Arizona beauty...

We had a wonderful week in Arizona, but we didn't eat a single nacho.  You know it was on My List, but then again, there were lots of things on My List so I'll share some of those with you instead.

We took a nice walk through the desert.  Isn't this a perfect saguaro cactus?

They say that it takes fifty years before a saguaro cactus will grow one arm;

that's amazing to me!

We visited Arizona's first Spanish mission called Tumacacori Mission,  begun by Jesuit priest, Father Kino in 1691 and continued by Franciscan monks.

We visited the Santa Cruz Spice Shop nearby, and I added jalapeno jelly, prickly pear jelly, and pico de gallo spices to my shopping bag.

 

This lady-saint was found in the San Xavier del Bac Mission also established by Father Kino.  It is just a few miles from Tumacacori.  I think this Native American woman reflects the simplicity and faithfulness of her people.

Nuestro Senor El Desollado (Our Lord, The One Who is Flayed)  2004  by Paul Pletka

The Phoenix Art Museum was a treat for this country girl.  I love art and it was exciting to see some of my favorite artists displayed there.  Of course, we only saw a fraction of the art, but it was wonderful.  The piece above was totally captivating!  The red curtains draw the eye right into the scene.  The friendly and smart docent explained how the Catholic religion incorporated the culture of the native tribes into the celebrations of the church to draw them to the Christian faith.  The painting further depicted the history we learned at the Tumacacori Mission just a few days previous.

 The painting is approximately 8x10 feet in size.  It was created in three panels.

 

Claude Monet, Flowering Arches

1913

 

"Madame Lucy Hessel Working at a Dressmaker's Table" (1908)

by Edouard Vuillard

I feel as though I am standing at the door of this room, looking in on Madame Lucy.  I'd like to bring her a cup of tea and peer out the windows.  I wonder what she was working on?

There was so much to see in this piece,  

"Flowers, Italy" by Joseph Stella.

We played eye-spy with it.

This was another very large painting, measuring approximately 6x6 feet.

Talavera Mexican Pottery
(for my afternoon coffee)

More descriptions of our Arizona stay....

Warm days, cool nights, golf, golf, golf, Sonoran Dessert, cactus, sand, rocks, sunshine, bottles of water, making new friends, catching up with old friends, quilt show, Tubac, Rio Rico, border patrol, Trader Joe's, taquitos, fish tacos, pico de gallo, chimichangas, hearty breakfasts, the theater, art museum, and so much more.  It was lovely to go visiting,

but there's still...

no place like home

(even at 20 below zero).