Who Are You?

 

 I couldn't resist getting a photo of this cute little cactus wren I saw sitting on a wall.  When I raised the camera, he looked right at me as if to say "who are you and what do you want"?  

Luckily, the sight of my camera pointing his way didn't deter him from his wall-top observations.

He stayed put long enough for me to get three shots of him as he took stock of his surroundings.  These little birds are always busy either building nests or looking for food.  It's fun to see one sitting still for a change.

Children's Art

 

I went inside the very busy Western Spirit Museum with the goal of seeing how the new addition to the museum had changed the layout.  I got stopped in my tracks by an exhibit of student art work that the museum had commissioned at schools across the state.  The talent in these young people was very uplifting to see.

The above is a colored pencil drawing by Camila Aguilar Fiedler, a 5th grade student.

To the left is a water color by Piper Frost, a 6th grade student.

The piece above is a watercolor by Adeline Solomon a 4th grader. 

To the left is a watercolor and pencil piece by Everly Askew who is in the 6th grade.

This young 11th grade artist appears to be channeling her inner " Piet Mondrian" with this color-blocked piece.  Angelica Harrison did this one with color markers.

It's a joy to see so much young talent on display inside the museum.  

Theme Day: Entertainment

 

The Western Spirit Museum of Scottsdale hosted a big opening recently after an addition was added to the museum.  I caught these shots of some of the entertainment taking place in front of the museum.  

First we have a singing cowboy and the fellow to the left was showing some rope tricks.  

Some true west entertainment for this City Daily Photo Bloggers theme day.  To see more entertainment from other bloggers, click here.

Majestic Animals

 

I heard that the Budweiser Clydesdales were going to be at the local Total Wine shop on Sunday so I decided I should be there to get some photos.  What I didn't expect to see was a horse inside the store.  Because of this horrible heat wave we've been having here, it was simply too hot to line up the horses outside for two hours.  So they brought one horse at a time inside the store to be admired by one and all.

I didn't stay to watch them switch the horses but I did drive around to the back of the store to see the huge, air-conditioned truck waiting to transport them to different locations.  I do wonder where this group lives most of the time.

The Desert's Garden

 

This mural made of tiles is found in front of the Scottsdale City Hall.  It was created by Tami Lynch-Forrest and depicts the flora and fauna of the desert.

There is a large water fountain in front of the mural but thankfully, that water spray does not reach the mural.  A constant spray of water would not be good for those tiles.  

Taking part in Monday Murals

Habitat for Humanity Event

 

My close friend David is the Development Director for Habitat for Humanity here in Arizona and Friday night was their annual fund-raising dinner held at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.  I snapped the above photo as we gathered at our table before the tasty dinner and entertainment began.

David has been the development director for the past four years and I've always donated things for the silent auction.  This time is was that framed photo of a castle in Italy along with some smaller art works I had around the house.

The theme of this annual event is Blue Prints and Blue Jeans and guests are encouraged to wear blue jeans or other denim attire.  I always love seeing how people dress up those every day blue jeans.

It was a great evening mixed with good friends in a party atmosphere while supporting an incredibly good cause.

A View From Above

 

I forgot that I had these photos that my friends Julie and Dave sent me back in mid-February.  They were returning from a trip to Venice and had to change planes in London.  Dave got an unusually clear view of London as the plane was making its approach to land. In this shot you can clearly see Tower Bridge and all those interesting and tall buildings in the "the city".  You can also see London Bridge train station in the lower left and The Shard tower pointing to the sky.

In this shot you can see The Shard all the way to the right and in the center you can see St. Paul's Cathedral and its beautiful dome.

In this shot you can see the London Eye to the top right and near the center the Houses of Parliament with Big Ben on one end.

In the very center of this shot you can see Buckingham Palace bordered by Green Park to the north and St. James Park to the right.

As many times as I've flown in and out of London, I have never seen it clear enough to get photos like these.  These are superb.  Thanks for sharing them Dave!

Kay WalkingStick

 

When I was at the Heard Museum last Saturday, I took another look at the exhibit called Kay WalkingStick/Hudson River School.  I wrote about it on January 24th.  WalkingStick is a Cherokee artist who paints natural scenes combined with abstract and Native American symbols and she paints canvases that compliment each other like the two above.  The paintings above are called "Late Summer on the Ramapo".  

This one is called "July Low Water".  It has such a summer look to it like what you would see standing on the edge of a pond or stream.

This one is called "Aquidneck Cliffs" and is her painting of the cliffs on Aquidneck Island.  

I'm glad I took another look at this exhibit.  Along with the beauty of the paintings, I learned about places in the east that I had not heard of before.

What Does It Mean?

 

I spotted this sticker pasted to a light pole in a parking lot and the eagle caught my eye.  That is the symbol or trademark for the U. S. Postal Service.  Normally, it would say U.S. Mail.  Why it says "Moist" is a mystery to me.

I tried doing several searches online to find a reason for the sticker but got no useful results.  One explanation said something about stickers being made for water bottles and laptops and another just said it was a parody. But why?  Obviously it cost someone to create the thing so my question remains, why and what purpose does it serve? 

Maybe it's a joke that I just don't get.

Spring Party Pics

 

I have a few more photos from the party I wrote about yesterday.  Here we have guests beginning to arrive and gathering around the food table in their spring floral finest.

More guests gathering in the living room to prepare for some entertainment.

Some very lovely entertainment.  Riley is a pianist who coaches opera singers.  One of his singers sang three beautiful arias to entertain the group.

                                                                                                                                                                           

   After the majority of guests had left, the dogs came out to entertain the few remaining.  I only captured Kasper (above).  The two little ones were busy chasing each other to burn off all that built up energy.                     

Celebrating the Vernal Equinox

 

My close friends David and Riley had a party this last Sunday to celebrate the vernal equinox,  The party was in the form of an afternoon tea with traditional tea fare and as the invitation put it, "a plethora of liquid refreshments". Guests were encouraged to wear florals for spring which complimented all the flowers scattered around the house.

One bouquet featured pretty yellow roses.

Another bouquet was filled with a variety of pretty blooms.

A vase of sunflowers were surrounded by copies of the invitation that was sent to the guests.

It turned out to be a wonderful event with lots of people in attendance all dressed in their spring attire.  

I haven't enjoyed myself that much at a party since the last party David and Riley hosted.  They are the ultimate party hosts!

More photos tomorrow.

It's the Season of Yellow

 

It's that time of year when the palo verde trees are blooming like crazy and covering the everything in a blanket of yellow.  They are a sign of spring and a warning of the hot summer to come.  It actually feels like the hot summer has arrived with record temperatures above the 100 degree mark this last week.  

I took this photo at a restaurant called Ocotillo.  I knew they had an entrance that was lined with palo verde trees so I stopped there to catch a photo.  You can't see this entrance from the street so I had no idea just how yellow it would be.  I was surprised by the intensity of the color.  

The View Out the Window

 

I was at the Heard Museum yesterday for another "Artful Mornings" event and since I was there, I stopped in the gift shop to see what new things might be on display.  But before I even started looking, I was drawn to this window.  I found the view of the cactus outside the window and that red wall to frame it irresistible. There is something about a red wall that catches my eye every time.

There were a lot of new things in the shop but I think this might have been my favorite.  I always like Roxanne Swentzell's work but this little duo was just so sweet.  It's too expensive for me to buy but I can photograph it for free.

At the Artful Mornings event, a curator talked about a new show that will open in April and I can't wait to see it.  The concept for the show is so unique.  I'll tell you about it when I see the show.

Relaxing in the Garden

 

I was at my friend Glenda's house Thursday evening and we were sitting in her back garden enjoying the warmth after a very hot day.  We topped out at 106 degrees according to the radio.  Simply crazy weather. When her garden lights came on, I couldn't resist a photo of that lovely setting.

Another Trip Down Memory Lane

 

Here is another very old photograph that brings back pleasant memories.  This photo was taken in the summer of 1985 on my very first trip to Europe.  The first stop was London and while walking along the streets near my hotel which was close to Hyde Park, I caught sight of a blacksmith at work. What a surprise that was seeing someone shoeing horses in the middle of a very big city.  I remember the hotel was called Royal Eagle and it was on Craven Road but I don't know this exact location. It could be Bathurst Mews judging from a few photos I found on a Google search.

Today this would be gentrified and full of expensive flats.

 I thought this old photo was a perfect candidate for some artistic expression.  A little photo editing magic and it looks like an artist's sketch.

Oh What Memories!

 

This photo sums up a unique experience perfectly.  It was taken in 1986 in Vancouver Canada.  Here's the story behind this image.  In the summer of 1986 I and a few others attended a national conference in Seattle Washington.  None of us had ever been to a world expo and the 1986 World Expo was taking place in Vancouver.  We decided to add a visit there after the conference.  We asked a local travel agent to find us tickets and accommodations.  Because the event was so popular, the agent was having trouble finding a hotel but finally found cabins available on two decommissioned ships that had been put into use to accommodate the needs of tourists.  What we didn't know was that the ships had been decommissioned some 20 to 30 years ago.  The doorway above leads to our cabin which was about the size of my current walk-in closet.  It had two bunkbeds and the person in the top bunk could not sit up without bumping the ceiling.  We were only there for two nights so we just made it work and it gave us something to laugh about to this day.  

I remember taking this photo of the broken deck chairs thinking that it summed up our "cruise ship" experience perfectly.  

The colors had started fading on this photo before I got it scanned for preservation. 

Three Flowers From the Past

 

I'm sharing three more photos from that "Favorites" file in my Photos app on my Mac.  In the photo above, I captured a bee already laden with pollen sitting on top of an echinacea bloom.  This photo dates back to 2010.

This is a photo of a blanket flower standing tall with a background of purple flowers.  This one was taken at the Desert Botanical Garden back in 2013.

This last one was also taken in 2013 this time in Newport Beach California.  When I visit California, I'm always on the lookout for a perfect bird of paradise bloom.  They can be found almost everywhere in southern California and I simply love their exotic look.  I caught this one with the sun shining on it but the background heavily shaded giving it an almost black background.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

My chiropractor's office got in the St. Patrick's Day mood with lots of green items placed around the waiting area.  Here's hoping you enjoy the day with or without a glass of green beer.

And if you get a chance, kiss an Irishman (or lady) as suggested by these throw pillows I saw in a shop window.  

For the United Valley

 

I discovered a new mural on the back side of the Park Central complex.  It's full of color and features lots of happy faces.

The first time I spotted it, the artist, Liliana Mora was still working on it even though it looked nearly done.

I went back yesterday to have a second look.  The mural was commissioned by the Valley of the Sun United Way who have their offices in that building. It's a lovely way to celebrate the work they do.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

School Cloister

 

I love the symmetry of a nice cloistered walkway so whenever I see one, I try to take photographs that will emphasized those repeating patterns.  The Brophy College Preparatory School has a very nice cloistered walkway.  I stopped there recently to get a few photos.

One photo taken from the outside and another photo taken in the shade of the covered walkway.  

Of course, there are other elements that add to the ambiance of the school.  A nice fountain near the walkway adds the sound of bubbling water.

All those beautiful features are enhanced by an equally lovely bell tower on the top of the building.  This Spanish Colonial Revival styled building has been a landmark on Central Avenue in Phoenix since 1928.