Amazing Arizona Spring with Beaver Sculptures, Starpoints, Lilac, Swallowtails, and Columbine

The weather has been perfect here in Arizona for months.  The heat went off weeks ago and the coolers were started up today, but for now it requires no heating and cooling to be comfortable.  Dining outside is a delight on our screened in porch.  The first days of spring have brought temperatures that seem more like early summer!  There are many wildflowers in bloom and I continue to learn their common names--blackfoot daisy, indian paintbrush, manzanita shrubs and many other plants.

We have noxious weeds in AZ like the puncture vine or goathead:  http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=State&statefips=04, but most "weeds" have a pretty flower like filaree or cranesbill.  However, my HOA wants us to eliminate all "weeds" and plant growth which I do not agree with, especially since for many that means spraying large amounts of glyphosate.  I am experimenting with orange oil, vinegar, and a miniscule amount of detergent in my sprayer.  So far it is taking gallons, and the insects in hte soil don't care much for it, but my beautiful green yard is beginning to turn an ugly brown!  I am doing this under protest as I love my filaree, london rocket, locoweed, bunchgrasses, starpoint/silverpuffs and daisy fleabane.  Every day it is different in my yard this time of year, but now it will have to be eliminated.  However, I love the common land trails by Oak Creek and Spring Creek so I comply.

Columbine in my garden

Starpoint or Lindley's Silverpuff in my yard

Swallowtail on My Lilac Bush!

Sculpture Done by a Beaver by Oak Creek

They are unfortunately taking down a lot of trees...

Amazing Arizona

Most people think Arizona is hot and dry and it is in some places, but it has amazing diversity.  This week we got around 3 inches of rain and now we have below freezing temperatures in the mornings.  However, the daytime temperatures are IDEAL!  Along Oak Creek I found the most amazingly large fungi mass.  The sunglasses in the kaleidoscopes are put there to give a sense of scale!  And yes we have grass here also...

original photo is almost as impressive!

Fungi Mass along Oak Creek in Cornville, AZ

Come and visit us this winter.  Take a http://paintsedona.com/ Plein Air Painting Workshop!

Back in Sedona for the Winter

We've been home for a WEEK and I have managed to clean up the landscaping, take 2 hikes, put our furniture back in it's place as our first summer tenant decided to rearrange our house, and BUY another property!  This one is a good samaritan deal for Brian and Sharon Bieberle.  Brian has worked on the past two renovations I have done, one in Oak Creek Valley and one in Lubec, Maine, and he needs to be a homeowner again!  So we are working out a deal for him to buy this home from us and he will fix it up for himself and we get payments for the next 15 years(or less).  It's actually a great deal all around for him, us, and the community of Oak Creek Valley since it was a vacant foreclosure.

One of my two hikes was to Fay Canyon where the meetup group we created had a paintout:  http://www.meetup.com/Plein-Air-Landscape-Painters-of-Sedona-and-the-Verde-Valley/.  It was not very well attended, but we did have great weather.  Below are 4 kaleidoscopes I made of the Fay Canyon area.

View from the parking lot at Fay Canyon

Michael Chesley Johnson at his easel

A Beaver's Work is Never Done and Some "Flood Sculptures"

I was walking along Oak Creek looking for some flood sculptures when I came across some recent beaver activity.  I couldn't help making some kaleidoscopic photos from the picture below.

A Beaver's Work is Never Done!

They have almost killed this young cottonwood!

No it is not a large "bird's nest!"

The debris can weave an intricate pattern

Next week I will share with you some of my kaleidoscopes made from the "flood sculptures".

The Flooding of Oak Creek

Last week I blogged about the color of ice and this week we had flooding!  Fickle and wildly changing extreme weather is our plight during this period of global warming.  Both Spring and Oak Creeks jumped their banks with trees bravely hanging on as water streamed around them.  They were flowing very fast this morning and we took many videos and photographs.  The last time the water was this high in the winter was at least 3 years ago.

The photos became the inspiration for this weeks kaleidoscopes.

Mighty Warriors
8x8 $50 framed

Flooding in Winter
8x8 $50 framed

Here are some more of our flood pictures!

Our House for Sale, Santa Fe, and my New Fabric

As I walk around our community, I am mindful that we may be relocating to Santa Fe next winter so I am going to document our natural area in kaleidoscopes this winter.  For artistic income and the possibility that I could get a meaningful job in New Mexico, we are searching for a new house.

Anyone interested in a great house in a great community:  http://sedonahomeforsale.blogspot.com/ or zillow:  http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10680-E-Oak-Creek-Valley-Dr-Cornville-AZ-86325/2135977500_zpid/  

Here are the kaleidoscopes for the week.  They are all from photographs I took of the Spring Creek Trail which is a short 2 blocks from my house!  It is amazing the variety of colors we get in our AZ fall and winter seasons.  It helps to have blue skies, brown leaves and bare limbs, and green and brown grasses all at the same time!

My kaleidoscopes in fabric are now available:  http://www.spoonflower.com/collections/37457  I have started with 30 designs, but plan to expand if I sell any!