Sonoran Desert Blossoms (and Other Blessings)

When I have less than a stellar week, I always remind myself that this blog is about enjoying life and nobody wants to hear my kvetching.  So I take a nice deep breath and look back at the positive in my week and find a way to communicate those enjoyable things in this space.

Looking back on this week, I cringe with frustration and exhaustion for piddling reasons that I won’t go into, but I decided they don’t need to define my week.  My week is defined by good friends and family and by Mother Nature just showing off right now.

The Sonoran Desert is spectacularly abloom right now.  There is yellow everywhere you turn, primarily from Palo Verde trees.  I took a few pictures of all the color out right now while I was out walking this morning and while we went out for a little drive to Cave Creek and North Scottsdale.

This gorgeous blue jacaranda tree is in our park.

Many desert willows have yellow or pink blossoms, but ours are purple.  Unfortunately they don’t last long and a stiff wind leaves our driveway a mess, but the tree is so pretty right now.  These trees aren’t really part of the willow family, but their leaves resemble a willow so that’s their name.

Hop bushes line the sides of our property and add a little privacy.  They honestly aren’t the prettiest shrub most of the year, but they are pretty right now.

Are you at all impressed by my botany knowledge?  Ok, I do know some of our local flora (be honest, there are only about five different trees and a bunch of cactus to identify), but I have an app PictureThis.  With access to the phone’s camera or picture library, it will identify your plant and tell you more than you ever wanted to know about it.  Brilliant.

Pickleball

DFs Evon, Barb and Stuart have been playing pickleball with me early Sunday mornings.  John’s knee is still on the mend, but he thinks he wants to join us this coming week.  We’ll see.  He tends to have a hard time moderating himself when there’s competition.  Hmmm.  It’s really a great way to start the morning, laughing with a good dose of sunshine. How can that not be counted as a blessing?

Kitty Yoga

My little chunkster Kinsey joins me anytime I put the yoga mat down.  I honestly don’t know how she can come out of a deep sleep under the bed and come across the house to do yoga with me.  She never disappoints though. I count my kitties as blessings in my life. Sometimes.

Social Distancing Dinner Out

Wednesday evening DF and colleague-extraordinaire Jill came from Vegas to Phoenix for a work assignment and met me for a social-distancing dinner.  We ordered from Urban Margarita.  It’s one of my favorite places.  Locally sourced, fresh food that is still delish!  We both had grilled Angus beef tostadas.  For some reason I didn’t take a picture of them (in their Styrofoam containers – classy!) but they were beautiful and so good. 

Oh, yeah, I remember why I didn’t take pictures.  We were both starved and wanted to dig right in.  I did manage to get some pics that capture the essence of evening and a silly selfie.

John packed us up a cooler before I left for work Wednesday morning so we had beverages and I brought lawn chairs.  We found a grassy neighborhood area near the restaurant and brought out all our stuff.  I have to tell you it was over 100 degrees, but sitting in the grass, we weren’t too hot at all.

It was so fun catching up and relaxing together.  I really didn’t want to go home.  But…..it was a “school” night.  We both had to be up and at ‘em early the next morning.  Oh, and neither of us are what you would consider night owls. Ah, so blessed to have this girl (and fellow reader!) in my life.

A Sweet Treat

John put out his handyman shingle and gave Evon and Jessy a hand with some chores.  She came by with such a LITERALLY sweet treat.  Homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and blueberry scones.  Oh, my they are so good they are dangerous. Evon is an artist in the kitchen. Another sweet blessing!

Sister Happy Hour

My sister Susie celebrated her birthday (another lockdown birthday – ugh!) this past week, so my sister Monique coordinated a happy hour for the three of us Friday evening on FaceTime.  I am looking forward to a time soon when I get to see them in person, but this is the next best thing.  Of course we all three shared the camera with our cat children who also seem to enjoy our happy hours. Loving family is a blessing for sure.

Susie’s Green Chile Recipe

Susie made this recipe when we vacationed together in Aspen last summer and served it over burritos.  Have I ever said this is my favorite meal in the entire world!?!  Well, she made it again this week and shared the recipe for my blog.

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 diced tomato
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/green chilies (Rotel)
• 1-2 diced green chilies (**I had some frozen Hatch green chilies and used all in the bag, about 4+ and removed the seeds-it was too hot)
• 1-2 chicken boullion cubes
• 1-1 1/2 cups water
• 1-2 Tablespoons flour
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown the pork and onion together until pork is cooked through/onions are tender.

Sprinkle flour over the pork/onion mixture and stir until mixted through and flour taste is cooked off (couple of minutes).

Sprinkle garlic powder over mixture and just add everything else and stir to combine and heat to a low boil.

If mixture gets too thick, add water or chicken stock to thin – if mixture is too thin, add a slurry of either flour and water or cornstarch and water to thicken.

You can also add diced potatoes (which I did) and pinto beans if desired. Serve with tortillas on the side.

Wrapping Up

All-in-all this week was packed with so many blessings I could barely fit them into a blog post.  I also heard from dear friends across the country and around the world checking in via text and phone.  Some are going through substantial trials and I am sending them extra love this week. 

Peace and grace for a week full of miracles.