Echoes of the Southwest

Sharon and I have been to Superior many times since 2011 and have seen lots of changes. Superior is east of Phoenix and is a small mining town. It has hit on hard times like many other places and almost became abandoned. What we saw on our visit last month was a town growing and thriving. Many of the derelict buildings are being restored and businesses are opening up in them. There were lots of murals on many of the buildings and interesting statues. It has definitely become an artist community which we love.  I will add links to my posts of Superior, along with my latest photos, so you can see how much it has changed. Urban Exploring in Superior MacPherson and Magma Hotels Changes Are Happening

After three weeks of constructing our greenhouse kit, we finally got it done. I put together a video of the finished product. I am so happy to finally have a greenhouse. https://youtu.be/dcT2T22Uy0k GARDEN PROJECTS This cute water fountain ended up with a crack and would not hold water. I decided to turn it into a planter. I found this wood ironing board top at an antique mall. I repurposed it into a bench. This was given to me by the funeral home that took care of my Mom's burial. I took a terracotta pot and painted it. I used my cricut machine and added text to the pot. I used my cricut joy to make labels for my plants. To label my other plants, I used file tabs and popsicle sticks. A friend gave us three old windows. I used one to make a garden sign.

Superior AZ has seen its fair share of hard times. This small mining town was bustling in its heyday with its mines producing lots of minerals. When I first started photographing abandoned places in Superior in 2010, it had many buildings on its main street that were in deplorable conditions with fences surrounding them to keep people out for their safety. My favorite to photograph was the Magma hotels. The corner hotel was in worst shape and the tall brick hotels was showing signs of crumbling. In 2016, Sharon and I took a trip back to Superior and Miami to see if some of our favorite abandoned structures had changed much. Well, the Magma Hotels did change, for the better. They both got a complete revitalization. The tall red brick hotel didn't look too different from the outside, but you can tell it was redone and reconstructed. The one on the corner had the most changes. It was completely remodeled and didn't even resemble the crumbling hotel I once laid eyes on. This was ex...