This little iris was blooming but I accidently broke it off when I was watering. Nice colors.

I have been wanting to get out and do more planting but the last two days the winds have been fierce. There is a bit of a chill but it's bearable. I just don't feel like being out in it for very long. Yesterday, I figured if I couldn't work outside I'd go to the local nursery and see what was available there. Of course I never come home empty handed. I got trees for the empty spots up my driveway. Palo Verde and shoestring acacia and a couple other shrubs to fill in with. Later in the day I decided to drive over the hill to Home Depot to return three trees that had died during the year and get a refund. I save all my plant receipts in a monthly check file. That is working very well. I came out with $66.00 worth of credit. Of course that means MORE trees! One is a dwarf lime that I'm going to pot and keep on my back porch. I have a planter there that I got at a thrift store that has a fake plant in it. Now I have some beautiful greenery to put in that spot that is alive and may produce, limes.

The drive over the hill was just beautiful. The flowers were out in force. The desert marigold along the road was lush and colorful along with the mallow and crackle bush. The beautiful yellow of the desert marigold and the apricot of the globe mallow is always breathtaking to me. I just love the combination of color. Among these gorgeous shows of color were the bluebonnets. The purple blue spikes enhance the lovely apricot and yellows. Over the hill it was much less windy and the weather was just perfect. It felt like Spring.

This morning the wind is going on in full force and even though I have been out for a bit, chopping weeds for the chickens, I want so much to get out and plant. I can only take so much wind and some tasks are not easy when the wind is pushing on you , whipping everything around.

I had a nice meal of some of my young spinach and fresh eggs this week. I've been putting arugula in my salads and I have some lettuce in the row that looks big enough to start taking some outer leaves. I've also been enjoying radishes from the garden. I always feel amazed when seeds come up and produce, as I am amazed how much fruit is coming on my young fruit trees. I will be posting some pictures of the fruit in the coming weeks. I'm making progress with my paradise, my garden of eatin.