A cactus named Powder Puff ~

The recent abundance of rain has prompted some sweet surprises. Here are two tiny Mammillaria Compacticaulis cacti - also commonly known as Powder Puffs. With their wee crowns of flowers they are enchanting tiny finds that you can spot under protective bushes like Texas Ranger. 

A little bit of Monet in Tucson ~

Monet was fascinated with water lilies and so are the folks at Tucson's Magic Garden Nursery. They have a beautiful pond on the property that supports koi and plenty of lilies. They also show you how you, too, can have a water lily feature - see the last photo of a tin watering trough to show you how easy and beautiful this can be! 

Pug Pilot ~

If I were a traffic cop I think this handsome fellow would have to get some tickets if he were driving. Both hands off the wheel, no seat belt....   But maybe he is just the navigator! 

Best vet in the west!

For puppy Abby's first vet visit there was so much going on that I forgot to take photos! But here she is getting her 2nd checkup and her final series of puppy shots with Tucson's best vet, Dr. Jack Quick, at Pantano Animal Clinic. As you can see, he definitely loves his job and Abby definitely loves him!

Stormy weather cypress ~

It seems as though we are having an unusually long monsoon season this year. I can remember summers when we were hit hard with storms in July and then... poof... they were over. In the last week we have had a lot of stormy weather. I think the skies are just beautiful during this season. These clouds swirling behind the cypress look smokey and mysterious, don't you think?

Nature's Quirky Mysteries!

In my front yard right now my beautiful white bougainvillea is in full bloom. We had an amazing storm with plenty of wind that howled all night long so when I was assessing the debris damage I was not surprised to see that my bougainvillea had trapped some pink petals. When I reached to remove the strays I saw that the pink was not loose: this bloom on my plant was actually two-toned pink and white! This plant doesn't really have petals, per se. The "blooms" are modified leaves called bracts. Anyway, my plant has just one two-toned bract. Isn't that odd? 

MORE Wild Wildlife!

Two days in a row I can post amazing photos of Tucson's wild wildlife! Here are two photos of a magnificent Great Horned Owl. What a gorgeous specimen! For info about this beautiful bird, click here. 
Photo courtesy of George Goldman.