Keeping With The Times

living, learning, and keeping with the times

Musings on the Desert and the Good Life

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sonoron desert, arizona

parched desert floors

Yes, we are still on holidays. It seems like it was another lifetime that we went to the Grand Canyon but it was only a couple of weeks ago. We’ve seen everything from a blizzard to parched desert floors. I was photographing cactus flowers when I noticed this plant and saw what a beautiful shape it had. This is the thing that my iPhone has opened up for me–the courage to take photos that at first don’t seem worth taking but turn into mini pieces of art by adding a filter or two. Simple everyday moments are recorded. I now turn to my Instagram page to recall the details of my life. Are you following me on Instagram? There are lots of little snippets there that you might find fun…

Here’s a bit of water to quench that dry desert floor feeling:

instagram

cool waters

We surely packed in a lot of adventures. We had 3 different sets of company (loved it all). We visited the Canyon, Goldfield Ghost Town (where we watched a western gun fight), Tortilla Flats,  Sedona, Montezuma Castle, the Zoo, the Rio Verde drive, then all the way up to Cave Creek.

We enjoyed lunches, dinners, picnics, water parks, and pool time.

Did I mention dinners? Here’s a tasty treat I enjoyed at Lon’s. Grilled Halibut on Risotto with Fennel, yummm.

lon's restaurant

grilled halibut

And, we went shopping–from Target to Casa Decor to Anthropologie (and back).

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anthropologie

Yesterday, hubby and I went to Restoration Hardware just to see what it was about. Whoa… it’s not what I expected. Swank, people. Swank.

Our first clue was that we had to walk through a courtyard to get to the door. I wanted to turn back but couldn’t help myself. I wanted to see it. First thing we encountered was a gentleman sitting on a couch looking at us like we were slugs or something. That was uncomfortable. Until hubby stopped and looked at a ginormous pine table and turned to me and said “I don’t think this is big enough, do you?” I hesitated only for a moment but then glanced at the gentleman out of the corner of my eye and said “well, yes… I think it needs another piece of pine –it’s not wide enough” (this thing would not have fit in our garage). Lucky for me I didn’t go into a fit of giggles. It wouldn’t have been pretty considering the amount of water I had been consuming.

We soldiered on and went right up to the top floor, looked around, exchanged niceties with the salespeople and then got the he** out of there, our white running shoes flashing as we went.

Please don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate the good things in life and Restoration Hardware is definitely one of them. If I could, I probably would shop there. Actually, we determined that we could manage to buy a lamp… if they had some kind of lay-a-way program.

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday at Tina’s PicStory (sorry this is not so wordless) :)

A Sun-Dappled Patio

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geraniums-on-patio

We enjoyed a relaxing hour or so while having lunch on the patio at “The House of Tricks” in downtown Tempe near the popular Mill Avenue. Protected from the sun by a leafy canopy and surrounded by pots of flowers, it’s a quiet oasis that makes a person want to linger. It makes you want to savour every bite, talk about life, and sip slowly on your beverage of choice. Ours was coffee; aromatic and flavourful, poured from little decanters and served in tiny mismatched teacups.

It stirred some distant memory or feeling in me that I can’t quite explain. Probably just a combination of all the summer days of my life and the gratefulness I feel when sitting on a deck surrounded by flowers, friends, and family. Whatever it was, it’s elusive so I’m going to leave it at that. I would highly recommend this restaurant, not just for the atmosphere but also for the food. I ate so much that I skipped dinner last night and at the time of this writing I’m still not ready for breakfast!

Just Another Day in Arizona

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Palm-Trees-AZ

Today we spent most of the day at our local park. We found a spot on the grass, set up our little picnic area and enjoyed a delicious lunch of homemade chicken sandwiches and fresh fruit. When we finished, the boys went to play on the slides and us adults sat and relaxed for a bit.

It wasn’t long until I wandered off to “take photos” and came back with some lattés and cinnamon coffee cake. It just doesn’t get any better, I tell ya!

Hubby and I have so enjoyed having our family with us and we are really, really going to miss them. I feel teary remembering the ginormous hugs that we received at the airport when we picked them up a week ago (I was almost toppled over by a 3-year-old). And now, already, we are soon going to be saying our good-byes. It’s going to be pretty quiet when we get back to our condo (except for the snores).

A Big Day at the Zoo–It Was a Tall Order

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giraffe

Today we spent five hours with our daughter and grandsons at the zoo and we had a blast! There’s an incredible amount to see, from scorpions to rattle snakes, to jaguars. I have dozens of photos to process but I’m going to have to leave you with this giraffe I captured on my iPhone. There’s only so much I can cram in into one day…

(processed with distressed fx)

The Grand Canyon–The Final Episode

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Our second morning dawned clear, bright, and cold. We were pretty relieved and couldn’t wait to get out and explore.

After a quick breakfast we headed out and spent the next several hours walking along the rim. Alert: photo overload!
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As you can tell, I was pretty impressed with this surreal, natural wonder.

If you ever get the chance… no wait! don’t leave it to chance–make it happen–visit the Grand Canyon!!

The Grand Canyon Continues

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Just a few more snowy vistas before we move along.Grand Canyon-web04DSC_0159

The sun stayed out for about an hour and we were able to enjoy the gorgeousness of the forest…

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I didn’t want to stand there with hubby so I offered to take his photo…

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Finally, the Grand Canyon. Photos cannot capture it. Words cannot describe it.

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But us photographers try.

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National Geographic writes “the road to the Grand Canyon from the south crosses a gently rising plateau that gives no hint at what is about to unfold. You wonder if you have made a wrong turn. All at once an immense gorge a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide opens up. The scale is so vast that even from the best vantage point only a fraction of the canyon’s 277 miles can be seen”.

It wasn’t long until the clouds and snow took over once again so we headed to the Yavapai Lodge where we spent the night.

We were travelling with another couple so we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the El Tovar Dining Room. It was warm and cozy, the food was good, and we had a view of the rim of the canyon.

We watched people scurrying around outside with hoods and scarves pulled over their heads. We marveled at the snow blowing around and off the roof and made predictions about what we were going to wake up to. Would it be cold, but clear? Or was there going to be a foot of snow blanketing everything?

 

The Grand Canyon

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grand canyon

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Shortly after we left the shelter of the gift shop/cafeteria (to escape the blizzard) and began to drive to our hotel, the sun started to peek out and we caught our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon.

We pulled into a viewing area and I just couldn’t get past the trees. They were so absolutely gorgeous with their twisted trunks, rough bark, and snowy branches.

I knew that the lighting was perfect and that the snow was soon going to melt so I slowed down and took dozens of shots, all the while exclaiming how beautiful it was. But the excitement was building as we inched our way closer and closer to the rim…  more photos to come later!

I was using my new Nikon D7100 with the 55-105mm lens for the first time! I’m pretty excited about it! I did a lot of thinking about which camera I wanted. I looked at full sensors but decided the cost was just too prohibitive and not necessary for my needs. The D7100 is a 24.1-MP DX-format CMOS sensor and shoots up to 6 fps. I also bought the 55-105mm lens which will enable me to take a wider range of photos without having to change out the lenses constantly.

I sharpened the photos, adjusted the exposure, then bumped up the blues and greens a wee bit–that’s it…

So far, I’m quite pleased. I cropped the last image to within an inch of it’s life and I think the detail is still pretty amazing.

The Beauty of the Grand Canyon

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grand canyon

Our trip to the Grand Canyon didn’t start out too hot. As a matter of fact we ran into a blizzard and had to sit in a gift shop for an hour or so where we busied ourselves eating hot dogs. (I believe the one I ate is still haunting me…)

I took this photo with my phone as we tore across the parking lot to get back to the car. I tell you that wind was biting and that snow was wet. Did we not just fly 2236.44 Kilometers to get away from this stuff?

But, being the troopers that we are, we swiped the snow off the car and proceeded out onto the highway thinking that if we could just get to our hotel, we could warm up and regroup. However, it wasn’t too long until a bit of sun peeked out of the clouds and the fog parted enough and we got our first glimpse of the Canyon.

I can’t even describe how it felt. It was absolutely awe-inspiring.

To be continued…

A Palo Verde on Fire!

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arizona, palo verde

Well, not really… it just looks like it.

Can you guess where we are? It’s hot. It’s sunny. It’s gloriously beautiful. There are flowers and flowering trees everywhere.

I took this photo while in the parking lot at Costco… (why do I always seem to be there?)

I want to share a bit about our holiday so I guess if I’m at Costco, well, there I am. However, I was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals – no complaints in that department.

5 on Friday

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Oh
how
we
love
Arizona.

Our Arizona holiday is winding down and soon we’ll be finding ourselves in the land of ice and snow.

We haven’t experienced a November in AZ and we kinda think we’re in for a rude awakening… it’s been in the 90’s here for 2 weeks. We’re in summer mode.

So for 5 on Friday at Reflection of You, I’m going to list 5 things that we love about our Canadian winters:

We love a snowy Christmas.
We love a snowy Christmas.
We love a snowy Christmas. (And a Happy New Year).
We love a snowy Christmas.
We love a snowy Christmas.
We love a snowy Christmas. (And a Happy New Year).

I know, it’s 6, but 5 didn’t work with the tune…

Goldfield Ghost Town and Superstition Mountains

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arizona
Our first stop before we headed off into the wilderness of the Apache Trail was Goldfield Ghost Town. The engineer of our little tour train tipped us off that this was THE Kodak moment. I have to admit, I didn’t see it coming. But there it was, the little town backed by the Superstition Mountains.

I spent over an hour editing this shot in Lightroom. I cropped it, adjusted the white balance, and applied several presets: sharpening, punch, and a vignette. It’s not perfect, I think the sky is blown out but I decided to leave that lesson for another day.

Here it is with the ‘Aged Photo’ preset applied. Kinda cool! I have a feeling I’m going to be acquiring several thousand Lightroom presets in the near future.

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Confession: I made a slight edit in CS6

Driving the Apache Trail is a story in itself. It’s an incredible drive and I’m glad to be alive.

My struggles with Lightroom

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arizona

When I signed up for Kim’s first ‘Round Trip’ class – the one which started about the first week in September – it was because I was intrigued. I had heard so much about Lightroom – I had to know what the fuss was about. Plus – anything that Kim is so excited about – well, so am I! ;)

However – the first thing I came across was Lightroom’s organization system… aaaccckkkk… it reminded me of Photoshop Elements Organizer which I disliked with a passion. When I upgraded to CS6 I was elated with Bridge-now there’s a system I understand. Good riddance to Organizer.

But, I decided I was going to give it a chance – I began to let Lightroom suck all my new photos into its puzzling and mystifying file structure. Like Kim says ‘Deep Breaths’.

It wasn’t long until I began to falter. I had signed up for too many classes at once and my scrapping duties were taking a toll. I ended up letting Lightroom go. But in the back of my mind I kept thinking ‘I’m quite sure I can do this’. So when Kim announced she was offering a three month extension on the class, I immediately decided to take it.

Fast forward to November… I’ve worked up to Day 5 of the class. Things aren’t going too badly! I have stuck with the organization system. I’m entering keywords. I edited some photos. I took one into Photoshop and then back to Lightroom and then back to Photoshop and then back to Lightroom! Hey, this is cool! Say wha????

I’m getting more enthusiastic. I think it is going to be OK.

Kim is an endless source of inspiration to me. You all know what I’m talkin’ about here, don’t you. I now know that I’m going to get through this class and probably even become a big fan of Lightroom. I still have so much to learn but I’m making progress.

The photo I posted today is a result of LR and PS together. As well as some mad photog skills (he he). I made quite a few adjustments and removed some sun flares that I didn’t like – they vanished like magic using the Spot Removal Tool. Thank you, Kim! Thank you!

I’m not quite sure of the quote – don’t cacti stand still? Oh well, for some reason I thought it worked. Cacti are strong, tough, and resilient. And I would say they don’t give up easily either.

If you’re still reading – thanks to you too!

Font for quote is DJB CONSTANCE BEAUREGARD by Darcy Baldwin (it reminds me of a cactus).

I’m linking up to Texture Tuesday – the ‘anything goes eDition’.

Our little get-away in Fountain Hills, AZ

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The view from our kitchen balcony.
Sunrise.
From the kitchen.
It’s an end unit so we have lots of windows.
Our living room.
Looking towards the front windows.
Our ‘office’ area… a work in progress…
Our little kitchen table.
Reclaimed wood furniture.
The breeze was softly blowing my (home-made) curtains – so pretty!
A little peek into our kitchen.
Santa Fe style furniture.
So light and airy.
Beauty!
Heading upstairs and some of our new paint ‘Sedona Sunset’
This morning I woke up thinking about our new condo in Fountain Hills. There’s a pretty good reason for that – we plan to head down there for two weeks!
We took possession of it last November and have since re-done a lot of the interior. We had it painted from ceilings to baseboards and everything in between. We removed carpets and had new flooring installed upstairs. We replaced all the blinds and then had the windows washed – that was my brilliant idea – it would have been impossible for me to do – especially upstairs. We had some electrical re-wiring of lights and installed new fixtures. As well, there was a lot of maintenance to be done but nothing major – good thing hubby is a handyman extraordinaire!
Last year, the first two weeks we were in Arizona, we saw nothing but the interior of Lowes – but let me say they have a pretty amazing view of the mountains from their parking lot …. ;)
This time we’ll have a bit more time to explore and experience AZ. To start off, we’re going to a football game on Monday night – a dream-come-true for hubby!
I’m looking forward to some new photo ops, perhaps a bit of shopping, dining out, and watching the sun come up from our living room couch.

I just wanna play . . . ya know?

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We just got back from 15 days in Arizona, 15 beautiful, sunny, hot, relaxing, fun-filled days. Long lazy mornings having coffee, watching the sun rise up over the Four Peaks. Early afternoons spent exploring the desert and all it has to offer. Late afternoons spent lounging around the pool getting to know our neighbors and evenings spent quietly reading together after dinner.

we slipped into a routine . . .

a routine quite similar to what we do at home  . . .

but it’s not the same

there really were less distractions

like no internet

this little red beauty is called a fairy duster – how sweet is that?

am I rambling?

that’s OK isn’t it? you don’t mind do you?

We’re home now. It snowed this morning. I have a stack of laundry that would rival any household with 5 kids and I can’t remember the last time I washed the kitchen floor in this, our second home. But all I can think about is that I want to get to our place at the lake and clean up my garden. I’m sure my perennials are peeking through all the debris and are wondering where in the heck I am.

Well, only four more sleeps and I’ll be there. I’ve missed you, lake . . .

 

* I created the effects on these photos in Photoshop because I don’t have an iPhone and I just wanna play . . .

Sedona and area

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May you walk in beauty above you, beauty below you, beauty behind you, beauty surrounding you.
~Ancient Native American Prayer~

 

 

Bell Rock

 

From the vicinity of the airport looking down on the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cathedral Rock at Red Rock Crossing

One of the most photographed scenes in Sedona, this spot is where Cathedral Rock is fronted by Oak Creek. Located just off Upper Red Rock Loop Road.

Earlier, on the way to Sedona we stopped to view these ancient cave dwellings:

 

Montezuma’s Castle

 

Montezuma’s Castle

A beautiful and fascinating day!

Cathedral Rock, AZ

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This is a shot I took while we were out at Sedona – a fella at the tourist info booth told us where the best place to be at sunset was – and we were there! My sweet hubby waited, and waited, and waited. I came away a very happy camper!

Can’t wait to get back home and back to visiting all your blogs – it’s a pain to have no internet except while having coffee at Starbucks (major withdrawal).

More to come later.

 

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Fountain Hills, AZ!

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Since we purchased a town home in Fountain Hills last November, in some ways we feel that we are a part of the community (even though we have technically only spent about a month here in total). So when we heard that the world famous fountain was going to turn green on March 17th we had to be there to see it up close. We thought we might have to use our Irish Imagination – but – NO – there was no mistaking that it was green!

The fountain before the green . . .

 

and after! looks like the birds thought it was fun too!

 

It was cool and breezy (very un-Arizona-like for us!)

 

 

Lineups to get to the food were long but we made it – was there any doubt?

 

Just about there . . .

 

Corned beef and cabbage on rye – delicious!

 

Seeing a green fountain was fun but eating a corned beef sandwich with cabbage and chips was right up there too!
On most days, the water from the Fountain only reaches a height of about 330 feet. That’s because there are three pumps operating the Fountain. Usually, only two are in use, with one of them being a backup. When all three pumps are operating together, water stream can get as high as 560 feet.

The Fountain is set in the middle of a 30 acre lake with a walking path around it. We took the walk once last week and I hope it becomes a habit when hubby retires and we are spending more time here.

As well, the local coffee shop sits right beside the lake and it’s a great place to spend a morning having coffee together – reading the paper and using their wi-fi!

OK – we’re off to an art show out at Cave Creek! How fun!