The paint crew showed up here again today to renew the faded reddish stain that was applied to the beams and posts almost five years ago. This sort of maintenance is necessary in the desert due to the intense sunlight and extreme temperature changes. Click on the image to enlarge.
We will probably have the whole house repainted within another two years, but we’re good to go for now. We also need to get the roofer out here to inspect and repair the roof as may be necessary. More on that later.
Many of the cholla cacti around the area are in bloom for the second time this season. Some of them did this last year and many of them are at it again.
This cactus flower (click on the image to enlarge) is one of several that opened today on the cholla immediately outside of our courtyard. This is the same cactus where the Curve Billed Thrasher chicks were recently fledged from their nest here.
This is the Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus that we bought in California a long time ago. We had it in a pot out there and transplanted it into the rock and cactus garden shortly after bringing it to Arizona.
It had two flowers open today, which is nice, since the local desert critters think the flower buds are tasty and tend to eat them (see the bud between the two flowers) before they can open. The cactus has natural defenses with all the sharp spikes and rigid “tongues” that abound, but the critters get to the buds, somehow.
I have the same problem with the golden barrel that is planted nearby. We recently took the chicken wire fences away, since the cacti were getting pretty big. We will just have to deal with not having as many flowers, but, as you can see, some of them make it and are pollinated anyway.
Even though the lemon tree in our “orchard” has dozens of lemons on it already this season, there is a whole second wave of lemon blossoms opening in the late spring months. Last fall, we had way too many lemons and I guess that this fall we will again have a bumper crop.
I was out by the RV drive next to the lemon tree and got this photo of a honey bee collecting nectar from the blossoms on the tree. Click on the image to enlarge.
This year, rather than destroying the lemons we are going to use for Limoncello, we will squeeze the lemons and save the juice in ice trays in the freezer to be used later in recipes and for lemonade. We also will donate lots of lemons to the local senior center for lemon pies and lemonade.
The Mama went outside and I couldn’t see her. I went to the Daddy and gave him my worried look because I didn’t know where the Mama went.
The Daddy won’t let me outside without a leash ’cause I run and explore. So, he picked me up and we went looking for the Mama.
We finally found her in back of the house. She took this picture of the Daddy and me when she saw us. Click on us to make us big.
