Verna

February Decorations

February DecorationsIt’s February again and that means it is time to decorate for Valentine’s Day! This is the mailbox down by the road in front of the house. I used red and white plastic flowers and a heart-shaped wreath to adorn it.

The mailbox is set into an old milk can and stuck into the ground with concrete stabilizing things. I stuck the flower stems down into the can and fastened the wreath to one of the handles on the milk can. I also have a heart-shaped Mylar balloon that I was going to add in the mix, but it broke away from the stick it was mounted to. I’ll glue them together and add the balloon decoration soon.

Now, neighbors and visitors to the neighborhood will see the decorations appropriate to the season. Next month, I will place some nice spring flowers in the can. Click on the image to enlarge.

It’s Almost Wintertime And The Bees Are Still Buzzing

Cactus Flowers and a Bee

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are less than two weeks from the official start of winter. Regardless of that fact, and the unusually colder weather happening everywhere else in the country, here in Wickenburg, we are enjoying our usual mild temperatures with highs in the 60’s or 70’s.

This Bishop’s Cap Cactus in the courtyard had a couple of open flowers today. I took this photo of the cactus while a bee was browsing for pollen. The cacti aren’t the only source for pollen in as much as the Rosemary shrubs behind the RV Drive still are producing flowers. You can see the bees browsing them as well.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Nice Arizona Sunset Colors

Nice Arizona Sunset Colors

We finally got some decent rain yesterday when a monsoon emptied its thunderstorms in the area. We went all summer without a monsoon and finally, on the first day of autumn, we got a couple of inches of precipitation. In the aftermath today, we had some winds and a few clouds, some of which gathered to our west just as the sun was setting. I took the photo above from the courtyard with our front yard mesquite tree silhouetted against the colorful sky. Click on the image to enlarge.

Iolite and Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Earrings

Iolite and Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Earrings

According to the Anniversary Gemstone List, the gemstone for our 21st anniversary is Iolite, a purplish stone with a medium rarity. I found these earrings which are composed of 4 iolite stones (each) and three (each) Sleeping Beauty Turquoise facets. Stirling silver decorative metalwork holds them together. Very Pretty – Click on the image to enlarge.

Our anniversary is still almost a week away and by then, we should have an iolite, peridot and blue topaz ring to complete the set. More pix to come.

Last Desert Sun Ray of the Day

Last Desert Sun Ray

The last sun ray of the afternoon shone through some of the natural desert vegetation on the west side of the house just before the sun went behind the hill over that way. There wasn’t a lot of pastel colors or any brilliant desert sunset, but a nice, mellow sepia-like photo portraying the brief event before fading to dark.

We had a great trip home from our August vacation to Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. It was a lot of fun and we accomplished our objective of setting memorials on the graves of some of our ancestors. We came away with a good feeling.

Southwestern Rose

Southwestern Rose

Our current location is in Albuquerque, NM. We’re in a nice campground west of the main part of town where we have a nice view of the Sandia Mountain Ridge to the east. In camp, there are several rose bushes. I took the above photo of one of the nicer roses open today.

We will be going west from here tomorrow setting up camp at Holbrook, back in our Home State of Arizona. On the next day, we will be back home in Wickenburg.

Click on the image to enlarge.