Do I have birds on my brain? Thursday, March 29, 2018

I think I am becoming a birdbrain or maybe I have birds on the brain when I am at the Desert Botanical Garden.  On Feb. 27, when I was at the Yucca Station, a ruby-throated hummingbird was right by my shoulder.

A week later on March 6, a cactus wren visited me at the Mesquite Station.

Two weeks later on March 13, a mourning dove pooped on my hat while I was at the Cactus Station.

Three weeks later on March 20, I neglected to take pictures of the Gambrel Quails that visited me at the Sajuaro Station.  And this week, March 27, as I was entering the garden I came face to face with a Roadrunner who was right at eye level in a tree.  S/he was disturbed by my movement in getting out my phone to take a picture so I could only get this photo looking up, after s/he moved away from me.

Am I becoming a bird magnet?

Kitchen Renovation Part Five, Tuesday to Tuesday, Feb. 27 - Mar. 6, 2018

Because Megan is here, instead of driving to the DBG on Tuesday, I walked the mile to the light rail station at Camelback and Central, rode the light rail to Washington and Priest, and then walked the two miles to the DBG.  My station for the morning was the Yucca Station, which is next to the aloe garden.  There are a number of what I believe are elf aloes in bloom.  Literally within less than two feet of me, a ruby throated hummingbird visited.  I got a couple of still photos and then a short video clip of the action.

I also learned that the DBG staff at one of the training sessions each painted a picture and then all the pictures were hung together in the hallway of the Marley building, the volunteer center at the DBG.

Back at the condo, the week's work continued with unpacking and sorting through the rest of the items that had been in our kitchen, and I did the same with my office.  We continued with several more runs to donate materials to Goodwill.

On my early morning walk on Wednesday, there was a bright moon to the west and a pretty sky to the east.

One of the things we gave to Goodwill is the Brita water pitcher and filters - our old fridge only had an ice maker, while the new fridge has both an ice maker and a filtered water outlet.

Friday night we went to a campaign kick off event for Denise Link, a nurse is who running for the Arizona legislature.  Saturday morning gave another colorful sunrise.

On Sunday, we all took the day off from working on the kitchen.  Patty and Megan did shop at Bed, Bath & Beyond for some items to help with organizing the kitchen and we all went to the Windsor for linner (late lunch/early dinner) with Anne and Shawn.  On the 6th, I again walked and took the light rail to the DBG.  This time I was at the Mesquite station when I was visited by a lovely cactus wren.  We must not only stop to smell the roses, we must stop to watch the birds.

Patty and Megan finished emptying the last of the boxes of kitchen goods and we are down to the final small tasks.  This included installing matching knobs on the laundry room cabinets - Patty and I had installed the cabinets two years ago, but we want the knobs to match the kitchen cabinets.

Megan and I installed a couple of shelves for Patty's cookbooks.

Now all that is left to do is wait for the quartz counter tops to be installed, select a color and paint the walls (Patty finished the ceiling during the past week), and decide on whether to have and what color the backsplash will be.