Fun and games

Sam surprised us with Easter baskets on Easter Sunday!

They included chocolate bunnies and a pretty Bible verse to hang on the wall.

Then Sam tried to convince Mom that the basket could be a special Easter face mask. Fortunately, she didn't need it later when we had a great lunch and great time at Dean and Peggy's.

Sam and I got away one weekend, thanks to Becky coming out to stay with Mom. Sam drove the high school track team to a track meet in Safford and used the wait time to spruce up the activity bus.

I helped a little with the interior.

While Sam admired some of the other buses that came from all over the state. 

A few weeks ago, Sam decorated Phoebe's seat on his regular bus to honor her as the only graduating senior on his route. She's a quiet kid, but seemed pleased at the recognition. 

Many of Sam's students play softball or soccer, and Sam and I make it to as many ball games as we can.

We also like to support local businesses, and I scored a brownie from Clayton, an entrepreneur here in Mescal. Notice the logo on the paper bag.

For the past month or so, Sam has been busy with several sanding and buffing jobs. First he did this 1969 Volkswagen bus for his old boss, Joe Chirco. Chirco Automotive

Joe also restores Porsches and next asked Sam to polish up the paint on this 1965 convertible. He's just getting started on this one.

He's also buffing and polishing this motorhome for friends Bill and Kathy. He's a busy, busy man!

Back at the ranch, our seedlings are starting to grow. 

So we're cleaning out the garden. 

We dug up and amended the soil in the raised beds, then planted the cucumber seedlings. The tomato plants need to grow a bit bigger before they can be transplanted. 

I also cleaned up some logs and branches from around our driveway and 5th wheel trailer. 

Yesterday we worked on the buckets. Sam's garden cart is a multi-purpose wonder, and this lift feature worked great. 

We dumped the dirt out of all the buckets and broke up the soil so we can mix in manure and other additives. It will be an ongoing project. 

Speaking of growing things, spring flowers are showing up all over the neighborhood! These are creosote bushes.

Mormon tea blooms are rather different, but pretty. 

Yellow seems to be God's favorite color this time of year, and every day there's more.

These two little guys seemed so hopeful to me.

Then there's Fairy Duster. This one was especially bright; they range from bright pink to pale buff.

On Mom's deck, we've been enjoying this purple pot of pansies. Purple is a favorite color and I'm so glad we bought it. I also planted zinnia, gazania and calendula seeds in bigger pots in the yard. 

At Benson Hospital, we spotted a couple of Texas Mountain Laurel. The blooms smell like grapes. We have seeds at home, but haven't planted them yet.

While watering all the new garden plants, I rescued this lizard from drowning in the watering can. He ran up my hand and arm and was quite friendly, perhaps a bit stunned from his close call.

Finally, it's been awhile since I showed you my recent paintings. This is my largest yet, 16 x 20 inch, a view of Marble Canyon in northern Arizona. Strangely enough, it took a longer time to paint!

I call this Barrel Cactus. 

The cholla branch came out rather chubby, but I like it otherwise. 

I'm a member of the San Pedro River Arts Council and our Endeavor Gallery (Endeavor Gallery) was finally able to change out our exhibit a few weeks ago. For the first time, some of my paintings are in a gallery!

Here are the three that are mine. My painting workshop teacher, Kathy, did the big orange and yellow flower painting on the top left. She's talented!

I also put a couple small birds in the gallery gift shop.

And a couple of really small benches.

That's it for now. We hope you are enjoying spring and taking time to "smell the roses."

Spring has sprung

 

Mom Virginia is home from rehab. Yay!

She's not as active as usual, but enjoys postcards from her nephew Jeff, TV shows and her view of the mountains and hills. 

She occasionally gets outdoors for a walk, but the other day she went too far and got exhausted. 

Fortunately, Sam was home and came to her rescue, sirens blazing. 

Mom's 87th birthday passed by while she was in rehab, so last week we celebrated with dinner at Mi Casa, including chef Santa's wonderful carrot cake. Mom ate every crumb.

Sam has been on spring break and spent a few days canning vegetables. 

But first, we had a delivery!

Mom's stove was 25 years old and had begun turning on the propane gas at odd times, which of course is unsafe.

So Sam installed a new one! We are really enjoying it. 

One Saturday we found the Produce on Wheels truck and scored 70 pounds of produce for $12: tomatoes, green peppers and eggplants. Borderlands Produce Rescue

Sam has been collecting canning jars and consulted our friend Tracy to learn the steps.

He also prepped and froze and vacuum sealed, using some of his vintage kitchen gadgets. 

And ended up with 16 quarts of salsa and much, much more. I would have helped, but the kitchen is too small (I dodged that bullet!).

On the first day of spring (or maybe the day before), I was finally able to clean out the greenhouse and get some seeds started. 

We're a month behind schedule compared to last year, but we'll see how it goes. 

The first step was reading the back of the seed packets to see how they should be planted.

Then I made a list. I later scratched off the yellow squash because it has to be planted directly into mounds. Okra, radishes, turnips, corn and luffas will also be planted directly in the soil.

I went ahead and planted all our remaining seeds, since some of the packages are 2 or 3 years old. If everything comes up, we'll give away the extra seedlings to friends and coworkers of Sam. 

 

I had a couple visitors wanting to see what I was doing. I think this one is a Clark's Spiny Lizard. 

On that note, I'll leave you with a few recent photos of our winter desert colors.

I like the shapes here.

And the golden color of the Mormon Tea. Now that spring has arrived, many things will be turning green . . . or at least our version of that happy color.

May your world also be bright and happy as you look forward to spring and summer.