And we're back in Mesa . . . 

We did manage to take in the Tohono Chul  in Tucson-said to be one of the top 10 botanical gardens in the world before we headed to Mesa.  Although of course there were not a ton of flowers this time of year, I was surprised at how many we did get to see!

There were a ton of these pretty little primroses.

 I thought it was just beautiful, but Don thinks once you have seen a cactus they all look the same.  I never get sick of looking at them.

Pretty sure, I have NEVER seen a heart shaped cactus before

This saguaro had a really interesting crown.

 There was a huge pomegranate tree

 This bush had the most interesting foliage  - it is called a sandpaper bush

 Peek a boo!!

 It was very exciting to see this little pyrroluxia - he was very well camouflaged except for his pretty red feathers.

 They had a few feeders out so there were lots of finches.

 I thought the gold ones looked like gold-finch wanna bee's but turns out they are lesser goldfinch.  They sure brightened up the branches with their bright yellow feathers.

 One of the most interesting parts of this botanical garden was what they called the Ethnobotnical garden.  Basically this is the study of the relationship between people and plants. The natives would grind the pods of the mesquite trees (not these red ones - but they are super pretty so I had to take a picture).  I tried grinding the pods and tasting the flour.  The flour is very tasty, sort of spicy like cinnamon.  You can buy the flour on line - gluten free!!

 This is a cross section (dried) of a saguaro cactus.  Of course it has shrunk up quite a bit as it dried but it was interesting to see what the insides look like.  The white part is normally slimy and moist.  The gila woodpeckers make a hole in the cactus and pick out the white part. They then build huge nests called boots - that's what that is beside the cactus. These boots are used by lots of different desert birds as the gilas like a new one every year.

This is a globe cactus, all their fruit is ready now.  Inside the yellow flesh are a ton of seeds.  Apparently this is very sour and sort of lemon like.  The pretty red fruits from the prickly pear were pretty much the only sweet thing the natives of the area had to look forward to in the spring.

We have been in Mesa, which will be our home until April for a week already.  The week has flown by and we really haven't done anything too exciting.  To be honest it isn't as exciting as last year as we have already seen a lot of things.  Also, the weather has been pretty cold and there was a frost last night.  We have been trying to get some of the things done that you really can't do when you are not in one place very long.
I finally got my glasses fixed and picked them up today.  After visiting a few glasses places we finally found one that carries this brand, and had to call my store in Saskatoon to find out the replacement pair number - as of course my frames are discontinued.  Don had a couple of projects that he needed to get done.  One was making a bucket light that Terry had shown him last year.  He wants to be able to barbeque for supper and it gets pretty dark by 5 or 6.

Lights up the garbage cans quite nice too   LOL   We also went and got a new barbeque as ours was at the end of its life - this one is bigger and now we have room for veggies!!

This was such amazing broccoli.  I put a little of my new lemon infused olive oil on it and some salt  - amazing.!!1

This is the fountain at Fountain Hills.  We went to the farmers market there and that is where I got the olive oil.  If I could pick anywhere in the world to live I think it would be there.  We stopped and walked around the fountain and then went for lunch where I had the best sweet potato fries I have ever had in my life!
We also went and got a propane tank - we tried to get one with a gauge on it but were not successful.   Took a few tries to get one but now we have it hooked up so we can just go and re-fill the small tank.  Very happy to have this already as the propane furnace heats the motorhome up really nice.

I also found a place that can fix my glass on my new phone.  Don is out right now getting quotes for the new struts we need on the car.  Hopefully that is all we need to fix for a while!
I have been trying to make sure I get some type of exercise every day and have been swimming in the morning (indoor pool cuz I'm a wimp) or walking outside or at the gym.  Today's plan was to go for a 3 mile hike but it is cool and the wind chill makes for really cold ears.  I really hate to put on ear muffs but hopefully it warms up enough this afternoon so I can go for a walk.  I have been eyeing up a beautiful tree down the road that is loaded with pink flowers.  Need to check it out quick in case the frost gets it.
We have also been trying to figure out what activities we should sign up for and try and what not.  I tried line dancing last week - no surprise that I sucked at it but enjoyed it anyway.  The people here are so nice and everyone will help you.  I was going to try it the next night as well but we ended up having "Mexican lasagna" with Ralph and Linda.  It is a new recipe that I tried and its a keeper.
We went to the music in the courtyard and met up with Terry and Glenda and also a lot of other people that we met at the end of our stay last year.   We only went to the courtyard twice so far as it is pretty cold and they have moved it indoors.  I like to sit out side so I am waiting . . .
Mona lent us her pickle ball rackets and Don and I gave that a try - it was really fun and pretty good exercise.    So far I have signed up for Spanish lessons and am trying to decide what else to do.  I don't like to have all my days planned out but want to be busy.  I got used to being pretty busy this summer with a lot of structure and it is honestly a little hard to adjust to having the day to do as I please.  There is a camera club and I think I am going to finally splurge and get me a better camera.

Don hung up my hummingbird feeder and we have enjoyed them a lot already  These are Anna's hummingbirds.  We have also had a little verdin stop in and try to sip some nectar and this morning there was a cactus wren sitting on the top of the stand.  We are going to get a bird bath soon!  Do you think it will scare the hummers away if I wrap up the post with white and red ribbon to make it look like a candy cane?? My (small) attempt at a little Christmas decoration.

The sunsets have been absolutely incredible.  This looked like the sky was on fire.

 Yesterday we went out to the Gilbert Water Ranch.  It is a place we went a lot last year but I never get tired of it.  It was still chilly on the ears with the wind in the afternoon.  Can you find the 2 birds perched in this picture?  the one on the let is a green heron (I think)  and I sure wish I knew what the one to the right is.

 This is a desert pocket mouse.  These kinds of critters give me the willies, there were quite a few of them just sitting there eating.

 These are black neck stilts.  They were all lined up standing side by side in 2 neat and tidy rows.

Can you see this pretty great heron?  We also saw a kestrel but I could not get a good picture of it.  There were cormorants and also egrets.

Don was pretty proud of his shopping trip the other day  - he picked up all this wine for 37.00   One thing about Arizona, the food and alcohol prices are so cheap.  I have been to the Superstition market twice now, both times bringing home 2 bags of produce and spent $4 once and $5 today.  Awesome!!

Don just got home (the garage we took the car to dropped him off) and our car is finally getting new struts.  We just never seemed to have the time this summer to get that done.