A Day Brightener-no words needed

Only in pictures!!

The kiddos had Lilliana's picture taken by a professional in New Jersey.  There are a bunch of them but I will slowly release them on the blog.  Here is the first batch.  She was three weeks old--sleeping soundly in every one of them.  Too many to pick a favorite!

Sam Chung

I spent Saturday at Katherine Orrentia's (an amazing clay artist) studio in Oro Valley at a demo workshop.  Sam Chung is on the faculty at ASU in Tempe, and a wonderfully creative and nationally known clay artist.  Lots of bells went on as he spoke words of wisdom and demonstrated techniques and passed on gems of knowledge.  Love this stuff.  Very inspiring besides being a really interesting and sweet guy.  He grew up in Minnesota, graduated from White Bear Lake High school, got his undergraduate degree from St Olaf, studied under Warren McKenzie and Mark Farris at UM, got his MFA from ASU and now back teaching in Tempe.  A lot to absorb but helped me to think more about questions of space and design and how to plan and conceptualize what I am doing.  Pretty heady stuff. He's a hand builder but also an amazing "thrower."

She's waking up.  I think I can relate--waking up is hard to do. . .Don't you love it!!

Some of our dearest "Forever Friends" stopped on their way through and spent a couple of days with us.  Larry and Marlene and Will and I share a double history from our days in Minnesota.  Larry and Will were 3Mers together and we were also neighbors on 8th street in Oakdale.  Our kiddos played together, went to school together--we all shared many experiences in the old neighborhood! 

We just gabbed and remembered and caught up on extended family and mutual friends non stop. 

We did go to a miniature museum here in Tucson--actually it is a museum OF miniatures.  Here it looks like we drank Alice in Wonderland's potion before we could enter the museum--pretty fun. 

Menagerie

Now that I have refilled my bird feeders, our resident Coopers Hawk has been very attentive to my back yard again.  He lurks in the mesquite tree or today he was skulking in the shade of the lemon tree, just waiting for an opportunity.  He managed to get a gilla woodpecker this afternoon, which surprised me.  Nothing left but a little pile of feathers and the feet--eeyyoooo.

A little more pleasant. . .the barrel cactus are beginning to bloom now.  This little guy is a new addition to my cactus garden and the bloom is nearly as big as the plant!

"George" has gotten a lot bigger over the summer.  Still hanging around the patio  And even has a friend, or brother or whatever--there are two of them now.   He's a desert spiny. 

And this little guy is new to me.  He's a Couch's Spadefood Toad.  Nocturnal--got him with a flash, about 3 inches long.  They apparently come out during monsoon rains, lay their eggs in shallow rain pools that have to hatch and grow up enough before the pools dry up.    Its about a two week frenzie of calling, mating, feeding, and egg laying.  They have a few good meals of bugs and then they use that "spadefoot" to dig them selves into the soil and wait until next year's rains.  Another one of those amazing desert adaptations that just fascinate me so much.  However, I am more amazed that he was on my patio as there is no water source anywhere near us--plenty of bugs, though.

All in my back yard!

new pictures from the baby blog

She just had her month old birthday!! I am checking Doug and Tammy's baby blog every day for new pictures.  Makes my day when I see new ones.  I just want to reach in and hug her.

Home

We're home in Tucson!!  RV unloaded, laundry done, stuff put away, patio swept, bird feeders refilled,  mail gone through, to-do-lists made.  Sitting out on patio and enjoying the exceedingly warm sunshine.  Was 106 the day we got home but not quite so warm today--even some clouds as a southwest monsoon day is forecast.  Everything survived our absence well, inside and out.  Put the pictures of Lilliana on a continuous loop on our digital picture frame so I can watch her all day long.  But will see her again in a month when we all gather in Iowa for Grandma's 90th birthday party.