March in Cactus Gardens

Each March since our first year in Yuma, we have planned to go to the annual Strong Hearts Native Society Powwow held in nearby Bard, CA.  This year we finally made it.  After a lunch of delicious Indian Tacos (a huge mound of taco fillings piled on fluffy frybread), we enjoyed watching dancing throughout the afternoon.   

 

The Grand Entry

  The feathers, beading and colors of the native costumes are a delight to photograph.

                      

We love watching all the dances, but I think our favorites are the Jingle Dress and the Fancy Shawl.    

      

We have a very active quilter’s guild in the park, as well as many other talented artists.  Each March, we hold our annual Quilt and Art Show.  The hall is filled with myriads of colorful patterned masterpieces.

     

    

(That’s Ron’s partially carved wooden chain in the upper left.)  I didn’t display a project this year.  There were several demonstrations throughout the show.  Bernice and I demonstrated tatting while Shirley showed how to make a beautiful crocheted afghan.

Ron gave a reading “The Cowboy’s Prayer” at Gospel Night.

The Y.E.S. (Yuma Encore Shuffleboard) had it’s first End of Season Playoff.  All 6 teams, under Ron’s leadership,  converged at Mesa Verde RV Resort for a day of fellowship, games and fun.

    

       

       

March is traditionally a month of last times and goodbyes at Cactus Gardens.  Most of the snowbirds have flown north by the end of the month.

The End of Season Billiards Dinner was held at the E.A.T. Chinese Restaurant.  Here, Ron, Sam and Berniece hand out the season awards to the best players. 

We have several Pizza Parties throughout the season with our Thursday night Pool players.   Rudy even entertained us with some music at this one held at Bob and Dianne’s. 

After 4 years, it was hard to say goodbye to Pastor Don and Pat Wheeler when they announced they would not return to Yuma.  One of the first Sundays Don was present, he wore an Hawaiian shirt.  He told from the pulpit how he loved the shirt, but Pat thought it inappropriate for the pulpit.  The next Sunday, several of the men in the congregation were sporting Hawaiian shirts in support. 

They again showed their support for Don by wearing their Hawaiian shirts to his last service.  Don and Pat gave a big portion of themselves to the Park.  We will really miss them.

    

The Shuffleboard End of Season Dinner was held at the E.A.T. Restaurant also.  Ron gives out those awards here.

    

The Encore Corporation had a beautiful day for it’s Going Away Party.  I helped at both the Cactus Gardens and the Desert Paradise Party.

     

We enjoyed a month’s visit from friends, Pam and Herb.  One night we gathered for a game of dominoes.

  

As usual, March had been a full month.  I designed my Crazy Quilt block of the Month to depict the highlights of our month.  You can read more about it on my Craft Blog, Spare Moment Stitching.

February in Cactus Gardens

The highlight of February each year for us is the Annual Square and Round Dance Festival.  This year was special.  Our Association was awarded the privilege of being one of Arizona’s Official Centennial Events.  We had two very special festival events. 

The California Heritage Dancers from San Diego provided demos of period dancing throughout our Festival.  They were a huge hit with the crowd.

On Saturday, those dancer that wished to participate traveled across town to the Yuma Territorial Prison for a special dance.  In the past decades, the Yuma dancers had danced there quite often.

Ron’s foot would not permit him to dance, so he took pictures when I had the chance to get into a tip.  Here my partner is President, Tom Mannan.

Even though we couldn’t dance much at Festival, it was still a good time.

If you would like to see the complete write up with all the photos, it is here:  Celebrate Arizona’s Centennial Festival.

Bernice’s two sisters, Beverly and Shirley came to Yuma for a week’s visit.  We decided to have a Pizza party with them and our Thursday night pool group.  The day of the pizza, the weather turned off cold, and got colder as the afternoon wore on.

It’s unusual to see pictures taken in Yuma with this many coats showing.

     

How cold was it?  Cold enough that Bernice passed out blankets! :-)

     

Everyone forgot the cold when the pizzas arrived.  We later introduced the sisters to Pool 101.

     

Ron has lunch waiting for me each day when I come home from work.  This year he surprised me several times with a picnic lunch fixed, and a different city park in mind for lunch.

One took us to the Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden.  Run by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, it is a delightful little garden filled with pathways, vegetable beds, artwork and more.

    

     

     

The second Can-Am games were held at Cactus Gardens in February.  Several activities ran concurrently in the park to raise money for Special Olympics.  At the end of the 2 day event, not only had it been a lot of fun, but more than $3,000 had been raised.

     

     

   

I spent my extra time during the month on a baby quilt for our upcoming great-granddaughter.

More on the quilt can be seen in my craft blog write up, as can my crazy quilt block of the month.

         

Molly Ann arrived safe and sound on February 28th.

January in Cactus Gardens

It’s always fun to try to grow tomatoes in the winter.  We had a few from our plant, but these are much smaller than the photo implies…. look good for January, though, don’t they?

Interest remained high in the Y.E.S. (Yuma Encore Shuffleboard) Monday tournaments.  Here, Foothills Village played Cactus Gardens.

We have a Ladies Only Luncheon at the park annually.  The past few years, the organizers have tried to put fun twists on the event.  This year was no exception.  Mona McIlvenna put together a Mystery Luncheon.  Not only was it a mystery as to who “killed Sharon Activities”, but the menu itself contained mysterious items.

         

Pat Gisler was our “on the spot” reporter, and eventually reported that the murder wasn’t actually a murder at all, and that Sharon Activities had been revived by her fellow co-workers.

The waiters were several of our husbands, and as they brought our choices, it became apparent that the items on the menu were our eating utensils as well as our food.

    

 

For example “Lovers Cuddles” was a spoon.  Some were eating their soup with a knife!  My first course included my dessert “Layers of Heaven”.

    

 

Every season has to include a few visits to The Farm, a U-Pick-It citrus grove.  We go prepared with our ladder, and come home with grapefruit and oranges.

      

Did you know that Yuma has the reputation of having more sunny days than any city in the U.S.?  (See World Facts and Figures)  Along with the sunny days come some spectacular sunrises and sunsets, such as this sunrise.

We finished out the month by attending a Pajama Dance.  Steve and Patty Porter sponsored the square/round dance , encouraging the dancers to come in their pajamas.  It was a fun evening (I won a Teddy Bear door prize, even though we didn’t wear our pajamas.)  Ron’s foot allowed us to dance a couple of tips.

   

    

I also started two online challenges this month, one an embroidery, and the other a crazy quilt project.  I plan to combine the two.  This is my first month’s block, Starry, Starry Night:  You can read about the project on my new craft blog, Spare Moment Stitching.

 

Thanks to friend, Bernice Odom, for several of the photos in this post.  I don’t always have my camera with me, and she’s always ready to share her photos with me.