too much of a good thing makes for a good news story, apparently

so, we've been having a decent monsoon season so far this summer. We've had a number of storms miss us altogether, some small, quick moving storms, and a couple storms that last for hours and result in more than an inch of rain accumulation. And, since the ground is so dry here, the rain doesn't always soak in, especially if it comes down exceptionally fast.

Because of all this moisture, we've actually got some humidity (ick), lots of mosquitoes (double ick), and some other things going on, as you'll see below:

lush green grass (which = mosquitoes), and some
mysterious white objects... ??

they were mushrooms! not something I would
ever expect to see in the desert, that's for sure.

I removed them from the grass-- I have no idea
what kind they are, and I didn't want the dogs
getting into them. They are cool looking, though.

All the rainwater drains through the west side-yard, which means this
cactus has been in hog heaven. Too much of a good thing (all the water)
has resulted in an explosion of growth-- this arm couldn't hold up its
own weight any more, and slowly sagged down to the ground
over the course of a few days. (so, I had to do some pruning.)

too much of a good thing (Tuesday evening's rainstorm)
led to flooding in a neighborhood on the northeast
side of town that actually threatened a few homes. 

Which led to Maricopa being the lead weather story on the local news, a news helicopter hovering over town shooting live footage, and space on the front page of today's Phoenix newspaper! Apparently seasonal flooding (and a state of emergency being declared by the mayor, just in case it got worse) meant that Maricopa even warranted a few seconds on CNN this morning, as well!
 

(while I do feel bad for the people who were worried about their houses being inundated with water, I really think it must've been a slow news day- lol!)

I sense a theme... and some recent weather.

Not really a purposeful theme, but I do have some similar colors, designs, and images that I find myself using in my journals. These pages aren't right next to each other, but in flipping thru my 9x12 journal, these all jumped out at me since they all have similar imagery. 

During my recuperation from the second surgery, I started taking an online journaling class by Kelly Kilmer: Memories and Reflections. It includes collage templates, journaling prompts, printable collage elements, and instructions for making two different handmade books. I haven't made the books yet, but have used some of the templates and collage images. 

everything will work out

This page started with one of Kelly's layout templates, and includes vintage sheet music, painted newsprint, handmade paper, watercolor crayons, and gel pens. The image was out of an antiques magazine. (again, I don't like how my writing turned out, here-- but the page is done, and I like the finished page more than I dislike my handwriting, so it's all good.)

graffiti Buddha

This page didn't start out with any sort of a template; instead, it used one of Michelle Ward's 'Street Team Crusades', which were weekly challenges that could be used as a jumping-off point for a journal page or piece of artwork. This particular challenge was 'Strip Ease' (using strips of paper or fabric and attach to your page). The entire background is strips of all sorts of paper, along with decorative tape. The image is one of Kelly's collage images, a graffiti art Buddha. 

graffiti Buddha close up- penwork detailing

all those strips gave me plenty of room for drawing patterns, doodling, and coloring in the various patterns on the paper and tape.

now, to the weather: yesterday afternoon I got stuck in my car for a while in the WalMart parking lot, waiting for the rain to let up long enough so I could run inside the store. Once I got in, it poured hard for most of the time I was inside (I could hear it on the roof of the store!) Monsoon season is interesting in that it can be pouring rain one place and be perfectly clear somewhere else just a mile or two away. And when it does rain, it can pour so hard that the rain just can't soak in, leading to flooding. This was the scene on the highway on my way home from WalMart:

Four out of the 6 lanes on the highway were flooded right at an underpass, leading to a bit of a traffic jam, as we worked our way past the water. So far, this monsoon season is shaping up to be a good one! (except for the mosquitoes- they're horrible!)

any place worth going

another journal page, except this one is unfinished: the overall page layout is loosely the same as the first page in this post, but once I finish it, that probably won't be so easily seen since the style / colors of the papers are so different. 

and now, I'm off to try out some new supplies I got yesterday while I was out doing errands!! 

July 4th rain

a few photos of the wonderful gray, drizzly Independence Day we had on Wednesday! It was really nice to wake up to the sound of rain on the roof and to enjoy the gray, overcast skies all morning long. (overcast, rainy days are truly a rarity here, so even though I never thought much about them back in Illinois, they are now a very pleasant event.)

we relaxed out on the patio most of the morning; Tom smoked a cigar while I read a book, and the dogs hung out and kept us company. (They don't like getting their feet wet, but I like to think they appreciated being outside in the fresh air!)

Above, Prescott and Bisbee appear enjoy a doggie air-kiss moment... (actually, I think he was trying to get her to play and she didn't want to!)

a bit later, they both went inside... Krista didn't quite know if she wanted to jump up onto the patio chair (it wobbles a bit), so I lifted her up onto it. She stayed there a while, but eventually she wanted down... again, it was wobbly, so she wasn't sure about it. (it took her a while, but she finally figured out how to do it!)

This is the aftermath of those 4+ inches of rain, the next afternoon-- these pictures aren't the greatest (if you click on them, they'll get larger), but they do show a bit of the mess in the wash that runs through our neighborhood-- the road was still technically blocked at this point, but it didn't stop this Jeep driver from blasting right through the water. (it wasn't that high, but the water was above the roadway, and it was still moving at a pretty good clip.)

this photo is a view north from the sidewalk... even though it's receded now, the water must have been pretty high, because it looks like the mud and muck had covered pretty much the entire wash from one side to the other. 

and I took this photo just because it was cool-looking, and I knew it wouldn't last. The thin coating of mud across the sidewalk had dried into something that looks like chocolate curls! (not quite as tasty as chocolate, though, I'm sure.)