Arizona garden and storm aftermath

After Albuquerque, our next stop was our home in Arizona where it is already spring changing to summer.

I was happy to be amongst the flowers and green for awhile.  These Italian cypress trees would enjoy the dance of their life later in the week.

It was nice to have so much color after being in the wintery north.

The ranunculus were blooming but were about three weeks early.  Arizona has enjoyed a record amount 80 degree plus days during the first three months of 2014.

I understand that the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California were also blooming early this year.

That is where I purchased my original blubs.

By the time I left for Utah . . .

there were more pinks as the oranges and reds were starting to fade.

I so enjoyed the riot of color that was outside.

Little purple pansies touched with yellow gold.

I was so glad that I had taken this picture of the coleus in the down under pots.  They would soon be fighting for their lives and reduced by half.

Glen's favorite bouganvilla.

The hollyhocks and iris were up out front.

Begonia down unders.

Remember the record rain storm in California which was so welcome because of their drought?  Well by Saturday it had made its way to Arizona.  About 1 pm I heard winds outside like I had never heard before.  I actually stayed away from the windows for fear they might blow in.  When I finally looked outside, there was a tree in the pool.

On closer inspection I realized that there were actually two trees hanging over the back fence.

A huge branch off my neighbor's eucalytus tree had broken off and then hit the ash tree splitting it in half.

There was a lot more green than normal.

That ash tree probably saved the fence as it broke the fall of the eucalyptus branch.

I also discovered that the wind had blown out panels off the roof of the greenhouse.  Where they landed I do not know.

There was debris from everywhere, including plastered to my garage door.  Soon this spot would be full of tree branches.

Glen had already returned to Utah, so missed out on the clean up party.  Neighbors were soon on hand to help get the branches from the pool and the neighbor who lost those trees soon had a chain saw going.  By Monday he had also picked up all the branches we had dragged to my driveway.

Apparently we had experience a funnel cloud going through.  I actually got off easy.  There were damaged roofs and broken windows in the neighborhood.  It seemed the bar tile roofs had a harder time of it.  My neighbor to the south had a giant evergreen fall out by the roots from the yard of her  backyard neighbor.  It took out the fence and pool fence, completely filled her pool, and hit her house.  It was like that for awhile as her damage was one for home owners insurance and not friendly neighbors.  There were many trees down through this approximately 1/2 mile swath of damage.  As I drove out and about, I could see exactly where the funnel cloud had traveled.

When I was a little girl in Idaho, a twister rolled over our farm.  My father was in his hay truck out in the field and it lifted him and the truck up then set them back down but now in the opposite direction.  It also took the roof of the home of one of my friends.  I can't imagine what it must be like to live in Tornado Alley.

The upside to this little episode is that the ash tree was really trashy and now we won't need to get all of those seed pods out of the pool each year.  I can also see sunsets from my kitchen window.  The downside, lost shade.  Shade is a very valuable commodity during a sunny Arizona summer.

Provo weather

I've been sharing a bit of my life in Provo, Utah this week.  As you may have heard, we experienced quite the storm last Saturday.  It caused a two hour delay of the BYU and Texas game which was a big deal as BYU fans take their football very seriously.  BYU won the game easily but not everyone got off so easily.

This is what happened on the hill they call Grandview.  The homes along this ridge have a rather glorious view of mountains, Utah lake, and beyond.  Just across the street from this new chasm are two lovely, fairly simple homes with beautiful common gardens and landscaping.  I have to admit that Glen and I are kind of stalkers of these homes.  We often detour up the hill on our way to walking the Provo River Trail to see what is blooming or what might be new.  I can't imagine gazing out your front window and seeing this new development in your gorgeous view.

You will notice that a lot of dirt and gravel is missing.  It found its way down 800 North.  We happened up the bulldozers on Sunday morning after dropping our son, Nate, off at the airport.  Craziness!

And where were we while all this craziness was happening?  Sitting it out in a parking lot in Pleasant Grove.  Our original plan was to meet up with our daughter, Janae, and her family in American Fork Canyon for a cookout.  Once at the meeting point at the mouth of the canyon, we knew a cookout wasn't going to happen and were returning home when the rain hit, the black (and I mean black) clouds swirled as they hit the mountains, and we thought it best to wait for it to pass over.  I seriously have never seen such fast moving and swirling clouds before.

We made the right call about American Fork Canyon.  There were several rock slides, cars in the river, and stranded hikers on the trail to Timpanogos Cave.  It took us forever to get back home because of power outages and non-functioning stop lights.  We were in the car for a total of 3 hours from departure to return but did make it home in time for the game on TV which made Glen very happy.  In fact that game made Glen almost giddy.  He was so proud of how the Cougars played.

The pictures are borrowed from the Provo Mayor's blog.  This is another indicator that I am trying to be more involved in my adopted community.

Showers and a shower gift

I sewed up an apron for a bridal shower next week.  I've used this pattern before and love it.  It has just three main pattern pieces; upper front with ties, lower skirt, and the neck strap.  The body of the apron is cut on the bias and it takes just one yard of fabric.  Of course, there is also the need for  9 yards of double fold bias tape (three packages.)

A couple of springs back I attended Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City.  Lori Holt introduced her fabric line Sew Cherry by Riley Blake at that time.  She also introduced an apron pattern using one yard of fabric.  I loved the fabric and the aprons, but did not purchase either.  During the last year I have picked up Sew Cherry fabric when I found it on clearance and I finally used some for this apron.

I also decided to make some matching pot holders with contrasting Sew Cherry fabric on one side. I also used this fabric to jazz up the pocket and and bib of the apron.

I cut 8 inch squares from fabric, Insul-Bright, and scrap pieces of Warm and Natural.  I then made a fabric sandwich with Warm and Natural being placed on the non-metallic side of the Insul-Bright.  I machine quilted with horizontal lines following the lines of the contrast fabric. I zigzagged and trimmed the edges then bound them with bias binding and included a loop for hanging. I had to purchase another package of brown bias binding for this project.

The pattern is from the book "A Is for Apron" which I purchased a few years ago.

 

It is called "Mango Madness."

The downside, and also the upside, is that all the patterns are included in the final pages of the book but they have to be enlarged.  I took "Mango Madness" to the local copy shop where they enlarged it 400% for me.  It was worth it because this has become my go to shower gift project.

Now for the showers.  We are enjoying a scudding cloud rain shower kind of day.  And I am so happy to report that the Meyer lemon tree has buds (glorious scents soon to follow.)

I know I have stated over and over now much I love my Meyer lemons.

The pomegranate tree began leafing out just a couple of days ago.

It's truly miraculous this Spring thing.

My geraniums are recovering well from their January hard freeze.  Life is good here in the desert.

Rare weather event

I missed it.  Snow in Mesa, Arizona!  I was up north where there has been snow on the ground for months, yes, months.  Utah has been experiencing its coldest winter since 1949 and so have I.  In fact, there is new snow this morning I hear.  Luckily, I also have monthly escapes to Mesa, Arizona.  I come back and check on my plants and flowers and get my hands dirty while the sunshine warms my bones.  I found it kind of funny, now that I am part Utahan, how excited all my FB and blogger friends were about a bit of white stuff.  I just had to share this picture I found from January 21, 1937 of the Mesa Arizona Temple with a good amount of snow on the ground.  Yes, snow happens even in warm places at times.

You can't have it all

This is how my garden looked before the BIG freeze.  While we were in Utah where the temperature was never above freezing, nature pulled a terrible trick on us.  The Valley of the Sun had five (yes, five) nights where the lows were in the high 20's.  On the outskirts of the metropolitan area there were even some temperatures in the teens.  This is a rare event in the southern deserts of Arizona.

Before leaving town I picked a basket full of tomatoes which I could tell were beginning to ripen.  I figured they could finish up on my Utah kitchen counter which they did.  They were delicious and flavorful.

So imagine my dismay when I arrived home and found every tomato plant frozen and squishy blackening tomatoes.  Please notice that the kale was still happy as was the spinach, lettuce, chard, broccoli, and cauliflower.  These are the normal winter garden plants in this part of the world and I understand that part of their makeup is a self-producing antifreeze.

Not so with tomatoes! It broke my tomato loving heart.

I did find this lovely head of cheddar cauliflower waiting for me.  I found the seedlings in October and decided to give them a try.

It tastes great, but the best part?  Broccoli/cauliflower soup looks all cheesy before you add the cheese!

*Not only do I like the cauliflower but so did some bright fluorescent green inch long caterpillars.  I was brave and picked them off before rinsing and eating.

Snow days

Saturday we ventured north to Piper's in Sugarhouse.  I was in need of a new knitting project having finished one the night before.  A giant winter storm came through all of Utah last Thursday through Saturday morning.  Salt Lake City, Sugarhouse, and the benches were hit with an exceptional amount of snow.

It was a winter wonderland.

And Saturday afternoon it was enhanced by blue skies and some sunshine.

Have you ever noticed that some houses look exceptional with a frosting of snow?  I've decided that green homes and snow just seem to go together.

We drove the side streets just for the magic  of it all.

I've photographed this street before.

It's on the east side of the Liberty Ward Chapel near Liberty Park and where my son's family attends church.

This is how it looked last Fall.  I really am grateful for frequent visits to Utah to enjoy the seasons.

Here is the finished project.

A lacy knit baby afghan for my little winter baby, Opal.

It is frosty white like the snow out my window. . .

including the sparkle.

Yesterday I gazed outside my kitchen window in delight.  It was bitterly cold but the sun was out and glitter was falling from the sky.  I don't remember ever seeing that before, tiny little sparkle motes dancing down like sunbeams.