Welcome to Another

Beautiful November Tuesday Here in the Sonoran Desert!

Fall Has Arrived in the Desert!

***I saw this Prickly Pear on a walk the other day.***

When the Prickly Pear Cactus bears fruit… it’s Fall! We have picked the fruit in the past and have made Prickly Pear Juice. I froze it in small batches and I do add it to Margaritas. Picking it is not easy… we used tongs. And cleaning the fruit is not easy either because of the thorns. Sweet Man used heavy duty gloves to do his best to remove the thorns while washing. Through the process of using our Vitamix Blender and then putting it all through a sieve… it got done. We most likely have enough juice to add to Margaritas for a long while. I don’t think we will make it again. Lol!

I Won!

I won a beautiful specimen of Amethyst from our Rock and Mineral Club. It was found here in Arizona! It will be added to our Curio where we display gorgeous Specimens!

I Baked!

***Easy Beer Bread!*** ***Easy but tasty! I used an IPA to give it a bit more richness.***

An Adventure!

Friends wanted to go metal detecting for Gold in the desert. So we gathered up our metal detectors and met them out in the desert. We were mostly in washes… and we found everything else but Gold!

***This is where I found shredded gum wrappers***!

After finding lots of bullets and some tiny pieces of rust… We were on our way to our Gold Club Claims (where we know there could “possibly” be Gold) But off in the distance we saw a Mine! We decided to go exploring instead!

***It’s always fun to come across the old mines. This one was known for mining Greenish Mica.***

We enjoy poking around and wonder how the people may have lived out here at one time when we see remnants of houses and buildings.

***Is this what it looked like in the Wild, Wild West Days? I picture John Wayne riding his horse up over the hill?***

The people who worked and lived here had incredible views!

***The desert is alluring even with the thorns!***

An added bonus was seeing some moths and butterflies on our adventure.

***I enjoy seeing flowers blooming out in the middle of nowhere!***

Back in Our Neighborhood

Flowers are blooming everywhere!

In Our Backyard

***This is a Queen Elizabeth Rose from our backyard!***

***This is the same Rose but a few days later. So pretty!***

***I’m always happy to see a Monarch! This one didn’t stay long.***

Our Agaves have become quite large and they have been trimmed at the bottom. I don’t think we can walk down our little path at the moment. I will have to trim the one on the right. I will eventually slice two more of those large leaves off.

They do make Tequila from these kinds of Agave but the Tequila does not come from the large leaves… it comes from the heart or the piña. Which is near the bottom of the large plant after all the leaves are cut and discarded. There are Agave Farms in Mexico where they grow them to this size. It takes about 7 years for them to get large enough to harvest for Tequila. Here is a You Tube Video of how one Farmer harvests the Agave Heart. A liter of Tequila is made from about 15 pounds of Agave Hearts or piñas. (source: https://izkalitequila.com)

Source: TasteTequila.com

***We are very careful when we walk near the Agaves. As you can see they have sharp edges and a needle at every end! Very much like a sword!***

***They add beauty to our garden…especially when the other plants are not blooming***.

An Evening Out

Sweet Man heard about a Celtic Band playing at a nearby restaurant. He knows how much I enjoy Celtic Music. The Restaurant has a lovely Patio where Bands can entertain…

The Evening Sky

Have you seen Venus and the Moon? It has been gorgeous!

And we have had some beautiful sunsets as well!

Thank You Once Again

I sure hope all is well in your neck of the woods. I’ve seen lots of pretty Autumn leaves with some of you and lots of Thanksgiving Recipes, Tablescapes and More! We are hosting a Friendsgiving this weekend so I’ve been enjoying all of your ideas and inspiration! I’ll be sure to share our FEAST with all of you! Thank you for your visit! I hope to hear from you!