Baseball Babes (Well, Age 6 and Under!)

This one has braids instead of a ponytail. 

 The girls wear a pink helmet when they bat!

Just because you're a jock doesn't mean you aren't fashion conscious. 

 Notice the pink mitt and matching shoe laces!

A pink and blue mitt among the the dirty, sweaty brown ones!

Em and his teammate are having trouble figuring out who is supposed to be

covering first base!

For the photo I chose as picture of the day, CLICK HERE.

Weeds

My favorite picture of this lovely weed can be found on my 365 project blog FOUND HERE.

Historic Homes, Antiques, and Cats in Brentwood

Another example of a home in Brentwood.  This Tudor revival was built in 1930 and has been recently totally renovated and is presently listed for sale at a price somewhat north of $225,000!

One of the homes on the tour was in the process of being gutted by its new owner.  He purchased the home three years ago but due to the economy and the difficulty in getting permanent financing he is just now getting the major repairs made.  This beautiful chandelier was just laying on a table in the back room.  I hope he finds a place for it in the new renovated home.

Most of the homes on the tour had many original built-ins and niches throughout the structure.  This rotary phone appeared to still be in use since the cord was actually plugged into a jack.  If you enlarge the picture you can see part of the original phone number which was handwritten in the center plate.  It sat very comfortably in a niche in a hallway.

Almost all the houses had a built-in ironing board, including one which had an accompanying sleeve board.  This one seems to have a bit of damage, probably by some kind of pest, and did not appear to be in use today.

Several of the houses in Brentwood still had working 1930s vintage gas stoves and many residents have gone to great lengths to decorate their homes with period antiques.  This fan was all spiffy and shiny.  You must remember that when these homes were built there was no air conditioning!  I can't imagine living here then!

Oscar kept a vigil between the living and dining rooms of one of the homes.  During the time I was there he never moved from his spot and tourists had to walk around or step over him.  Everyone wanted to pet him but we were warned:  "He bites."  I did witness one women who attempted to pet him and he latched onto her ankle!

This sweet kitty seemed to be camouflaged on a couch.  In fact, one of the volunteer door greeters mentioned she had been at her post for two hours before she even saw the cat!  This cuddly ball of fur did not seem to mind at all that people were drudging through her home on a cold and rainy day.

For more information and history on the Brentwood Historic District, please visit my main photo-a-day blog at CLICKING HERE.

Doggie Beach Party

Blackie was overheard saying:  "Don't you just hate it when somebody copies

your wardrobe?"

"The next time you dress me up in this ridiculous outfit,

I'm going to pee on the floor.  And don't think I won't!"

"Quit saying 'Sic 'em, Sherlock.'  I told you I'm channeling McGruff."

"Thank heavens my daddy didn't make me dress up like some crazy beach bum!"

"Does anybody have a Tylenol?  All these braids and barrettes

and rubber bands are giving me a SPLITTING HEADACHE!"

"I was told this was a sweater girl contest!"


To link back to my main blog to see the details of the Doggie Beach Party,
CLICK HERE!

Hat Mannequins

These hat mannequins are so delightful!  I found them in an antique/vintage decorating shop while I was out and about.  They are not antique, nor are they vintage.  The shop owner showed me some vintage ones but the modern ones are much more fun and up to date!

For my photo of the day of these mannequins, please CLICK HERE!

E. Payne Palmer House

A back view of the Palmer House.  As you can tell, after he trees bud out, this view of the home will be completely obliterated from the public.  The entire estate is encircled by a wrought-iron fence with gated driveways.

An outbuilding on the grounds of the Palmer House.  My guess is that this small building was probably originally constructed as a car house since homes of this vintage do not traditionally have garages.  There is a red brick driveway that enters the property from Bethany Home Road toward this structure, which today probably serves as an office or a guesthouse or a maid's quarters.

For history on the E. Payne Palmer House, please visit my main blog, Kathy Goes A-Ramblin’ HERE.

Winter Garden

This winter's tomato crop was pretty paltry.  I lost about 50 in an unexpected November frost.  This variety is called Celebrity.  It's my favorite.  Very tart and acidic.  When I manage to grow them in the summer, I just slice up a big plate of them for lunch, toss on a little salt, and after I eat them, I tilt the plate up and drink the juice!  There is nothing more delectable!

I have always loved planting flowers and vegetables together.  I have bulbs in this bed so I never know, when I put in plants or seeds in the fall, know what will happen when the bulbs come up.  I actually have a few daffodils and freezias that have grown right through the lettuce!  It's actually kind of fun!

Home-grown carrots rarely look like what you buy in the store.  More often than not, mine suffer from severe birth defects!  Those little daisy things are actually weeds.  I thought they were so cute three or four years ago that I pulled up about 10 plants out of a bunch of rocks and planted them in my beds.  Now they have totally taken over.  Oh, well, I still think they are sorta cute!  Better than bare dirt I suppose.

Chinese Cultural Center

To see my Picture of the Day which corresponds to the following photos,

please CLICK HERE.

The Ranch Market (when did they start having ranches in China?) has about 3 trillion products in it, most of which I have no clue what they are.  This picture was taken in the drink aisle and I think these things are some kind of alcoholic beverages.  I did get the impression that the shoppers in this market like Corona and Bud and Miller, to name a few.

The market boasts an excellent produce department.  Napa cabbage for 39 cents a pound?  Oh, come on!  One of the supermarkets that I frequent was selling it last week  for $1.49 and I passed on it and this week it went down to 99 cents.  I bought some.  Boy, did I ever get taken!  Here you can find baby bok choy for 69 cents a pound.  I bought two center cut pork loin chops, a pound of ground pork, baby bok choy, fresh shitake, crab, oyster, and enoki mushrooms, and a package of spring roll wrappers all for a grand total of $8.40!  I have never even seen those four varieties of mushrooms fresh in any supermarket.  I need to quickly find a recipe to use them all.  Now, you can't even get near the fish department.  Friday afternoon and it was three deep.  They have live fish, dead fish, headed fish, beheaded fish, frozen fish, and even such things as eel and squid and things that girls from Texas were told to never ever put in their mouth.  The reason I bought pork was because everyone else was down the aisle standing in front of the fish counter.

These cute dragon sculptures adorn the entrance to most of the retail spaces.  They remind me of a dog I once had when he got particularly angry.

I think it's quite nice that in the garden they incorporate local plants (notice I didn't say indigenous because there are very few plants outside of desert flora that are indigenous to Phoenix - they've all been brought here from somewhere else) with the Eastern architecture to form a beautiful marriage.

These three fountain jets are continuously erupting in the coy lake (it's too big to be just a pond).

Two huge dragon statues guard the entrace to the center.  I am somewhat spatially challenged but I would estimate each statue is about 10 feet tall and sits on a pedestal of equal height.

Harry A. Jones House

For a picture of this historic Phoenix house, please visit my main blog FOUND HERE.

Greystone Apartments - circa 1930

For the picture-a-day photo from my main blog and the history of the Greystone Apartments, CLICK HERE.

Each unit in the complex is marked by an arched doorway.  The second-floor units have a small balcony.  The landscaping is meticulous with roses and other blooming plants.

The original brass mailboxes and call buttons still remain.  I don't know what the upper
holes are for (maybe some type of early intercome system?).  I stuck my finger in one (pretty brave, huh?) but it just hit empty space.  If you know, please enlighten me.

As I walked around back I noticed this descending stairway, so at least one of the units has a basement.  However, it doesn't look like from all the debris accumulated on the steps that anyone has used this stairway in quite some time.  The pink petals are blossoms from bougainvillea plants which grow in various places around the buildings.

A view from the back side of the Greystone showing the garden atmosphere of the buildings.

My Favorite House on the Willo Tour

Today my daughter and one of her friends and I took the 22nd annual Willo Historic Home Tour.  I discovered I did not focus too much on the exterior of any of the residences so I'll have to make a more leisurely tour another day for architectural purposes.This group of photographs are of the home I found most beautiful of the ten shown.  The first photo of the group can be found on my 365 photo-a-day blog at CLICK HERE.

A most inviting entrance.

Another beautiful plant at the home's entrance.

I know little about succulents (and I live in Arizon?) but this is one

gorgeous plant.

A cozy living room with a fireplace (although it was about 74 degrees here today!)

welcomed the visitors.  This home, built in 1937, has the original

hardwood floors, which the owners were able to almost perfectly

match when they extended the master bedroom/bath

area during the remodeling process.

Simple elegance

A small palm frond was the only accoutrement to a white Carrera

marble countertop in the master bath.

Signs of Spring - Pear Blossoms

I love the delicate pink anthers on the filaments.  Unless you get really close you don't even realize there is anything pink in the blossom.
To link back to the main blog page, click here. 

Hotel Westward Ho

Even today the the Westward Ho is an imposing structure with its art deco architecture.

The familiar steel tower was added in the late 1940s for KPHO,

which was the first TV station in Phoenix.

Carved stone on the facade of the Westward Ho.

The lobby ceiling.

A drinking fountain which exhibits some of the craftsman tilework

throughout the hotel.

A tiled sidewalk on the way to the pool and interior courtyard.

A resident's window.  What a wonderful place to live!

Del Monte Market

The market has a curved wooden counter with a weathered, smooth countertop.

Candies are displayed in an antique wooden, glass-fronted display case near the front of the store.