Love Pink

Laundry day!

More Palo Verde Trees

The blooming Palo Verde Trees are so gorgeous right now that I couldn't help posting one more shot of them.  This is an office building that has four trees gracing the sidewalk leading to the building.

Here you see the Tovrea Castle framed by a pair blooming in the foreground.
Sorry about so many Tovrea Castle photos lately.  It seems like the only place I get to visit lately since I've been training docents and leading tours in addition to my normal job.  I have today off so I'll find something new to show you tomorrow.

Palo Verde

The Palo Verde tree is the state tree of Arizona and right now, they are blooming all over the city.  The beautiful yellow blooms and the green branches make such an eye-pleasing combination.  When the wind blows, you can see the tiny petals of the yellow flowers falling like rain all around the tree and creating a yellow carpet on the ground below.

Tovrea Castle at Night

I mentioned several months ago that one day I'd show you a view of the Tovrea Castle at night and I finally got one to show you.  It's not the best yet.  It was a spur of the moment thing and I just balanced the camera on a wall.  Someday I'll get out there at night with a tripod and get some really interesting shots.

Tucson Architecture

When I was in Tucson last Friday for the golf tournament, I saw this beautiful home while I was riding on the golf course.  I thought it had a quintessential Tucson style!

Old West

After David and I conducted the morning tour at Tovrea Castle last Sunday, we stopped in to the Stockyards Restaurant for lunch.  I featured the Stockyards Restaurant last year in this post.  Boy were we surprised when we opened the door and saw the place full of cowboys and saloon girls.  We were told the restaurant was closed while they were filming in the historic bar of the restaurant.  I asked if I could snap a couple of quick pictures and they said okay but, they weren't about to pose for me.  So, I just snapped a couple of quick shots and got out of their way.

I have no idea what they were filming for but, they couldn't have found a better location for an old west bar scene.

Color at the Castle

On Saturday, my close friend David and I trained a class of docents who will be conducting tours at the Tovrea Castle that I've mentioned many times before.  In spite of the unseasonal heat, there were a lot of wonderful cactus blooms to enhance the scenery.  Here you see prickly pear blooms on the hillside next to the castle.

And another set of gorgeous blooms were a surprise that waited right next to the castle.

And to top it all off, the Saguaro Cactus were blooming all over the property.  It was a delight to see and a special treat for our guests that day.

Concert in the garden

To continue my busy weekend saga, I rushed back to Phoenix last Friday after spending the day in Tucson so that I could help Julie and Dave with their wonderful dinner party to support the Phoenix Symphony.  The party was one of the "Parties of Note" series in support of the Phoenix Symphony.  It is described as dinner and musical entertainment at a private home or space that features world class art collections, stunning views, and beautiful gardens.  Julie and Dave have a beautiful home that is filled with art they have collected from all over the world on their many travels.

You can tell from the smiles on the faces of the guests that they are enjoying the four violinists in the top photo.  It was a perfect night for the event.

Here is a close up of the beautiful table decorations.

What a view

What a busy, busy week and weekend I've had.  On Friday, I spent the morning and early afternoon in Tucson to attend a work related golf tournament.  As you might guess from these photos, I was a bit impressed by the fantastic views on the El Conquistador Golf Course.  My group drove back to Phoenix just in time for me to change clothes to get to a fantastic party at the beautiful home of my good friends Julie and Dave.  You might know them as Julie of Scottsdale Daily Photo and Dave of Costa Rica Daily Photo.  I promise to post a photo or two from that event tomorrow.

Saturday morning I trained docents for the Tovrea Castle all day.  We end the first day of training with a tour of the Castle and grounds.  With a temperature soaring to 100 degrees ( 38c), the day was a bit more of a challenge than usual.  Toasty would be too mild of a word to describe this heat.  As I write this, I'm still cooling down with lots of water.

Sunday morning, I'll be out at the Castle again conducting the morning tour.  Thank goodness the mornings aren't too bad ......yet.

I hope I can get this to post correctly today.  None of my scheduled posts have worked this week.  Now that I have this new dashboard, I'm crossing my fingers that it will solve the problem but, since my preview post has the wrong date and time on it, I'm not holding my breath.

And, it didn't work once again.  Anybody know what I'm doing wrong?  The schedule section has the correct date and time and it's in the post list as "scheduled".  Why isn't it working?

Headed downtown

If you are headed into downtown Phoenix from the south, you have to pass under the railroad tracks through this old viaduct.  These days, Central Avenue is a one way street in the downtown area.  Years ago this was a two-way street with a little tunnel for each lane of traffic.

Downtown

Downtown high-rise buildings at dusk.

Stand Out

This building really stands out against it's neighbors.  I'm wondering if they could do something artistic with those necessary pipes and valves.

A background of clouds

Last Saturday, the weather cooled down a bit and we had lots of wind and lots of clouds.  Big white puffy clouds always entice me to get out with the camera and even though I didn't have much time to spare, I drove around town for an hour or so looking for interesting subjects to place against the sky.  I thought this old fashioned, country style church was a perfect for the job.

Quiet Night

Okay, this is the last one in my series from the Arts and Flowers exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum.  The painting is called "Quiet Night" by Lew Davis.  I thought this arrangement  was very attractive and quite clever.  It's hard to see but, there is a thin plate of glass coming up from the center of the silver box and a real flower has been fashioned in the center of the glass in a circle to resemble the circle in the center of the painting.

Here is a closer look.  I think this one is pretty ingenious and would make a lovely centerpiece.

Nun's Shield

This floral designer was inspired by a very small piece called "Escudo de monja" or "Nun's Shield.  I actually liked this floral arrangement on it's own and would very much like to create an arrangement just like this.  I love the cluster of roses surrounded by the lilies and those round pom-pom -like flowers.  It would look great sitting in the middle of my dining room table.

Here's a closer view.

Gift Bearers

This painting by Philip C Curtis inspired another floral artist last year.  In fact, I featured it here.
This interpretation is a little different.  Each little cluster of flowers represents the gifts the men are holding in the painting.  I'm a big fan of Philip C Curtis who was from Arizona and helped found the Phoenix Art Museum.

Toro del Yermo

Another entry from the Phoenix Art Museum's "Arts and Flowers" exhibit was this piece based on a bronze sculpture by Ed Mell called "Toro del Yermo".  This floral artist has created an almost exact duplicate of the actual sculpture out of leaves.  The actual sculpture isn't owned by the museum so I couldn't photograph it but, I think this one stands on it's own.  If you want a peek at the Ed Mell sculpture, click here.

Desert Rain God

The Spring "Arts and Flowers" exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum opened yesterday afternoon and I took the afternoon off work to check out the flower arrangements.  This is one of my favorites.  The floral artist didn't mimic the painting but did arrange a complimentary bouquet.  Of course, it didn't hurt that this is one of my favorite paintings.  It's titled "Desert Rain God" by Louisa McElwain.

The arrangement would be perfect for almost any occasion.

Criss-cross

I love the criss-cross pattern that has been created to encourage these vines to climb this wall.

R2 D2

You never know who you might encounter when you set out in the morning.

Glass Wings

This buys bee's wings shine like they were made of glass!

Au Naturale

Last week I had a photo similar to this where I change the color of the thorns to something not so natural.  This time I have one just the way mother nature created it.  Mother nature has many colors in her paint box.

European Style

I found this house last week in a neighborhood on the east side of Phoenix.  If I had just seen a photo of it, I would have thought it was home in Italy or France not in Phoenix.  It really appeals to me.

Mountain View

This restaurant is close to my work and is a good place meet friends for a glass of wine and nice dinner.  It's located on the second floor of a building and has a large patio with a wonderful view of Camelback Mountain.  It's called Cave & Ives and it has quickly become one of my favorite places.  I balanced the little point and shoot camera on the end of the table to get this shot of the top of the mountain.  It was a balmy night so those gas heaters weren't needed.

A few of you who read my blog asked what was on the menu of the dinner party I featured last Monday.  Well, David posted the menu in his comment on my post.  So scroll down and read just what a wonderful cook and host he is.

Messing with Mother Nature

I know I shouldn't mess with mother nature but, I thought the blue and green would go well together.  This is the kind of thing that happens when I play around with the editing software.  Sometimes I like the results, sometimes I don't.  This one I liked.

This is the way nature created this plant.

Perfume in the air

The Acacia trees are blooming all over town right now and they are filling the air with their sweet perfume.

The flowers are just tiny little golden puff balls.

I did overhear someone say they didn't like the scent but, I love it.

Sunday Bath

I had never seen a hummingbird bathing before last Sunday.  What a treat to watch.

Nectar of the Cactus Flower

This tiny hummingbird was headed straight for this beautiful cactus flower.

A moment later, he was drinking his fill.

Fabulous Dinner Party

My good friend David had a fabulous dinner party Saturday night.  The food was fantastic, the wine exceptional, and the company wonderful.  He sets a great table, doesn't he?

Theme Day: Cobblestones

I wasn't able to find any cobblestone streets in Phoenix.  We are much to new of a city (and state) to have the real thing.  A little bit of an internet search helped me locate a subdivision named "Cobblestone" so I went there to find a photograph.  Not even a neighborhood named Cobblestone led me to a street of cobblestone.  So, the sign will have to do!
Click here to see "Cobblestone" posts from other City Daily Photo Bloggers.