Signs - Do Not Touch - or ANYTHING ELSE!

I thought this was only appropriate, on the last day of the "Love Month", LEAP DAY, at that, ha ha!

Unfortunately, I can NOT take credit for this sign, but thought it was a great one to post! For more signs, please visit Lesley here.

ATTENTION: Tomorrow is the day the "followers" will disappear from Google Friends Connect (the way I understand it). To follow my blog, please click the new widget "Follow Me". You can do the same with your blog. Go to www.linkyfollowers.com for more information. I've yet to figure out how to manage all the blogs I follow, but if YOU have that widget, I can just click it and then follow because I already have a free account with linkyfollowers. If anyone has done this and can give us more advice, please do so in the comments! Thanks! Pat

Weekend Reflections - A Sculpture Framed

This window seems to perfectly frame the sculpture and white building across the way.

Here it is looking at it directly.

For more reflections, visit James here.

Thursday's Things in a Row

No "theme" this week - just some miscellaneous photos of things in a row!

This one could have actually been in yesterday's post of "Signs"! These are dog signs in a row. "No (pooping)!"

One of the streets in the park here.....palm trees in a row.

Ladybug rocks

Bocce balls

Flowerpots

Show me what 'cha got!

Sign - No What?

Sign found in a barbeque restaurant!

For more signs, visit Lesley!

Why I've Been a Bad Fellow Blogger

First off, I'd like to welcome all the new followers I have! Yahoo! Thanks so much for hopping aboard this crazy train!

Secondly, I'd like to apologize for being a bad fellow blogger and not commenting so much (or at all) on your posts. I am WAY BEHIND on that! I am struggling to find time to get my OWN posts up! I agreed to a HUGE undertaking at this resort/park where we stay for the winter. I was asked by the Activities Director,

"Take pictures of all the groups."

Now, that may not sound bad, but in reality? I've spent the last three weeks running or bicycling around to all the events and snapping pictures. This park averages about TWENTY events a DAY! Our park has 1,500 sites and is made up of 3 parks: Val Vista, Fiesta, and Ranchos. But they all fall under the parent name of Val Vista Village.

Here's an example of MONDAY'S schedule:

Social/Party Bridge
Ladies Bible Study
Cribbage
Shuffleboard
Mex. Train Dominoes (VVV)
Beginning Line Dance
Village Charity Quilters
Men's Billards
Karaoke w/Cliff
Quilting/Sewing
Joyfull Sounds Pract.
Choraliers Pract.
Harmonaires Pract.
Tai Chi
Mexican Train Dominoes (Fiesta)
Low Impact Aerobics
Exercise
Red Hats
Pickleball
Aquatic Exercise
Poolwalkers
Water Vollyball
Early Risers Water Aerobics
Water Aerobics
Tap Dancing
Aqua Guys and Gals
Bocce Ball

Whew! Do you feel my pain? I've taken over 1000 photos in three weeks! I try to get a "group" shot, then some action shots. The group shot is going into a pictorial book that is being printed for the park; the actions shots (I'm selecting 3-4 of each group) are going into a slide show. So...this project has literally CONSUMED me. I've had to set my alarm to get up early to catch some of the early water aerobic classes. (I'm a night owl!)

The plus side of doing this project is that I have learned about so many activities here in the park that I wasn't aware of at all. Sometimes I would just walk through the clubhouse and peek in the different rooms. If I saw an activity going I, I'd walk in, ask what it was, and snap pictures. One evening I saw two tables of people working with their hands, using small tools. I walked in and said, "Hi! Are you making jewelry?"

A man answered, "Hardly. We're fly fishing!" They were making lures!

Oops! My bad! He was kind enough not to kick me out and I took a few pictures!

I am amazed at how many people are out after dark.

Seriously.

If Jim and I don't have any plans - like happy hour somewhere, a dance, etc., we are tucked into our trailer.

Obviously, not about 30% of the rest of the park!  Nope! They are out playing cards, dominoes, bingo, line dancing, whatever!

I met a man last week - never saw him before in the park - but since I started taking photos have seen him at least 5 times. He told me that he plays cards 10 times a week! He said, "It keeps my brain sharp!"

I would think so! Just keeping the SCHEDULE straight would be hard!

I have met a lot of nice people through doing this.

The negative side of doing this project is that I am exhausted, I'm stressed to finish it, AND I had three people yell at me. I know. I can't let these people spoil it for the rest of the nice people.

I STILL have a few more pictures to take, but I am now mostly in the editing stages.

So, please bare with me.

M'kay?

Thursday's Things in a Row

Still keeping the theme of Scottsdale, AZ, here are some galloping horses.

I loved these balconies filled with potted plants.

This next one isn't the greatest picture, but it was a quick shot taken through a plate glass window! Sometimes stores can be fussy! I blew this photo up to see the price - $480! Yikes! Scottsdale is VERY artsy-fartsy!

And finally, I think this can count. My friend WORE this in Scottsdale!

Did you find any interesting rows this week?

Signs - Love for Sale!

Who doesn't need a little love? Maybe it's on sale!

For more interesting signs, visit Lesley here.

We've come a long way, baby!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I spoke with my daughter yesterday and she said that she and our granddaughter were going to work on her Valentines to bring to school today. Lily is 3 years old and in preschool. Do you remember the excitement you felt writing out your Valentines, and wondering if you were going to receive one from that special "someone"? We'd decorate a shoe box and cut a slit in the lid. Then we'd put the box on our desks and walk around the room, stuffing a valentine in each box. Of course, I'd have a "special" one set aside for the boy I liked!

I found some vintage Valentines. Some are cute, some are questionable.

Under the "CUTE" category:

I did see ANOTHER Valentine along this same line, but it was a picture of "bloomers" hanging on the line, with the same words.  Somehow it seemed wrong!

For some reason, meat played a big part as the theme of Valentines from the 30's and 40's.

Gangsters and guns were also popular.

Take a look at these totally inappropriate Valentines! I'm sure they seemed fine back in the day!

Can we talk about the sexist ones?

If Jim told me this, I'd throw the shoe AT him!

Now the kid's Valentines are mostly TV characters like Dora, Sponge Bob, Hannah Montana, etc. I found some unusual, pushing-the-envelope, one-of-a-kind Valentines to show you how far we've come!

Here are four quite different ones.

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday's Things in a Row

Since Scottsdale seems to be the theme this week, here are Things in a Row as seen in that town.

I saw this woman walking her three dogs.

I just love the flowers on this balcony.

These "siesta figures" are very popular here in the Southwest. I don't know if this is a good price for them or not. Scottsdale is touristy and rather pricey. I'll have to compare prices to that at the flea market!

I don't know what kind of palm trees these are, but they sure fit the meme, no?

This is a Mexican Restaurant,  attached to the Saguaro Hotel. The vibrant colors really stand out against that bright blue sky, don't they? I was mesmerized by all the things in a row!

This is the colorful Saguaro Hotel. Each outside wall on the balcony is painted a different color.

I'll have some more from Scottsdale next week. What do you have to show me?

Signs - No Speeding!

Speed limit sign in our park (in Arizona) where we stay for the winter.

 Not 14, not 15, but 14 1/2! How they came up with that amount, I have NO idea!


 For more signs, visit Lesley here.

Scouting Around Scottsdale

I did a couple of posts last week about Scottsdale: when I ate at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute and when we visited the Scottsdale Museum of Modern Art. After the museum exhibit, we took a short walk around the area and just skimmed the surface of Old Town Scottsdale. Here are just some of the sights we saw.

This is Los Olivos Mexican Restaurant which is located right across from the museum. We didn't eat there, but it sure looked interesting from the outside! Doesn't that huge statue just beckon to you?

One of the many horse statues around the area.

Here's another one.

Sometimes I come across a scene or a setting and it makes me wish I could paint. This is one of them.

Another horse, this time carved, and another beautiful setting.

I loved the juxtaposition of this dark bronze monument against the stark white curved building. The statues are in honor of Chaplain Winfred Scott, the founder of Scottsdale, his wife Helen, and his Army mule "Old Maud".

I sat on a nearby bench while Jim toured the Scottsdale Historical Society Museum, which was originally the Little Red Schoolhouse. While I was waiting, I watched this Grandpa playing with his young grandchild. I discreetly took a photo.

I also liked the way the sunlight was reflecting off of the statue of the Scott's.

Jim and I walked along the path that led behind and between buildings and we eventually came upon a large area with several sculptures. One area had a beautiful garden seating area. One kind of the flowers was so sweet smelling. Hard to believe it was still January!

The little fountain in the center of the garden area had several oranges floating in the water.

And I'm sure your first thought was the same as mine...."Now who would do such a thing like that?" The answer? Probably Mother Nature! I spied these two orange trees right near the pond. The oranges probably fell off the tree and rolled down the hill into the water. Of course, someone COULD have thrown them in, but I like the think it happened the first way. :)

Close up of flowering kale (cabbage):

Sculpture of Mayor Herb Drinkwater and his dog Sadie:

Not sure what this is. Does it resemble a horse to you?

This is a beautiful sculpture of a Native American.

This looked like a neat place to eat. I'll have to put this on my list of restaurants!

There are free trolley rides available, but if you want to ride in STYLE, you can always hire a horse-drawn carriage.

I hope you enjoyed my tiny tour of Scottsdale. There is so much more to see, and I hope to get back there in the not too distant future!