First Up then Down

The next house we visited on the Phoenix Home and Garden tour required us to go up a bit into the McDowell Mountain foothills.

Then once we got there we had to go down a rather steep driveway (you can see the edge of it to the middle right of this photo) to get to the entrance.

After we arrived at the base of the driveway, we went through the arched entrance to a rather splendid courtyard complete with a fountain.  This was another rather large house this one in a Spanish style.

The pool area had some pretty spectacular views over the valley below.  They would have been even more spectacular if it hadn't been such an overcast day.  It looks like you could swim to the edge of this pool and stop to admire the view before returning.  Very nice.

A Resort-Like Home

This is one of the gardens we toured last Saturday on that home and garden tour.  Doesn't this look like a resort swimming pool?  Amazing!  It really is beautiful but, personally, I wouldn't want all of this to maintain.  It really would take a large staff of gardeners and pool people.

This is the formal entrance to the house.  It's a big one!

Scottsdale Four Seasons

My blooming desert photos from yesterday were taken around the Four Seasons resort in far north Scottsdale.  Julie and Dave and I stopped there for lunch after our day on the home and garden tour.  Here's Julie and Dave at our patio table.  It was a perfect day for dining out doors.

I haven't been to this resort since the summer of 2014 and on that past visit, I just stopped to take photos.  I didn't have anything to eat.  I won't make that mistake again.  Our lunches were wonderful all the way down to the decadent chocolate mint milk shake for desert.

I love the total desert landscape at this resort.  They've done a superb job of keeping the surroundings as natural as possible.

The Blooming Desert

Last Saturday I spent the day with my friends Julie and Dave on a home tour that took us almost all the way to Carefree Arizona.  Julie's mom was supposed to go on the tour but had to withdraw so Julie called to see if I wanted to go.  I wasn't doing anything other that chores so I decided to join them and I'm glad I did.

The drive took us into the northern reaches of Scottsdale where there is still a lot of open desert and with the desert in full bloom right now, it was a beautiful thing to see.

We stopped for lunch at a place I'll reveal tomorrow and we found ourselves walking a few trails just to get some photos of all the beauty around us.

This last photo makes me think of that painting at the Heard Museum that I featured back on March 30th.  It was called "Orchestrating a Blooming Desert"  Just imagine that Saguaro cactus as the conductor.

Palo Verde

The Palo Verde tree has been designated as the state tree of Arizona and right now they are showing their colors all over the state.  I found this especially full tree in front of a home in Paradise Valley.  I thought it's shape and color was especially attractive.

Just to left of the base of the tree in the photo above, you will see some yellow aloe blooms joining in for this colorful show.  I zoomed in on those to catch this close up.  The desert is very pretty right now as I'll show you tomorrow.

Skyscraper Apartments

This high-rise building was built around 2008 in downtown Phoenix and the plan was for it to become luxury condominiums.  Everyone knows what happened in 2008 to the American real estate market.  So, now this building is luxury apartments instead.  I'm not sure how many times it changed hands before it opened.

I've never seen inside the apartments.  Maybe I should act like I'm interested and take a tour.


I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'll answer the question 'what could be historic about a giant department store?'

At the Front Door

This little fellow appeared to be guarding the front door to his home inside the saguaro cactus.  I think he was a little wary of me standing below him so he kept flying away and returning quickly to sit at the entrance again.  I didn't see any activity inside but, there probably was a family in there and he was being the protector.

Around the Neighborhood

A few random shots from around my neighborhood today.  First is a tall palm tree with the sun right behind it.

I thought I might get a bit of a sun flare on this shot but instead I just have a sort of spotlight behind the tree.

A fancy lamp on the wall outside a complex of townhouses.

Along that same wall, a spot where the stucco is coming off and exposing the bricks underneath.  This is such a classic southwestern image that some builders actually build walls with these patches in them.  But, I think this one is just worn away the natural way.

Flower Filled Yard

While driving in that same neighborhood I mentioned yesterday, I caught a glimpse of a yard full of African daisies.  I had to turn around to get a closer look.

The whole front edge of the yard was covered in a blanket of yellow and orange.

It's too bad they only last a few weeks.  This would sure be great to see all year long.

Another Grand Entrance

I spotted this Spanish style home with its grand entrance and fountain in the southern foothills of Camelback Mountain.

It not only has a grand entrance but it also has a bell tower although it looks like there is a light fixture instead of a bell.

The back of this house faces south down the mountain slope so I'm assuming it has a rather nice view of the city.

For the Birds

My dad used to say this a lot; "that's for the birds!"  He said it when something seemed ridiculous or silly. (He'd really wear himself out saying it these days, wouldn't he?)  But, this tree I spotted over the weekend really is for the birds with a whole set of ramshackle bird houses lurking in its branches.

Honeybees vs Bumblebees

I caught two different kinds of pollinators working their magic at the Desert Botanical Garden this weekend.  This busy honeybee was checking out these prickly pear blooms.  I don't blame the little fellow, those are three gorgeous cactus flowers.

This bumblebee and a friend who escaped my camera were working on the ocotillo blooms.  We humans tend to like the honeybees more than the bumblebees but, they both play an important role in plant pollination.

All of the ocotillo in the garden were looking very pretty with their red blooms at the top of those long arms.  No wonder those bees were attracted to them.

Strawberry Season

I've seen all kinds of plants growing in this strawberry pot that sits in one of the quiet corners of the Desert Botanical Garden but, this was the first time I actually saw strawberries growing in it.  And one of them is almost ready to be plucked.  It kind of made me want to make my spring time strawberry cake.  The last time I made it was two years ago.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting one of the world's mysterious places.

Theme Day: Wet

As most of you know, we don't get a lot of rain here in the desert southwest so, I have save up my rainy Phoenix shots.  This one dates back to last summer during our monsoon season.  I happened to be at my friends Julie and Dave's house when a storm arrived and gave us a well needed soaking.  You can see the water pouring off the roof and on to that lovely patio.

The first of the month is always theme day for City Daily Photo bloggers and the theme for April 1 is "Wet".  If you'd like to see wet shots from other cities around the globe, click here.

Infestation!!

I noticed a serious infestation of creepy, crawly insects in downtown Phoenix recently.  These aren't your every day bugs, these invertebrates are huge!

On a corner near the Phoenix Convention Center is a collection of these scary creatures.  This scorpion looks like he's drooling for a taste of that little guy he's clutching with his claw.

This centipede is looking just a bit shy.

This funny looking character has taken to wearing high heels!  

This crazy bunch of insects is the work of Tom Otterness of Brooklyn New York.  Thanks Tom!

Orchestrating a Blooming Desert

The exhibition in the new gallery at the Heard Museum is called "Beauty Speaks for Us" and it is meant to present works of American Indian art that span generations and cultures but share the transcendent quality of beauty.  Many of the works were from the collections of private owners from the Phoenix area with some of the museum's own pieces also included.  I really enjoyed seeing some incredible artworks that I had never seen before and this painting above is a good example.  It's called "Orchestrating a Blooming Desert" by Steve Yazzie from 1970.  Since I have such a love of the desert in bloom, this one would appeal to me, wouldn't it?

The basket weaving dates from the early 1900's from the Hopi culture.  It's part of the museum collection.

This black and siena bear sculpture is from 1970 and is the work of Tony Da from the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico.

This painting is by the well known native American artist, Dan Namingha.  It is dated 1950 and was a gift of the artist.  It's called "Red Tail Hawk Kachina".

That wraps up my photos from this exhibit which ends on April 2nd.  I'll be anxious to see what show they mount next in that beautiful new gallery.  

Historic Textiles

Today I'll show you some fantastic textiles that were on display in the new gallery at the Heard Museum.  This first one was my favorite.  It's a Navajo pictoral textile with an image of Shiprock in New Mexico.  If you've never seen Shiprock in person, click the link to see a photograph of this iconic rock formation.  That will give you and idea of how well the artist captured the mountain.

This piece is a Navajo Sand painting textile which is a weaving of a sand painting design.  Both this one and the one above date bak to the 1920's and are part of the collection of Carol Ann Mackay.

This last one is a Chilkat Blanket from the Tingit peoples of the Pacific Northwest.  This one is part of the Heard Museum's Fred Harvey Fine Arts Collection.  I found all three of these incredibly beautiful.

Gunmetal Finish Jars

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that I had gone to the Heard Museum to find my "Black and White in Color" shot for the first of March.  I actually went to the museum to see the new gallery that had recently opened.  I saw some of the most beautiful things there and I promised I'd show you some of them.  I'm going to start today with these wonderful black pots (or jars as the artist calls them) with their gunmetal finish.  They are the creation of Maria Martinez of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico.

While I was taking these two photos, one of the docents in the room came over and asked if I was trying to duplicate the cover photo of the Heard Museum magazine.  I actually hadn't remembered seeing the cover photo.

So, I went home and located my magazine and sure enough, these beautiful 'jars' were featured on the cover but I think the photographer who took this shot had the advantage of taking it without the glass case around them.

I'll show you some more treasures tomorrow.

What a Show-Off

That Spanish Villa I featured yesterday wasn't the only thing I saw on that winding drive through the Scottsdale Golf Club property.  I also spotted this very large and very full orchid tree.  Look at all those blooms!

The tree was thick with beautiful pink flowers.

Another site worth stopping for don't you think?