Arizona

We drove to Mike’s place in Congress today, to check on the progress of our custom courtyard gate. When we saw the progress, we were very pleased with what we saw. Mike had finished carving the Native American images in the wood. Some of the saguaro ribs were in place with the rest of them to be installed (probably) tonight.

You can see the bear image in the foreground, the image of Kokopelli to the right of the bear and the kachina image above both. At the top of the gate, just above where the saguaro ribs are going to be installed, is the carved image of a quail (not visible). Click on the image to enlarge.

We made a deal and signed a landscaping proposal yesterday. That afternoon, a dump truck brought 50 tons of river rock and another 50 tons of Sedona red crushed rock. The former will go on the slopes around the front part of the lot and the latter will cover the flat places and the RV driveway. Eight more tons of quarter-inch gravel will cover the non-paved portions of the courtyard and dog run.

Verna’s image – River rock on slope behind a trimmed-up native palo verde – inset is the Sedona red rock – click on the image to enlarge

This morning, the landscape crew showed up and immediately started clearing off the area, installing the irrigation system, removing unwanted vegetation and trimming up those trees and shrubs we want to keep. This afternoon, they began placing the river rock on the sloped areas. When they left this afternoon, the front yard had been transformed from scruffy to presentable.

We drove down to the Phoenix Metro Area today to do some furniture shopping. We have gone furniture shopping before but haven’t seen anything we liked. I mentioned that we were going to do our interior with a southwestern theme to the man that installed our shutters. He has a friend and associate that handles a lot of the southwestern styles, so we drove down to Mesa to check him out.Southwestern Sofa – click on the image to enlarge

We found several pieces that we liked and placed the order. In all, we bought a dining room set, a sofa and love seat, a coffee table with matching end tables, two southwestern style table lamps and a sofa table.

Next week, we’re going to shop for bedroom sets for the master suite and office – we already have queen bed for the guest bedroom but need a headboard and night stands. Stay tuned!