Dog Days

I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning and was surprised to see so many dogs there.  I saw at least 10 different dogs shopping around with their owners.

I grabbed a few photos but, none of them really were in the mood to pose for me.

Except for this fellow.....

...who when he spotted my camera, got up and gave me a smile.

Recovery and Resiliency

I found a mural dedicated to mental health but, it's in a very difficult location to photograph.  It's on the side of IMHR Epicenter building which is a place offering services related to mental health such as therapy, education, support and medication management.

Most of the mural has a fenced area around it.

With just this one section at the end free of the fence.  The mural was painted by Antonio Pazos with Art Awakenings Artists and it was sponsored by Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care which is a non-profit health plan offering services to those who qualify.

To see more "Monday Murals" click here.

Happy Birthday Julia Child

Julia Child's birthday was August 15, 1912 so she would have been 106 years old this month.  Because of her cooking skills and effervescent personality, she will live forever.  Vincent's on Camelback did a tribute dinner for her this last week using her recipes.  The chef/owner, Vincent Guerithault actually knew Julia Child and she once cooked with him in his kitchen.  The restaurant offered this special dinner for four days last week starting on her birthday.  A friend and I decided to go last Friday evening and we were not disappointed.

There were three courses to the dinner and guests were given a choice of three items for each course. I'll show you the courses I chose.  I started with the French Onion Soup which was superb.  In fact it was better than any French onion soup I've ever had in France!

For my entree I chose the Lemon Sole "Bonne Femme" which was also excellent.  The lemon sauce was rich and tangy and the sole filets were wrapped around fresh spinach and mushrooms.  Yum!

For dessert I had the Cream Puff au Chocolat which was truly delightful but, I could only finish half of it.  Not to worry though, I brought the other half home to eat the next day.

I've featured pictures of the outside of Vincent's and the inside of the Vincent's Bistro before on this blog.  You can see one of those posts here.  Vincent is the only classically trained French Chef in Arizona.  He's won many awards including the James Beard award for best chef in the southwest.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Last week I wrote about a market in Seattle, this week I'll show you a market in Paris.

Rusted and Hiding

Last weekend, I was trying to track down a mural to photograph when I spotted this rusted old card sitting in a driveway, partially hidden by the car in front of it.  It looks like it's all ready for some TLC to bring it back to life.  I hope that's what the owners have in mind.

Arches

There is something about arches that attracts my eye.  Since Spanish style architecture tends to use arches quite a lot, I see many homes with arches built into the facade.  This one emphasizes the arch with three layers.

The one above has used an arched door as the focal point to the home's entrance.

And, to the left is an arched gate in front of home.  I find them all very appealing.

Pink Castle

Four years ago I posted about this place calling it an "empty castle".  Well, it's empty no longer and today I'm calling it the "pink castle".  I was actually surprised last weekend when I drove by this place and saw the color of it.  So surprised that I had to turn around and go back to get a photo.  Check out the link to my old post and let me know what you think.  Does it look better in pink or was it better in that stone look?

Nickel City Baby!

On one of my alternate routes home from work, I pass this store and every time I do I keep telling myself I have got to get a photo of it.  Well, I finally did.  I happened to catch it last Sunday when that man by the door was busy hanging all those mannequins all over the front of the building.  As enticing as it looks, I wasn't tempted to go shopping.

Neighborhood Villas

Over the last weekend, I discovered a very attractive little condo area that I think was called "The Villas".  

It's only one street that wraps around to form a horseshoe, but all the condos have a Spanish style that is very appealing.

I love the balcony on this one.

And, I especially like the pretty glass above each door!  

I Like You

The trees and shrubs surrounding this mural have grown up so much that part of it is hidden from view.  This is actually a two-headed bird and other head has a sort of amorous eye on this head.  Next to the hidden head are the words "I Like You".

This mural was painted by iggy who paints a lot of different birds in murals.

I you would like to see other murals from around the world, click here.

I Recognize Those Ladies...

I recognized these ladies when I spotted them standing in the yard of a home in Paradise Valley.  They appear to the sisters of another group I see all the time at the Heard Museum.

This is one of my favorite sculptures by Doug Hyde.  It's called Intertribal Greeting.  I think these ladies and the ladies in the top photo are all related to each other.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting one of the most famous Farmer's Markets in the U.S.

Grand Entrance

These three Paradise Valley homes have what I'd call "Grand Entrances".  Some might even call them a bit dramatic.

With entrances like these, you would anticipate that the inside is just as grand.

Having never been inside any of these, I can't say for sure.  

The Vigil

This sculpture is at the Heard Museum in that little garden space that I like so much.  Near the back of the garden is this little circular alcove where this large sculpture sits.  It's by Native American artist Doug Hyde and It's called The Vigil - Mountains, Valleys, Mesas.  It shows three different women, each holding what looks like an offering and all standing or sitting on the mountains and mesas.  I like it.

In the Company of Women

I stopped in to see a new exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum called "In the Company of Women".  It features artworks that are currently in the museum's collection but that are all created by women.  The museum staged to show because of recent events including the #MeToo movement and the growing awareness of gender inequality.  Almost all of the pieces in the show were familiar to me.  I've seen them many times before but, I have to admit that in this context they had a greater appeal to me.  I've posted a photo of the unattired fellow above before but, it's been a long time ago.  He's called, strangely enough, "Nude Man" and he was created in ceramics by Viola Frey.

I've gazed upon this piece by Lilianna Porter many times but, for some reason I totally missed the little guy standing on top of the painting.  The piece is called "The Traveler" and since this little guy is obviously the namesake, I was surprised that I had not noticed him before.

This piece is a tapestry/quilt by Faith Ringgold.  It's called "The Bitter Nest #1, Love in the Schoolyard".

This last piece has a profound message.  The artist Angela Ellsworth was raised in the Mormon Church and her great-great-grandfather was the fifth prophet of the church and he had nine wives.  Ellsworth has created nine bonnets, each one with it's own individual design representing each of the wives.  Each one is created with pearl-tipped corsage pins pierced through the bonnet with the sharp ends on the inside.  It's called "Seer Bonnets: A Continuing Offense".

There was a lot to think about in this exhibit and a new way to look at some art that I had seen and enjoyed before.

What Will It Be?

This construction site is not far from where I live and those signs have been up for a long time with nothing on them but the pictures of dogs on one and cats on the other.  There's no other sign to indicate what is going into the building but I'm going to venture a guess that it has something to do with.....let me see, maybe....cats and dogs!  (Sorry about the glare, I shot this through the windshield of the car.)

A Look Inside

I have a few more photos from the tour of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.  These doors open into the Sun Room where the mural I featured yesterday is located.

After viewing the murals, our tour went up to the second level where in one direction, we looked over the full length of the hotel's lobby.  It looks awfully quiet down there at this moment.  It was full of people when the tour ended.

This little alcove is in the opposite direction of where I took the photo above.  Those windows look over the Sun Room.  The guide told us that at one time the glass was gone and this area is where the orchestra would be located when they played for events down in the Sun Room.

A Historic Mural

On the tour of the Arizona Biltmore that I mentioned yesterday, I learned about this mural that has a place of honor inside the Gold Room, a room used for events.  It is the companion piece to another mural that I didn't get a shot of painted by Maynard Dixon.  However, this mural was painted by Dixon's wife, Edit Hamlin.

It's painted on linen so the hotel is careful to protect it.  When they have an event in the room that puts food or drink near the mural, they cover it with plastic so that nothing can splatter on in.

Other "Monday Murals" can be seen here.

Touring the Hotel

Last Friday evening, I joined some friends for a special tour of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.  You might remember that I featured this hotel a few weeks ago when I was posting my 10-year anniversary photos.  The hotel did a special offer of a 45 minute tour and two drinks for $20. so we signed up.  I took the above photo from inside the hotel looking out toward the front.  You can see the backs of the two sprites I featured in my post a couple of weeks ago.

The tour took us into some rooms that I hadn't seen before.  This room has a secret history.  It was where they served drinks during prohibition and you had to know it was there to get in.  Our guide told us some great stories about how the hotel was raided on a regular basis so that everything looked above board however, they had a secret signal that warned them when a raid would happen.  All, no doubt, conveniently arranged.

This room was once the hotel library.  Today it's used as a meeting room and a sort of museum full of historic photographs of the hotel throughout the years.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and will probably do it again sometime in the future.  There must be hundreds of stories to learn about this place.  I have some more photos that I'll post next week.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I found a hidden garden inside a museum in Santa Fe.

"Wagashi"

I think all of my readers know how much I love chocolate so I decided I should tell you about tis great place in Newport Beach that I discovered a few years ago and return to every time I go to California.  It's called Minamoto Kitchoan and it is a Japanese sweets shop.  Japanese sweets are all called "wagashi" and the desserts they sell are all made from healthy ingredients most of which you wouldn't think of as dessert material.  But, they also make some chocolates all filled with fruit pastes and jellies.  Those pictured above are called "Confiture" and they are filled with a variety of fruit fillings.

The square ones are called "Chocolat de Fruits" and they were filled with different fruit pastes.  All of them are simply delicious.  I always treat myself to some when I'm visiting in the area and this time I managed to bring some home with me.

The Beat of the Drums

One last look at the theme of music.  How about some Native American drums?  

I found these beauties at one of the many Native American celebrations that take place at the Heard Museum.  

Music was a great theme for our August 1st expression!

Do I Hear Bells?

Here is another post on the theme of music.  I thought I'd show you some of the many Cosanti bells that can be found at Paolo Soleri's Cosanti in Paradise Valley.  Soleri passed away in 2013 but his foundation and wind bells live on.  The sale of the bells helps to support his foundation and school of architecture.

The bells come in a variety of sizes from very small to very large.

They really are beautiful and have such wonderful tone.  I have one on  my balcony.