Oh jeez mom,... not the garland...... 

 

Happy Birthday, dear Sadie, .......happy Birthday...to you.....!

(very hard to take a picture of a black dog face, I had to lighten it up in Picasa which makes her look rather brown. She is, in fact, still glossy black))

 

This Monday was a happy day as we celebrated Sadie's 14th Birthday and were visited by our best friends (and camp-host mentors during our first 'gig' in 2010) Joe and Deanne!

They workamped in Yuma during the winter and are on their way 'up' to Spokane for their summer job.

The day had been a warm one but it cooled off to just the perfect temperature for a great BBQ!

 

Everybody looking for a shady spot....

                                 

Joe and Deanna brought some delicious steaks and I'd made James mom's famous 'overnight salad' and an apple pie for desert. 

Boy, was it all good! 

 

 

We had a great time sharing stories about our winter adventures and since they stayed overnight in a site across from us we continued our conversation the next morning over our 'traditional' coffee break together! (See December 2010)

It's impossible not to have a great time with these wonderful people and it's always very hard to say goodbye again.......!


                                 

Miss you already guys!

 

We might see them again this summer though since they are going to workamp for 2 months in  Missoula, Montana after the job in Spokane!

 

Finally we have some nice flowers going in the front yard. It looks so much better with a little color:

 

                                  

Caesalpinia gilliesii or Desert Bird of Paradise on the left and Oleander on the right.

Pretty, but both very poisonous!

 

 

The bougainvillea totally froze, all old canes died, but it's coming back vigorously with new shoots all the way from the roots....

And this is all of a sudden growing in the fields while I wasn't watching for a few seconds ..... I'm pretty sure it's cotton again!

Since insects don't scare me much I took a very close 'up' of this guy, almost picked him up to relocate him to a sunnier spot, only to find out later that he's actually pretty nasty if you make him mad!

 

 

It's a Lytta magister (also known as the desert blister beetle or master blister beetle). 

...."The “blister” in the name refers to the beetle’s ability to pop a blood vessel in the joint of a leg, which causes the insect’s yellowish blood to ooze out. The beetles do this only when they are upset. For example, when held firmly by a (dumb) person (Ha!)
The 'blood' is not only bad smelling, it’s downright dangerous, capable of causing skin to blister painfully "....

Right. Not smart. (Me)