School chum Sandi Pennar Boneseteel of Green Valley AZ writes:
Hi Stan and Kathleen, As far as the valance swatches, my vote, if you give a hoot, is for # 1 and # 4. Guess it depends on your decorating theme, etc., but I think those two would best fit into a SW look. Of course with the Scandinavian artifacts, you may be going for an eclectic look! I think most of AZ is populated by ex-Minnesotans anyway, so you could start a new trend. My house is primarily SW and I also have a terra cotta color (I mixed it myself after picking color chips and then buying numerous cans of paint and not quite happy with any of them so a little bit of this and a little bit of that til I got my color!)Anyway, I have the terra cotta/rusty tones with blue accents (complementary colors if you were paying attention in art class), in area rugs, wall hanging, pillows, etc,in the great room (SW theme), and it kinda flows/blends into the kitchen nook area with antiques, country style dinette, and blue willow dishes, which I inherited from my aunt and wanted to display. I think it looks pretty good. Don't think it would make Phoenix Homes and Gardens, but I like it.
As far as the hummingbird, I still want to say/guess Costa's (female--according to books and website), and now on looking closer at the plant, believe it is aloe vera. Did you get a chance to check out the website on hummers I sent earlier? AZ has 18 species accounted for (click on AZ hummingbird link), so you can narrow it down a bit going by season as well as locale. Costa's is yr round. Some of these are summer visitors, some more rare, some accidental, etc. It is very hard tho, as they'll vary by sex, age, etc. not to mention that they move so fast and if you don't get a front shot it's tough. I think I mentioned that in the earlier e-mail too, and it has been brought up again by Greg and Sara.
Anyway, I am no expert....case in point, I happened to remember that I have a dead hummer in a little box in my freezer. I found it on my patio over 2 yrs ago, and preserved it for the grandkinds to see. Even tho they had seen it, I kept it, as it it is so beautiful, and couldn't bear to throw it in the trash. And now, even tho it's right there in front of me, perfectly preserved, not moving, dead as a doornail, I still can't identify it! LOL I am no good at getting photos up on the web, but maybe can get my daughter to help, and we can get another bet going. As for the prize?? How about a frozen specimen? Well, I am up way past my bedtime pondering over hummingbirds and fabric swatches, so will say buenos noches.
Sandi
