And there goes April 2015

April has come and gone.  On Friday April 3, Patty received a nice floral arrangement from her children in honor of her birthday.

 Later that day, we had the usual McNamara Friday afternoon gathering at Alexi's Patio.

Madeline, Cathy, Jane, Patty and me

On Saturday April 4, Patty and I went to the Dreamy Draw trail head and went west on the 100 trail.  

Beautiful sky that day with lots of contrails

 We took a different route back and came across several different mine entrances that had been filled to prevent any further access.

In the afternoon, we saw the movie "Effie Gray." That evening we went out for dinner to celebrate Patty's birthday.  We had a nice dinner at Tomaso's Italian Restaurant.  After dinner, we had some excellent dinner.

Patty's sea salt caramel gelato cake

 In the second week of April, I started with making a presentation at the monthly meeting of the the local chapter of the American Pilgrims - members are interested in hiking one or more of the caminos in Spain.  I spent an hour explaining the English Immersion programs of Vaughan Town, Diverbo and Angloville.  I also had a busy week with being on the board of the HOA.

Missing lock box for the fire dept. access

On Tuesday the 7th, I did my usual docent day at the Desert Botanical Garden.  On Wednesday the 8th, I took Jane and Cathy to the airport for their two week vacation in Myrtle Beach.  Then, Patty and I hiked and came across some blooming prickly pear cacti.

More work with the HOA.  They drained the pool this week so it could be cleaned.  They pumped the water out so fast that it flooded back up out of the drain out front and caused washout on the lawn and curb.

So much excess water was flowing that the cover of the sprinkler access washed off and down the street.  I returned it.

The landscaping crew did a great job on the east side of the property with cleaning out the trash, trimming the bushes and spraying the herbicide.

Looks much better after the landscape crew's work

More HOA duties, finding and reporting problems.

Damaged screen that needs to be replaced

Unauthorized cable running up to antenna

On Tuesday the 14th, did my usual Docent Day at the Desert Botanical Garden.  I continued to be busy with HOA repairs.  On Thursday the 16th, Patty and I went to Grenada Park and then hiked along the Arizona Canal for several miles.  We came across this stand of Eucalyptus trees that had been planted nearly 100 years ago before the canal was lined with concrete.

Ducks on the canal in the shade of the stand of trees

Patty asked if this tree made her but look small

After the hike, we went to the monthly American Pilgrim Club's monthly tertulia (social hour).  And then more HOA issues - leaking backflow valves and problem pigeons.

Friday the 17th, we went to see Helen Mirren in "Woman in Gold" - an excellent movie based on a true story of a Jewish women trying to recover artwork stolen by the Nazis and held by an Austrian Museum.  On Saturday the 18th, I volunteered at Earth Day at the Desert Botanical Garden.  On Sunday the 19th we went to the ViG (Volunteers In the Garden) annual meeting and recognition dinner - volunteers were recognized for various levels of hours and years of service.  On Monday the 20th, I got everything at the store to make stew.  Tuesday the 21st, I got up early and made beef stew for our monthly potluck lunch, and then did my regular day at the Desert Botanical Garden.

We have been trying to hike more, to be prepared for our May hiking of the Via de la Plata in Spain.  On Wednesday the 22nd, we hiked at the Dreamy Draw trail head, but this time went east.  That afternoon, I picked up Cathy and Jane at the airport, and later went to a gathering at Alexi's patio for drinks and dinner.  On Thursday the 23rd, we went south on 7th St and then east along the canal, with a different route back via Longview Ave and 12th St.  We came by a building being rehabilitated and that had this interesting art work - a clear plastic rotary dial phone and a statue of a man hanging upside down.

On Friday the 23rd, we hiked the 302 trail around Piestawa peak.  They have new trail markers which make it much easier follow the trails.

On Saturday the 25th, I walked two miles on the Bridle Path with Jane, then Patty and hiked from Mountain View Park to the North Mountain Visitor Center.  At the NVMC, there was this beautiful agave in bloom.

On Saturday evening, I volunteered at the DBG's annual fundaiser - Dinner on the Desert and silent auction.  I placed and lit luminarias with a group of volunteers.  There were nearly 70 tables in eight locations throughout the garden.

On Sunday the 26th, I again walked two miles with Jane on the Bridle Path, and then Patty and I went to the 40th Street trail head, and hiked on route 100 and came back on unnumbered but marked trails.

On Monday the 27th, Patty and I drove out to Maricopa County's Lake Pleasant park.  We hiked the Pipeline Trail and Cottonwood Trail.

Unfortunately, after six consecutive days of hiking, Patty developed a blister about four miles into the 6+ miles we hiked.  So that meant after that hike, Patty has stopped hiking for several days. 

On Tuesday the 28th, I did my usual Docent Day at the DBG.  My station was the saguaro station on the PPSD (People and Plants of the Sonoran Desert) trail.  Instead of an umbrella, there is a ramada to stand or sit under, and it makes nice shadows on the display table.

Later, when I was taking a break, this cute roundtail ground squirrel came up, sniffed my right foot and then found a seed pod to eat.

Among other HOA chores this month, I also dealt with a vendor to get all of the pool furniture shipped out, cloth replaced and then returned.  This involved a couple of trips for me to the vendor, as well as loading half the furniture on the truck, then unload that half when it was done, then load the other half and on the 28th (before going to the DBG) unloading the other half.  All furniture has been done. 

Finally, I have been asked for more photos of Shadow, so I took a couple this morning when I walked around the block with him.