These are two of my favorite ladies! They live on our street & you just can't get one step ahead of them! Laura on the left reminds me of my mom. She is in her late 80's (see I didn't want to tell her age), & she is up every morning at 5am, goes out & picks up every one's newspapers within a 4 or 5 block area & puts them on their porch! She just had hip replacement this past Fall & her daughter came to stay with her for a bit. She couldn't wait until she left. She said she was tired of her telling her what she could & couldn't do! I pray I have her energy when I reach that age! And this little lady on the right.....watch out when she's coming down the road with her golf cart! She'll play chicken with you! She's 95 almost 96! They sit behind us in chapel each Sunday & they are just the sweetest gals!
And now, on to the flower show. These are all pictures I've taken either here in our park or close by. The cacti just amaze me. Everyone seems to be so different & so beautiful. I'm so glad we got to stay longer this year to enjoy seeing so many. A lot of them are almost done flowering except the Saguaro. They are just starting. We are hoping to take a ride in the next week to see them from a higher elevation looking down. Since the flowers are all at the top, it's hard to get a great picture sometimes. Hopefully next week. This is my first flower on my Beaver Tail Cactus. I only had 2 this year. But it has grown so much since I planted it last year.
My Barrel Cactus just doesn't seem to do much. 
This is the Organ Pipe Cactus on the side of the trailer. It has tons of blooms & has been blooming for quite awhile. 
This is looking out my tinted window so it's not quite as clear. 
I sure wish I knew what these are. They have been like this for about 2 weeks. They look kind of like a violet. You wonder how they can grow through all those stones.
Another different cactus. Catch me today, because tomorrow I'll be gone. 
I believe these are Hedgehogs. 
There's a little bee down in the center of this flower. You will have to click on it to enlarge to find him. 
This is what I hope mine will look like in a few years. 
Marquita's beautiful roses. 
This is the only Saguaro I found blooming in the park so far. It's a good thing my camera can zoom in! 
My friend Janet's beautiful cactus. There were about 6 or 7 others out almost at one time, but I missed them. I saw them but didn't have my camera with me. 
These are called Century Plants. According to what I've been told, they only blossom once & then die. From the web: Century Plants bloom only once in their life, the blooming spike is so large and grows so fast that it saps all the resources of the plant, which then dies, leaving a tall wooden seed stalk. The plant is called the "century plant" because of this "once a century" bloom (actually the plant lives an average of 25 years). It was also an important plant to indigenous people, being used for medicines, fiber, needles, and food. 
Beautiful Oleander blossoms with that once again....beautiful Arizona blue sky! 
This is the cactus that I still don't know what it is called. The blossoms are huge. You have to see it early in the morning because once they come out, they begin to close & then are gone. 
This past Monday a fellow in the park that plays shuffleboard with us came a callin'. He had a problem. He had a grapefruit tree he needed to pick at another trailer. He had a ladder but it was too much for him to carry it the 5 blocks to the tree. I had the truck, so we struck up a deal. I picked him, his ladder, buckets & boxes up & off to the tree we went. You could not see one grapefruit on that tree from outside. He put the ladder up on the outside & I guided him to where they were from the inside. Some were so huge it took 2 hands to hold them. I could not believe we filled 3 - 5 gal. buckets & 5 boxes of grapefruit. The good part of the deal was I could have all I wanted. I ate one while he walked back home to get his long sleeved shirt (he was getting pretty scratched up); I got to borrow his juicer & got a gallon of grapefruit juice (in my freezer); I got about 8 grapefruit for myself & I sent 16 or so home to my sister & brother-in-law. She was thrilled with "fresh from the tree" grapefruit. Picked on Monday, mailed on Tues. received 2400 miles away on Thurs. That's pretty darn fresh! These are medium, big & bigger. There were no small ones! Look at the sunglasses & then imagine them on the middle grapefruit! 
And they are pink & tasty! 
On Wednesday, the 4th, we finally got our numbers painted on the sidewalk in front of our Park Model. This project seems to be taking forever. I almost volunteered to do it, just to get them done!
Yesterday I finally remembered to take my camera with me to the pool. Every time I'd get there & look at that beautiful Jacaranda tree I would say, darn, I forgot again. I was afraid the wind would blow all the blossoms off before I got it taken. There are several around town & some of those have very few leaves. This one seems to have more leaves on one side than blossoms. Maybe I waited too long, but it is still pretty. 
Almost reminds me of a wisteria. 
The flower is definitely not a wisteria though. 
Ahhhhh, now to the good part! This week it has been in the 90's so obviously there is only one place to be! Inside the air conditioned trailer - NOT. Maybe for Bill, but not for me. As you can see the crowd has thinned out quite a bit. Linda is standing by the pool & Judy is near this end. There are four of us left to float & chat. Connie will be leaving on Monday, Judy in another week, Linda, not sure yet, but this month & us on May 31st. 
We have been staying longer this year for multiple reasons. Bill had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on April 12th & so is recuperating from that. He is getting along pretty good. Still bothers him some, but he is gaining. Still icing it a couple times a day & that helps. He rides the stationary bike & walks the treadmill at the club house a bit most mornings.
I've been having laser treatments, injections & stripping done on my varicose veins ever since November. Had to miss Jan. & Feb. due to insurance changes, but finally got back on track. Still getting injections but will hopefully be done soon so we can travel. May have to have the rest done when I come back next Fall. It certainly has been a blessing. Even though I don't always sleep all night, it isn't because my legs ache. I am so thankful that the constant aching has gone away.
I had an infection the middle of last month & was put on an antibiotic that I apparently was allergic to. The first prescription was fine, the 2nd one after my visit to the PA was the one that reacted. I began having chest pains. 3 during the week went away fairly quickly, the one on Fri. evening didn't. We were on our way out for supper (which we never got to as 1. the restaurant was closed & 2. I drove myself to the hospital). Bill kept saying pull over but it wasn't bad enough that I thought I couldn't get there & besides he couldn't drive yet. It all worked out. They kept me over night in observation after checking everything out when I got there with EKG, chest X-ray, etc. I saw the heart doctor at 6:30am the next morning. He requested that I get a nuclear stress test & an echo cardiogram. I think I passed the stress test fine (had that this past week). Will have the echo cardiogram done Monday afternoon. Had an ultrasound done this last week for the other problem & that came back normal so I think I'm safe there. I have to go to the OB/GYN on the 16th & the heart doctor on the 18th & then I think I am DONE!
This has been quite a year. I never had one cold, sore throat or anything all winter & then all this surfaces. I am 99.9% sure the chest pain was from the medication. Had I stayed on the original prescription I think things would have been different.
The other reason we are leaving later is we are going to Virginia for a special celebration! We are very excited. Mark is retiring from the Navy after 20 years of serving his country. We are very proud of him & his service & it will be just as exciting to see him retire as it was to see him graduate from recruit training at Great Lakes.
We know we will be arriving back at our home campground later than usual, but some things are just too important to miss. So I'm sure in the coming posts I'll have lots of pictures to post. I still have some to get off my camera from our Mother's Day Brunch from today, but I'll save that for another day. I might even get it done before Mother's Day, but don't hold your breath! So, if I don't get on here before Sunday.............A Very Happy Mother's Day to all my friends, family & readers who are Moms!
Happy Mother's Day to my Mom who is resting peacefully in God's loving arms.
So, until next time.......................The Traveling Cardinal's
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