Tidbits

I'm doing the boring part of my latest quilt -- prepping it for quilting. I had to sew three pieces of batting together, but that was better than buying more. And I lucked out when I found this super wide piece of yardage to use for the back! I bought it ages ago thinking I might make curtains, but that never happened. So now I just have the dreaded basting, which I do with safety pins. 

In other news, I got my second Pfizer vaccine on Saturday and it knocked me for a loop on Sunday. I was fine when I woke up, but after breakfast I started feeling nauseous. Then the chills, fever, and body aches set in really quickly. And extreme fatigue. I spent the day on the couch huddled under layers of blankets wearing a sweater over a sweatshirt over another shirt and two thick pairs of socks and sweatpants. It was almost 80 degrees outside, but I put the heater and fireplace on because I just couldn't get warm. Today I feel fine except for being a little tired.

Earlier, I went to my first outdoor art fair since Covid started. Everyone was masked and I felt safe since we were outside. I noticed a lot of metal art, with an emphasis on suns and saguaros.

And my quote for today,

which describes me exactly:

Have a colorful day

Identifying my plants with Google Lens

A friend just showed me how to use Google Lens to identify plants, so today I went out in my yard and tried to identify everything. The app tells me that the spiky red flowering bush in my backyard that the hummingbirds love is a Baja fairy duster. (Which is also what Kandi said when she visited. I thought it was a bottlebrush bush.)

Google Lens is an image recognition technology that brings up information about objects it identifies using visual analysis. I have the free app on my phone.

Baja fairy duster

Here are some of the other plants I identified or verified:

Mexican holdback tree (in pea family)

Mexican holdback on the back right

Tangerine crossvine

Trailing lantana (which I planted)

More purple lantana in front yard. The tree with the white trunk is a palo blanco. People on a Facebook Tucson group think the tree beside the agave is a mimosa, but I couldn't identify it for sure. It gets puffy feathery white or yellow blooms.

Angelita daisy

Agave, but not sure what kind

Thornless prickly pear

Bougainvillea with prickly pear in background

Yucca, I think, or maybe sotol?

Pencil cactus (actually a succulent)

UPDATE: Now I think this is a Lady's Slipper.

Coral fountain, a potted evergreen

Another potted plant -- not sure of the name

I couldn't identify this tree (above and below). I have three of them in the back yard and they have long feathery fronds that are very graceful. Does anyone know what it is. It's probably native to the Tucson area because I think the previous owner put all native plants in the yard. I like having rocks instead of high-maintenance grass.

Soaptree yucca, which I love

I have numerous clumps of this plant in the back yard, but I couldn't identify it. Maybe bear grass because of the curly ends?

Part of my back yard, proving that you can have green in the desert using native or heat and drought tolerant plants!

If any of you are desert plant experts, let me know if I got anything wrong. 

Have a colorful day

Last week of Feb/March Challenge!

I can hardly believe it's the eighth and final week of the Feb/March Challenge issued by Lynda Heines to get us through the end of winter! It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was deciding what to do for the weekly challenge.

So this is the progress I made this past week (mostly this morning) on my curved quilt. I finished piecing all 16 blocks and then squared them up this morning. They started as 18 inches, but the curved piecing made the edges all wonky, so they finished at 16 inches.

I always hate to throw away a pretty pile of scraps, but I can't save everything.

This picture shows how uneven the blocks were before trimming. I haven't decided on a final arrangement because I'll try out a few and take pictures first. I asked a retired math teacher friend, Pam, how many possible permutations there are and she said, "More than Trump has and less than Bill Gates."

My view beyond the sewing machine was sunny and bright this morning. The sunshine really gives me energy!

I'm linking to Lynda's challenge blog here: feb-march-challenge-week-8

Here are some pictures of my hiking friends from the weekend. That's Barb and Beth above at Catalina State Park. Below is me with Kandi, one of my Gig Harbor friends, at Sabino Canyon.

One one of my hikes this weekend I spotted this saguaro with dozens of buds. Spring is here!

Have a colorful day

Spring in the desert

Happy Spring from Sabino Canyon! This morning a visiting friend and I rode the trolley to the top of the canyon and then hiked back down through the greening desert gorge on the first day of Spring.

The canyon is probably best known for its rushing streams, waterfalls and beautiful pools of water that are an unexpected treat in the desert. Cottonwoods along the stream banks were leafing out in brilliant green that glowed in the morning sun.

Here's Kandi by one of the pools. We saw people swimming and sunbathing, but we just hiked and took pictures.

The reflections in the water were breath taking.

The day before, we hiked at Catalina State Park and then wandered through Tohono Chul Park, which highlights the nature, art and culture of the Sonoran Desert that encompasses Tucson. Here are some photos from Tohono Chul, where native wildflowers were bursting with color: 

Here are two types of prickly pear cactus at Tohono Chul that are different from the usual type you see in Tucson:

And here's me with a sculpture at Tohono Chul.

Of course there was festive food involved in Kandi's visit! We went to Guadalahara's for dinner after our first busy day and also hit up a bakery/salad restaurant and a gelato shop.

Happy Spring!