golden hour

I

It feels like I have a million things to do this morning with company coming, packing, 50 pounds of berries and a full day of cleaning. But after reading in a photography book last night and again being reminded by Amy's Blog this morning I had to stop my hurried frenzy when I noticed that "Golden Hours" of photography had arrived. I set out the door with my camera and my faithful sidekick to see what I might capture while the sun was beaming gentle golden rays of light. 

(This one is actually sideways but I decided I like it better that way)

little bird

Sunday evening we drove across town to pray with Ben and Sasha in their new home. I had found some wonderful organic strawberries at my favorite discount grocery and made a raspberry/strawberry crisp to take with us. But I also brought along a box of fresh strawberries knowing that strawberries are one of Tessa's favorite foods. She sat on a stool in the kitchen as I washed strawberries for her. And along came Ethan wearing Jay's hat. He stood next to the stool with his head thrown back and his mouth wide open looking just like a baby bird waiting for a worm.

summer storms

We've had several rainstorms go through this past week. On Tuesday night we watched out the picture window in our bedroom as the mountain/desert scape was lit up again and again by flashes of lightning. Friday morning, shortly after I took this photo the sky opened up and poured down sheets of wet over the parched desert soil. Again yesterday afternoon the winds howled and the clouds let loose buckets of cool wet moisture. We have gone back and forth between opening up the windows and doors to draw in the Michigany-like air and then quickly closing everything back up and turning on the air conditioner when the sun breaks through and turns all that cool wetness into hot sticky steam.

paint week plus

Paint week was extended into a second week... 

and isn't finished yet...

It has been a multi-phase process. 

But let's begin at the beginning...

Phase One:

The need became apparent when we had a friend visiting recently whom needed a good sturdy lawn chair...I realized the mismatch of  folding lawn chairs I had didn't leave him much choice. Then I found a flyer in the mailbox advertising wooden Adirondack chairs. It seemed a good price and once Jay looked at several sights online he agreed. 

I took the pickup to town the next day to pick up a matching pair of chairs. Silly me, I could have taken the car as the chairs I wanted to purchase came neatly packed in a box along with the hardware and instructions I would need to put them together. 

Phase Two:

I started the primer outside in the shade but found the paint and heat were not a good combination. So the next day I moved the process inside the garage office area where the swamp cooler took the edge off the heat. All the individual pieces made for lots of back and forth, in and out. 

Phase Three:

Once all 62 pieces were primed it was time to make the big decision. I had been looking at painting ideas online (the trend recently is to paint Adirondack chairs bright, bold colors) pulling handfuls of color samples at the store and imagining in my minds eye, but I just wasn't sure. 

Then I remembered the color wheel my friend Becci had given me when we were scrapbooking together. It seemed just the thing to help with this decision. My problem, again, was the pale yellow of the house; a color to which I'm not the least attracted. In a previous post you may recall my brainstorm to paint the trim rather than the whole house (not that the trim is actually painted yet-but the idea is still there). With those two reference points the color wheel said I could use something from the orange family and create an analogous harmony. Orange; not a color I would have considered but I thought if I found something with a hit on red I might comfortable with the look. 

I decided that this time around I would only paint 31 pieces, in case I found I couldn't stomach the orange. 

Phase Four:

Two layers of orange, a day to dry and I was finally to the fun part....putting together my 3D puzzle. 

Between my spacial tendencies and the assistance of a power screwdriver I actually enjoyed this task.

 

Phase Five:

This is where you come in. Now we have one fully assembled, school house brick orange, sturdy Adirondack chair waiting for  you to come try it out.

siesta

It's hot in the valley of the sun. Today's high was predicted to be 114 degrees. I've decided that the fine line between spring and summer in the desert is the nighttime temperatures. In the spring the nights cool off and when you get up in the morning the air is refreshing. In the summer it's hot all the time-day and night. Summer has arrived. Jay has been getting up before the sun and heading to work early to try to beat the heat. This morning after he left I sipped my iced mocha outside and watched the sun rise. The weather on my tablet said it was 92 degrees at 5:21 AM (of course it only felt like 89!). 

We've still been using the swamp cooler rather than turn on the more expensive air conditioning but it only makes these high temps slightly more bearable. When Jay got home this afternoon he laid on the floor in the dining room in front of the swamp cooler. Lily thought that was a great place to take an afternoon siesta and joined him. I was back and forth between the computer and the kitchen but happened to catch the two of them holding hands...ah...paws.

turning

Tessa and I had a grand reunion yesterday at the birthday-pool party celebrating her fourth birthday. Jay and I were a little late arriving at the party and when Tessa saw us arrive she ran to me hollering "Grandma!". 

We spent most of the afternoon playing in the shady end of the pool, Tessa jumping and me trying to catch her and at the same time close my eyes against the chlorine splash. 

I made up a bag full of preschool alphabet activities for her to do with her mommy. I also packed up a tomato from the garden. When she was at our house she would check the progress of the first tomato growing in the greenhouse each day but it never got past green. She loves tomatoes and is a huge Veggietale fan so I told her Bob the Tomato had come to her party. The chickens also sent their greetings in the form of four of their finest colored eggs. 

It was the kind of afternoon you want to hold in your mouth and remember not to chew so that the pleasure lasts as long as possible but eventually ending with multiple sad goodbye hugs and promises to visit soon.

work

Aaron poses with his tool box during tour of the new barn.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

-Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Inventor, Businessman

h2o

 sign over drinking fountain on the Tohno O'odham Nation

I love words....not the technical parts of words like spelling, grammar and punctuation but the part that makes you pause and think about something in a way you have never thought of before.

knee high

 by the 4th of July....in Iowa maybe but not in Arizona.

 

 

 

After our weekend tour of the garden pool we worked these past three days in our greenhouse. Monday we cleaned out and relocated plants to make space for our little pond. I really like the look of the double row of pots with herbs, aloe and trees. Tuesday we visited the hydroponic store in Tempe and got supplies, information, and inspiration. Today we built a frame and lined our hole with cement.

 

  

When Jay heard our backdoor neighbor on his tractor he headed over with the offer of some cash if David would use his machine to rearrange some dirt in the wash. David, the Deere and David's four year old grandson came shortly after and while the guys  played in the dirt I headed to the chicken coop with Taylor.

 

  

Taylor was enamored with the chickens (he even kissed one). It was quite humorous watching him chase the chickens back and forth trying to catch one. Like most four year olds he had more questions than I had answers and I think we should have asked for the childcare discount during the negotiations process.

All in all it was a busy and satisfying Forth of July.

pink fluff

It's toasty....108 degrees (feels like 105) at two in the afternoon. We got up early to beat the heat and Jay was working outside before 6:30 AM. I made eggs and we ate on the patio (where he had been creating a foam insulation for the swamp cooler). Afterward, we both worked in the greenhouse until noonish when we were both well salted and ready for some cool. I had seen a recipe on facebook for Watermelon Slushies and this seemed the perfect opportunity to try them out. Although neither of us are huge watermelon fans be both thought the drink was pretty good.