It Was A Bear Claw And Lightning Day

 Here I am once again, admiring the morning sky from the patio.  In no time I expect to see the telltale pink, meaning I grab my camera and run outside in my pj's to capture yet another fabulous sunrise.  I'm sure the neighbors appreciate that, although I doubt they are awake this early.

Back inside, I always check the morning severe storm warnings.  These are similar to tornado warnings back East without the danger of your roof flying off into the sunset.  It is rather interesting that the heat of the day is what sucks the moisture in from the oceans and gulfs further south, bringing storm after storm at around 6:00 at night.  

The dark orange to red makes Nancy VERY nervous!  Luckily we missed it yesterday, but Tucson central had 1/2" hail (the car damaging kind) in the evening.  We just had lightning, wind and rain.  It went from 106 degrees to 84 in about 30 minutes.  NICE!!

This weather really affects the Phoenix area too.  On the highway between Quartzsite and Phoenix, there were seven big tractor trailer rigs flipped over on the side of the road.  I heard tell it was bad drivers driving way too fast!  From Quartzsite to Yuma, there were five more.  YIKES!!

It being pretty sunny in the morning, Patty chauffeured me in her limo to Green Valley to the quilt shop.  I SWORE I wasn't going to buy anything, but the latest quilt needed a backing.  If you find the line of fabric in the store, you get the chunk you need because you may never see it again.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

There just happens to be this fabulous bakery right on the way.  How convenient!  Honestly, it's better to go AFTER lunch when all the goodies are gone.  You might be able to say NO.  But mornings ... I wanted one of everything in the case.  

As you can see, these both went through the taste test and got an A+.  Oh my gosh ... there's half an inch of filling in that bear claw, and the blueberry scone is the best I've ever eaten.  I'll be stopping in there again for sure!

Back home it was too hot to do anything but stay inside.  I've made an interesting observation about Arizona.  It seems everyone else in the country can't wait for summer so they can head out for adventures. They stay home in the winter because their weather isn't all that great, or they have lots of snow.  In Arizona, we stay home in the summer because it's so dang HOT ... and we travel around in the WINTER.  

In a flash, it was lightning time.  At 6:00 on the dot, the clouds came over our little valley with rumblings and threats.  Not a great video really, but just a snippet of what the lightning looks like over the hills.

This goes on for about an hour before the rains finally come in.  This time it wasn't a downpour, nor did we have high winds.  It was just a nice cool-it-down storm.  The temps are supposed to cool off for a few days ... just in time for my roof replacement.  I'm sure hoping they are right because that will mean less rain for me to worry about.

Then comes the spectacular sunset.  Mother Nature sure can put on a show.  Every time I look out from the patio, I feel like I'm in Africa.  I think it's that tree on the left ... whatever it's called ... the one that grows in Texas!  It's got one inch long spikes all over it that stick you in the head every time you walk by.

You see if we were off galavanting around for the summer, we would never see this!  

Okay, time to get back to work.  Yet another problem has raised its ugly head.  The faucet that I never use in my bathroom has decided to rain all day long.  Big sigh!!  Drip drip drip kept me up last night.  I'm hoping for a bandaid fix until the plumber comes back, whereupon I'll surprise him with yet ANOTHER problem to fix.  I'm sure he will appreciate that!!

Now it's time for that BEAR CLAW!!!