Cactus

This lovely couple from our church brought us all these cacti from their yard and planted them for us right after we moved here 18 years ago. Bessie was known as the cactus lady. She was a real cactus expert. She passed away several years ago. These two people were really special to us.

The tallest cactus is a little saguaro. They grow very very slowly but they grow very very big and very very old. In the next picture you can see how much it grew in 18 years. Not a lot. The two barrel cacti have gotten almost as big as the saguaro. Some of the other varieties are gone now. One of the totem poles grew so high that it blew over and broke during a monsoon.

In the Back Yard

This rose bush behind the pool wasn't blooming when the picture in yesterday's post was taken. It is really pretty now. Roses do well here in the spring and fall and even winter. In the summer when it gets really hot, they get really stressed out. There are less blooms and they are much smaller. But the poor little bush struggles through the summer and revives again when it gets cooler. This is an ocotillo plant in the corner. I think it is pretty when it gets these orange blooms out on the end. The birdbath in the left corner was in our backyard in California for many years. We've been here 18 years, so it is getting pretty old. Soon I can call it my antique birdbath. I guess a lot of things around here are getting to be antique - including me. In the right hand corner is a bouganvilla. It will soon look like it does in the picture below. It would take over the whole area if you let it. We have to keep cutting it back. It freezes and looks terrible in the winter, but in the summer it never gets too hot for it. The hotter it gets the more it thrives.

This picture was taken years ago. The cacti are much larger now. Sometime today I'll go out and take a picture and post it tomorrow.

Lets Go Outside

I didn't post anything yesterday because I wanted Sunday's post to be at the top. If you haven't visited my blog in a few days, I hope you will go to the link provided there and check it out.

Come outside with me before the weather gets too hot. It got up to about 96 degrees yesterday. It really was very nice. We think it is hot here when it gets over 110. Anyway, I thought I would take you out in the back yard for a little visit. Here are a few pictures.

The water in the pool is still too cold to get in (for me at least). About another month and it will be great. What I like to do is get on a floater and float around - very relaxing. And when you get too hot, splash on some water. I hope you've enjoyed our little tour.

Lets Open Our Eyes

I highly recommend that you click on the following site Our Eyes Are Open. We do need to open our eyes. I think this is extremely important.

The Other Side of the Room

Before we leave the guest room, I thought I'd show you the side of the room you haven't seen yet. The baby pictures on the wall are pictures of our daughter and son. Don't people usually say "son and daughter"? Probably, but our daughter is the oldest, so she gets first mention.

Friday Show & Tell

This week I’ve been focusing on our guest room. Today for Show & Tell, I wanted to share a couple of things in that room with you.

I wanted to share this framed, Oh what would you call it? Maybe a statement? The words are too small to read in the picture, so I typed them here for you. I love this little figurine of the two little friends. I posted it a few days ago, but decided to put it here as well.

Friendship
There’s a Miracle called
Friendship
That dwells within
The heart and you don’t know
How it happens
Or when it gets its start…
But the happiness it brings you
Always gives a special lift,
And you realize that
Friendship…
Is God’s most
Precious gift!

This mink teddy bear was made by a dear friend in California. She gave it to me just before we left there to move here. She made it from an old mink coat. It is really special to me because she thought enough of me to give it to me. I put the lace collar on the bear. Now that I look at the picture, I think it looks a little silly. I really need to remove it. I’m on my way right now to do just that.

Thank you for visiting my Show & Tell. You can go over to Kelli’s place for a list of people who are participating in S & T today. There are always a lot of interesting things there to see. Click on the Show & Tell picture at the top of this post to go there directly.

If you came here via Kelli’s S & T and are interested in other items in our guest room, (dolls, figurines, pillow, Victoria magazines) click HERE to go to my main page.

Victoria Magazines

More guest room stuff:


Guess where I keep all my back copies of Victoria magazine? That's right. In the closet in the guest room. I think I probably have every issue that came out. We have gotten lots of magazines through the years, but Victoria is the only one I have kept. I was so glad when they started printing Victoria again a few months ago. Of course I got a subscription to it. Magazine to the left is the March 2001 issue. I just picked one out of the closet at random to photograph. One thing about Victoria magazines, they never go out of style. Looking at one that's 15 years old is just like looking at a new issue.

Candlewicking

I learned to embroidery when I was about 7 years old. I started crocheting about the same time. I didn't even know about candlewicking until, let me see, I guess it was when I was in my 30s. I was so impressed with the look of it - white on white - that I had to try it. I made this one pillow that is now in our guest room. Here is a picture.

Guest Room

Today I want to share these items in our guest room. By now you know how much I like little figurines, knick knacks, etc.

The two little girls sits on the dresser.

The little Precious Moments figure in front of a picture of hubby is on the bedside table.

Of course I had to have at least one of the dolls I made in the guest room. This is Joy. This picture was taken quite a while ago. She wears glasses now. Should have taken a new picture of her. I think she looks better with glasses.

An Update on My Friend In Tennessee

This is an update on my friend Dorothy who had a kidney removed on April 3. She went home today. She said all went well. A lot of people were praying for her including a lot of my blogging friends. I want to thank all of you out there who added your prayers for her. God does answer prayers. Although God certainly does answer the prayers of just one person, I always think the more prayers the better.

Another Great Sunday

Today is turning out to be another fantastic Sunday. We had a guest speaker at church this morning. He is not a regular preacher - he is an economist who is a member of our church. He started out by saying he knows how disappointed we all were that the regular preacher wasn't there (it wasn't announced beforehand). He started his sermon by relating a story of a time when he spoke at an economic convention in Hawaii. Alan Greenspan was to be the speaker, but he was ill and unable to be there, so when it was announced that he would take his place, he said there was a collective sigh like letting the air out of a whole bunch of balloons. I don't know if those people were disappointed, but I know our church was not disappointed. He had a wonderful sermon.

After church we went to a huge new Whole Foods store that recently opened up near our home. We ate lunch there (pizza & salad) out at the tables in front of the store. Thought we'd better do that now before it gets too hot. It was beautiful today. Our daughter was with us which made it extra special. After we ate, we went back into the store and while my husband scouted out the hamburger buns and potato chips, I stayed in the front by the bakery section. I couldn't resist buying this little mini raspberry cheese cake and coconut cream pie. I placed the teaspoon in the picture to show the size comparison. I had never seen a mouse on a cheese cake before.

The picture below looks good enough to eat, but I wouldn't try it. It's almond soap. It smelled so yummy that I bought it for our guest bathroom. I also picked this item up while I was waiting for hubby to accomplish his mission.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the day. The Suns and Diamondbacks are both playing this afternoon and the kids are coming over for hamburgers this evening. Life is good.

Recommendation

Today I am going to recommend that you go to Nannykim's blog to view a trailer for a new documentary that Ben Stein has made. It is about how Science doesn't allow questioning of Darwinist theories---and what happens when you do. Click here to go to her blog Nannykim