Holiday Atmosphere at the Garden

The Desert Botanical Garden does a good job of decorating for the holidays every year.  They almost always fill the fountain at the entrance with poinsettias and they did again this year.

The Christmas tree looks very nice this year with both large and small bulbs adorning it.

Around the corner, they always put up a poinsettia tree and this year was no exception.

And they've decorated every door with really beautiful Christmas wreaths.  Because of the annual event "Las Noches de las Luminarias" the garden gets a lot of traffic during the month of December so, decorating for the holidays is very important.

You can even pick up a Santa Cactus in the garden gift shop.  Now there's a gift idea!

Shoe Gallery

You probably realize by now that I have a "thing" for shoes and although I limit myself to the flatter variety these days, I still think a stroll through the shoe department is good for my soul.  I've noticed lately that there have been a large selection of rather unusual and what I'd call "one-time-wear" shoes in many of the better shops.  I think the shoe above is actually kind of cute but, it really is a shoe that wouldn't see a lot of wear.

Same goes for these butterfly-wing shoes.  Actually, I can't imagine wearing these even once. 

This shoe looks like something someone in the Star Wars movies would wear.  If I put that one on, I'd break a bone or two for sure.

And, here is another shoe with a fuzzy look to it.  In fact, I saw quite a lot of shoes that looked more like bedroom slippers than party shoes.  I wouldn't wear any of these at this stage of my life but, I do enjoy looking at them.  Sometimes they even give me a good laugh.  

Prime Directive

I'm not referring to the Prime Directive of the United Federation of Planets, rather what seems like the standard prime directive for all of us during the the holiday season.  That is To Shop.  I was following this car when I spotted that special license plate.  It appeared to be an official license place with the proper stickers but, I had never seen a special plate with a black background before.  So, I did some research and the black custom license plates belong to the FFA (Future Farmers of America) organization.   It took me a while to figure out why an FFA plate would carry the message of SHOP.  I get it, shop for farm fresh groceries!

Tribute to a Phoenix Architect

Here is a mural that I would never have found on my own.  It's in a rather obstructed location at the front of building used by a branding company called The Kitchen Sink.  I read about this mural while researching another mural and so I decided I needed to find this one.  You can't see it from the street, so I had to park the car and do some walking to locate it.

The mural is by Berlin-bsed artist Karl Addison and it depicts the architect Frank Henry.  Henry was a Phoenix architect who was a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and created some beautiful buildings in and around Phoenix.  One of them is an all-time favorite of mine that I featured a few years ago.  It's the midcentury modern Chase Bank located not far from where I live now.  I love the mural and I'm glad I found it.

On the Fast Track

Does anyone else feel like we are on the fast track to Christmas this year?  I can't believe it's less than 10 days away. December has just flown by.

In the blink of an eye, it will be here so if you still have shopping to do, you better get going.  If you've got some baking to do, now is the time.

Get that Christmas spirit in gear!


I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  An English cathedral is on the agenda.

Holiday Wreaths

I have a variety of holiday wreaths to show you today.  This one was for sale at Berridge Nursery.  It's made from some dried flowers.  I like it.  I might look to see if it goes on sale right after Christmas.  When I got my old wreath out, it was looking a little haggard.  It might be time for a new one.

This one was on a shop door and features Nova check ribbon (one of my favorite patterns) and some huge snowflakes.  That's a pretty one too.

This one was on the side of a house.  It's simple but perfect for the season.  I see a wire going to it so I think it lights up at night.  Even better.

Christmas at the Pub

Yesterday was our work group holiday luncheon and this year we had it at the George & Dragon Pub.  Typical British pub food was on the menu and we were seated in one of the private rooms with the fireplace and Christmas tree.  I had the fish and chips while some had the bangers and mash and a few had shepherds pie or Cornish pasties.  I think everyone really enjoyed the food and the company.  I couldn't leave without snapping a photo.

Festive Doors

I've noticed a lot of festive doors around my neighborhood recently.  Quite a lot of people are into decorating for the holidays.

Some of them have a rather elegant look as though they hired a designer or florist to fit them with the perfect trim.

And, some of them are just plain fun.  I bet there are kids in this house.

Winter in Phoenix

Al fresco dining in December.  I snapped this photo when I was out shopping last weekend.  This is why we put up with the searing hot temperatures in the summer.  The morning air is a bit nippy in the low 50's (12C) but by the afternoon we reach around 79 degrees or 26C.  It's just about perfect right now.  It's that fun time of year when we run our heaters on the drive to work and run the air conditioner on the drive home.

Tasting Champagne!

Last Saturday I met some friends at a place just down the street from me for a champagne tasting event.  The store had sent invitations to their regular customers to come in for a free champagne tasting that included some very expensive champagnes.  I do on rare occasions get to enjoy a bottle of Veuve Clicquot but, I haven't indulged in the very expensive versions since my days in the consulting business.  I got to taste an all-time favorite of the Clicquot family of bubbly, the Grande Dame along with a wonderful vintage rose'.

I also got a taste of the famous "Cristal" that I've heard so much about.  That is one I had never tasted before.

The event drew quite a crowd and the small shop was wall to wall with people, glasses and bubbles.  It was a lot of fun.

I was glad to find a few that were excellent and yet still in my price range.  Let the celebrating begin!

Beyond

Someone told me about this mural so I went looking for it.  It's located in the Coronado Historic District on the side of building sitting on an alley.  It's called Mas Alla which translates to "Beyond".

The pretty lady is looking out into space with the moon to one side of her.  The mural was painted by Mata Ruda (Karlito Miller Espinosa) with help from his girlfriend Lucinda Yrene.

Karlito was born in Costa Rica and raised in Venezuela before moving to Arizona when he was just 11 years old.  Today he paints all over the world.

It has a dreamy look to it that I like.

A Rare Sight

I went for a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden last Friday and I got to see a female cardinal watching from a palo verde tree.  Cardinals are hard to catch around here.  They usually stay away from areas populated be people.  But, they do watch from afar which is what this one was doing.  She flew away right after I snapped the photo.

Some of the aloe plants are blooming Which made this little hummingbird very happy.  It's amazing how fast those little wings flutter to keep these tiny birds hovering around a bloom.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting what is left of an ancient civilization.

Decorating for the Holidays

When I went to Berridge Nursery a few weeks ago to check out the holiday decorations, I found quite a selection of "old world" Christmas displays.  This wooden advent calendar was cute.

The Christmas train above was also pretty cute.  It would look good under an nicely decorated tree, wouldn't it?

Father Christmas was looking rather jolly and festive too.

Visiting places like this will certainly put one in the holiday spirit.

Getting Into Vacation Mode

While I was visiting The Wigwam resort (see my last two posts), I found myself getting into vacation mode.

I took a little walk outside by the pool and then.....

.....I found a spot on the patio, ordered up a refreshing drink and some lunch and let myself feel that "I'm-on-vacation" feeling for a little while.

When it was time to go, I pondered whether I could snatch one of those gorgeous rugs and make a run for it.  I decided it was too risky so I left empty handed.  I'm sure glad I took a lot of photos.

Saddle-Up

This row of saddles with the beautiful blankets on top was part of the decor in one of the sitting rooms of The Wigwam resort that I told you about yesterday.

And look, more gorgeous Native American rugs for me to admire.  This room was situated to one side of the main lobby area.

Another sitting room on the other side of the main lobby featured a brick fireplace and more rugs and southwestern decor.  Doesn't that look like a great place to curl up by the fire?

I've got a couple more photos for tomorrow.

My Kind of Wigwam

The weekend before Thanksgiving I made a trip out to the far west side of the valley to the city of Litchfield Park.  I wanted to see what The Wigwam Resort was like.  In all the years of living in Arizona, I never had an opportunity to visit this historic hotel.  I'm so happy I finally made it out there because I found the resort to be very welcoming in a truly southwestern way.

The history of the resort's origins turned out to be very interesting.  Back in the early 20th century, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company discovered that long-staple cotton extended the life of its tires and guess where cotton was a big crop.....Arizona!  So the company bought 16,000 acres of land for the purpose of cotton farming.  In 1918 the company built what was called the "organization house" which was the first building on the site and it was used as lodging for ranch suppliers.  It wasn't long after that Goodyear executives discovered that Arizona was a great place to spend time in the winter and they soon started bringing their families along on those "business" visits to the ranch.  In 1929, Goodyear opened "The Wigwam" as a guest ranch and in 1930 the first nine-hole golf course was developed.  Over the next 50 years, the resort grew until it could accommodate 500 guests.  In the 1990's it was sold to a property group and since that time it has passed through the hands of several development companies and hotel groups.

But, enough about the history.  Let's take a look inside.  This is the central lobby located just past the check-in desk.  This room suits me perfectly.  I love this style of southwestern decor.

And, I love all those Native American woven rugs.  They were every where in the resort and they were all beautiful.  Tomorrow, I'll have a few more photos from inside the resort.

A New Style of Christmas Wreath

I was at Nordstrom's over the weekend and I spotted these Christmas wreaths hanging from the ceiling with all those ornaments hanging from them.  What a cute idea!  I like it.

Unleashing the dogs

I found this mural by accident.  I was turning around in a driveway when I spotted a mural at the back of a drive.  So I decided to check it out.  It's called Pit Bull Cerberus and it was painted by two artists known as Steiner USA and Korea.  Those are a couple of names that are difficult to research but luckily I found a newspaper article about Phoenix murals that confirmed those names.  The mural gives those dogs a bit of a scary look which does the breed a terrible disservice.  I've met many a friendly and lovable pit bull.

Dinner and Music in the Garden

I was thrilled to get a chance to attend the opening night celebration at the Desert Botanical Garden for the Las Noches de las Luminarias event that runs now through the end of the year.  It was a wonderful evening with really beautiful weather so we could enjoy dinner and music under the stars.  This group called "Traveler" was simply fantastic.  Just look at all those instruments and they played them all.

The group does world fusion music and on one lively number this little girl from the audience popped up to do her own version of an Irish dance.  The faster he played, the faster she danced.  What fun!

Of course, there was plenty to eat including some very tempting desserts.  I confess, we tried them all.

In addition to food and music, the garden was lit in all directions with luminarias and candles.  It's a real treat to see it all lit up this way.  Thanks Julie and Dave for inviting me along for this fun event.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  It's all about the search for chocolate.

National Mutt Day

A week or so ago I checked that National "Day" calendar just to see if anything interesting was coming up and I noticed that December 2nd was National Mutt Day.  Well, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to pay tribute to our wonderful four legged friends.  I searched my files for a good "mutt" photo but only came up with an assortment of pure breeds.  So, I dug back into the really old, photo files and found these two photos of my former babies, Buffy and Jody.  (Yes, they were named for a couple of TV characters from long ago.)

You can tell these are old photo because they are a bit on the faded side but they were still good enough to scan.

This is them when they were puppies.  When I picked them out of the litter, they looked very much the same but, they gradually started growing into two dogs who looked totally unrelated.  Over the years, they got pretty good at posing for the camera!  I feel so lucky to have been blessed with their love for a good number of years.  I couldn't have picked two more perfect mutts!

So, let's celebrate all those lovable mutts out there!

Theme Day: Gift

There is a special thrill about being presented with a beautifully wrapped gift box.  You immediately wonder what could be inside.  However, in my opinion the greatest gift of all is the gift of friendship and I feel as though I've been especially blessed with wonderful and supportive friends.  Whether they are my closest friends who have seen me through all sorts of ups and downs or my "blogging" friends many of whom I've never met face to face.  Although we have never met or met only once, I still feel a special connection to my cyber friends.  This seems like a perfect time to express a special "thank you" to all of you!  You are truly admired and appreciated.


The first of every month is a "theme" day for all City Daily Photo Bloggers and the December theme is "Gift".  You can see gifts from other City Daily Photo sites here.