Week Seventeen.....What and Where is this!

This post is called "weeds in my garden" due to my HOA's classification of all green things as weeds. Unfortunately, here in Arizona, it is considered normal or even "correct" to poison all the green plants that pop up on your xeriscape.  It is nuts.  You see people spraying herbicides everywhere....it makes easterners concern about dandelions in the lawn like child's play.  These guys are serious about their weeds so they spray herbicides constantly on maintenance programs.  It is incredibly scary since herbicides are poisons and many are carcinogenic!  Meanwhile I have beautiful butterflies which I will feature in the next post and my neighbors are lucky to have anything other than fire ants in their yard!

While the fleabanes are often dismissed as 'weeds' because of their ubiquitousness during the summer, they are actually rather cheerful plants that are beneficial to many small insects that play an important role in the functioning of the ecological system.  The big news yesterday is that pesticides are causing the colony collapse disorder:  
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/04/06/common-pesticide-implicated-bee-colony-collapse-disorder/

Americans are crazier than coots!  I can say that as I am about to return to a more sane country--Canada.

Week Sixteen.....What and Where is this!

I love water so I am continuing on that theme in this series of kaleidoscopes.  It is very early Spring here and really no leaves yet at Red Rock Crossing area of Sedona so I went to Oak Creek for inspiration and created "10 ducks in the water"

8 by 8 inch print framed $50

Original photo was:  

anyone know what type of duck this is?  I think a common merganser?

Week Fourteen.....What and Where is this!

The past 8 weeks have been totally consumed by my renovation of my investment property.  I have had up to 5 contractors there at a time with my 3 basic contractors putting in up to 50 hours per week.  I feel like I live at the Home Depot. We are entering the home stretch with several interested buyers so after next week I hope to be able to think about something else!  To celebrate the 95 percent mark, I did a kaleidoscope today of the new wooden double doors at 10850 which separate the den from the living room.  I call it double doors!

8 by 8 inch framed $50

original photo:

see my other blog for details about the house for sale!  

http://sedonahomeforsale.blogspot.com/ 

Week Thirteen.....What and Where is this!

Cows and the Open Range of the West!

I am enjoying exploring the area around my winter home which is open range for cattle between here and Sedona.  This time of year the cows and calves are everywhere and the grasses are just beginning to green up for Spring.  This morning we came upon brown cows, black cows, black cows with white faces and every other variety of coloration.  Saba loves them and the wide open vistas of the west are truly stupendous.  I walked for an hour this morning and took 54 wonderful photos which are destined to become kaleidoscopes.  The first one is called white cow face!

 

8 x 8 in black frame $50

original photo below!  

Week Twelve.....What and Where is this!

An intriguing old stone building in my winter home town of Cornville, AZ an unincorporated community adjacent to Sedona, AZ where a surprising number of exotic animals are raised:  emus, llamas, goats seem to be in many dooryards!  Strong elements like fences, and hazy skies seem to compliment the composition don't you think.  8 by 8 inches framed, $50.

Original photo:  an old building on one of the ranches.

Week Eleven..What and Where is this!

A beautiful agave.  The strong light and dark patterns made choosing the section of the photo difficult as I created many different versions.

8" by 8" framed $50

Original photo below

This week was a blur of activity.  If you are looking for a reasonably priced home, please consider one of our arizona homes.  I am working full time on 10850 E Oak Creek Trail remodeling it so it can be someone's home in the sun.  For details see:

http://oakcreekvalley.postlets.com/  or my blog describing my efforts at:  

http://sedonahomeforsale.blogspot.com/

Week Ten..What and Where is this!

The ultimate Sedona scene created a wonderful kaleidoscope this week.  Winter grasses, red rock canyon walls, pinyon trees and blue skies created the palette of colors.

Original photo was taken on a hike a week or so ago.  If you think you might want to live in this great weather and hiking paradise, consider investing in real estate.  We are renovating a nice home in Oak Creek Valley, located 20 minutes from the hiking trail below.  See home for sale for more information.  Cost will be 99,000 and much of it will be new!  It is an incredible deal in this area and you get a great neighborhood along with it....

Week Nine..What and Where is this!

Things are a whirlwind with 3 full time carpenters working on our investment property at 10850 E Oak Creek Trail.  I am taking a brief break  from landscaping and construction management to do this kaleidoscope.

Next week Michael begins the busiest part of his season for paintsedona.com and we have rented a temporary studio on Jordan Road in downtown or uptown Sedona whatever it is called!.  It looks like we did that just in time because after 8 weeks of absolutely no precipitation, we are maybe going to get a few sprinkles next week.

The reddish soil against the green yucca blades was beautiful and made a nice kaleidoscope don't you think!

8 by 8 Narrow Leaf or soaptree yucca framed in black $50

the original photo

Week Eight..What and Where is this!

Today, we had a chance to try an entirely new trail called the Chuck Wagon trail in Sedona.  It starts off the road to Long Canyon and winds through typical Sedona vegetation: arizona cypress, manzanita, juniper, prickly pear, narrow leaf yucca, and the century plant.  Today I was captivated by the manzanita which was blooming already and which I learned is a type of heather!  The blooms, the green leaves and the red smooth bark are beautiful:  http://naturesongs.com/vvplants/manzanita.html.

8" by 8" framed in black $50 inquire by email

It was a great day off from the construction site, although I did put a few hours in on the renovation even today!  If you are interested in an affordable renovated 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with den, carport, insulated storage, and covered back deck, please see my blog.  Pictures will be forthcoming when the project gets a little further along . However, if you want to pick paint colors and flooring, please contact us soon....  The house has nice views and lots of trails along Spring Creek and Oak Creek to enjoy in this gated community.
http://sedonahomeforsale.blogspot.com/

Week Seven..What and Where is this!

This has been a great week for me as I received a scholarship several weeks ago to attend http://www.quiltcamp.com/ also known as QUILTING IN THE DESERT.  I took three classes from 3 great teachers:  Terry Waldron, Laura Wasilowski, and Claudia Dinnell.   I also met some great new friends who live in the Phoenix area. Now I just need to buckle down and do some creating.  Of course, real life beckons as we begin yet another major Arizona renovation project next week!

If you are looking for a great home to spend time in near Sedona, let me know soon as we want to find a BUYER sooner than later as they can have a part of the decisions which have to be made on this project.

This weeks kaleidoscope is called "potsherds" as it a picture of a pile of broken potsherds found on Sacred Mountain near Sedona with a piece of sandstone.

Kaleidoscope is available framed 8" x 8" for $50

The original picture is this:

Week Five..What and Where is this!

We have had a wonderful time over the past 6 weeks with a slightly more relaxed schedule.  We have tried to take one "field trip" per week so that we can enjoy our winter home and I can take hundreds of photos for future reference.  The theme lately has been Native American sites within one hour of our winter home. We have revisited Montezuma's Well and Montezuma's Castle.  We were so impressed that we joined the Verde Valley Archeological Center that day!  I popped into Tuzigoot one day when I needed to do some chores in Cottonwood and yesterday we hiked to the top of Sacred Mountain in the Beaver Creek area near the V Bar V Heritage site.  I have been interested in archeology for years, especially since our first extended trips to New Mexico in 1999.  We now live within a few hundred feet of an excavated pueblo and I hike often on the "pueblo trail" in our community.

This 8" by 8" kaleidoscope was created from a picture taken at Montezuma Well

 in an area where the water comes out into an irrigation ditch before going into Beaver Creek.

$50, contact me to purchase.

original photo is below

Week Four..What and Where is this!

Final version 8" by 8"

$50 framed

This one is a kaleidoscope of a kaleidoscopic type pattern.  In other words I put my photo through one kaleidoscope program and then another program.  The first program is one I am trying called kaleider which is a little technical, but makes more varied shapes that the one I have been using.  The first pattern looked like  the one below

The original photo was of an interesting tree at the Grand Canyon.  The geometric band is actually the canyon walls.  The sky was symmetically mirrored to the top and bottom of the photo which is something I cannot do with my other program.

Week Three..What and Where is this! Kaleidoscopes based on nature photographs

8" by 8"

Palm and Pier Kaleidoscope

available for sale for $50 framed plus postage

Original Picture which I call Palm and Pier at Perdido Key, FL

Coming soon will be a series based from pictures of the Grand Canyon as Michael Chesley Johnson and I had a wonderful day trip there yesterday to celebrate the coming of the new year.  I have one or two more beach kaleidoscopes to share with you first, however.

 Happy New Year to ALL and let's hope it is even better than the last year...

Week Two...What and Where is this!

I am now in a Gallery in Sedona known as Sedona Treasures:  Here is a link to an article about the Gallery:

http://kudosaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=35603&TM=26689.08

This week's mystery image is also from my recent trip to the Gulf of Mexico.  

The original picture is here:  It's pretty obvious isn't it! 

Photo was taken at Perdido Key, near Pensacola.  It was cold and the only people on the beach were my mother, me and a few birds!

Available for purchase, framed, 8" by 8" $50.

Week One...What and Where is this!

"Star Root", 8x8 - $50 framed

This is the beginning of my series of kaleidoscopes created from photos of nature during my travels.  The hint here is that I just came back from the Gulf Coast!

original photograph