Juniper comes to visit Grandma!

My little munchkin granddaughter and her parents came to visit from Washington this week, along with my son and his wife from Wisconsin! This is the sunhat she picked out herself for her first visit to Grandma's house in the desert.

We had record-setting highs in the 90s, so much of the time was spent on my shady patio drawing with sidewalk chalk, squirting off with the hose and having rainbow popsicles. She loved making wet footprints and then watching them disappear.

We spent some time at Tohono Chul gardens, again seeking shady spots.

But she did stop in the sun to gaze at the metal horse sculpture.

Here's more color from Tohono Chul, which means Desert Corner.

We watched the ground squirrels at the neighborhood pool and took her to see the animals at the zoo -- her first zoo visit. She already knew what they were from all of her animal books.

She loves animals, and she befriended each of my yoga bunnies, wooden birds and plastic unicorns. We'd been FaceTiming with them for a month before her visit, and she couldn't wait to see them in person! She kept track of each one for the entire visit.

Her last night we went to an outdoor concert, where she got to run around on the grass under the stars in the cool desert evening. I already miss everyone and can't wait for our next visit!

Have a colorful day

Welcome spring, 100 degrees!

We hit 101 yesterday in Tucson and Oro Valley and are headed to 100 today on this first day of spring! We're in uncharted territory, according to meteorologists.

Update: at 1this afternoon we hit 101!!!

For the first time since they started keeping records in 1894, we just made it through an entire winter without having a single freeze. That made it our warmest winter on record, averaging 59.3 degrees.

It's the first winter that my bougainvillea plants didn't freeze and have to be cut back! The first winter that I didn't have to cover my other flowers when we got frost. (The bougainvillea are too tall and thorny to cover.) It made for a very pleasant winter with a lot of hiking in shorts, but I think this summer will be hell.

My bougainvillea and my giant prickly pear.

Here are some spring photos

from my neighborhood walk:

 

Green bark on a palo verde tree.

My neighbor's cactus just bloomed.

Can you see the red cardinal flying away from where it was sitting on the matching red ocotillo blooms?

Two of my succulents.

My kids/spouses/granddaughter are visiting next week and we'll be seeking out cool spots. Since they're all vegan, I made vegan chocolate chip banana muffins for them and put them in the freezer. And I only ate one!!!

And for a St. Patrick's Day party on Tuesday I made Baileys' Irish Cream chocolate truffles! Not vegan. And I ate way more than one!

Have a colorful day

Sunset, hike, sunset, hike

 

Detail of my quilt when the sinking sun hit it.

In the last two days I've taken a lot of photos of last night's brilliant sunset and this morning's sun-drenched desert hike. I couldn't decide which to blog about, so I'll do both!

This is a cholla plant glowing in the lowering sunlight (the golden hour) on my walk last evening. That's Pusch Ridge in the background, where I hike in the lower elevations.

And here's a golden moment on today's hike, with poppies glowing in the morning sun.

Golden orange from the sunset across the street from my house ...

... and cool greens by the water on my hike.

Orange mountain ...

... blue and green mountains.

Fiery clouds ...

... and cool water.

Good night ... and good morning! 

Happy to be on my 25th hike since my birthday, on my way to at least 70 by this December. I'm less than three months into the challenge to do 70 hikes for turning 70 last December.

Have a colorful day

Desert wildflowers gone wild!

Poppies 

We're having a bumper crop of wildflowers this year in the Sonoran Desert around Tucson due to our good winter rainfall and warm temps. I've rounded up some of what's out there on the hiking trails for you to see.

Lupin and Santa Catalina Mountains

Queen butterfly and lupin

Purple Owl's Clover

Bristly Fiddleneck

Yellow Salsify

Brittlebush, which also lines the roads throughout Tucson in big golden clumps.

Brittlebush, prickly pear, saguaro

Field of poppies

Poppies, lupin and owl's clover

The desert is also incredibly green this time of year! This is in Catalina State Park, my favorite hiking area.

I don't know what type of grass this is, but it positively glows in the sun!

You'd never guess that this is the desert, but the Sonoran Desert is the lushest desert in the world due to our powerful summer monsoons and gentler winter rains, also known as the male and female rains.

Because of the winter rains, the water is flowing in areas that are normally dry much of the year. This is also Catalina State Park.

Lately I've been doing some solo hikes where I wander along the streams and find a nice rock where I can sit and listen to the water away from other hikers.

And I can't do a desert post without mentioning the saguaros, my favorite desert plant of all! They twist and turn into fantastical shapes. Even when dead like the one below, their skeletons are striking.

Have a colorful day