Spring Update

 I thought it might be time for a little spring update.  I was talking with a friend the other day and we were looking at google maps of my house.  You have to go do that before you continue here to get the big picture.  Even though our little ghetto-hood house is nothing to get excited over, after looking at the 'before' picture on google I don't feel as bad about the 'during' pictures here.  It is still a little house in the hood, but it sure is looking more homey these days.

 I have constructed some raised beds in the front and have transplanted the veggies from my hanging garden to the bed.  They were doing great in the hanging garden, but it was becoming a challenge to keep things watered.  This is much easier.

I have lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, a green pepper and a jalapeno here in front along with some asparagus.  Down at the far end you can see the broccoli, which has done fantastic.

Sitting on my porch looking out, this is the view of the yard.  You can see the tree stump from the cottonwood we cut down, and then behind it my baby willow acacia that I paid $4.50 for last fall.  It is doing fantastic and I hope to have a good size tree there soon.

 Along the front fence the red bush is a bottle brush.  There are 2 of them that are in bloom right now and they are so pretty.  The taller green spikey thing is called ocotillo.  I love these.  They get a really pretty orange flower on the tops of the spines a couple of times a year.  We bought one a couple of years ago at Home Depot, but it died.  A neighbor gave us this one and it is doing awesome.

 Here is my cute little baby orange tree.   I am quite tickled with it.  I'm sure the landscaping looks really freaky to everyone, but it really is quite cute.  Desert landscape takes a lot of getting used to  but I am finally there and quite happy with dirt, rocks, deadwood and such.

Here is a close-up of my little tiny oranges.  I will, of course, be pinching them off for a couple of years to let the growth go to the tree.  Eventually I hope to have oranges for everyone!




I lost track of my boy dog a couple of days ago.  I had let him out in the front yard, which we don't do very often.  Usually he patrols in the perimeter in the shrubbery but I couldn't see him anywhere.

It took me a while to see him, but right in front of my nose laying on the black weed block I found my boy.

 

Losing my girl dog is rarely and issue as she is pretty content to sit on the chair next to me.

 I have been shopping around for a little piece of furniture to put inside the front door where Rick can store his 'property' and allow me to reclaim the kitchen table.  I had been hoping to find something with a couple of drawers for him to stash his stuff, but I hadn't been able to commit to anything yet.

The furniture store where be bought our bedroom furniture was having a customer appreciation night last week, so we wandered in to check things out.  I found this secretary that matches the bedroom and fell in love.

It cost me a little more than I was wanting to spend, but it is
really nice and probably worth the money.

I also won a $50.00 gift card to TGI Frinday's

in a drawing that night, so with the 10% customer appreciation discount and

the gift card I saved $100.00.  Then, the delivery

was messed up and it didn't get on the truck

the day it was supposed to come, so Rick

negotiated a new delivery date and no delivery fee.

Another $90.00 that didn't come out of pocket!

Now if we could get the living room redo done, it would have a nice place to live.