ARTS & CRAFTS

The Courthouse Square in downtown Prescott, with its huge shade trees and beautiful green lawn, is an ideal spot to hold an arts fest.

Many are staged here throughout the summer months as tourists from hotter parts of our state fill the city.

This weekend was no exception as the Mountain Artists Guild organized its 69th annual juried Arts and Crafts Festival.

A small bluegrass combo provided some impromptu entertainment.

There were food booths scattered through the area, including this one drawing a crowd with free samples.

And, as always, there were a variety of hats worn by the fairgoers.

This fellow from Peoria told me he bought his a year and a half ago at a hat shop just across the square as he prepared for a trip to Sturgis, South Dakota, home of a big motorcycle rally.

But it looked right proper for today's festival around the historic Yavapai County Court House.

After all, before the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, some of the Earps and Doc Holliday spent time gambling right across the street in bars on the legendary Whiskey Row.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Here we are again, Gentle Readers, after a bleak and bloody week.

So let's put our minds to rest for a few moments and try to find some humor.

This Friday we'll take on the Battle of the Sexes!

All right, enough.

I don't know why the cartoons seem to pick on the women cuz it's not that way in life.

It's more like . . .

Now listen, folks, turn off your television, don't read the newspaper or Facebook or Twitter.

Just for the weekend so you can enjoy it.

Okay?

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

COOL BREEZE

There was thunder much of the afternoon yesterday but only a drop or two of rain.

And that was during cocktail hour as we sat on a surprisingly cool patio.

A gentle breeze blew under a dark and cloudy sky.

We opened all the windows and slept well.

But if you're suffering through hot August weather, I have some relief for you.

It's a photo taken some time ago at the BRD's home.

Enjoy!

MONSOON SKY VIEWS

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

So, the week just ending . . . good one or bad one?

I guess it's debatable.

So while you Gentle Readers do that, I'll dish up some humor.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Okay, folks, now have yourself a wild, wacky and wonderful weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

HOLY . . . . . !

My friend across the street, the Legendary Gardener, didn't put in corn this year.

What he did put in grew high, and higher, and higher.

To my great surprise . . .

. . . the six, seven and eight foot tall stalks were suddenly topped with bright yellow flowers!

In fact these were some kind of monster, mutant sunflower plants!

I must say, along with the lower and smaller ones, they do add a nice flair of color to the neighborhood.

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Keeping an eye on things

BARE NAKED

Rick the Handyman was here this morning to demolish and haul away our poor fallen tree.

A storm uprooted it last week and it was obvious the end was near.

Rick made short order of the finale for the poor thing.

Well, Rick and this noisy device.

His onerous duties completed, this is how our arbor looks now.

Which explains the title of this blog.

And you were lasciviously expecting something else, weren't you?

MONDAY, MONDAY

LESSON LEARNED

The lesson learned is that it does not pay to be too flighty about the weekend and those Friday Funnies and tweaking the Weather Gods.

Because yesterday they all struck back.

I was taking a wee bit of a nap when SWMBO burst in on my slumber to blurt out that there was a huge storm, the neighbor's roof was gone and so was our tree.

Huh?

Well I looked out to see heavy rain, hail and wind lashing the environs.

When it cleared off, here's what I found.

First, the neighbor.

It looked worse than it was.

The shingles and tarpaper had been ripped loose from his patio roof and were strewn across the roof of his house.

Our tree, however, was finito.

You (and the birds) will be happy to know, though, that the bird bath suffered no damage in spite of being thrown to the ground.

Nor did the Blue Cat on whom it landed.

SWMBO had been worrying for months about that tree.

She had complained about its lack of green growth this Spring and then when wind was causing it to rock she said "that sucker's goin' to go one of these days."

It apparently was an Elm and it apparently was suffering from Dutch Elm Disease.

So the roots were rotting away as was the tree itself.

But wait, Gentle Campers!

That's not the worst of it.

Lightning reportedly hit a power pole in our neighborhood and blasted it to pieces which pulled down several more poles.

That was yesterday at 2:52 p.m., the un-holy time the power ceased here.

Arizona Public Service Company workers have been on the job ever since, on a day where the temperature climbed to around 97 degrees Fahrenheit.

And finally at 6 p.m. tonight, some 27 hours later, we once again have electricity.

The A.C. has been working overtime, trying to catch up with a hot house.

But it feels great, as does the vodka going from my glass to my gullet.

It will all be good now.

But don't ever tweak those Weather Gods!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well, fellow plutocrats, Mueller Week is about over.

And what a week it was.

But it's Friday now and you know what that means.

It's time to dance.

Uh-one-and-a-two-and-uh . . .

I don't know about you but I'm feelin' better already.

Enough!  Enough!

Halt this hilarity, he hollered.

Now I want you all to hit the high road and have a great weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .