These look pretty interesting think I'll give it a taste.

Just a little nibble here and there. That tastes pretty good.

I had hauled some loads of straw and manure out of the horse corral to mulch my trees. Then I went in the house for breakfast. I went back out and was doing some planting when suddenly here comes Cheriki racing around the property. The feeling of freedom captured in her gallop round and round. I went to the front of the property and closed my gate. Cheriki and Sage were out of their pasture most of the day. They enjoyed it for sure but finally I got some carrots and they followed me back to the corral to have their treats. I must have left the gate open in the morning when I loaded the hay and manure. For the most part there was no harm done except my naughty Sage pulled up my little gratefruit tree. This little tree made it through the heavy frosts this winter but it couldn't survive Sages mischievious soul. They are both gentle girls and no problem. I would let them run loose around the house if it weren't for the young trees. Once the trees are more mature they will not be able to harm them. Winds came up fierce again this afternoon but the evening turned out nice.

Little iris in bloom. My other blog: http://www.360.yahoo.com/cactusandquail

The morning sky as I went out to feed today. Our weather has been so changable. Yesterday the wind just blew fierce but they are saying on the news that we could have triple diget weather later this week. Yesterday was Earthday and so I bought more trees. Not a hardship for me. I love bringing home trees and finding a home for them. I bought a palo verde, a fig, a peach, a lemon and some honeysuckle, plus a kind of climbing rose. I hope the weather is going to let me plant this week. I am soooo ready to garden.

I saw this cute little cottage on the net last night. It is in Australia in a little community. You can rent it by the night. It looks very livable to me. About the size I would like. I can imagine it at the edge of a pond with a little deck going out over the water and a deck to the back.

A pot of iris . You can see I like to collect rocks. This is on the side of the house that faces the road. The anitque metal chair is the one that came with the chaise lounge I got at a yard sale. My other blog: http://360.yahoo.com/cactusandquail

I planted the agave/century plant and it has nursed both the seedling bird of paradise but the little desert marigold. This is at the front of the property by the road.

This is the very first desert bird of paradise bloom. This particular bush came up from seed. I think these are the most beautiful exotic flowers. Some people act like they are weeds but I think they are wonderful.

Yesterday was a run around day but I stopped at the Swap Meet. Look what I got! This beautiful little green wagon for $10. It's contents cost more than that and as you can see I have some work ahead of me. I had several people stop me and tell me what a bargain I got. They said it was an antique , the wooden handle , dated it. I love these little wagons because they have the hard wheels that don't go flat. I have a little red wagon I purchased about 3 years ago for $12 at the swap meet and it has served me well. I haul all kinds of stuff around with it. I also purchased one of those big fancy wagons one day on sale , I think they normally run around $89 and I got it for $20 less but it sits, as the inflatable tires just don't hold up here with all the goat head stickers I have. Even with the green slime in the tires they always seem to be flat. Give me a little old fashioned hard wheeled wagon, anytime. I'm so pleased I ran into this one.

Peacocks in the garden. Snowprince and Lil Carlos resting in plant depressions doing their dust baths. I love the Spring time when I can be outdoors and see things growing. The little fig Lil Carlos is under is coming up from the roots. Thought I lost it.

I thought this little almond had died. It sure looked dead but I kept watering it and look at it now. It didn't bloom this year like the other almond but it sure did leaf out. My pistachios are leafing out now too. I'll get pictures of them later. I'm trying to make as much of my plantings food growing plants as possible. That way they serve a dual purpose, food and shade.

Another shot of the antique metal gates I picked up at a yardsale for $60 for the pair. I'm hoping to get them covered with vines to serve as dense screens from the road and neighbors. The palms look pretty brown yet but there is green coming through. I will prune them later once the green gets more dominate. I want to use the brown leaves that I prune off on another shelter. I'm going to weave them in a cattle panel and put them on top of four railroad ties. I have thoughts of putting a swing under that facing the mountains. This winter was pretty hard on a lot of my plants. I'll have to begin anew.

Here is the pergala. My son-in-law built my backporch, pergala, outdoor kitchen and put up the old metal gates I got at a yardsale, as privacy screens, last Spring. You can see the grape in the foreground that I'm hoping will grow up over the pergala. I've planted two more this Spring at two other corners. The Potato vine and bouganvilla I planted last year to grow up on the antique metal gates didn't make it through this winter so I will have to try something else or replant. The palms are coming out of it from the frost. I would like this area to be a garden oasis eventually to screen me from neighbors and serve as a cooling area in summer.

Here is an antique lounge that I got at a yard sale. It also has a chair with it that I have at the other side of the house. I often sleep out here on hot summer nights until it cools down. I have a rug over the end because my feet are dirty sometimes. I have an old metal hospital table next to it for coffee. I painted it but the green is a bit off from my porch so I will paint it again this summer. The lounge and chair ran me $25, the hospital table $10 and behind that is a box with a solar fountain in it I have to put up that my son sent me as a gift. The potting bench is a rubbermaid I got at a yard sale for $10. They run over $100 new. Very handy for potting and it has removable shelves and soil holders. You guessed it the sarape on the lounge I got for pennies at a thrift yard. I always fill my spaces up then I have to stop junking.

Here is another picture of my backporch. The orange bench was made by a local out of bed footboards. Down at the end you can see a handmade entertainment center that is really beautiful. I use it like a dish hutch in the summer time. I paid $45 for the bench and $25 for the entertainment center at a yard sale. I'm a real junky kind of person. I also have hanging from my back porch a chime made by someone in Terlingua, Texas from old silverware. It makes the most beautiful chime when the breezes blow, which is almost always.

Here is the table you saw a corner of in the picture of my plant stand. I think these come from Mexico, it has a pepsi logo on it. When I was in Marathon Texas last month I saw one of these for about $150 in one of the little antique stores. It had a beer logo on it. They wanted about $150 for it . I got this one along with the little white table in the background with a tin top and red trim for $45 each at the same used place that I got the deep sink for $5. I pick the chairs up at a local thrift store yard for .50 cents.

Behind the outdoor kitchen sink is this potting stand. I got this at the strawberry festival in San Luis Obispo County, California. Thre were two gals who were making them. I have had it a couple years and think I paid about $120 for it. I like to buy things used or something a local has made. At that time that was local. This sits right off my back porch behind the pump house.

Aloe blooming. I love their long stems and red flowers.They mulitply very quickly. Iris haven't bloomed this year yet. I see other peoples iris's blooming and wonder if I'll have flowers this year. I see a few of the leaves thickening so that is a good sign. Maybe they need dividing already. Century plant putting out babies as well, I'm going to dig them and plant them in other places. I've found they make good nurse plants for starting seedlings. I have one that has nursed desert marigolds and a desert bird of paradise, where I scattered seeds. A bathtub getting ready to plant and the brown frig in back is where the hen was hatching her chicks. I think my cherry tree died , in the background. This has been an exceptionally windy year. Very hard on trees. I'm planning on trying shade/wind breaks around the trees I plant this year.