Fun Day at Butterfly Wonderland

Owl Butterfly on my finger



Butterfly on Mark's hat




Gorgeous Owl Butterfly riding along on my pants



Butterfly stayed on my pants for over 5 minutes while walking through the atrium



Perfect a place for this beautiful butterfly to land!



Gorgeous butterfly near the koi pond



Variety of butterflies.  The blue one on Mark's shirt is also a Pink Floyd Fan ;)



So many beautiful butterflies!



Butterflies galore!



No these are not butterflies, but the fish and creepy crawlies can also be seen there.



Fluttering butterfly on my arm - so sweet!

I took a ton of photos when we went to the atrium and have only shared a few here.  I know, they're just butterflies, but being able to walk through the atrium along with the butterflies flying all around you and landing on you multiple times is an awesome experience!

If you are in Arizona, I highly recommend visiting Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale.  There is a lot to see there including a 3D movie, a small gallery where you can see the metamorphosis stage of the butterfly and much more.  Definitely worth the fair admission price as you'll spend a few hours there.  We truly enjoyed our day and will be going there again.

Peace,
Rocki

A brief moment with Dino

A few weeks ago while sitting on the couch with my laptop (hence the worn out wrist supports) something caught my eye. As in something moving across the kitchen floor.  I could barely see what it was so I got up to check it out.

Awe!  It was an adorable baby lizard!  No, I'm not afraid of little critters.  I used to have snakes, mice, rats, geckos...  Anyway, I got on the kitchen floor and played with him for a bit.  He was a friendly little lizard.     

Well it wasn't too long before all three kids (4-legged kind) realized that I had a new little friend and they wanted in on the action.  As much as I would have loved to keep Dino in the house (well gosh, I had to name him!), I didn't want the kids to get a hold of him.  So after enjoying Dino's company for a bit longer, I picked him up and outside we went.

I gave Dino a tour of the entire backyard so he could decide where his new home would be.  He must have enjoyed the ride because he honestly stayed on my hand the whole time - so cute!

I finally came to grips that we had to part ways and tried to put Dino on the ground, under the yellow bell bush.  He really made this difficult for me because he did not want to leave my hand.  I even put my hand flat on the ground, but he just crawled around my hand and would not get off.  It was as if he was saying "this is nice Rocki, but you can take me back inside now", or some kind of cute lizard comment.

Believe it or not I seriously contemplated on bringing Dino back inside.  But I knew that he would not survive indoors for long and I definitely would not keep him confined.  He had a much better chance outside with all the other little (sniff sniff) lizard friends.

We hung out for a little while longer, enjoying the moment and sharing conversation.  Okay, so it was a one sided conversation, but I'm sure he understood me.  I knew it was time, so once again I put my hand flat down on the ground, blew him a kiss, gave him a little nudge and off he went.

Friendships come in all forms.  Dino was no exception.

Peace,
Rocki

Rock Garden Flowers and Buddha

Buddha

We have a variety of Buddha statues in and around our home.  No, they are not art collections or expensive pieces.  Buddhism is our way of life.  Having Buddha throughout our home brings us peace and sends compassionate blessings to all that see him. 

You can find simple yet beautiful Buddha's in our home made of wood, stone, paper, ceramic, cloth, etc.  We don't need fancy or expensive - anything.  However, my son Jason did buy me a very nice Buddha several years ago that is gold plated with mantras inside.  It has very special meaning to me.

Whenever I see a Buddha for sale I always check it out.  That is how I came across our newest Buddha, who looks like he was made for our pool fountain!

Buddha on our rock fountain



Buddha now blesses us while we swim, as well as all the birds and creatures that visit our back yard.  Oh and our back yard looks quite barren right now.  Believe it or not, Arizona does get cold during our "winter" months.  Like this past one where we hit several days in a row of freezing temps - as in the mid to upper 20's and low 30's, which toasted just about all of our plants.  We look forward to when they start to regrow so we have a variety of color again back there.




Cactus lily flower blossoms!

This is my little rock garden wok out front.  I planted the cactus last year and only had a couple blossoms then.  About the past week or so I noticed all the little buds on it.  Every day I waited for them to grow and pop open.  And they did just the other day - so beautiful!



Beautiful cactus blossoms

Simple things make me smile. 

Whether it is a blooming cactus displaying gorgeous flowers, or Buddha sitting on our rock fountain.

Hope you have a buddhaful day!
Peace,
Rocki

Hawk in our back yard - awesome!

Hawk in the back yard 1/19/13

Saturday afternoon we had a pleasant surprise in our back yard. The hawk that visited us a few weeks ago returned!  He was perched on our back wall, about 20' from our bedroom patio, scanning the yard that WAS full of our regular feathered friends.  I was SOOOO ecstactic that I yelled for Mark to come see and forgot to grab my camera - which I thought was charging.




Close-up view of the pic above

So there we were, me on the floor at the arcadia door with my binoculars and Mark standing beside me.  We just kept watching him as he continued to scan the yard and look for, sadly, little mammals or unsuspecting birds - which obviously knew he arrived as they were all in hiding. 

I can't tell you how freakin' exciting this was - better than last time!  I didn't want to stop watching him, but decided to head into the other room to grab my camera real quick.  Well, he then flew into our neighbor's large tree that is right by our back wall.  This was fine because I was able to get better pics than last time.




"I see you Rocki!"

I went out back and got as close as I could...he did NOT budge!  He was rather large, around 2 foot tall is my guess.  He turned his head around and just looked at me as if to say "you know, I love squirrels too."  It was beyond amazing.  The adrenalin was shooting through me like coffee in Mark's veins!




Beautiful bird!

Then I got to thinking about the kids...our dogs.  For those who do not know, we have 3 little ones and I'm not sure if they would be too big or not for the hawk to take off with.  Yogi probably not, but Maelyn and Sasha possibly.  So, there was scary thoughts mingling with the excitement.  I would be absolutely mortified if that happened - or seeing any other animal in his talons.  But, I understand that's what he eats.  Still scary.




Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk?

I stayed out there until he flew away, then immediately grabbed my bird book.  After pouring through the book and the internet, I've concluded that he's either a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk.  It's really hard to tell because they are so closely matched, but I believe he was a Cooper's Hawk. 

 

Hawk at studio window - 1/3/13

Okay, pardon these last two pics, but these were taken with my cell phone from inside my studio and through a sunscreen.  I have feeders out there and love watching the birds while I work.  Anyway, that day something caught my eye so I looked up.  There was a hawk!  I practically squealed with excitement!  Wait.  Scratch that.  I in fact DID squeal!  Our neighbors probably thought I was bleeding to death or just won the lottery.




This was an awesome site!

Honestly, I was fumbling with my phone like hot potato as I was afraid that he would be gone before I got the camera up.  It finally came on then... click click click click!  I even got a short video of him sitting there and then flying away, but it won't upload.  I was bummed that the pics came out so crappy, but at least I got a little proof of our new visitor. 

I called Mark afterwards and...okay... squealed like a little girl while telling him of what just happened.  (I didn't know my voice went up that high)  He thought it was pretty cool, but since he got to see him up close and in person this time, he was pretty excited too.  Well, he didn't squeal though.  Oh, and I'm not sure if it was the same hawk because the one in the back yard seemed much larger.

Every day we have a huge variety of birds that visit all of our feeders, so I'm always looking outside.  However, now I'm looking out there even more - like a kid on Christmas eve waiting to see Santa!  I just hope that I don't ever see him with a little one and flying off with it.

I also hope he doesn't like squirrels.

Peace,
Rocki

Beautiful Cloudy Sunset

Taken from our side yard looking towards the front

View of northwest taken from our front yard

View from back yard as the storm rolled in

Can’t believe that we had two rainstorms in a matter of a few days, but we sure are enjoying it – as are all the plants and little creatures.   The one last night started early enough so I grabbed the camera to take a few pics before the rain began.  I’m no photographer, but you get the idea of the beautiful colors in the sunset we had.

 

Peace, Rocki

Unexpected Joys

"Sometimes, the ones you think least likely, will make the best friends. Life is full of unexpected joys."
~Charlotte (PixieWinksFairyWhispers)

Birds - Wings of Compassion

Female Finch

The Finch.  These are just a few of our feathered friends that visit us daily.  We have several types of feeders to attract different types of birds, which we get a good variety of.  Even though my favorite bird is the Gambel's Quail, I love all birds.

Male Finch sweet talking to the female Finch

In the beginning I was really surprised how quickly the birds arrived - and continue to do so in groups.  I think the word got out that there is free food and water at Rocki's Resort (that's what hubby calls our back yard)

Young male Finch

Not only do our feathered friends enjoy food, water and baths, but also a nice little patio with a misting system to keep them nice and cool. We also have our Tibetan Prayer Flags all around the patio.  Prayers are carried by the wind to others, and now the birds are blessed and carry them on their wings where ever they go.

"Look, it's Rocki...and she has more food!"

Kuan Yin (female buddha of compassion) is a standing statue in our back yard and the birds love her.  Everyday as I tend to our feathered friends, I also hose down the patio and make sure Kuan Yin is clean.

Male Gila Woodpecker

Okay, so this is not a finch, but I just thought I would include Woody.  It's hard to see it, but Male Gila Woodpeckers have a bright red cap on the crown of their head.  As with most of my patio pics, I have to take them through the arcadia screen door.  He loves the peanut butter suet and definitely enjoys it.  I can't tell you how excited I was when he first came to our patio - and when I identified him!

Hope you enjoyed this little visit of our Finch friends.  And Woody too of course.  Who knows, maybe the next time you see a bird it might be carrying wings of compassion.

Peace,
Rocki

Haboob in Peoria, Arizona

 Last night we had the pleasure of watching a Haboob roll in (a HUGE dust storm).  They are quite amazing actually and my photos did not do this one justice.  I was taking them from our back yard with my Droid, as Mark kept telling me to get inside.  Above is a view to the left.

 And this is a view from the right...

Okay, so now it is above us and after this pic I went inside, closed the arcadia door and the Haboob said hello in a big way.  After it left, we were blessed with an awesome loud, rolling thunderstorm with the works. At least it washed the dust away.

In light of the storm, we decided to watch the movie Twister.

Peace,

Rocki

Wordless Wednesday

ANYTHING you want to be!

In the beautiful East Tennessee valley of the Smoky Mountains, you’ll find the most amazing sculptured art – seriously - it will take your breath away.

I recently ‘met’ Renee on Indiepublic and became an instant fan. I was immediately drawn to her work, especially the tree sculptures. Each time while reading the descriptions and gazing at them, I feel the emotions and feeling of each piece – I am simply mesmerized by them.

Creating for as long as she can remember and inspired by her mom, fairy tales (her first tree sculpture was inspired by Pan’s Labyrinth), music and nature, Renee creates her one-of-a-kind whimsical art. Her mom is also a part of her Etsy shop and mainly sculpts Christmas Elves (she states her creative gene came from her mom – yeah mom!) Combined, their work is both funky and folky, so coming up with her shop name, “Funky Folky”, didn’t take a rocket scientist.

Music seems to play a big role in Renee’s work as she “ALWAYS” listens to music while creating. In fact, music that is feminine and sexy is what she likes to listen to while creating her tree sculptures – which is usually Sarah McLachlan or Goldfrapp – “if you see this kind of kooky video my work may make more sense: Goldfrapp." Let me just say that I watched this video – twice - and I completely understand. Okay, and am now a fan of Goldfrapp – that video rocks.

Renee hasn’t done any craft shows yet, but she has created a lot of custom orders, plus has her own website with her mom selling soap, candles and a mixture of their sculptures at The Ragtree Co.

How did she hear about Etsy? Through her “dear friend Nikkii” and she’s been addicted ever since! (Addicted? I have no idea what she’s talking about…wink wink). She enjoys the “wonderful community of artists and crafters. I get so inspired by doing random searches to see what everyone else has created!.... I don't want to create my art to sell, per say. I want to create what I am inspired to create... sculptures that I feel passionate about. I don't want to create items that I think buyers will like so Etsy is the perfect place to show items that are out of the mainstream."

I asked Renee one last question - I love her heartfelt answer: “I guess the one thing that I would want others to know is that I believe creativity is so important in every day life. I know many of us must trudge off to the salt mines to make a living every day and in most of our jobs, we can't be creative and do what we want to do. Through art, we can be ANYTHING we want to be and do ANYTHING we want to do without any rules. Art is a way to live life on your own terms and to be a true individual. Aside from that, I have a wonderful hot hubby who likes to streak around the house when all of our retired neighbors go to bed and a gorgeous son who always like to remind me that I'm "not quite right" and that my sculptures give him nightmares ;)"

If you are looking for that unique piece of art for a gift or for yourself, please check out Renee’s Funky Folky Etsy shop where you will find art sculptures in a variety of ways: trees, magnets, art dolls, wall hangings and more. Also visit her blog to see what she is working on next!

Happy ANYTHING Monday everyone!

☼ Rocki

P.S. Okay, so are you curious about the hot streaking hubby too?