Not-so-scary scarecrow ~

I had to laugh at this streetscape scarecrow. This rather friendly looking fellow is guarding a patch of corn sprouting near an eastside home's mailbox. Not exactly an Iowa cornfield but hey - there's nothing like fresh corn and if you can grow it beside your front door, it's SURE to be fresh picked! YUM!

Gray and white and windy ~

We are in the midst of monsoon season now and nearly every day some part of town gets a sky show extraordinaire! This sharply defined cloud mass is certainly beautiful ~

Butterfly Buffet ~

My hummingbird feeders were running low today and as I reached to refill this one I spotted this butterfly beauty having a sip. I searched for Internet images to identify this one and THINK it might be a "Tawny Emperor." Can anyone provide a positive ID for this one? Thanks! Here's the link of Butterfly images that I found.

Site notice ~

Dear site followers and friends,
Due to an urgent family situation that requires my attention I am hitting the "pause" button on TDP for a little while. I'll be posting soon, again, I hope! Thanks for your understanding.

Another "Where is this?" contest!

Squares squared! Attention loyal followers ~ you can either be the first to identify where this building is in Tucson OR you can take a guess at WHAT it is. Either/or. Winner will receive one of the totally fun, "Monday Already?" t-shirts! Good luck.

Astonishing - look closely

Thanks to wildlife photographer Jerry Weinert we have this opportunity to enjoy images of a 3-month-old Cooper's Hawk. If you take a close look you'll see that the hawk has rotated its head as much as we see with owls! YES, that's the back of the bird you are looking at! Thanks, Jerry!
Photos courtesy of Jerry Weinert.
P.S. Jerry is the caregiver of the lovely Lucretia, Tucson's favorite desert tortoise, who has graced these pages in the past.

Sun stripes ~

I was struck by the precise stripes of shade under this education area ramada at the Tucson Village Farm. Abstract and almost hypnotizing. For a better look at that amazing mosaic food wall with its dancing skeletons that is in the background, I've added a close up view.  

Farming is hard work!

After weeding, watering, and harvesting, a farmer needs a break! Get a nice rest on the back of this piggy bench ~ fun! Hope you're enjoying this walk-around these past days of Tucson Village Farm, a wonderful outdoor classroom for kids.

Your kid's face here ~

As I walked around on the farm, I spotted a few of these fun "cut outs" where kids can pop their heads through the holes and pose for photos. Fun! See the posts from the past few days for more views of this wonderful place.

Worms at work ~

Yes! Worms work as proven by this sign at Tucson Village Farm. I was tempted to lift the lid on this block trough but I restrained myself. I surmise this is a big compost area where the worms work to turn plant matter into wonderful soil. Check my previous posts on this great health program for kids.

Welcome to Gertie's house ~

Yesterday I showed you all of the things that kids learn here at Tucson Village Farm. Since "To Milk Gertie" was on the list I figure this must be Gertie's barn. And the sign is great! It says, "Calcium Barn. Get your Dairy On."
http://www.tucsonvillagefarm.org/

Food, Health, Fun ~ for Tucson kids

Welcome to an urban farm! I'm going to show you around a fabulous Tucson farm project where the sign at the entry tells what the student farmers learn: "To Take Care of Plants, To Cook, To Milk Gertie, To Pollinate, About Worms, To Respect the Earth, To Eat Healthy, Composting, Soil Science, To Calculate and Predict, To Harvest, To Measure and Weigh." And that BIG rooster? He is used as a bench.

Another "Monday Already?" club member!

I am delighted that our latest "Where is This?" contest winner has sent me a photo of herself wearing her prize - the unique "Monday Already?" t-shirt! Thanks, Nancy, for identifying the Manning House and for being such a good sport to send us your portrait! And if any of you are hankering to have one of these 100% cotton shirts of your very own, I'll remind you again that they are for sale and that part of the proceeds go to the AZ-Sonora Desert Museum (home of the downcast ram). Nancy, you ROCK!!

Happy holiday to all ~

The Fourth of July is a great holiday - food, firecrackers, friends and, of course, gratitude for the sacrifices our founders made to form our country. Happy 4th, everyone!  P.S. Is it just me or does this Uncle Sam look like Colonel Sanders? Thanks for stopping by today ~

Lunar fruit ~

The full moon could almost be a glowing grapefruit from this angle!

A bit of merry olde England ~

Hundreds of years ago only the elite could read and write. If you were a poor laborer or traveler and wanted a bed for the night or a road house meal , you had to rely on an illustrated sign. So if you were told that you could find lodging at "The Blue Bird Inn," that sign is what you would look to find. Tucson's Kingfisher restaurant has a modern lighted sign but it also displays this kingfisher plaque outside. Charming!

Dog love ~

Great license plate that I spotted in traffic!