Flowers

The bougainvilleas on the west side of our property are in bloom. They have become one of my favorite flowers here in the Valley. There are three different shades of rose/fushia/pink here. The queen palms in the back ground are the north boundary and the fence in the mid-distance surrounds the tennis courts just behind us.

A close up of the bougainvilleas

This is a climbing rose named pinata, given to me by my friend Theresa.

I hope it will grow over the metal archway between the driveway and the back patio area. I had an enormous yellow mandevilla vine that died in the cold weather we had this winter. The rose has yellow buds, opening to an orange flower that turns to a deep coral red. When the plant has all three colors going at one time it's very striking. Theresa insists it will survive here with limited sun light and a clay bed that seems mighty muddy to me. I hope she's right.

This is my one remaining hibiscus.

 The other two died when I dug them up in order to save them.

It is an ugly story and one I choose not to share.

The area around my front porch has an asparagus fern I moved from the back of the lot, the Crown of Thorns once planted in a bed in front and a variety of aloe vera in the tall plant in back. The aloe had a tall stem growing from the middle of the plant with a cluster of orange blooms at the top, but did I get a photo? Nooooooo.

Another asparagus fern recently relocated from the back next to a yucca that also made the move.

Vikki left the geranium when she headed to places north.

The succulent to the right with the flat paddle shaped leaves is a type of kalanchoe.

The baby Crown of Thorns has since moved in to the cat planter because the Mexican heather shown there in this photo became too moody for its own good,

This used to be filled with rock and was home to the Crown of Thorns. 

I simply cannot tell you the amount of work it took to get the rocks out of the two beds in the front of the house. Of course I did it last fall when temperatures were in the high 90s, and I was too stubborn to admit I'd made a mistake in starting the job. I could have paid a couple of workers to do it in a day but instead worked on the job for 2 weeks. 

But the croton  looks great there, right?!!!!

This simple little white flower doesn't look impressive but,

covering a citrus tree it has a huge impact in fragrance.

The smell is indescribable.

It is so heady,

euphoric,

intoxicating.....

It is sublime!

The perfume only lasts a few weeks but ohhhhhhhh..

If the honeysuckle and lilac knew they would hang their heads in shame.

What's THAT!!!

At a flea market last month Vikki and I came upon a fruit we'd never seen before.

The thing was HUGE.........

and warty...........

Here it sits in front of pineapples and snuggled between mangoes and papayas.

We figured it must have come from farther south in Mexico

or maybe Central America

or even South America

The vendor had a limited use of English but eventually understood that we wanted to know what the name of the fruit was. 

It's jack fruit, and sliced in rounds you can see the edible yellow-orange pulp.

The taste was not particularly pleasant; very sweet and pithy.

Still intrigued with the exotic fruit we struggled through the language barrier to learn where it came from.

From farther south, just as we thought.

Australia!

Yes, Australia!

Just about that time the woman's husband asked for $2 for the photo and our geography lesson ended.

I have since investigated jack fruit and found they are related to the osage orange, or what we in Missouri call hedge apples.

We bought the mangoes and had fresh mango daiquiris.

The daiquiris were also too sweet but we powered through them.

EEEEEEEEEK!!!!

Our friends Charlie and Vikki have a schnauzer named Sadie Rose.

For the last month the three of them have been parked on a street about 5 rows back.

During that time Sadie has shown great interest in some holes in the lot 3 spaces to the east.

They're pretty large holes - 2 inches across and larger.

Today, the last day of their stay, Sadie finally found something in one of the holes.

She is a great hunter.

She grabbed the creature somehow and pulled it from the hole.

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This is what Sadie proudly captured.

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Yes............a tarantula.

St Patrick's Day

We don't really need an excuse, but St Patty's Day just screams for a celebration!

Toni and I pre-parade and pre-party.

Bella in her golf cart with us as we line up for the parade. She has spotted (a) another dog or (b) a squirrel.

Lots of squirrels

More celebrants and Toto the dog. 

Jane and her dog.

He has lots of green ornaments hanging off the cart.

We've lined up and moved around the block.

Viking Leprechaun?

More reorganizing of the parade vehicles. The bicycle and covered wagon belongs to Ian, who portrayed my son in the play.

I don't know this woman, but I'd like to. She seems like a fun kinda gal, huh?

 

I love the roof treatment on this cart! I think it must be a tiki umbrella.

Some people will photograph anything!

You simply can not imagine the work it took to line up all the golf carts. It would seem that alcohol  may impair judgement. Green vodka was present along with beer.........beer.........beer.........

Toni and I have great plans for a cart design next year. 

Warning: It will be R-rated.

Dinner Theater..part II

I was in the play again this year, and our daughter, son-in-law and grandson were here to attend.

This year the play was "You're the Jury: the Case of the Steele Deal".

The members of the audience served as the jury and did they ever take it seriously!

Here I am as Sally Steele Wellington (!). My twin Clara and I had an agreement to share all our lottery winnings. Clara won $6,000,000.00 and refused to split the money. Clara then fell down the stairs and died, so I'm suing the estate.

Being sworn in by the bailiff, who sipped from a flask throughout the play.

Here is the video deposition of Clara, taken before her untimely demise. She's about as liquored up as the bailiff, taking the oath with a martini in her raised hand. Clara of course is also me with black hair. My grandson Coen didn't recognize me and when his mother pointed me out he said "Well, she's being very dramatic",

Jenne, the estate lawyer and Colleen, the court reporter

Ann Collins, who played the defense attorney. Ann is a very good actress, and a fabulous jazz pianist. She performs for the park several times during the winter season.

Roy Beddington, the judge and .............

Roxanne Beddington, his wife who played two roles.

Me with Jenne again. Jenne is also the wife of the actor who played my attorney.

The judge with Ian Farr, seen here as my step-son  Roosevelt. Ian also played my step-daughter Rosalind

Bruce Hunter; who played my husband Lyle last year; is seen here as Vinnie "The scorpion" Scarpatelli

And Bruce once again as Drew Mason, mild mannered paralegal.

The play ran for three nights. The jury found in my favor the first night, and against me the second night. I have to admit my attorney and I cheated just a little on the last night and won then too.

My family seemed to have a good time but when I got home Coen told me to

  "Take off that red lipstick Grandma!"

Earl's New Toy

This week we got a new mattress.

Earl got a new toy.

Cats love boxes.

Any size - any shape, nothin' beats a box for entertainment.

He carefully checked it out once we laid the box on it's side.

Here he discourages a breach of security.

Do NOT stick a finger in that hole.

"Nothin' to see here folks."

Winston, the feral cat whose life once depended on his ability to hide and hunt, has no interest at all in these silly games.

The Elusive Feral Cat

The wily feline known as a feral cat,seen here in his natural habitat.

Seldom captured by photographers, the feral cat lives in a state of heightened awareness.......

always ready to flee at the first hint of danger.