DEFINITELY A NICE SPRING DAY

 Today was a Spring day the likes of which I've been waiting for.

I stepped outside in the early afternoon to check the mail and was stunned by the warmth.

It was a very sunny day for a change and when I checked my local weather site it said the temperature was 78 degrees!

I opened up the house and let some of that glorious warm air come in to air out the winter's dregs.

After I told Judy she went out and did a trim job on the two shrubs in front of the house.

I love this time of year.

If it's not snowing!

Earlier in the day I mashed up four bananas and made a loaf of banana bread.

We haven't tasted it yet but it looks great and it made the house smell great this morning.

FIRE UPDATE

 As I reported previously, the huge Legado Luxury Apartment project  under construction here in Prescott Valley burned to the ground early yesterday morning.

Today it's a sad scene in the heart of the city.

What was lost were 329 apartments under construction and the parking garage for a total of nearly 700,000 square feet of property.

Early estimates put the loss at 60 million dollars but a young man who I spoke to, an employee of the general contractor on the project, told me he thought it could run as high as 75 to 80 million dollars.

It was to have housed, in addition to the apartments, a rooftop restaurant and ground floor businesses.

Builders said the apartments were approximately 50 percent complete.

Now they're just rubble.

There are a great number of businesses in very close proximity to the site of this disaster and a large apartment project and the town's public arena lie just across streets from it.

The various fire departments and police agencies are to be commended for keeping the blaze from spreading.

And there were absolutely no deaths or injuries.

Still . . . a woman I spoke to at the scene yesterday told me she had no sympathy for the builders and owners of the project.

"That was just too big for our little town," she said.

I had to gently remind her that Prescott Valley isn't a "little town" anymore.

FIRE

First, let me say that this not an April Fool's joke.

Fire broke out in the Legado apartment project in the heart of Prescott Valley about 1:30 this morning and burned it to the ground.

Here is the aftermath.

What's left is the concrete parking garage and (presumably) elevator towers.

I had reported on this project and told my readers who thought it was ugly that the plan called for the concrete parking garage to be hidden by apartments built around it.

Much of the wooden framing work had been done but all of that wood burned like kindling when the fire started.

No one was injured and the cause of the fire is as yet undetermined.

There will be an ugly scar in the center of my town for some time.

NOT JUST YET

 Easter Sunday morning - 5:30 a.m. - Prescott Valley, Arizona

Old Man Winter refuses to leave us alone!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Here we go again.

Another holiday is looming.

This time it's Baked Ham Day.

Otherwise known as Easter.

But let's get all of our eggs in a row and let this ham show you some of his collection.

The first one is old but as one of my comedy contributors said when it was sent to me . . . "It's traditional!"

That's it, my friends, that's all the humor/humour this hard working lazy retiree could summon forth from the Humor/Humour Bank/Banque this week.

Now please have a Happy or a Blessed Easter.

Or both.

But always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . ohhhhh, so sneaky . . . )

B-B-B-BIG!

 

Brioche Buns from Bruce's Bakery

O.K., BACK TO SPRING

The sun is back.

The snow is gone.

Here's another ornamental pear tree to brighten your "safe way".

To explain that last sentence, the tree is directly in front of my local Safeway grocery store.

I couldn't resist.

I'm sorry.

Now here's a thought for the day, sent the other day from Comical Carol with a heading saying "Why I've Given Up Watching the News."

I think many of us have that same thought.

TESTING, TESTING

 After two days of posts about our lovely ornamental fruit tree blossoms here in the foothills of Arizona, what to our wondering eyes should we see last night?

This!

That, my dear friends, is not a meteor shower.

Or an alien invasion.

It was this!

SNOW, falling from the sky once again.

We have had snowstorms in March before, as I have warned in previous posts, but this one came as a surprise even though yesterday was cold and windy.

A little later, just about the time it was ending, our shrub had a distinctly white shawl.

I imagined I heard "False Spring" laughing as it moved on out.

But this morning . . .

. . . la monja and the Blue Cat did not appear amused.

MORE BLOOMS

 The ornamental pear trees are beautiful at a distance, especially as they contrast with the plum trees (lower left).

Up close, their white blossoms are not as showy.

Still, a nice harbinger of Spring.

BLOOMS

 By the looks of things around my neighborhood, Spring is truly making an effort to arrive.

A couple of ornamental plum trees.

A little closer . . .

And *really* close.

The ornamental pear trees are also blooming.

I'll try to post some pictures of them tomorrow.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Well, what a week it's been, eh?

Rain, sunshine, cool days, warm days.

Springtime in the Rock....well, not quite the Rockies, but fairly close.

Some baking, then a mention of Rumpole brought my housemate to prominence and the adoration came from all over.

So it's been a somewhat satisfying week.

Now let's bring it to a resounding finish with . . . well, you know.

I think I'm beginning to understand why that gang never made it back to Earth.

They weren't *allowed* to return!

Well, since you Gentle Readers are already here, let me teleport you into an excruciatingly wonderful weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

 When I asked SWMBO what she'd thought of my blog post yesterday she had a fitting comment.

And since I *always* let her have the last word . . . here it is.

"And I've got the mug to prove it!"

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN'

 My wife, the all-knowing SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), keeps telling me "Oh. give it a break, willya, your readers don't need to know about all the food that gets eaten in our house!"

But, although I usually obey her orders, on my food-blogging I tend to go my own way.

However, you can echo her if you like and tell me to stop.

But until you (all) do, here's the latest from the Taylor Family Bakery.

The recipe, from Genevieve Ko in the New York Times, says they're called Chunky Chocolate Cookies and incorporate chocolate chips and mini pretzels into an already rich chocolate dough.

I didn't have any mini pretzels so I chopped up some walnuts and substituted them.

And SWMBO can't keep her hands off of them.

They're rich, they're sweet, they're good.

Now to skew things slightly, I'm not sure I've ever explained where I came up with the name She Who Must Be Obeyed for my lovely wife.

It dates back a number of decades when we became fans of a British television series that was aired on our local PBS station in Arizona.

It was "Rumpole of the Bailey" and it featured the late actor Leo McKern as a blustering British barrister (attorney) named Horace Rumpole.

But at home, he was ruled by his wife, Hilda, played by the late actress Marion Mathie.

When she would get after him about one thing or another, Rumpole would mutter under his breath "She who must be obeyed."

We would both laugh but Judy never suspected that one day in the future I would brand her with that sobriquet.

So now you know where it came from and know also that it's used with loving kindness and a twinkle in my eye.

Sort of like Rumpole.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE

 

This is NOT a cow pie!

It's actually a loaf of Brown Irish Soda Bread I made the other day to go with Judy's Corned Beef Hash and Cabbage.

It WAS St. Patrick's Day, you know.

TO THE IRISH EVERYWHERE