It's Spring Outside

So our spring time here is very different then what I am used to in the Midwest.  We are not enduring snow like most people I know back in Nebraska.  In some weird twisted way I do miss the snow a bit but I am sure I would be sick of it like most people back home are.  I am not sure how to enjoy my favorite part of springtime here in the desert without bulb flowers.  My favorite flower is the tulip and I miss seeing those around, as well as the other bulb flowers.  There is just something about having these green, colorful flowers popping up after everything has been so dreary and bleak from winter.  It just says ah there is life again.  Hmm, any symbolism there since Easter is in the spring.

We have different things blooming here and it has been fascinating to see those things and learn about them.  One of the things that I learned is that an agave plant lives about 5-6 years.  When it finally produces a flower stalk, it will then die.  All of the agave plants in the neighborhood have sprouted their flower stock.  I am curious to see the flower that comes from this stock.

 We have many cacti here as you probably could have guessed.  There are not to many in our part of the city.  I am thinking it is because it is newer over here.  The big huge cactus that you probably have in your head are called sorrel cacti.  They grow wild here and if you get out of town you will see tons of them.  They are really expensive too, up to $100/ft.  We have a neighbor that has a variety of cactus in their yard.  One caught my eye because it looked like it was about to bloom.  I got a picture of it and the next day the blooms were open and then the next they were closed.  So the blooms must open and close but I am not sure when they open and close. 

We started a little garden of raised beds here.  We just put in a couple to try things out.  Plus I don't want to go to crazy since we needed to get other things around here, like window coverings.  We decided to do it on the side of the house so it gets morning sun and then in the afternoon the house shades it a bit.  I definitely wanted tomato plants to start.  I picked a cherry, roma, and beefsteak.  Little did I know that the beefsteak will do nothing.  With that being said it makes me wonder why the stores even sell them.  We have tried a cucumber plant that was already started but that immediately died and then Tim planted seeds and we have seen nothing.  I am thinking that the soil has to much horse poop in it and it has burned it up.  The tomatoes were doing super in the little planters until I put them in the bed.  They have slowed down and not produced much on the cherry plant.  Tim planted onion sets in every empty space imaginable spot around the tomatoes and they look like they are dead now.  So far we have only harvested one lone cherry tomato.  There are others on the plant but waiting for them to turn red.  A little roma has started.  Our jalapeno plant is not doing that hot either, no pun intended there. 

Here is the side of the house where our garden will be.  Our vision is several raised beds with rock all around them and flagstone paths in between the beds. Side note: there are tumble weeds to the left of the beds, they burn great and they are always blowing around on a windy day. 

The bed with tomato plants, one jalapeno plant and the dead onion sets.

The cucumber bed that is not doing anything.

Bad pic but can you see the little roma in the middle of the photo?

 

 

Our first cherry tomato.

 We have some plants in our courtyard that I am really excited about.  They were house warming gifts from Chris and Carol.  One is my favorite plant that I always had back home, a Mandevilla.  This plant had really pretty foliage and red blooms.  It was heat tolerant and just looked great.   I am excited to see if I can keep this alive all year long here.  Back home it would not have made it through a winter.  The other plant is a bougainvillea.  I saw a lot of these when we lived up in the retirement village.  They were huge and just had a ton of flowers in them.  I planted some perennials in pots here in the courtyard but I don't think they are getting enough sun to produce a lot of flowers.  I have some in back and they are going crazy.  Might have to move those to another spot to get more sun. 

Bougainvillea is to the right, mandevilla is in the center and the potted flowers are in the left.  Hopefully it will make for a beautiful entrance.

 That is really the only exciting thing about our back yard.  We do have a little fire pit going on.  The wood we get is just lumber scraps from dumpsters outside new house builds.  Tim and I will go dumpster diving for wood scraps.  Hey it's free and it is going to get thrown away anyways.  So here is a pic of the fire pit and our wood pile.

 To close this out I post some pic of little Charlee.  I am really bad about taking photos of her.  I need to get better with this.  People were not kidding when they say the second child has less photos of them. 

Her head looks way bigger then her body here.  She is wearing her hazel wood necklace to help with her eczema.

Sleepy time

Her serious face.  Check out those ears!  Poor little chapped cheeks.

  

Still Here

It has been awhile since I made an entry.  I think I have a lot of time on my hands but then I really don't.  Maybe it is just I don't have a lot of time that i can sit down and not be interrupted to make an entry.  Being a stay at home mom is more than meets the eye.  It is tiring, stressful, rewarding and also lonely. 
I enjoy being with my girls and seeing them grow and get bigger.  One of my favorite parts is watching what Willow does when she thinks she is alone.  She loves to sing, and her interactions with the dogs are great.   I never miss out on something new that they do and I am always getting hugs and snuggle time.  I am sure Willow gets tired of me, as I do her some days. 
I try to use nap time as time for myself like cleaning up the house.  Doing the one thing I don't want to get interrupted doing.  All I have during the day everyday is these little girls who's vocabularies are limited.  Tim has been working a lot and coming home at random times.  I long for adult convo and just time to myself.  I miss work and seeing all my work friends.  Just something outside of this house. 
I have applied to a couple places and the one interview I did get I wasn't really keen on it in the long run.  I obviously didn't get the second interview which is okay with me.  If I was offered it I don't think I could work due to my job at home.  With Tim's schedule being so random and not coming home at a set time I don't know if a job is possible for me. 
We had some visitors a couple weeks ago.  Tim's good friend drove all the way here to surprise him.  It was nice to have some adults around to hang out with for a week.  Tim's mom came also later in the week so it was kind of crazy around here with sleeping arrangements, activities, etc. for a bit, but it was a lot of fun and we got some date nights in and time to do stuff with somebody to watch the girls. 
Denise and I went to get Willow's haircut for the first time.  I had been wanting to do it but scared how she would be in the chair.  She hates getting her hair brushed.  I wanted to go to a place that was just for kids so maybe there was kid stuff to distract her  and the girl would be used to a screaming writhing kid.  There is nothing really close to us here so I drove up north to a kids place and wish I hadn't.  It was kind of dirty and it reminded me of an Asian nail salon.  They had TV's for each chair to distract Willow which I think was the key.  The lady kept referring to Willow as a baby and if you will imagine her saying this in a strong Asian accent.  It was kind of annoying.  So all she did was cut her hair straight across and gave her a bob.  Man I could have done that.  I didn't like it at first but it is growing on me. 
So my husband thought I needed to really make it official and get us a mini van.  Yes I drive one of those now.  I feel like a dork driving it but it is really nice to get the girls in and out.  It will be nice when we have company and we can all fit in one car. 
We have our garden going and I hope it does well.  It is a trial and error for us being rookies here in the desert.  We didn't go crazy or rather I didn't go crazy.  I gave Tim an inch and he went crazy with onions.  I want room around my tomato plants to be able to pick but he thinks every little square inch of dirt should have an onion.  Drives me NUTS.  He said he would harvest the tomatoes when needed.  I am not holding my breath on that one.  I have had a garden with him before and I see how he works.  Next year I hope to have all our beds up and good to go so we can get serious about planting a lot.  I think I should give him a couple of beds that he can do what ever with and then I get my own where they are solely mine to take care of.  Heck I am the VP of the Polson Household I think that sounds right. 
It is getting warmer outside and I wish our yard was done and not just dirt.  I think some grass would make me feel a little better too.  If only I won the lottery and could start on it next week and have it done by June when it will be really hot.  A pool would be so refreshing then too. 
I will enclose some pics of Willow and her new cut.  I will try and take some pics of the garden and get those up before everything goes crazy in the cramped raised beds. 

Willow and Beans.  She always has to cover up the dogs.

Charlee

 

The car she got to sit in for her cut.

This first cut.

She looks so thrilled.

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This finished product.