New Life

Remember pictures of the cacti I planted in December or January? This is the fire stick or pencil cactus in the front of our winter home. Can you see the new sprouts? I took the pictures this morning just before we left. We were excited to see the new growth as that means the plant survived in spite of our care or lack of care & desert gardening skill. The new growth should be a bright orange when we return.

See the babies on the "ears"?


The curly prickly pear (don't know its "real name") also survived the winter. Based on all the babies that appeared this spring, the plant will really have grown when we get back in the winter, if the javelins leave it alone! I hear they like the cactus in the resort. Without the resident's potatoes, they nibble on the landscaping. Hope not mine!

World's Smallest Museum

Our road trip last month also took us to the World's Smallest Museum in Superior AZ. It is located next to the Buckboard Cafe.

The large tire on the bottom of the tire sculpture is from a truck that hauls ore and dirt in the open pit copper mines in the area.

The flower sculpture created from horse shoes caught my eye. Unique and interesting. Makes me wish I had access to a lot of old horse shoes. It would definitely be different yard art!

And finally, we have the wheel barrow water fountain that works only when it rains.


I was surprised we spent as much time there as we did, identifying ordinary objects in the life of miners. The building itself was not very big, but the yard around it had hundreds of items worthy of a look.

Crested Saguaro

On our road trip south of Superior last month, I happened to spot this saguaro along the side of the gravel road. Luckily, there was no traffic, so hubby graciously pulled to the side and let me play photographer.

While most saguaro cacti grow in a typical fashion, a few individuals will grow in an atypical form known as a cristate or crested saguaro. These bizarre looking forms often grow as a crest, but may also take other shapes such as balls or simply grotesque blobs.

The rare crested saguaro is an anomaly in the cactus world. These are mature cacti that begin to grow in a broad fan shape instead of continuing to develop a characteristic long trunk and curving limbs. Botanists don’t know what causes a saguaro to develop a crest. About one in 150,000 saguaros develop this unusual growth.

This is indeed a rare cactus. The only other one I have seen is at the museum at Lost Dutchman State Park, and that one was transplanted there. It was my lucky day!

Last Hike of the Season

The poppies are blooming.

Early in the day, the poppies aren't open yet, but the lupine is.

Interesting rock along the way.

This was today's destination: Praying Hands.

Very appropriate since today is Good Friday.

The valley

The Superstition Mountains

Curt was the photographer today.

New Wall Decor

The shed wall on the deck has been blank all season. I have been looking for just the right something to put on the wall.

It had to meet several requirements: size, color, desert decor, something not everyone else has, price...you get the idea.

Yesterday, in one of the discount stores near ACE Hardware, I saw this metal wall art and knew it was the right piece.

Hubby was willing to hang it right away. The colors work very well with the chairs on the deck. It was a great find.