Housewarming Gift

A friend of mine gave me a gorgeous orchid plant as a housewarming gift and I was just a bit afraid what might happen to it in my care.  I think I've mentioned before that I am sadly lacking in plant growing talent.

However, I am happy to report that it seems to be thriving and is simply blooming up a storm.  I love seeing it every day and seeing new blooms pop out.  I took several photos of the blooms yesterday.  Now I think I need to get the macro lens out and see what kind of very close shots I can get.  It is certainly a beautiful subject.

City Daily Photo bloggers post photographs on a theme on the first day of each month.  On 

February 1, they will address this intriguing question:  If you had to leave forever the city 

from which you usually post, what would you miss most?  

Custom Fabric

Last Friday when I was downtown, I had lunch at the Blue Hound inside The Palomar Hotel.  These photos were taken in restaurant/hotel lobby.  I just love the fabric used to cover these two chairs.  It is covered with the names of all the cities in Arizona.  It must have been custom made but, I have to say I wouldn't mind owning a chair with that same fabric.  Below is a view of the chairs from the front.

At the watering hole

While I was at the garden, I spotted this roadrunner skittering up the path ahead of me and when I passed this little fountain, there he was sitting on the edge.  He didn't seem to mind me standing there with camera pointed at him.

But, as he drank he continued to keep his eye on me.  He stayed there until a very loud group came running up the path all shouting "look a roadrunner".  It doesn't seem to occur to some people that noise and quick movements tend to scare off the wildlife.

Observations from a basketball game

I went to the Phoenix Suns' game last night with my friend Janet.  It was a sold out crowd most likely because of this guy, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  He does have a huge following even here in the west.

 The usual suspects were in attendance and I noticed that Mr. Orange was sporting a new hair-do.

I might have been slightly underdressed because I didn't wear my sequined slacks. Oh, wait a second, I don't own any sequined slacks.  Phew...I guess I was okay after all.

And even though we had a 20 point lead at one time, it was a nail biter at the end.  The Phoenix Suns pulled it out with a win over the Cavaliers 107 to 100.

It made for a very exciting game.

Fidgety little birds

On Sunday I took my usual walk at the Desert Botanical Garden.  It was an almost perfect day to be outside.  (Sorry, all you snow country people.)   While I was there, I got myself an iced tea and took a seat away from the crowds under a huge cascalote tree.  That's where I noticed a bit of activity up in the foliage and around the yellow blooms on the tree.  There was a group of Verdin flitting around in the tree looking for insects to feed on.  Verdin are tiny little birds, only about 4.5 inches long (11cm) and they are members of the Penduline tit family.  They are the only members that can be found in the Western Hemisphere.

I've seen these birds at the garden before and I've tried many times to get some photos of them but, they are on the move constantly.  I sat under that tree for an hour with telephoto lens in hand and shot off around 40 photos before I gave up.  These are the only two worth showing.  It seems these birds never sit still, not for one second.

Oh well, it was a beautiful day to sit under a tree and drink iced tea.  I'm not complaining.

Gallery Show

Saturday evening I attended a gallery reception at the Lisa Sette Gallery featuring the work of Mayme Kratz, a well known artist in the Phoenix area.  Mayme's art is created with products of nature like seed pods, feathers, bones and other found objects.  She fashions these things into works of art using acrylic resin.  (Click on the link to visit her site and see more of her work and click on the gallery link to see more about the show and the gallery.)  The piece above was my favorite in the show.  It's called "Falling Leaf" and it's composed of literally thousands of fairy duster seed pods.  The pods are little curly pieces no more than an inch long.

Another favorite was this piece called "Think, Grow, Tensions".  This one is composed of hundreds of poppy pods on a panel and then sealed in a block of resin.  When you stand close to it you can see the depth of those pods trapped in that formation.  Fantastic work!

(P.S. these are iPhone photos so they aren't as sharp as they could be.)

Winter Butterfly

When I was downtown on Friday, I took the opportunity to take a few photos to fill up the archives and while I was walking around I spotted butterflies enjoying a small garden near Phoenix City Hall.  I managed to capture of photo of this one but, I saw three all-together.  I must say, I wasn't expecting to find butterflies in the downtown area.  It was a very pleasant surprise.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I reprise the Chicago skyline as night falls over the city.

The end of Christmas

I was downtown yesterday and was surprised to see this Christmas tree and the ice skating rink still up in the middle of Central Ave.

An hour later when I walked by, they were taking it down.  There will be a lot of downtown workers who will be so glad to have Central Avenue open again.

Sprite

The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is now in my neighborhood so last night David and I stopped for an after dinner cocktail.  I liked the way those Frank Lloyd Wright sprites were lit up at night so I snapped a shot.

Enter here...

This looks like an entrance to a grand and elegant home but, it's actually the entrance to the Ralph Lauren store at the Biltmore Fashion Park shopping center.  I don't shop there very often especially not for household items.  Everything in there seems to be outrageously priced compared to Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel.  (I'll bet RL would cringe to hear me compare his business to those two stores.)

Inside the vault

Tucked away behind a bank building and out of view of the main road, I found this restaurant called The Vault Cafe.  The place was closed the day I was there or I would have gone inside to figure out that simulated vault scene.  It certainly is eye catching from the outside.

Giant Mushroom

I saw this giant mushroom in the yard of a home in Scottsdale and I had to turn around and go back for a second look.

That is certainly an Alice in Wonderland type of mushroom, don't you think?

Camouflage

Yesterday it was a snazzy car, today it's a camouflaged motorcycle.  I saw this one parked outside a store.  This looks like it would zip right along a pretty good clip!

Snazzy

On New Years Day, I spotted this car parked in front of a neighborhood home.  Do think it was a Christmas present?  It's pretty snazzy if you ask me.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  A peek inside the Vatican Museum with a story to tell.

Meringue

This young lady was having her picture taken in the Scottsdale Civic Center park yesterday along with other members of her wedding party.  I was struck by the sheer size of that skirt!  I've heard the term "meringue" used to describe big puffy skirts before but, this one really does look like a meringue.  By the way, it was only 45 degrees (7.2 C) when I was walking around there.  It gave me a bit of a shiver just looking at her and those little bridesmaids.  It might look warm but, it was pretty darn cold by desert standards.

Cheerful Greeting

Just after Christmas last week, I went to the Desert Botanical Garden for a walk and when I stepped through the entrance I saw this cute little cactus wren near by greeting people as they came in.   These birds are so cute and industrious with their building and scavenging for building materials that I just had to stop and take his photo. These are the luxury builders of the avian world.  They spend their lives making the perfect nest.

Theme Day: Photo of the Year

I chose this photo that I posted back in April of these lovely purple flowers called "Sky Flowers".  The color of the flowers and that hint of yellow behind them makes a very appealing photo.  I had two runners-up that made this a tough decision but in the end, I decided this one was my favorite.

Happy New Year!

To see the "Photo of the Year" from other City Daily Photo Bloggers click here.  

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

It's time to say goodbye to the holidays and to the year 2014 and move on to greet the new year ahead.  I can't believe another year has passed and so quickly.  My dad used to tell me when I was just a kid complaining about how slow time passed that when I got older time would seem to fly by.  He was right!  Whiz.....another year gone.

The Belle of the Ball

I spent some time last Saturday at a huge antique market place in Scottsdale where I ran across this dress for sale.  The bright orange color stood out from everything else in this booth.  I can't imagine wearing a gown this bright to any event.  But, I have to admit that my very first formal gown did have a big flouncy, net skirt like this one.  It was just a much more subtle pastel color.

The Land of Christmas

I stopped at a local nursery Sunday afternoon to look for some plants for my balcony patio and I found myself in the "Land of Christmas" and half-priced Christmas at that.  Everything was 50% off.

I managed to leave without any of these gorgeous decorations but, I did admire that very large and very elaborate tree-top bow in the photo to the left.

I think I might have mentioned last year that I collect Santa Claus ornaments.  I usually get a new one every year but, I didn't buy one this year because I didn't put up a tree.

This fellow caught my eye and I really admired him.  What do you think?  Should I go back and get him for next year's tree?  He is 50% off!

Biltmore Estates

When I took that walk through the Biltmore Estates, this was my favorite house.  It really looks like it belongs in Tuscany or maybe the French countryside.

I dared to step under those trees that frame the entrance so I could get a closer look at the house itself.      I love it!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  This time I visit the little known southern California wine region.

Holiday decorations in the "hood"

I took a long walk in my new neighborhood a few days ago and took some photos along the way.  My new place is on the Arizona Biltmore property and sits right on the edge of the Biltmore Estates so I have some pretty "fancy" neighbors.  Now I can admire all these grand homes while I get my walking exercise.

One of the houses had this extra large nativity set (above) sitting in the center of their circle driveway.

This house had a solid gate so the only decorations I saw were these red bows on the lamps.

Reflections of Christmas

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.  I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve party with close friends. Yesterday David and I went to see the new movie "Into the Woods" and loved it.  It was very well done.  Then we met David's brother James and friend for dinner.  It was a truly enjoyable Christmas!

From my house to yours...

I hope you all are having a splendid holiday with family and friends and enjoying good food to go with the good company!

Happy Birthday to my sister Judy of Prescott Area Daily Photo!  Have a wonderful day!

Santa is on his way!

Santa is off and flying, making his rounds around the world.  This flying Santa has been soaring between these two high-rise buildings in central Phoenix for well over 40 years.  It's always nice to see him light up the sky.  Have a very happy holiday everyone!