Sign, sign; everywhere a sign...

I had such good intentions of keeping a regular log of what's happening here in Arizona, but as you can see from the date of the last blog post that has not happened. Every day I had great intentions but by early evening, i just seemed to run out of steam and creative writing was just not happening...did I just say that? ..."by early evening I run out of steam"...oh my...if ever there was a sign of my "aging" that would be it! I am the proverbial nighthawk! I am the person who would start a major project at 10 o'clock at night!

 I am blaming it on the sun and fresh air, NOT on my age. I refuse to believe that just because I turned 60 I will automatically slow down...not yet!

I know I am not going to remember everything over the last couple weeks, but I think I will start with today and work my way backward.

Today we went on another hike. This is my third one but Mr.O has done seven! We hiked a bit over 6km over hills and rocks and trails through the desert. 

There are signs of spring blossoms getting ready to splash the desert with colour.

Signs of wildlife, but much of it way to fast for me to photograph...lizards, eagles, ground squirrels, an assortment of small birds, and this

A Sonoran ground snake. Of the two of us, I was much faster fleeing the scene than the snake!

There is so much beauty in the desert and although the rocks, sand and mountains are all brown, there is nothing plain about them.

It's surprising to me how much green there is, but I am told that will change as the sun gets more intense and there is less and less precipitation.

Our first hike was quite a rugged climb. My sister and her husband and Mr. O and I ventured out on a hike in Gold Canyon to see the petroglyphs. I went with just a little footie sock and my light weight running shoes, but made a note to get better foot gear for the next time out. It certainly makes a difference in negotiating the rocky terrains. It was a pleasant climb with beautiful views and we got to see the petroglyphs at the end of our hike.

I have joined the quilting group here in the park and have spent a couple days quilting with my sister as well. The results?

I have 27 scrappy granny squares done.

I pieced a charity quilt for Arizona Quilts for Kids and quilted 2 baby ones.

I cut 48 squares and appliqued approximately 150 circles to make this quilt for my oldest grand daughter. One border is on and the last border is cut and measured and ready to apply and then I hope to find a longarm quilter to quilt it for me. It should finish up at about 76x100. 

This months Schnibbles is cut sewn and ready to assemble.

I have been spending Monday afternoons working with these tools.

This is my progress so far...

With a little more guidance and several more hours I hope to end up with a stain glass hanging of a 12" square quilt block that resembles this

Several times a week we walk to the market to take advantage of the exceptional bargains on fresh fruit and veggies.

Now I'm sure you know that fruits and veggies are not the only things I have been shopping for. Yesterday my sister and I took a forty minute drive out to my favourite area quilt shop, and just look who we met!

Carrie, from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, (the Schnibbles patterns designer herself!)

Carrie was just finishing up a class and was gracious enough to take a few minutes to talk with us and pose for pictures. She had extra kits and we were able to buy the kit she had demoed that day, AND she also had her finished quilt from the American Patchwork and Quilting quilt along! G O R G E O U S!!!    If I had any doubts about making this quilt, they are totally dissolved. I can hardly wait to start it! I blogged about a couple posts back and it is available in the Feb. issue on the newstands now.

I leave you with a few cactus photos with captions

PEACE  MAN ! 

YES MAMM, JUST GO LEFT AT THE NEXT INTERSECTION OVER THERE.

HE WENT THAT WAY OFFICER!

SEE YA! Bye bye, adios, catch you later.