Around here this weekend

Hey there, blog friends!

♥

Welcome to another exciting weekend recap on PaperTurtle. Our weekend was fairly low key, and I did manage a few photos to share.

Saturday morning I searched the turtle habitat to see if Rex and Casper were out. They have some favorite hiding places in their habitat and they weren't in any of those spaces. Then I noticed them hanging out under my sunflower sprouts. :o)!!! Made me so happy to see that. They are no doubt enjoying the canopy of shade, and possibly (hopefully) eating bugs from underneath the leaves.

In other pet news, Whiskers Jay was a happy camper this weekend. I drew five mandalas over the course of two days, so he remained perched on the edge of my table...purring and tail swishing...

I love the simplicity of this mandala.

Saturday evening - way too hot to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. I took this next photo standing inside our backdoor, dreaming of autumn...

And then Sunday. I'm down to the part in my yoga teacher training where I'm required to attend a certain number of classes at the studio and journal about them. So I went to two classes yesterday - one that I participated in, and one that I assisted with. Need to finalize my notes today before I forget certain details...

I spent a little time looking at the hashtag #mandalalove on Instagram this weekend. Oh, the inspiration! I've made some Instagram mandala friends in the process, and I'm going to be using some new shapes in my own mandalas just to keep them interesting for me. The one above was inspired by a mandala artist who uses a lot of triangle points in her work. Something new and different for me. I made a bit of a mess, but in the long run I loved the finished piece. I used watercolor pencils on this one:

We had some cloud coverage for a while yesterday so it was nice enough to sit on the patio...until the mosquitoes started pestering us. Hot, humid, stormy time of year + Arizona sunsets to compensate.

And now a new week with pretty much the same ol' routine on the horizon. Work, yoga, work, yoga... I'll take it!

Keep on keepin' on, my friends.

♥

This weekend, our turtles, and the heat

Oh my goodness, it is HOT in Arizona!

♥

Welcome to summer in the desert. Our air conditioner ran constantly all weekend, and yesterday's high in the "Valley of the Sun" was 118°F (47°C). I will try super hard to not dwell on our crazy heat over the course of this summer here on my blog, but this weekend was brutal in terms of weather. The silver lining is that the sun is shining and our skies are a really pretty blue.

For the past several months I have been asking Doug to install drip lines in our turtle pen. Now that summer is upon us, we really needed to make that happen. I had such a cute plan in my head, and Doug moved forward without me and...well...bless his little heart...what he did wasn't really the same as what I had in my head. {I know, I know. Poor Doug.} This weekend seemed like a really good time for me to learn how to hook up drip lines and bury them right where I wanted them, according to the plan in my head. So the photo above is Casper, walking under a drip line before I did my digging.

But first, there was this:

Friday and Saturday I attended hospice volunteer training at Hospice of the Valley. I was in a class of about 25 new volunteers and we learned about boundaries and ethics and that we are not allowed, under any circumstances, never ever ever to administer medication. So, I'm pretty sure I won't be dealing with medication.

This building is just east of Mercy Gilbert Hospital, and this corn field is just east of the parking lot:

I stepped outside during one of our breaks to warm up. Ha! The air conditioning in that building was so cold that I wore a sweater both days, and had to go outside to thaw out. Anyway, I thought it was cool to see a lush field of corn still amidst growing urban construction.

Carrie and her crew came over Saturday night and brought dinner for Doug's Father's Day celebration. She made a yummy batch of spaghetti and meatballs, and spent some time playing pool with Doug. Oh, and she also brought a pan of brownies that we topped with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles. I love the relationship that she has with Doug, and he loved being celebrated as her father figure. ♥

So, back to the turtle pen. Over the past week Whiskers has decided to be a meowing alarm clock at 4:30 a.m. which is extremely annoying, but to my benefit yesterday. I really needed to be outside at sunrise in order to get my time in before it got ridiculously hot outside.

I'll admit to being fairly grumpy at the beginning. Why didn't Doug just wait for me before installing those drip lines? Whyyyyy... And why did he choose yesterday morning to meet his brother at the archery range to shoot their bows? Whyyyyy... Well. As it turned out, it was good for me to learn how to put those little connectors on the drip lines. And since the turtle pen is my realm, it was good for me to dig and bury the lines and know exactly where they are for my ongoing future reference. And since my Taurus spirit craves all things earthly, it was really good for me to dig in the dirt and put things right where I'd pictured them in my head.

Plus, it was fun that my little Casper turtle was really curious about what was going on in her habitat. I had to be very mindful where I stepped because she was out and about checking out what was going on as I dug and buried and moved things around. Rexy stayed hidden while I played, and I've already see him out this morning, cruising around the perimeter assessing the changes.

I planted more dichondra grass seed (see the green in the photo above?), and I also threw in a couple of sunflower seeds to see if they'll sprout. Time will tell. The little red marbles will eventually disappear under the thick grass that's to come, but I love the way they look for now.

Doug arrived home at 8:30 with breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks, just as I was finishing up with my work in the dirt. I was in much better spirits when he came home than I was before he left. :o)

I spent the remainder of the super hot day inside, taking care of laundry and drawing mandalas. I was on a mandala roll this weekend! I created four pieces that I was able to photograph to use for promoting my upcoming mandala workshop in August. Whiskers, the meowing alarm clock, was close at hand.

This week holds more extreme heat outside, with me remaining calm, cool, and collected on the inside. Eh-hm. Gosh, the heat can cause some interesting irritability and random unreasonableness. Sounds like a job for my yoga mat...

Peace out, blog friends.

Be cool.

♥

Easter Weekend Recap

Good day, blog friends.

♥

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend. Ours was full and wonderful. I had Friday off work so Doug and I hit the road for a drive to see desert wildflowers for the day. Ah! I loved Friday!!! I'll share our day trip photos with you later this week, and today I have a few shots from Saturday and Sunday.

My photos are a bit out of order, but I wanted to lead with the photo of the deviled eggs I made yesterday. This was our only hint of Easter for the day, otherwise it felt like an ordinary Sunday for us. Doug took care of some yard work early in the day and then headed out for a game of golf. I spent the day doing things around the house and a good deal of time was spent in the kitchen.

These eggs were super simple to make. I used 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar, a few drops of food coloring and about a cup of cold water. I soaked the egg whites in the dye solution while I mixed the filling, and then gently patted them dry with a paper towel before piping in the yellow.

Back to Saturday - what a fun and full day that was! I met a friend for coffee before teaching restorative yoga. What a nice little catch-up we had! Once in the studio, I was so happy when I looked out into the lobby and saw one of my [corporate] co-workers there. It was the first time my two work-worlds collided and I'll admit to feeling a little bit nervous as she settled into my classroom. As usual though, as soon as I started teaching all that faded away and I hit my stride. It felt a little strange to be in my yoga zone in front of someone who knows me professionally, but in the end we both loved it.



After yoga on Saturday morning I treated myself to a pedicure, lunch and shopping. I'm going to Mexico in a few weeks on a yoga retreat and needed some beach-y things to wear. I found a cute swim suit cover-up and had a cool conversation with the sales clerk about art and mandalas. :o)

My cousin and his family were in town this past weekend, and we had the opportunity to meet them for an early dinner on Saturday. I loved having the chance to catch up with them! It's been years since we were together. ♥

And then! After dinner Doug and I came home and played several games of pool. We are loving having a pool table again...even though Doug's pool table skills are way better than mine. So far. ;o)

Yesterday I printed some photos to send with my grandma's weekly letter. I'm loving my new photo printer now that I have figured out how to work the thing. There was some frustration the weekend before and maybe a ballpoint pen chucked across my desk before things clicked.

Oooh and I finished our niece's wedding guest book. I love how it came together and I'll have photos of that in a few weeks once she's had a chance to see it herself.

We've been nursing our sweet little Casper turtle and her hurt eye. I took her to the turtle vet last week and she has an infected third eyelid. She came out of hibernation that way and now she's living inside in a clean aquarium tank until she's fully healed. We've been taking her outside here and there for some sunshine and exercise. Anyway, the treatment is two different eye drops, three times a day, and an injection every other day for two weeks. Yes. Doug and I are giving a turtle a shot. We've done two so far and are awkward at best, but our hearts are in it and hopefully turtles have short memories. Poor little thing...

 

And with that I'm off and running to tackle a full week ahead. I'm teaching yoga three times this week, and also preparing for my next mandala workshop this coming Saturday.

Wishing you all a happy week ahead!

I'll see you later this week with some wildflower road trip pics.

:o) ♥

New house / new turtle land

Oh hey there, blog friends.

♥

Phew. I just could not get myself in gear yesterday morning and get to a weekend recap. Actually, myself was in gear finishing up the weekend's laundry and preparing for a new cleaning lady to come later in the day to take care of our floors while Doug replaced my car battery. How's that for a Monday morning? So, no official weekend recap on Monday morning but I'll sum it up in one word for you: busy.

When we moved to our new house (tomorrow will mark three weeks!) we used a large 55-gallon plastic tub to hold our two box turtles until we could build a new habitat for them. I filled the bottom with a bag of shredded bark and said a heartfelt prayer for their safety and well-being.

Well, everything was going fine(-ish) with the temporary quarters until our baby turtle, Casper went missing. Doug was working out of town for a few days and I hadn't see Casper at all, so when he came home he was given the potentially bad-news-task of digging in the bark to find a baby turtle.

The good news is that Doug found her and she was just fine. Bad news is that we discovered the reason she was so hunkered down was an attempt to hide from Rex, our male turtle who is seriously in the mood for love. L.O.V.E. And in such cramped quarters there was no escaping him without burrowing to the bottom.

 So Doug and I set aside some time this weekend to work on building a turtle pen. I had some ideas for the design and material to use, and Doug made it happen. Seriously, my husband is a jewel! He's so accommodating to my requests and worked so hard to make this happen. I love the new turtle pen AND my sweet and awesome hubby!!!

This little hut had been a bird house until we moved and I dropped it and the whole thing broke apart. I salvaged the top of it and thought it would be cute in the turtle pen...



I was right. ;o)









Rexy and Casper really like it too. It was fun to put them in their new space and watch them exploring it. This space has so much potential, and I can't wait to get some grass and other plants growing in there. We also need a few more areas for them to hide, and a better water source, but at least they are out of the plastic tub! And Casper has some space to move around and hide if/when she wants to.

In other pet news, Lucky the dog is a bit obsessed with being able to see and smell the turtles in his backyard. Now prayers are for this new habitat to keep the turtles in, and one very curious pup out.


♥

PS: Casper is about three years old. Female box turtles typically begin producing eggs when they are five years old and/or 5-7" in length. I'm glad that Rex is in love with her, and I hope he still feels the same in a couple of years when she's ready to reciprocate. ;o)

A weekend of yoga and turtles

It's Monday, and there's a hint of fall in the air.

Hooray!!! (for the fall part, not the Monday part...}

;o) ♥

And not that Monday is necessarily a bad thing, it's just that I could really use an extra day. But who couldn't?

I wish I had something to tell you other than my usual oh-my-gosh-what-a-busy-weekend, but it's just the way it is right now. I don't say busy like it's a bad thing - it's just that between yoga teacher training (all weekend) and our pending house remodel and move...well...let's just say that I'm having to really focus on living in the moment in order to maintain a sense of...well...not freaking out!!!

While the turtles are oblivious and happy out in their cozy habitat, Doug and I are running circles around here. I've purchase a really big plastic tub and a large bag of shredded bark that's used for reptile habitats to house them temporarily at our new place. Repeating in my head, "They'll be fine, Deb...they'll be fine..." They will.

It's 5:45 a.m. as I type this, and Doug has already left for the day. He's meeting roofers at the new house this morning to have a leak around the fireplace repaired. We're changing out all of the windows in the house to the more energy efficient dual-pane kind, and that happens tomorrow. Along with our electrician friend who will be there today or tomorrow to hang lights. Doug is going to be able to start painting walls this week, and French doors and floor tile will be installed next week. {And there you have the very condensed version of the new-house-to-do-list.}

As part of my current yoga teacher certification program, I attend a yoga teacher workshop one weekend a month and that happened this past weekend. It was a really great workshop with one of my favorite teachers, and my scribbly doodles in the photo above happened on day-three when my mind was so full of anatomy talk that I started to check out just a little. I'll have a post on Wednesday with a little more about this weekend's workshop. Loved it!!! ♥

 

This week along with my full-time-corporate-job, I'm teaching yoga three evenings after work. My heart is filled with so much gratitude for my yoga practice and the fact that I am finally able to share yoga with others through teaching. I'm praying for a shift in the near future that would allow me to follow that dream full time. In the meantime, I keep plugging along knowing that my super-full-plate won't always be this heaped-up-to-overflowing.

 

I have a house to move.

And there's a hint of fall in the air!!!

And a new week to grow in.

Wishing you all kinds of blessings this week,

and a reminder to breathe if your plate is full too.

xo

♥

This weekend in my garden

Oh hey there, blog friends.

Welcome to my weekly weekend recap post.

♥

What the what?! March is coming to a close?! Sheesh! Things are heating up in Arizona and I did the unthinkable and turned our air conditioning on for a while on Saturday afternoon. I came home from yoga teacher training and the house was 85° so I broke down and gave it a shot of cool air. ~sigh~ I remain optimistic that we'll have another little cool spell between now and June 1st...

Doug was away on a fishing trip this weekend, so Carrie and I had "Friday night date night" without him. We tried a new Mexican restaurant (yum) and saw a movie (Cinderella). We loved the movie but had to laugh at the crazy assortment of movie goers in the theater that night. From the woman who chose to sit right next to me when 90% of the other seats were available {which I suppose isn't really a big deal but it felt odd at the time}, to the people behind us who talked through most of the film, to the child with flashing lights on their shoes who didn't sit still for the entire movie...

Baby Casper under the antler bridge.

Saturday was all about yoga. I taught in the morning, and learned in the afternoon. Actually, I learned all day long, but the morning and afternoon presented opposite roles for me. All of it was awesome. ♥

Shy boy Rexy by my Renaissance Festival mushrooms.  

Once a month I have a two-day yoga workshop as part of my next level of yoga teacher certification and this was the weekend for that. So Sunday afternoon found me right back in the studio for another 3-hour training session. Obviously, I love it! But I sure do miss my yoga buddies from my original teacher training class! I know in time this new set of yoga friends will be dear to my heart, but for now...

Anyway! Other than yoga, there was sunshine and springtime all around me. This year's round of sunflowers are off to a beautiful start, and our yellow bells Esperanza tree has finally taken hold. I can't even tell you how many times we've had Doug has had to save this tree! From Lucky digging it up a couple of times to strong winds uprooting it... Dare I say it's finally taken root? There are more blooms on it now than we've ever seen. :o)

And now it's Monday and I have about a million and one things on my mind! Lots of stuff to plan for and take care of and be happy about. It's a short work-week for me {woot-woot!!!} because we're closed for Good Friday, I get to see my California brother this week {woot-woot!!!}, and I have an appointment to get my hair done {yay!}.

Have a great week, everyone!

♥

"May all beings everywhere be happy and free. May the thoughts and actions of our lives contribute to that happiness and freedom for all." {Yoga happiness mantra}

Currently, in Turtle Land

We've had a fair amount of rain here over the past couple of weeks, and our turtles love it! Our atrium (their habitat) is thriving - like its own little ecosystem out there. Having the turtles out and about has afforded me with some photo ops, so that's what I'm sharing today.

Here's little Casper, coming out to greet me:





I've been coming home during my lunch hours to let Lucky inside for the afternoon and out of the Arizona heat {but that is coming to an end soon because fall is right around the corner!!!}. During the 30 minutes that I'm home, I've been tending to the atrium - watering the plants and entertaining our baby box turtle, Casper.

She totally digs the water hose! Check out this video I shot of her, running to play in the water - and eating a bug on the way:

So cool, right?

A couple of weeks ago we noticed a teeny-tiny lizard sunning himself on a rock in the atrium. He must have come through an opening at the top and either decided to stay or couldn't figure out an escape route. He has more than doubled in size since he came to stay! Anyway, he usually dashes into hiding when we enter the atrium, but the other day he sat still and allowed me to photograph him.

Doug has named him Leroy which adds a little more personality to him, causing me to worry. I have learned that box turtles eat lizards. Hide, Leroy! Hide!!!

And then, there's Rexy boy...

Rex is a bit more elusive than Casper and not nearly as curious. He did sit still for me last night, and I was happy to grab a photo of him to include in this post. Let's see, he's about 5 years old and Cas is about 2 now. We're hoping they'll mate one day, but according to the Internet it will be a few years before Cas starts producing eggs. So we patiently wait...

 

And here's one more video, of Cas just being cute:

Kind of makes you want a pet turtle, doesn't it?

♥

My weekend so far...

Hey there friends!

♥

I was going to start this post with a few lines from the song Zip A Dee Doo Dah but I'll refrain. Man, I love a Monday morning that's also a day off work. The past couple of days have been awesome. Come, I'll show you...

We kicked off the weekend with Friday Night Date Night with our sweet sidekick, Carrie. I was in the mood for a burger and Doug was in the mood for a pool table, so we went to Doc & Eddy's where we enjoyed both. Side note: D&E's is where Doug and I went for our first date. :o) ♥

It's hard to believe that the month of May is almost over and our weather still feels like spring. We're usually deep into triple-digit-temps by this time of year but I'm not complaining! I loved being able to be outside this weekend to enjoy a bit of gardening.

Carrie called me Saturday evening on her way home from her dad's to see if I was up for an impromptu shopping trip. Uhhh...let me think...YES! We headed out to our favorite outlet mall and snagged some great Memorial Day sale items. And it's always fun to ride in Carrie's car and listen to her mix of music...

I loved seeing our baby turtle, Casper, out and about yesterday. I swear she eats none of the food we put out for her so I worry that she's not getting enough. But I watched her for a while yesterday and saw her foraging for bugs and nibbling on dichondra grass. Gotta' love nature.

My original plan for this weekend was to do a whole bunch of sewing. I did spend a little time at my sewing machine yesterday afternoon, but that may be all of the stitching I get done this weekend. It was still pretty awesome, and I did complete the project I'd hoped to finish. 

 

Doug headed north yesterday morning to spend time with his brother and play in the woods {read: shoot his new bow and drink a few brews} so I was solo for the day/evening. Carrie and I went shoe shopping, had lunch, got pedicures, then grabbed a coffee before she brought me back home. This next shot of palo verde trees in bloom was taken in the Starbucks drive through. See what I mean about a mild month of May? Usually it's stinking hot by now and these trees are done blooming. Pretty, huh?

Today's agenda: yoga class with Carrie this morning, banana bread to bake, laundry to be done...maybe I'll pick up a pencil and my sketchbook and go outside...

Today as we celebrate Memorial Day, we'll fly our flag proudly as we remember the servicemen and women who gave their lives for our country. May we all take time to be grateful for their sacrifices for our freedom.

Have a lovely week, my friends.

♥

Zip a dee doo DAH, zip a dee A...Mr. Bluebird's on my shoulder...

Around here this weekend

Howdy, friends.

♥

So, you know how I celebrated my birthday last Thursday? Well, the universe gifted me with a little food poisoning that hit me around 11:00 that night. Instead of going to work on Friday, I slept the entire day, missed a performance I was looking forward to with Carrie and some friends on Friday night, and I continued to sleep until Saturday morning. Bam. Total loss of a whole darn day.

 

I was really happy that my Saturday morning yoga class was a guided mediation, which meant all I had to do was lay there and relax. It was awesome!

 

Man, Whiskers was all over me this weekend. He takes up a lot of space on my sewing table! I had to scoot him aside on Saturday afternoon while I worked on a little sewing project.

We don't see our turtles a whole lot during the week because they are usually out and about during the day while we're at work. So it's always fun on the weekend to glance out into the atrium and see them roaming. That's Rex in the photo above, hanging out under the deer antler - his favorite spot.

And baby Casper in the next photo. Note the little sunflower sprout on the left... I have some rocks propped by it to keep it from being plowed down by Rexy. The other three sprouts are history, but this one is still standing. I figure if I can protect it for a while it will eventually be large enough that Rex will walk around it rather than over it.

The window sill above our kitchen sink... I think I'm turning into my Grandma Bessie...

Carrie and I met for lunch/pedicures/shopping yesterday afternoon, and then I handed her off to Doug. They spent a little time at the Apple store and Doug finally graduated to an iPhone. It's an understatement to say it's a step up from his former phone! Carrie helped him get everything set up and gave him lessons on the main points of interest. I seriously doubt he'll be as obsessed with the device as Carrie and I are (maybe?), but this next photo tugs at my heart just a little - the look on Lucky's face...

Oh yeah, we also did a bunch of yard work yesterday morning in preparation for an upcoming graduation party that's happening around here next week (!!!). And I just looked at the calendar and realized that Mother's Day is this weekend and I've yet to put something together for my sweet grandma. Better get with it...

Wishing you a week filled with wonderful blessings.

♥