Central & Clarendon

 

I snapped this photo two weeks ago when I was driving around central Phoenix.  I knew when I took the photo that I wanted to compare it to a building that used to be on this corner.  It took me a while to find that old post but here it is.  It was an old Mexican restaurant with a rather kitschy facade.  I made a comment to that post saying that I had worked in an architecturally beautiful building that was just across the street that had long been demolished but that the rather ugly restaurant was still there.  That was back in 2008.  Since that time, the old restaurant is gone and now these apartments have been put up in its place.  It gives that corner a much improved look.

Fiesta Mall - All Gone

 

When the plane was on the landing path last Sunday, I spotted some familiar territory in the city of Mesa.  I was shocked to see that the old Fiesta Mall had been totally scraped away leaving nothing but a big plot of bare land.  

The tall building to the left was once a bank building.  I featured the beautiful fountain in front of the building here.  

Back in 2016, I did two posts about Fiesta Mall with outside photos here and inside photos here.  It's all gone now.

Some Favorite Photos from the California Trip

 Here are four of my favorite photos from the trip last week to Laguna Beach California.  This first one was taken at the Sherman Library & Garden.  I spotted this Gulf Fritillary butterfly resting perfectly atop a collection of colorful blooms. 

This one was taken along the walkway above the rocky shoreline at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach.  Heisler Park is a long park that runs along the shore with spectacular views along the way.

I saw this seagull standing atop a big rock on the beach at Crystal Cove on my first full day in California.  I zoomed in with the telephoto lens to capture him.  He had is eye on the waves as they crashed to the shore.

This last one isn't what you would call a great photo but I still liked the ray of sunlight beaming down toward me.  I know that shooting into the sun is a photographic no-no but sometimes I do it anyway and sometimes I like what I see.

A Collection of Odd Shots From California

 

Today I have a variety of shots from my few days in California.  These were all taken with my camera that I finally got to download when I got home.  First up, two fellows doing some surf fishing.  As near as I could tell, they weren't having much luck.  I saw them haul in quite a bit of seaweed but no fish.

Here's Julius Caesar checking out those plant vendors who were setting up at Sherman Library & Garden.  Julius wasn't in the mood to pose for photos.  He was too busy trying to figure out what all these people were doing cluttering up his garden.

A powered hang glider sailing along the shoreline.

An interesting tree I could see from the balcony of the condo.  

A surfer caught in the act!

A heavily pregnant woman posing for some photos.

Lastly, a very elaborate proposal. 

Home to Monsoon Storms

 

I flew home yesterday evening and was buffeted a bit by heavy skies and lots of wind.  My flight was delayed because of a ground hold in Phoenix due to a dust storm that later turned into a thunderstorm.  

I know this sounds crazy but I really enjoy flying above and through storms.  The clouds from above are always spectacular and there is so much swirling activity as you fly through the clouds.

I captured this cloudy sunset as we approached the airport.  The last 5 minutes were a little bumpy but I've experienced way worse.  The best part was that it was only 92 degrees when we landed in Phoenix.  That's cool for July!

Tiny Mural

 

I think I might have found the world's smallest mural.  This one is painted on a parking meter. I guess if utility boxes are a good canvas why shouldn't a parking meter work.

This one was painted by Ene Rahu.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.  

A Plant Nursery on Steroids

 

I made another annual trip to Roger's Gardens yesterday.  It's a plant nursery like no other I've seen.  They quite literally have everything you could want from plants to furniture to tableware to napkins to food.  And they have a wonderful restaurant called The Farmhouse.  That's where we had lunch.

I love this tree that sits in the middle of the potted plants.

It was Saturday so everything changed drastically from the past two days.  The beaches were crowded, the parks were full and the street traffic was crazy.  It was a good day to park the car and walk.

Which is exactly what we did.  After lunch, we parked the car at the condo and then walked to the Laguna Beach Art Museum.  I loved this painting by Kevin Yaun.  It was among a series of paintings by 2024 MFA graduates from Laguna College of Art and Design.

We walked back to the condo and enjoyed the setting sun making sparkles on the water.  Today is my last day in paradise.  I have to fly back to the desert in the afternoon.  

Julius Caesar & Lots of Flowers

 

As you can see, I made my annual trip to Sherman Library & Gardens yesterday and I got to see good old Julius Caesar again.  He's the garden cat who lives at the gardens and occasionally greets guests.  Yesterday, the garden was preparing for a huge plant sale on Saturday and Sunday and Julius was very busy checking out all the vendors and their wares.  I took several photos of Julius but unfortunately they are all on my camera and I forgot to bring the adaptor to down load them.  

On this visit, I found this building with the roof covered in a flowering vine. I don't remember seeing that before.  I like it.

Here's a close up of the flowers on the vine.

I couldn't resist a photo of these exotic looking orchids.  

My friend and I had a wonderful lunch in the garden restaurant called "Dahlia".  They have a wonderful chef and the food is always excellent.

The fountain at the entrance to the garden is always surrounded by pretty flowers and every year they are different.  These pink flowers make a nice frame for the fountain.

Pelicans, Lots of Pelicans

 

I flew over to California late Wednesday evening to spend the weekend at my friends place in Laguna Beach.  Thursday morning my friend and I had breakfast at Crystal Cove and then walked the beach.  We were amazed by all the pelicans flying overhead. There must have been thousands because one flock after another kept passing over us all heading north.  

A morning walk on the beach is very invigorating especially when the temperature is hovering around 68 degrees and I've been more used to 112.  It's going to be nice to cool off for a while.

And, while I was at Crystal Cove, I snapped one more photo of that mailbox I told you about last year.  It's still sitting on the porch and the rust is creeping onto to it.  In last year's post, I told you the saga of that mailbox since I discovered it back in 2007.

The Beaded Gecko

 

I saw this beaded gecko when I was at the local nursery last Sunday.  He was climbing up a pole and barely noticed I was there. 😉

He's a cute little fellow and would look good on any patio.  However, I didn't check to see how much he was.  

Say Cheese!

 

It's been a long time since I posted a photo of this place.  It was 2015 to be exact.  With so many businesses coming and going, it's nice to know that this one is still going strong and it's still a cute little shop with that great sign on top.

I used to get sandwiches here all the time when I lived on this side of town.  I haven't been inside in a long time.  

Cheese and Stuff sits on the very end of a strip of small businesses on Central Avenue and Camelback Road.  I need to make a point of stopping in sometime soon.

In Search of Blooms

 

Sunday morning was another 86 degree morning and I was craving some pretty blooms so I headed to my local nursery thinking I might see something blooming especially in the greenhouse where I usually find some tropical blooms and lots of orchids.

As it turned out, the greenhouse was closed and won't open again until October 1st and there was nothing blooming in the outside garden.

But in spite of that, I totally enjoyed my wander around the place.  I was the only customer there so I had the place to myself and the staff on hand were all very friendly.  In fact, they seemed to be surprised to see a customer so early on Sunday morning.  

Bright New Mural....in progress

 I spotted this new mural a little over a month ago and finally stopped to get a photo.  I didn't realize until I saw it up close that it is not done yet.  I'm betting our recent spate of excessive temperatures has slowed the progress. The wall faces east so it gets direct morning sunlight and even though mornings are cooler, standing next to a wall with the sun on your back can't be fun.

I'll keep my eye on this one and get more photos when it's completed.  By the way, this mural has covered an old mural that had been there a long time.  I posted the previous mural back in 2017 but it had already been there for several years before that.  I did notice that the bar behind the mural has a new name so probably new owners too.  

Taking part in Monday Murals

Pickle House

 

I read about this place in recent news article so I had to drive by and get a photo.  This is an old building that has been renovated and turned into a small business incubator.  It is a space for innovators to develop their ideas and get small business support.  The building used to be the home of Arnold's Pickles.  

Arnold's Pickles started business in  the early 1900's and in 1920 built this building to house its factory.  In 1980, the company merged with Mrs Klein's Pickles which has a much bigger operation on the other side of town.  

The pickle in the sign in the top photo is a take on the old Arnold's Pickles mascot, a cucumber wearing a cowboy hat and boots.  That mascot used to dance in TV commercials and sing the little jingle "I like Arnold's Pickles, you'll like them too.  The only thing that's better than an Arnold's Pickle is two."

Office to Condos Update

 

Back in 2020 I posted about an office building on Central and Camelback that was being converted to condos.  Apparently, it's been quite a big project because the building is still not done.  However, as this photo shows, it is getting near.  You can see from that old post that the building has undergone a big change.  The only thing that remains the same is the shape of the building.  It now looks completely different.  

That Retro Bar

 

Last Saturday evening, I had dinner with friends visiting from Chicago at a restaurant I hadn't been to in two years.  It's a place called Valentine and the last time I was there was for brunch.  The owner gave us a tour of the bar area that is only open in the evenings.  I was struck by the turn tables for playing music from LP's.  I posted about it here.  This time I got to see those turn tables in action.  The background music for the bar was coming from these two record players.

The bar itself was fun too.  They served very inventive drinks and you can see from all those jars, they make some of their own infused liquors.  They had some unusual combinations that included all kinds of herbs, fruits, vegetables and even woods.  I had an Arizona Gin & Tonic that was made with house-made elderflower infused tonic.  It was great!

Sweet Sixteen

 

The Phoenix Daily Photo Blog turns sixteen today!  Imagine that!  I've been photo-blogging for sixteen years now.  However, I've been photographing for a lot longer than that.  I think I've been taking  photos since I was sixteen.  Never mind how long ago that was.  

I had a hard time deciding on a photo to use for this momentous post and I finally settled on this monarch butterfly that was photographed back in March.  Butterflies have been one of my many favorite subjects so it seems to fit.

Cool: A Matter of Perspective

 

When I woke up Sunday morning, I checked the temperature and it was only 86 degrees.  I say "only" because when temperatures run between 113 and 118, 86 sounds pretty darn cool.  I decided I should take a walk but I knew the temperature would rise quickly so it had to be a short walk.  I decided to drive to one of the historic neighborhoods and walk a bit.  That's were I found the vine covered houses I featured yesterday.  Today I have three more houses from that area.  This one has a Spanish "hacienda" look to it.

This one also has a Spanish look.  I like this one a lot.  That tree in front is giving the windows a bit of shade from that morning sun.

This one has the most unusual front window.   It gives this house a very unique look.

Covered in Vines

 

Two different houses found in the Encanto Historic District and both are covered in vines.  

I wonder what it takes to keep those vines neat and tidy.  

Earth & Sky Mural

 

This is another mural I found while I was in Oklahoma City.  This one is by two Native American artists, Chad Nish Earles and Rhiana Deck.  It is another one painted in an underpass.

It was hard to photograph so close to it so I had to take several shots.  It represents the traditional coiled Codda pottery and feathers that morph into an evolving human figure.  It depicts Native American creation myths while also encouraging the preservation of Mother Earth. 

I had to do some research to find that description.  I wasn't sure what was happening in this mural until I read more about it.  Now I can see the coiled pottery design and it looks like the feathers make up the human-like forms.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.