Backyard reverie

It's Wednesday morning, I'm sitting on the backporch, reading the paper. It's small town news, the latest woes of the local economy are undermining efforts to build a community center, the farmer's markets are in full swing. There was a tragedy- a head on collision near Camp Verde killed the driver and injured 3 others. Mostly it's about the local happenings and opinings of the public. I love to sit on the porch with a smoothie, reading the paper and watching nature in the back yard. We get 3 papers a week, so it's not an everyday occurence. Two hummingbirds are fighting for the feeder, the doves and finches are swinging in for a nibble and a bath. Lizards are creeping around the patio and brick wall, slurping up bugs. I love lizards! I've seen several big butterfly, swallowtails, I think. The clay pig, cow and frogs are grinning at me, tucked into corners of the garden. They are cute, but right now it's too hot to put little plants in them- they'd cook within a week, so I've tucked the pots under roses and other plants to pretend there are flowers in them.

The dogs are adjusting well to each other, Cara is the youngest but the biggest. She is energetic, and the other 2 little dogs are still a little leary of her. Chica is starting to play with her more, instead of growling at her from the safety of David's lap. Sugar just watches all the excitment from her rug in front of the tv. When it gets too noisy there, she retreats to the front room where she has a pillow. We indulge Sugar, she's 15 now and slowing down a lot. She has a lot of cysts over her body, I'm afraid some of them may be cancerous, so we know our time with her is limited. She is absolutely the sweetest dog we've ever had, and we've had some very good dogs. She was an adorable puppy, given to us by a friend that rescued her, then decided she wasn't good with dogs. She asked us to watch her for a couple weeks while she was traveling, back in 1993, knowing full well that the kids would fall in love with her. The rest is history. She wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, but definitely the most loving and sweet natured. She is all white, except for the times in Colorado that she found a manure pile, then she'd be gloriously green! She loved horse manure, and would roll luxuriously in it whenever the opportunity arose. EEuww! That was not a pleasant bath for the unlucky person in charge!

It's a little cloudy, and there's a good possibilty of rain today. I hope so, we've had lots of clouds and little rain. It just cruises in, teases us for a while, then blows south east to the Mogollon rim to dump the contents of those pretty clouds. Fun to watch, I can see lots of lightening flashing around, but not as satisfying as a good rain in the desert.

Me and Maxine

There are days I look like Maxine (the comic book version). I have a great straw hat, ok a couple of them- one's a beat up cowboy hat, that's my favorite. The other is a wide brimmed summer hat. Then I have the wrap around sunglasses, an old t-shirt and a pair of baggy capris, plus crew socks and tennies that give the illusion that I'm 4 1/2 foot tall. These are my 'embarass the children' days, but it's comfortable and I don't care if they get ruined. I was rebuilding part of the drip system, trimming the grapes, sweeping the porch. It's messy, dirty work, not a beauty pageant!

There are 3 dogs here now, and they have to be in the back yard while the chickens are out in the side yard. We all know chickens are dumber than rocks, so they are happily pecking around the yard while 2 of the dogs are sniffing excitedly at the gate, the fence, hoping for a chance to check out those chicks up close....

We have figs! We bought the tree 6 years ago, and have had the beginnings of fruit on it every year, but this is the first time they actually grew and ripened. It's a black fig, and so delicious! They don't ripen all at once, just a few every day, so I've been eating 3-4 a day all week long. The grapes are ripening, they'll be ready by next week maybe. There are tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and cucumbers coming on too. I planted 3 tomatoes, 2 peppers, 4-5 cucumbers, a few green beans. I had several squash, but David was weeding a couple weeks ago and thought they were weeds. Either that or he didn't want that many squash... It's not a big garden, enough to eat fresh veggies from but not enough to can. Luckily, Hauser's Farm in Camp Verde has the best corn, so we have fresh corn when we want it. In fact, I think it's time for a corn run. Maybe I'll wear my Maxine outfit!