Fairy Dusters

Calliandra eriophylla

Also known as False Mesquite, Mesquitillo, Cosahui, Tabardillo

Bean Family

Flowers from October thru April, peaking in March.

Pollinators: bees, butterflies, and possibly hummingbirds.

Wild Cotton

Coues Whitetail Deer

Product Review: VP Racing Gas Cans

We have used these VP Racing gas cans for almost a year now and still absolutely love them. We will never go back to the red cans. The quality and ease of use is far superior. Highly recommended.

We purchased the four pack you see below:

Coral Bean

Erythrina flabelliformis

Also known as Chilicote, Colorin, Patol

Mexican Eagles

Also known as a Caracara

I have been so wanting to get photos of these magnificent birds, but the sun was going down. Still blessed by their beauty. Hope to get clear pics someday.

Cove's Senna

Senna covessii

Veined Ctenucha Moth

ctenucha venosa

Out of Water

Did my morning Coffee time organizing,once again sorting and pricing estate jewelry. It's just not a good day. Woke up with a migraine, so I push myself to get moving.  It is very rare for someone is southern Arizona to pray for sunny skies, but that has been me for days. Water is getting low and we need the sun to operate our solar well pump. The holding tank is insufficient, it is on our wish list to get another, larger tank, but that is far off in the future. We have priorities for our money. When I took the dog out to go to the bathroom in the dark, I noticed stars, a good sign there might be no clouds. As the light broke, sure enough, looks like my prayers have been answered....... In the middle of emptying a bucket of honey into smaller jars, I went to wash my sticky hands.........blurp, gurgle, spit, spat........nothing. Oh no! Out of water before the sun reached the solar pads. We had to use emergency supply for two hours. Then it was time to start the well.

I love looking at all the new wild flowers and get a little excited when I see a new one on the property.  This morning I came across our first wild Morning Glory. It popped up by the well spigot, and made me smile.

On my way back from the well, I stopped to see if this succulent was in blossom yet..........close.

The day goes on with nothing getting accomplished. I'm so unorganized and get so upset when I can't find something I know we have. Dan has been asking for so many items that today I dropped everything to physical put my hand in every moving box, looking for what he needs. That pretty much ruined my day. :(

Even the sunset was having one of those blah kind of days...........

Desert Tobacco

Nicotiana obtusifolia,  Nicotiana trigonophylla

A native to Arizona the flowers are tubular, approx. 1" long, in cream to greenish white. Blooms thru the Spring, Summer, and Fall and can reach up to 3 feet tall. The stems and leaves are sticky and hairy.

Poisonous!  All parts of the plants are highly poisonous and contain the toxic pyridine alkaloids nicotine and anabasine.

New Honeybee Queens

My feet hit the ground running at 3:45 A.M. Well, okay, running to the bathroom that is. Here is a trick for ya: I always drink a bottle of water before bed, which in turn becomes my own natural alarm clock. I can always bet I'll be having to go around 3:45 to 4:15. Got the water boiling for my coffee as I took our house dog out to relieve herself.

It is so quite, it is so wonderful - I can literally hear myself thinking. HaHa No.....that's me talking to myself again........sssshhhh,......Dan's still sleeping.  Coffee in hand I head to my quiet place. This morning my coffee time project is to sort estate jewelry to put up for sale. The day is already planned: Arivaca Farmers Market, go pick up our mail, work a couple beehives, clean the house.

Arivaca was fun as always, a great little community. From their garden co-op I picked up eggs, tomatoes, and okra. 

A lady that sets up there is "Queen of Couponing", and I picked up 50 cans of Tuna at a great price from her.  An excuse to see my aunt, Christine, and cousin, Andi, whom sell their honey at the market.  I also take my garbage to the Arivaca/Sasabe Refuse station on market day. Plus get to take in the beautiful scenery on the drive. I was upset that someone mowed down many of the wild Sunflowers, but found a few to photograph.

I knew in advance that my parents were sending me a box with a couple of honeybee queens. I called the little local store where I get my mail delivered and asked if the box was in..........it was. Petal to the metal! vrrrrrooomm vvvrrrooom. Went straight to Three Points from Arivaca to pick up the mail. Time was like it was standing still, I wanted to be home so I could open my box. It was like Christmas! But I still had to get gas for the generator and some Mountain Dew for Dan (he is an addict, but he doesn't drink coffee, so I can't say anything). 

Without a smoker I donned my bee suit and jumped into the Cordovan and Italian hives and made single deep hive splits off of them. Put four frames of brood, two honey, and three empty combs in the box and gave them syrup and a pollen patty. Put the queen that was still in her cage with her attendants and added a piece of tape to the candy end so it takes longer for the bees to chew her out into the new boxes. Her scent should be in the hive well before she emerges from her cage, otherwise they might kill her. I get to check on them in 10 days to see how they are. Luckily, my mom, smart lady, put a blue mark on both queens so I can be certain it is the right queen and not an imposter when I open the boxes back up.

I was texting and talking on the phone with many members of my family with all the excitement of these two little queens. I off course thanked my mom & dad profusely, an my heart just melted when my daddy said "Thank you for trying beekeeping". Well, by the time I cleaned up from the day and unloaded the truck, it was too late to clean house. Dinner consisted of Javelina Hash. Something very simple. I had a can of Javelina meat, some potatoes, garlic, and since I was out of fresh onions, I used freeze-dried onions, fried it all up and viola!  Turned out great. Dan was exhausted from doing a bunch of chainsaw work and checking/repairing perimeter fence. We both sat down, feet up to watch the sunset.