Why we put up with the hot Arizona summers

This is what the park near my home looked like in the last few weeks, even more flowers in parts of the desert a little farther away. The stream of water is there year-round due to us being downstream from the water treatment facility, clean enough for the ducks. The spring even has Ozzie's bark of approval!

Coozies that look like undies!!

How about these for the perfect stocking stuffer? I can make them in any color that cotton yarn is made in, panties or boxers, and even briefs (with an embroidered y-front fly) if you wish. These are my original idea, one of my former co-workers called regular coozies panties. Get them on Artfire or Zibbet for only $2 each, and just watch the recipient's face when they first see them!

I'm back!

Really, I never went anywhere, have just been doing a bit of job-hunting, with success after these couple of months. I work as an LPN, so it was just a matter of finding the right opening for me, and I'm now doing homecare for an agency and getting plenty of shifts. The weather has been hot in Tucson until recently, so my knitted and crocheted items haven't done very well at craft shows, but things are looking up there as well. I'll be posting some of my items here shortly, so keep your eyes open.

When the sun comes out after the rain

After all our recent rainstorms, the desert has a few blooming plants, though not quite like the spring wildflowers. These bushes are known as Texas Rangers, and they bloom in shades of purple after monsoon rains. These particular ones are in my backyard, complete with bees pollinating them.

The little furbaby is Oscar, more commonly known as Ozzie, doing his morning explorations.

Shawls on Sale

All of the wonderful shawls, both knitted and crocheted, are now on sale for the Artfire Stimulus Sale! Check out my studio for lots of goodies, large and small. More stimulus promotion coming up soon, not only my studio, either

When it rains again in Tucson

Take a look at the flowing water in the Santa Cruz 24 hours after yesterday's post! It's been higher, a few years ago, but this was rather spectacular. By 4 in the afternoon (this was taken at 6:30 in the morning) the river was back to a slightly lower flow than yesterday's high.

When it rains in the desert...

Yes, it really does rain in the Arizona deserts, in the summer and winter, and the summer rain pattern is called the Monsoon. When these rains finally come, and they were a bit late this year, the dry riverbeds fill with very powerful flowing water. Here are some photos of the Santa Cruz River, usually only a few feet wide and inches deep with treated water from the facility a little bit downstream. This past morning I took a walk on a paved walkway on the riverbank on my way home from work, and this is what I saw.

The ducks are a bit of a bonus, though they are frequently swimming around.