers have been busy at the feeders.  The Gambles have been perusing the ground for tid-bits of food.  The hummers are in and out at the blink of an eye.  And of course...lots of sparrows, finches, dove and wrens keep a close watch from their perch on the fence.

And I managed a quick snap of this speedy little baby racing across the yard.  

The birds are great entertainment for Lucy.  She sits quietly and watches and only on occasion has she darted out into the yard to chase the dove forging for food under the feeders. 

Lucy is enjoying being home too.  

I am often awed by tiny birds. They are some of nature's most remarkable marvels.  

I'll close with a sunset...

Until next time, 

HAPPY TRAILS !

and SWEET DREAMS!

Friends, Family, Fur Babies, Flowers and Feathers...A Delightful Week!

Corona de Tucson

May 4, 2024 

It is always a nice feeling to pull into the driveway after a great getaway.  We were up early Friday.  There were weeds to pull, birds to feed, trees to water, the patio to clean and cushions to put out, laundry to do and groceries to buy.  It was a busy day as we set about checking things off the to do list.  

Sally worked hard too. She hippy-hopped all around the yard...smelling this and that and keeping a close eye on us.  She was happy to be home too ! 

 Saturday, we were up and out early.  One of my favorite days of the year !

B&B Cactus Farm was our first destination. The farm specializes in cacti and succulents on a sprawling 2 acre site.  The grounds are beautiful and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  

There are several greenhouses and hundreds of varieties and sizes of cacti and succulents.  The pots and yard art are gorgeous and reasonably priced.  

This is our fourth summer in our home and every year so far we have added a  new cactus and a new pot to the backyard.  We purchased this year's pot at Son-Silver in Sedona and took it with us to the Cactus Farm. I wanted succulents and am happy with my choices.  It was a small fee to have them planted in the pot.

The photo doesn't show the fourth pot on the back side...

We added another torch cactus in the back corner by the fence.  It is a beautiful orange/red color and fingers crossed it does as well as the yellow one.  

Civano Nursery was our next stop.  I like to buy annuals there as they grow them in greenhouses located on their 70 acre farm in Sahuarita.  The begonias and other plants are "desert adapted" and grow until it snows in the winter.  It's nice to have a little color in the yard ! 

Tuesday was the first of two highlights of our delightful week.  We had company ! Not just any company...Taos came to visit and he brought good friends Sue and Dave with him.  

Joe and I are in love.  And sharing all Taos' many wonderful traits would easily become a book.  He is loving, handsome and very, very smart.  And to add to the list, he is the best behaved puppy EVER and so sweet to and considerate of Sally. And to top it all off, he has the bestest slobbery kisses I have had since we lost our handsome Wrecks in 2015.  

 We all had lunch...

and I didn't get one single photo of Sue and Dave. Shame on me, but there was lots of conversing.   It was a delightful visit and over way too fast, but Joe and I have enjoyed the sweet fragrance and colors of spring all week. And we are hoping to see the Bank clan again...soon !

Walking in Saguaro NP-East and taking the one-way loop road thru the desert is a favorite pastime.  The jeep just seemed to head that way this week...imagine that! We enjoyed looking for flowers, taking in the beautiful view, and the pleasant morning weather.  

  

And our state flower...beautiful bouquets just beginning to bloom. 

The second highlight of the week was meeting Jamie and Andra in Tucson.

 

The kiddos are looking to downsize from a king size bed to a queen size.  There is a shop in The Lost Barrio warehouse district that makes furniture so we met there mid-morning on Saturday.   The shops along the street in this colorful historic neighborhood offer old, contemporary, unique and hand crafted furniture and one-of-a-kind "treasures".  It's a good place to start.  

Afterwards we enjoyed a burger and beer at Barrio Brewing.  

  

Back at the oasis, there has been a good amount of patio time.  One evening after supper we served up a bowl of ice cream...

and sat on the patio to enjoy it.  All of a sudden we saw the swoop and a great-horned owl perched on the fence post.  He sat a few minutes before flying to the pine tree.  We love life in the desert !

The birds are slowly returning to the yard for water and food.

We always have lots of Lesser Goldfinch, but this week I saw an American Goldfinch.  As best I can tell, this is a breeding adult male.

 And some of the birds are really busy...

Our resident lizard (Jamie named him Lenny) sunned on the cement blocks for awhile one morning.

And sweet Sally...

who we haven't seen sitting in a really, really long time.  

And we flipped the calendar again ! 

Until next time... 

The loop road at Saguaro NP-East

I love it when the park is not busy!

B&B Cactus Farm

HAPPY TRAILS!