take me out to the ball game

Herman and Chris came to visit. And that meant we had to go see some baseball of the spring training variety.

San Francisco Giants vs. the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants vs. the Oakland Athletics.

I'll spare Giants fans (my dad, Herman, Chris) the gruesome details of both games and suffice it to say it was perfect weather for a relaxed game in the desert.

For the SF v Seattle game we had front row seats on the 3rd baseline. Lovely.

Yes. I'm wearing a fleece and jeans. Perfectly warm and toasty. With the sun on our backs and a slight breeze in front. And of course my Red Sox hat. Doesn't matter who's playing: must wear Red Sox hat.

SF vs Oakland. Lawn seats. It turns out it was more like a daytime frat party than a baseball game. Mr. Yin was able to join us for this one.

And sunglasses. Always sunglasses in AZ.

Despite the gallons of sunscreen we slathered on, I still managed to get a bit of a tan and lots of freckles.

(I think Chris has better pictures on his phone.)

bloomin' desert

One thing I do love about the desert is the flora. It is a far, far cry from the lush green of the East Coast, but the delicate little flowers that do bloom light my heart. Each one of them had to work so hard to get here and I love them for it.

It was a windy day, Mr. Yin had to man-handle this poor purple flower to get a close up.

This crazy plant now has dark red flowers on it, I need a new picture!

These are my favorites. Perfect, tiny white flowers.

This puffy ball of happiness is really tiny. See the pollen? (Don't sneeze Jaime!)

(I'm trying not to miss spring in New England. I hear crocuses and tulips have broken through. Trees in full pink and white bloom along the Charles are not far behind.)

setting goals

One day when I've proven to myself that I deserve it, I will own an awesome camera.

And to carry it around I will have an awesome camera bag. Probably Lola from Epiphanie.

Until that day, I am happy taking pictures of the desert with our little digital.

(And if Providence smiles upon me, maybe that camera will come sooner rather than later!)

(Providence usually makes me work for things and then smiles upon me, so I'm happily working towards this goal, fancy camera or not.)

blowing off Thursdays

Each Thursday, the landscaping crew at our apartment complex each hoist leaf blowers onto their backs and walk around blowing everything. Leaves (of which there are not many: we are in the desert), seed pods, pine cones and rocks.

A lot of which ends up in our patio area. They then aim the leaf blowers at our patio area and blow that stuff around.

I've yet to see them scoop or slurp any of these things to actually get rid of them. Maybe they need to make sure they'll have something to blow around next Thursday.

a desert day

Today Mr. Yin and I picnicked for lunch.

introductions

Please say hello to the newest members of the Yin family.

Rose Mary

and Basil (named after the John Cleese character in Fawlty Towers.)

(If you look closely you can also see our car, Pinnacle. But she's a few months old now, and already has 1500 miles, so kind of old news compared to Rose and Basil. Plus she adds to carbon emissions while Rose and Basil do their little part to combat her output.)

Rose already helped make some delicious, individual chicken pot pies.

lady of leisure

My dear friend Cheryl has family in Scottsdale. And she came to visit them. So guess what? I got to see Cheryl.

Hurray for family in Arizona.

She came with her mom, sister, brother-in-law and nephew to celebrate nephew's first birthday with his cute Canadian (I mean Newfoundlander) great-grandma and extended family from all over. Lucky little guy.

And lucky me.

It was a joy to see a Boston friend and catch up. We of course took pictures. And I will not post them because only Cheryl looks cute and if I cropped the picture so it's just her, she might not might not want to be my friend anymore. I can't risk that.

Her mom asked me if I was still a "lady of leisure" and indeed I am.

But I feel much better having a title.

I can go by Lady for short.