The house hunting continues

Matthias and I have been busy looking for our new home. I must admit, it is a frustrating, exhausting search so far. We are a little discouraged, but not completely disheartened. We even broke down on Friday, and went to look at some model homes. That is the ultimate point of fear and loathing for both of us, since we have successfully avoided suburbia for our entire marriage. The best part about the model home tour was the real estate agent at one of the higher end places. I am not kidding when I tell you that he was like a character out of Goodfellas or something. His name was Frank. (Frankie, right?) He was talking to us and asked, "so where are youse guys from?" Then, he was telling us about his pool, and he said, "they wanted me to get pebble tech in my pool, instead of plaster, for $5000.00 - Forget about it!!" I am sure my mouth was hanging open as I imagined a mob guy, retired from the mob, selling model homes. I love my imagination sometimes. I wanted to take this man out for dinner, just so I could listen to him talk! FUN!

I have to tell you about another beloved feature of our rental house. It is a giant cactus out front, and it is blooming!!! I am not sure what kind of cactus it is. After reading my wildflower book description of the night blooming cereus, I am pretty sure that is NOT what this cactus is. Even though each bloom only lasts one night, this cactus does not have "few, angular, gray, thin, barely spiny, twiggy stems." I cannot find another description that even comes close. Here are the photos anyway!! I love it! By now, you should know how much I love flowers, and to see one of these early in the morning is a great way to start the day. There are still a couple of buds, but I am not sure how much longer it will bloom. So I have taken many photos.


I did find out that the purple headed hummingbirds here are the "costa's hummingbird". Awesome!

I haven't done any more art yet, with the business of the house hunt, but I have been thinking about those watercolors from earlier this week a lot, and I want to try them on a larger scale. I will be sure to keep you posted!

I am also starting on another fond hobby of mine, taking photographs of animal tracks. Now that we are in the desert, they are tracks in the sand, instead of snow or mud. I am pretty sure this first one is a snake track. What do you think?