Arriving in Arizona. . . . . .

Arriving in Tucson to bright sunshine, the drive south to the

 town of Sierra Vista certainly presented some very lovely vistas.

It's the desert though. It would have to do much more to entice me,

 an English gal from the land of cool, damp, rain, to stay very long! 

Family are here and have been for many years. 

We've been before but it has been some time, especially for me.

Thanksgiving Day will be special as there are several new 

family members to meet.

Giving thanks.

Hope you will be with your families and friends.

Front Porch Café. . . . . . . . . . .

Over the weekend we put out some extra birdseed on the railing of the front porch.

 Our garden birds had returned in small flocks and attacked the feeders - voracious

 appetites meant fighting for perches. The now bare fig tree was often full of birds

awaiting their turn at the feeders - some have good manners apparently, others

push and shove!

And then there are these guys!  Definitely happy when they discover in no time

 another café to have breakfast, and gobble they did. . . . . . along with a few birds,

such as this House finch pair who managed to grab a few seeds too.

We watched a marvelous NOVA 'Nature' TV program at the weekend titled

 "A Squirrel's Guide to Success."  It was awesome and I learned a lot more about

 these creatures who are SO smart!  If you have a chance to view that program on

 your PBS station, go for it, it's great!

I swear squirrels smile when happy. They can be very naughty digging out bulbs

and eating blooms, but you have to admit they can be cute when not misbehaving!

We have squirrel-proof bird feeders they cannot eat from - expensive

but seem to work well. 

Do you have these little guys in your garden?

We're off to spend Thanksgiving in Arizona so, just in case I don't

get back online for a while, we send our best wishes to each of you

for a wonderful holiday celebration.  

Cardinals never leave. . . . . . . .

Northern cardinal : Cardinalis cardinalis

The name comes from the LATIN word cardinalis which 

means 'important.'

The sweet, pale-feathered female cardinal is a very familiar backyard bird.

 Along with many bright red males usually close by, they are non-migrators.

 They are extremely territorial in springtime, however become non-territorial

 during winter and gather in small flocks of up to 20 birds. 

We enjoy their visits to our feeders and bird baths, and the now bare fig tree

 is a favorite perch as they go about their day come rain or shine.

 Male Northern cardinal.

I managed to get photos from the window of Mrs. Cardinal yesterday, and
 brilliant red Mr. Cardinal today, when the rain stopped for a while. 
Everywhere is saturated and today yet another storm continues to
 bring nonstop rain for the entire day.

Garden - November 2018

Much of autumn still clings to wet branches.

 While all around the air turns brisk and damp.

 Winter stirs in the heart and mind.

Scribble Picnic - Forest

I had another piece ready for today's theme however I just can't bring myself to post it!

I took a photo of a forested area and worked on it with my watercolor pencils etc.,

but it reminded me too much of the devastating fire scenes sweeping through
 California yet again, with the clouds looking more like billowing smoke, and the
 autumn leaves brown, crinkly and burnt looking. . . . .not a peaceful forest scene.

Instead, this is a photo of a 'forest floor' scene taken in my back garden - which 

I must admit these days is resembling a woodland on its way to becoming a forest!

There are golden toadstools, green and gold fallen oak leaves, acorns etc. Worked 

some with watercolor pencils. . . . .but perhaps it's best just left unfinished.

Today's theme is FOREST.  It will be interesting to see what everyone comes

 up with this time. 

Head over to Michael's SCRIBBLE PICNIC later today.

Sending happy Thanksgiving Day wishes to all. 

I will be visiting family in Arizona for a week and am hoping to get

 photos to share later. It's been a while since I was in the desert!

Happiness. . . . .

The lovely bluebirds have returned to the garden this morning bringing a

spark of proverbial happiness.

 Just one pair so far, perhaps the same ones who nested in the birdhouse

 last year, or perhaps their offspring.  

The rain fell in torrents most of yesterday and all through the night, flooding 

the garden yet again. A shower this morning with constant rain expected

soon and continuing through the remainder of today, and through this week,

means we are saturated and flash flood warnings are out.

Last evening we drove through the heavy rain to eat at a nice restaurant 

which annually supports our beloved veterans. They give a free meal to 

 veterans, of which Bob is one, and he always enjoys a steak, something

 I rarely prepare in my usually non-meat kitchen!

We don't go just for a free meal, we go for the atmosphere of camaraderie

between the diners, many introducing themselves to each other and stating 

where and when they served their country, often in wars on far off shores.

I need a little happiness this week. 

A lovely member of my family in the UK passed away unexpectedly and the 

sadness for his family is overwhelming I'm certain. 

At times such as this I feel so far away from where I want to be.

The continuing California wildfires are just devastating and my

 heart goes out to all who live in those areas. 

The fig tree is now bare, the maple behind it still has clinging leaves now 

changing color. Some trees are still quite green, others are dropping leaves

 and raking will begin soon. In late winter we will have to prune the fig which has

grown by leaps and bounds and is much too big! 

We will be away for an extended Thanksgiving Day trip this year.

That, along with computer problems, may mean I will not be posting 

regularly. Quite honestly I'm finding blogging exhausting lately and, 

once again, apologize for being lax in commenting.

Hopefully with new computers (although I dread having to learn new

technical stuff which I'm certain will come with them), and after a

change of scenery and time with our quite large family in Arizona,

I will be inspired and can keep going.

I care about you all so much and don't want to lose touch - you are 

my best friends and bring me such a lot of day to day happiness!

The bluebird carries the sky on his back - Henry David Thoreau