"How time flies" is an understatement in this case!

WOW, it's been SIX long months since my last entry!

I have only excuses, not reasons. The only reason is plain laziness. The excuses are many. The two main ones are:

1. This summer here in Tucson was a real pain. Very hot and a long one. It was in the high 90's just a couple of days ago. I had shut off the central AC for the winter in the latter days of September and was not about to turn it on again. I can be stubborn that way, even if inside the house it was about 92 degrees. I just turned on a fan and opened the window in whichever room I was in.

2. Excuse number two is that since August I've been moving all my jewelry from Earthly Creations into my craft shop Arizona Skies. I see no reason having two shops in Etsy.com since jewelry and crafts are fairly similar. This started out as a hobby, turned into an obsession, and now I've relegated it back into a hobby status. After the holidays I will also close my shops at Dawanda and 1000Markets and then keep Arizona Skies as my official "outlet of creativity".

So, hopefully, now that my favorite season is here at last, Autumn/Winter, I will be more inclined to write in this blog. Perhaps twice a week? We'll see.

My newest creation, a pair of earrings that remind me of a frozen winter.

The time flies

Wow, how time flies! I had no idea it's been 12 days since my last post.

I can truly say I've been working, though. Last year it rained so much in the spring that my backyard was overrun with weeds. I was overwhelmed and did what ostriches are supposed to do, I buried my head in the sand of denial and refused to do anything about it. This year I resolved that I wanted to reclaim my pretty and tidy back yard, tend to my neglected plants, and sit again in my back porch to eat a lunch or sip coffee and watch the wildlife (mostly birds) enjoy my little spot of earth.

It's all done and mentally I feel proud of myself. Physically, every muscle of my body aches. But, it's a good ache, like when you've just worked out at the gym. Sore, but proud of yourself for taking control of your body and your life.

Here are before and after photos of a portion of the backyard =

Recipe

Did I say in my last post that I was feeling lazy today? I changed my mind. Make it LAZY LAZY LAZY!!!

So here's a recipe for you to assuage my feelings of unworthiness. Heh heh!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM BREAD

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1/2 cup dairy sour cream, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh strawberries
3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts, if desired (I use untoasted)

Grease an 8x4 loaf pan; set aside. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In small bowl of electric mixer, cream butter. Gradually add sugar, beat one minute or until light and airy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in sour crean and vanilla. Stir onto flour mixture only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in strawberries and nuts. Turn into prepared pan, smooth top. Bake 60-65 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand in pan 10 minutes, tun out onto a rack to cool. Makes one loaf.

** Although the title says "bread", I treat it like a dessert and have a slice with my coffee. Yummy!

Flickr account

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arizonaskies/

I'm a born procrastinator. It's been "ages" since I've been wanting to sign up and open an account at Flickr. Somehow I never found the time. Today I feel kind of lazy and decided to open the Flickr account so that I can honestly say I accomplished something. I love taking photos and some of them are quite nice, so why not share them?

It wasn't so bad, even a tech idiot like me was able to set it up and upload 11 photos. Next I have to learn how to contact groups I'd be interested in and add them as contacts. The internet is a lovely and educational resource, but it sure sucks up a lot of time in your life. On the other hand, I would never want to go back to a life without the internet.

My backyard Hummingbird

When I bought this house three years ago my main aim for my backyard, besides being a visual delight, was to make a cool and green haven for birds but especially hummingbirds. I planted many plants that appeal to them, but my one (or two?) little green hummer is only interested in the yellow tube flowered Chuparosa (Justicia Californica). I even read that they liked the red flowered one and I planted one but he still wants nothing but the yellow flowered one.


This morning I was filling a bucket with water to water a newly transplanted Salvia Coccinea and suddenly he was hovering over the running stream of water. He got close to it and drank, just a little, but then he is a very tiny little fellow. Just the nectar from the flowers is probably enough to sustain him. He was SO close to my left hand, I wanted to put out my finger and encourage him to perch on it. But, I was afraid I would frighten him so was just happy to observe him. Once he perched on the hose to rest, three inches from the spout and perhaps eight inches from my hand. I felt flattered that he trusted me.

I saw pictures of a woman with a red hummer feeder in the palm of her hand and four hummers perching on its rim. I also heard of a woman whose hummer came every spring and summer for five years and would perch on her shoulder as she sat on her porch. I just think they're adorable.

An ironic seven year old boy

My grandson Jake is 7 1/2 years old. It never ceases to amaze me some of the comments he makes about life. But, I never thought he could be ironic at his age. When he visited on Friday night he drew me some sketches. One of them was of a man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth while wearing a T-shirt with a no-smoking decal. On the man's arms are tattoos of skulls. Something to remember for parents who puff away while telling their kids not to smoke. The irony and hypocrisy is not lost on their children, even 7 year old kids are aware of it. I don't know why Jake made the drawing since neither I nor his parents smoke. I'm saving the drawing to show him when he's older.

The smell of the Desert after a rain

When I first moved to the Southwest I learned to love the distinctive odor of the desert after a rainfall. It had a strong, musty odor. Some people love that smell, others hate it. I couldn't figure out why the rain smelled that way and assumed it was the rain drops hitting the dry sandy soil. Then eventually I found out the smell came from the raindrops hitting the leaves of the Creosote Bush (Larrea Tridentata). I could even smell the rain falling far away and knew the rain was coming my way.

I always wanted to have one in my backyard garden, to make sure I could smell the rain when it fell. Sometimes I tire of waiting for the rare desert rains and just throw a bucket of water on my plant so that I can smell it. As a result it has grown fast and bigger than the desert plants that have to wait for the rains.



The Creosote bush is one of the most common desert plants and helps to make the southwest desert look green. It is extremely drought tolerant and adapted to the desert. It will shed most of its waxy, resinous leaves but not all during extreme drought. It competes for the available water with other plants and usually wins. Creosote lives a long time, some plants are thought to be over 11,000 years old.

Since the leaves contain many anti-herbivory resinous compounds, the plant is seldom eaten by grazing animals of any kind. The plant itself is visited by many bees for its pollen, but it is not a good source of nectar. Burrowing animals dig holes around the base of the plant and use these during the heat of the day and then emerge to forage at night. Snakes,spiders, and scorpions sometimes use these holes.

According to Desertusa.com :
This medium-to-large evergreen shrub has numerous flexible stems projecting at an angle from its base. It is usually less than 4 feet high, but can grow to 12-foot heights with abundant water. Its small (1/4 to 1/2 inches), pointed, yellow-green leaves have adapted to conserve water and dissipate heat. The bush may lose some of these waxy, resinous leaves during extreme drought, but never loses them all. These leaves are especially pungent after a rain, and have been used as antiseptics and emetics by native peoples. Its foliage provides refuge for crickets, grasshoppers and praying mantids.

The Creosote Bush is NOT the source of the commercial creosote used to preserve wood and other uses.

Below is a photo of my "baby" Creosote in 2006. They are hard to transplant so I bought a nursery specimen.