The textures of Arivaca Arizona...

Beautiful watercolor of Larry and his dog, Paddy and a small girl on his ranch..painted by a good friend.

When I say this place is remote...it's rEMoTe! About 15 miles from the Mexican border, we can actually sit on Gerri's front porch and see the mountains of Mexico..and not too far away.


It's unlike the lower, more flat desserts I am used to living in- this is the high grasslands.. ..rocky, sometimes muddy..not a lot of cactus, lots pf mesquite trees and scrub brush..


The colors of the rocks are impressive. Purple, pinks blue and indigo.

The trees are the regular brown trunks but the foliage is a soft, rich green.


There are remnants of cholla cactus - cholla (pronounced 'choya') some high-dollar western-themed furniture is made from it now, but I remember as a child, hating (!) that dumb cactus-stuff.

Theirs...$1072.00Ours.. $3.98

Prickly-pear.. the jelly is fantastic..and if you leave the thorns, you can floss at the same time :-)

Prickly Pear and Mesquite tree..

Barbed wire..meant to keep cattle in and intruders out - even that hard, pointy stuff can be made into things of beauty...


The earth is red..and the wetter it gets.. the redder it gets. The mornings are cool (relatively) and the days are hot (non-relatively- it's just plain H.O.T.) but the very early mornings? Ahh, magnificent. That's why you could find us walking at 5 am..to beat the heat and smell the smells. They were wonderful.

even muddy reflections become a thing of beauty..

One morning I awoke facing the front windows, which, when you're out in the wilds, you can leave open and uncovered, I saw the horses just getting around, shaking and whinnying. Like something out of a movie..


When we drove to Cilla & Larry's for dinner, going up their hillside road, a coyote came out and meandered across the road right in front of us..at first I thought it was a dog..yeeeeah..here Puppy Puppy..

It stopped and I fumbled for my camera..he walked away. Gerri put the car in reverse...there he was again..camera ready? Yep.

Coyote... gone? Yep.

Back-up again..couldn't catch up with him but what an entrance to Larry's ranch. I could just see Larry up there, watching, saying,

"Okay, que the coyote.."

Birds. Many many birds. Seems they are on the migratory path of all sorts of great birds. Just fun to sit and try to distinguish who was who..

{to the best of my knowledge, these two could be George & Gracie...}

This birdie-Momma was smart - nesting in the bottom of a roll of wire so the hawks don't see her nest..

And, yes, he has a couple of Candy Bouncers - those retro metal chairs I love so much?


A terrific storm came through - wind, then thunder, with rain and lightening soon to follow. Within minutes it had cooled to 58 degrees..imagine..


Dinner with candlelight - something they do every night - isn't that just wonderful??

A heart- in the place mat {accidentally..or not..} just a random piece of the material..

Lookie at these teensy tiny mushrooms! And, do you see another heart??

Hearts are everywhere :-)

So, have a heart, give your heart, open your heart, heartfelt wishes and fishy-kisses ..

-me