Yellow Blooms

Palo Verde trees and brittle bush are blooming in our yard.  Their yellow blooms are beautiful!

Murals of Tucson

There are over 1000 murals in Tucson, most downtown, with others scattered about the city.  Some of the muralists have become well known outside of Tucson and now do commissioned pieces elsewhere.  The artist that did the mural below, Joe Pagac, https://joepagac.net/murals, has been found!  He does incredible work, with a great sense of humor!  This is my favorite, with photo taken out my back passenger window when I went downtown for a haircut appointment.

Sabino Canyon

Papa and I took the tram up Sabino Canyon this afternoon.  We got off the tram at stop #9, end of the line, and walked 3.8 miles down to the Park entrance.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon.  The Creek was running, the cottonwoods growing along the Creek were wearing their new shiny green leaves, the wind was blowing up the Canyon.  It was perfect!  

Cajun Dinner at Home

Last evening, Ornella and Donato came for dinner.  I made a Cajun seafood boil, with black beans and rice appetizer.  Ornella brought fresh bread, and we made bananas Foster for dessert (lit with rum!).  It was a delicious and very messy dinner.  We had fun in our breakfast room with stacks of napkins and a bowl for shells and corn cobs.  

Dusting of Snow at Sunrise

There was a bit of rain overnight and we woke up to a light dusting of snow on top of the Catalina Mountains this morning.  They were beautiful as the sun rose.  

San Xavier del Bac Mission

Papa drove me to the dentist in Nogales early this morning, to repair a filling.  On our way back, we stopped at San Xavier del Bac Mission.  I have posted about San Xavier several times over the years, here,  here, and here are a few.  It is a beautiful place, known as White Dove of the Desert, founded by Italian Father Kino in 1692.  The sanctuary was full of people this morning for Ash Wednesday service, so we went around to the back of the church.  I love the back view of the rotondas and towers.  

Tucson Home Renovation

We have had people in and out of our house since the last week of October.  We had five windows replaced and a sixth new window cut into our breakfast room wall.  The window installations called for stucco repairs.  Next we had the tile in two showers demolished and replaced with new tile, and the floor of a third shower replaced with stones.  Along the way, the demolition broke most of our wine glasses in the wet bar in our living room - the sledge hammering caused the walls to vibrate and the wine glasses fell onto the floor.  

In early February, interior painting began, with all the dark wood trim inside our house, getting sanded then painted.  We had to move furniture and rugs, then everything was covered in plastic.  All this was a giant mess!  Papa and I cleaned the house last week for Mary’s weekend visit and put all the furniture back in place.  On Monday of this week, February 24, painters arrived to paint the exterior trim and stucco patches around the windows of the house and casita.  They worked two and a half days, and voila, they finished.  On Monday, our tile guy also came to put a new coat of finish on the floors in our house.  Our renovations are done and we are happy with the results!