Another Day

Ohhhhhhh......isn't this guy a beauty?  Found this baby praying mantis on the side of a park model yesterday.  I find these critters fascinating.  In fact, when we had our house and huge yard in Ohio, I used to order mantis eggs from a nursery and place them all around the yard to help keep down the pesty insects.  Thus....we frequently found adult mantis' among the flowers.  They tend to remain very still allowing us to get close for photographs and to watch them catch and munch on bugs.

 

 I am convinced by the number of comments and emails I receive that everyone still enjoys cactus photos so here come a few more.  These barrel cacti don't draw much attention with their yellow pineapple looking things on top but if you're lucky enough to be around when the flower is open, they provide a nice show.

If you happen to know Phil and Karen Mills over on Oasis, you can thank them for showing off their plant.

More behind the scenes work and expense that we don't think about.  New tile floors are being installed in the restrooms over by the tennis courts.

This tall thin crazy cactus was stretching itself up to the sun to show off its blossom this morning.  It just looked proud of itself so I had to stop for another picture (and listen to Don groan).

 

 

If you CAREFULLY feel the petals of a prickly pear blossom, you will realize how waxy they are in order to protect their precious moisture. 

Uh oh....whoops....looks like someone had a slight mishap with the brick wall over by the new casita. 

So.....hope you enjoyed today's tour around the park.  I saw an announcement on the Palm Creek Facebook page saying construction will start on the new pickleball courts this weekend.  I'd better charge up my camera batteries!

Palm Creek is now on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/palmcreekresort