Winter Relief

I managed to escape winter in Alberta for a week or so, arriving at Sky Harbour Airport in Phoenix at 7:00 last night. Lloyd was here to meet me, having spent all week at a work-related retreat and the previous week at a golf tournament. It seemed like he was gone forever. Now we'll just rest and relax and enjoy some alone time.

My first item of business down here is always to do a walkabout in the yard, checking on how the fruit trees, cactus and palms are doing. Sara and Quincey had been here for a couple weeks in January and Quincey bought a few more items for the yard...items like this....

We love the saguaro cactus and now we have 3 of our own. This guy is the largest, and the only one old enough to have sprouted an arm. I'm not sure how long the braces have to remain in place. It'll sure look better when they're removed.

A looking-up view...

And a view from the street to put him in perspective.

This is our second new saguaro and the new joshua tree in the back yard.


This toothpick cactus was one of the first ones we planted two years ago. It has more than doubled its size in those two years.

It's 51F here today (15C) and feels lovely and cool - no wind, no rain, no snow. I didn't even need a jacket when we went out. A nice change from home.