The Riordan Mansion

In 1904 two brothers, who had taken over a lumber mill in Flagstaff, Arizona, had a mansion built for their two families. One family lived in one house, the other in the other. But the homes were joined and very modern for their time. Here are some photos of them from a tour SWMBO and I took recently. The homes are now the center of a state historical park.

For the two young men with a lumber mill, they had an ample supply of wood for building material. But they also used native stone.

Of particular interest were the stained glass sections of various windows.

Photographs are not allowed inside but if you're ever in the area a tour of the mansion is highly recommended.

Mag 18

British haiku

Pencils are sharpened,
Edward is gone – George is King,
so what is the point?

=============================

Read more at Magpie Tales.

Keeping an eye on things

Not one, but two ravens perched up high, talking and watching.

Some pretty bad "art"

These two, uh, creations are outside of some weird business outside of Cottonwood, Arizona. The first is a rather poor representation of Kokopelli. You can read more about him by Googling him.

The second is alleged to be a "good luck" statue from some small island south of South Korea.

The most amusing thing about these statues is that they are parked on land directly across from a huge new Roman Catholic church. The bug-eyed one and a twin companion both stare at the church all day.

The creators may have a bit of a screw loose but at least they have a sense of humor!

A promise of rain

It's not the monsoon but we did have a bit of rain this morning and the skies seem to be telling us more is on the way.


Regardless of rain, the temperature has dropped about 25 degrees, into the lower 60's and it's a nice respite. Plus the air smells good.

Ah, the Karmann-Ghia

Remember the Karmann-Ghia?

I don't know what year this model was that we spotted in Flagstaff today but it looked to be in marvelous condition.

Volkswagen introduced the car to the United States in 1956. It was a product of the small VW engine, a body designed by the Italian firm Ghia and built by the German coachbuilder Karmann.

It was very popular in the United States and, apparently still is for some drivers.

(I blotted out the license number to protect the owner, who wasn't around when I snapped these photos.)

Random photos

Just cleaning out my photo file.

Muggles and her doppelganger

A very yellow day

I have no idea what these flowering shrubs are . . so don't ask me.

Tell me!

No, wait! I did what I should have done in the first place - asked SWMBO. She says it's forsythia.

Eeeeeek! What is it?

A yellow rose

Hey there buckaroo . . .

Runnin' with the big dogs!

Wow! I hope the driver survives this landing!

Yeah, I guess he'll be okay!

This is a radio controlled automobile track in Prescott Valley that I just stumbled across yesterday. (By the way, the pictures are more impressive if you click on them.)

It seemed to be a very popular place though many cars were in the pits when I was there.

But get up some speed and they can all take the jumps.

A fun afternoon for those who don't really want to get behind the wheel of a real race car!

Memorial Day

Moon over . . .

Before you criticize, recognize that was hand held (pretty unsteadily), with a teeny, little camera at full zoom.

So . . shine on, shine on . . springtime moon.

And the winner is . . .

Warren from Tucson, who was first with the correct answer (to the "puzzle" in my previous post) almost instantly. I should have known better than to try to fool an engineer! For those of you who are not familiar with Warren, be it here known that he is also an expert photographer. You might want to take a look at his blog.

And for you, Warren, please accept from me . . . a million praises!

Now, I might add that Sheri also came up with the correct answer but she was a little late. (You're supposed to be checking my blog by the minute, Sheri!)

An amazingly honorable mention goes to the revered Joey Polanski, who came up with an answer that I had to google to figure out what he was talking about. I bow to you Joey.

As to the rest of you . . . well . . . enough said.

???

Anybody know what this is?

The first person to identify it wins a million!*






*A million praises!

Poor lonely Blackie Detroit

He says he just wants to be friends, though the notch in one ear and other various battle scars would seem to belie that. But Jazz isn't having any, anyway. Yesterday, Blackie came up on the back steps near a screen door and when Jazz saw him she went berserk, clawing at the screen and screaming. (Just like a woman.) Blackie calmly walked away and I saw him a bit later outside, looking forlorn and confused.

But he has access to the garage and the other cats don't so he has a "shelter from the storm."

Oh! Those toes!

I have a friend who answers to various names - Cin Bob, Sin-Bad, Cyn, or just plain Cindy.

She has a habit of showing up with a great paint job. Here's the latest iteration:

I tend to make a big thing about this, for which I've been accused of being a foot fetishist! Well, I admit nothing but to Cindy . . I dedicate this song. (And, by the way it's better if you pause the video, then click on it to make it bigger.)

Another sad loss

Yesterday afternoon I was sharing with friends tears and laughter and new and old memories of our friend Reed, who passed away last month. This morning I was reading through blogs and learned of the passing of another friend, Julie - - known to the blog world as Granny J. Her daughter, who lives in Alaska and blogs under the name Omegamom broke the sad news here this morning.



I'm not sure how I got to know Granny J but I suspect she found me when I began blogging several years ago. She and I and other local bloggers got together a couple of times for coffee and face-to-face talk. Julie and I shared a background in journalism . . at one time not too far apart as she was working in Chicago and I in Indianapolis.



She was a wonderful woman and I will miss her and her posts and e-mails greatly. These are the only two photos I could find of her.



The first photo is one I took, unfortunately from behind her, at a blogger gathering. The latter one was the one she used on her blog "Walking Prescott". Go in peace, Granny J.

Blacky Detroit

Here's a new photo of our interloper, resting on his favorite spot in the garage.

Go Green with Diversity!

Miller Valley School in Prescott had a big day today as two large murals painted on the school were dedicated. Retiring Superintendent of Schools for the District, Kevin Kapp, told me there were two themes - Go Green, and Diversity. Youngsters from the school had a parade to the dedication site and were praised by several speakers.

There were costumes and large papier mache sun faces to celebrate the big day.

Several students who participated in painting the art works stood by as proud parents took pictures of them.

It certainly brightens up that corner of town.

Bleary

O.K. Pick on me. Bad picture. Well, he was under a truck and I had to zoom in and I couldn't hold the camera steady. So it's fuzzy. I will do better in days ahead.

BUT. This is Blacky Detroit. He started visiting but he was very nervous, at first. I called him "Blacky". Gee, I wonder why. Then one day I encountered our neighbor and asked her if he was her cat. She said he kind of visited but that he was all over the neighborhood. I asked her what she called him. She said "Detroit". So. He has become Blacky Detroit.

He sleeps on a chair in our garage from time to time and he has become very much tamer. He talks to us and he allows himself to be petted. Loves it, actually. And he indicates an interest in coming in to the house. But . . . uh, uh. We have two cats in the house already and Jazz has indicated he WANTS NO PART OF ANOTHER CAT! When they have encountered each other on opposite sides of the screen door, Jazz puts up an incredible scream that chases Blacky Detroit away. Slowly. But he goes.

But, all in all, I feed him in the garage and he seems relatively happy. He comes back from his forays with scratches and scars and I suspect if he was "fixed" and allowed inside he would become a very tame house cat. But he will have to remain . . . just a visitor.

You tart!

Yes, SWMBO does make a great apple tart!

Roses

Titanic!

Keeping watch

I'm on alert . . .

And I see you!

More flora

I have a new camera! I bought a Nikon Coolpix L22 on a whim this afternoon. I'm still learning all of the ins and outs of it and I expect I will be for days, if not even weeks. But I am thrilled with it so far, especially the ability (FINALLY) to do some real macro photos.

These are a couple of the roses that are now blooming in SWMBO's front patio garden.

Let's hear it for Nikon!