Over the past few days, three of these beautiful cereus cactus flowers opened up. I moved the cactus to the patio where the critters can’t come and eat the flower buds. A lesson learned from last year. Click on the image to enlarge.
Home & Garden
First Courtyard Red Bird Flower
The Red Bird of Paradise (a.k.a. Pride of Barbados) have been blooming all over town for over a month now. My red birds are less mature and seem to take a little longer to develop these beautiful flowers. But, they are starting to open and should be producing flowers well into second spring. Click on the image to enlarge.
Courtyard Cacti
My prickly pear clippings that we brought from California last February have really taken off. This year, there does not seem to be as much damage from rabbits and squirrels as happened last year to the old clipping I brought.
This guy, who resembles Mickey Mouse waving to someone, is just about ready to go into the cactus garden across the little wash. I hope that this and some lawyers-tongue cacti will give us a nice border between our lot and the neighbors to the west. Click on the image to enlarge.
Umbrella for the Grill
When the mercury hits to 110° and above, it is nigh unto foolish to stand in the sun while grilling our special summer meals. Pursuant to that notion, we acquired a new patio umbrella to block out the sun’s midsummer desert heat rays. It worked great as we enjoyed cooking and then eating today’s tenderloin steaks and the accompanying side dishes.
Tiny Cactus Flower
For the second year in Arizona, the little cactus we brought from California has grown a new paddle and a new flower on the end of the paddle. I took this photo this morning after the flower opened for the first time. Click on the image to enlarge.
Desert Spiny Lizard
I flushed this Desert Spiny Lizard the other morning when loading some aluminum cans into the truck. The lizard didn’t scurry under a rock right away, so I was able to get this shot of it still on the rocks where the bags with cans had been.
We have seen it several times since hiding near the compost where it (presumably) eats insects attracted to the heap. Cabela tries to give chase to the lizard when going out for a walk, but we don’t let her.
