Saturday in Mesa

The most exciting thing that happened on this cool and cloudy Saturday was the delivery of Grandmother's new bed. The delivery guys were here exactly on time at 10:00 A.M. That's some kind of miracle. This afternoon there was a bit of grocery shopping and a stop at the Dana-Park Barnes and Noble for some book shopping. I made some lentil stew for supper, and that was about it for today.

 Getting the new bed set up

 The orange trees are beginning to blossom

 The ladies headed to Sprouts for a few groceries

Dana Park

I'm not sure what tomorrow holds beyond church. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Friday in Mesa

Today's walk was split between Verde Groves and the canal. Mid morning we went to the movies with Chip and Sandy and the aunties. It seems like we have been having a Kevin Costner festival because we watched Black or White. We met up again at In-N-Out Burger. This evening Chip and Sandy, Mark and Nancy, and Trevor came to the house for barbeque Mark brought from Gilbert. Tomorrow is Mark's birthday so there was cake too.

 Sunrise over Superstition Mountain

 Off to the picutres

 Waiting for the main feature

 This was not what I was expecting: good overall

 Lunch with the aunties

 In-N-Out is the go to for Friday burgers

 Enjoying some birthday cake

 The other side of the table

It was so good to see Trevor again

Another very fun day. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Thursday in Mesa

This morning I ventured out the Verde Groves front gate and headed to the Eastern Canal for my morning walk. That was delightful. After breakfast, showers, and the like, we went to Home Depot to get lights for Grandmother's house. She purchased one of those long extension bulb grabbers and several kinds of replacement bulbs. We also went to Walmart to get a mattress pad for the new bed, soon to arrive, as well as a few groceries. The long-handled bulb remover was a dream and everything is now ship-shape and Bristol fashion. Late afternoon we headed to the Red Mountain area to catch the sun setting on Superstition Mountain. The desert and mountains were a beautiful sight and the ride home into the western sunset was soul-stirring. Arriving home, we quickly whipped up a delicious dinner.

 The Eastern Canal trail

 The winter desert

 Superstition Mountain

 This spectacular mountain is to the Mesa folk 

what Timpanogos is to us

 The desert is beautiful

 I know -- don't take pictures while you drive

 So beautiful it makes my heart hurt

A twenty-minute wonder

Tomorrow is burger-and-movie Friday, so we will be back at ya with more. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Wednesday in Mesa

Today I got my 10,000 "steps" at Verde Groves. They have stripped all the fruit off the trees, but I found one that they missed and I picked several grapefruit. They are tree-ripened and incredibly sweet and good. When everyone was dressed and ready we went back to the cemetery to clean Grandad's headstone. We also drove around downtown Mesa and ended up in a neighborhood I have never seen. I had always thought it strange that Mesa doesn't have any old homes. Well it turns out it does and we saw them. This afternoon we went with Chip and Sandy to see McFarland USA in Gilbert. It was really enjoyable. Afterward we had dinner at Tum Nak Thai. Also very enjoyable.

A greenway at Verde Groves

The last grapefruit standing

Bougainvillea in bloom

Stolen fruit is always the tastiest

Cutting grass away from the headstone

We cleaned it up

Ready for summer


The Sirrine House, 1896

 A fine little Craftsman in Mesa

 A nice Beaux-Arts Spanish/Monterey

 A mission-style Craftsman

 Late Victorian


Craftsman Four Square

An afternoon at the flicker pictures

This was a good movie


Thai for supper

This was a fun and productive day, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Tuesday in Mesa

This morning I set out for the Mesa Temple grounds because I wanted to get some "floors" on my Fitbit workout, and the temple grounds have the only steps we could think of in Mesa, which is, as the name implies, flat as a table. No cigar. The Fitbit apparently can only record continuous runs of stairs, and all the steps in the gardens are only about five steps high. It was raining lightly in the early-morning dark and the grounds were beautiful, so it was still a good choice. Today we also helped Grandmother pick out a new bed set at the Superstition Springs Mall Sears. She got a screamin' deal on the bed and also on bedding at Penny's. This evening for supper we tried a taco shop that I found on Yelp. It is called Backyard Tacos and is excellent: a great find! It happens to be almost kitty-corner from the old Mesa 15th Ward chapel near the former Boynton home on East 2nd Place, so we swung by and were relieved that Grandmother moved when she did. The neighborhood has gone to seed. Since we were in the heart of Mesa, we drove to the cemetery to visit Grandad's grave. A stop at Home Depot to check out some necessities finished the evening.

 The light was just beginning to break in the east

 By the time I finished it was light

 Summer (at least in Utah) flowers are in full bloom in February

 This is a lovely shady walk

 Wisteria bushes (not vines) are in bloom

 The temple grounds feature a really good desert garden

Superstition Springs Mall

 Here we found the mattress set

 

 Backyard Taco

 The place has a great chic industrial feel

 And really good food

 Those are our ladies in the sun casting shadows

 Boynton's, 1440 East 2nd Place

 Mesa Cemetery

We had a fun and productive day, and finding good food is the best! More tomorrow, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.