SUNNY AND GLORIOUS

What a glorious day it is here in Arizona.  The north part of the state is digging out from the snow they got over the past two days.  Here in the Phoenix area, we are having bright sunshine and 55F right now.  A perfect day to go for a little jaunt around the neighborhood.

 I had to wake up the Grand Dog so he could accompany me on the walk.  He needs to walk to expound some of that puppy energy he still has.

We saw some different flora today.  I am about 4 miles away from my home.  My son's home is in an HOA so I was not too sure if I would get to see too many different species.  Luckily, I did find a few different things, although, not as varied as in my neighborhood.

Oleandar getting ready to bloom.  This is one plant which will keep their flowers all summer long.  No matter how hot it gets here.  They come in white, pink and red.  All parts of this plant are toxic.  If ingested it can kill.  If burned, the smoke is toxic and can kill you too.  These are prevalent everywhere because they are such a hardy plant.  They are very pretty when in full bloom.  

Petunias!  Ours bloom quite well during the winter here.  Love the colors of these.  There are some in my neighborhood but they are either red or white.  I like the stripes on these.

This is Eremophila.  I had never heard of this plant before.  It is native to Australia's mainland.  It is drought resistant so perfect for our desert climate.  These also come in many colors. (pink, red, purple and salmon)

Flowering rosemary.  I so wanted to squish the leaves to experience the smell.  I resisted since it was not my property I was on.

And, what would be a walk in Arizona without running into a bougainvillea plant.  They are so beautiful.  Too bad they are such a dirty plant.  I am forever pulling the dead blossoms out of my swimming pool.  We don't even have one of these in our yard.  The closest one is almost a block away from us.

That wraps up today's botany lesson.

I wanted to show you what I did last night while hubby was teaching a class at church.

I made 15 flour tortillas.  YUM!  Hubby was pleasantly surprised when he came home and saw these all cooked up and ready for a late night dinner.  I also made (from scratch) my spelt flour brownies. Those are going to my pot luck brunch tomorrow.  One of the ladies in the prayer shawl group is going home and will not be returning next winter.  We will miss her.  SO, what do we do?  We EAT!

Tonight is trivia night.  Not sure how many people will be attending.  My daughter already bowed out.  She managed to break her pinky toe and the break is also dislocated. She is in a bit of pain and looking for a podiatrist to see her ASAP.  It took her primary care doctor 2 days to get back to her about her xray!!!!!  

My cousin will not be there.  The Grand is not feeling the best so she is iffy also.  Hubby and I may need to hold our own tonight.

OK, I have about 90 minutes before I need to go and pick up the grand from school.  Time to go and work on a shawl I would like to have done by tomorrow's party.

Until next time.................happy crafting!