The never ending yard

We were tired of our ground coverage getting tangled up in the backyard bushes. So I took matters into my own hands and made a few adjustments;)
The top picture is one of the bushes before and then after.
It only took about half a day to do all four but it was worth the cuts and scrapes;)

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day Lynn and Jan. We hope that you both have a very special relaxing day today.

Planting flowers in the Desert

I have to agree with Greg's comment, planting flowers in Phoenix AZ is much different than planting flowers back home in the Midwest. In the Midwest you could plant flowers anywhere and know that the soil is rich and that there will always be rain and moisture in the ground. Now here in Phoenix you plant flowers where you know you can hook up to the drip system or plan to spend a few hours attaching additional hose for the drip system;)

Greg and I spent last Sunday morning doing just that. We extended our drip system to the side of the house to plant our new afterglow bougainvillea bush. We set it up so eventually we can add more flowers and ground coverage there. I have to say it was a major work out though, I raked rocks and softened the ground while my sweet sweet husband shoveled dirt;)Of course later that day was the windiest day we've had in a while but our lil bougainvillea held its ground.
I recently saw my bottle brush bush bloom for the first time. They say that it will attract butterflies. Apparently it attracts dogs, and tastes good too I caught Schroeder (Mike and Maras puppy) eating the blooms and I watched him eat them a second time as well;) Gold star for the day:)
My parents were out this last week for a nice visit. We were able to take them to cavecreek Friday afternoon and do a little shopping at the iron works store. Of course there were about 20 different things I would of loved to have. Thanks to my parents for our new garden art. We placed the iron cactus in between our two palm trees and it seemed to be the missing piece to our garden. It adds height and character.
Id say I also had a pretty good 30th birthday month. We celebrated with Gregs parents at the Dubliner, a nice Irish pub and than again with my parents at Rustlers Roost. The Dubliner was a hit with Greg and Tony, I mean the waitresses were wearing barmaid outfits. Rustlers Rooste is up a pretty steep hill that overlooks cambelback mountain. I was surprised with a cowgirl hat and a chocolate Sundae.
I finally hiked camelback mountain with Greg and the view took my breath away. We had a nice little snack up top and just relaxed on the edge of a rock enjoying the view.
Greg is approaching finals. Actually he had his first final last night. I am confident that he will ace his tests. I know he is looking forward to celebrating and relaxing soon.
The countdown to Europe has begun! Who knows if we will even come back!We will send a ticket for Abby;)

Its bath time

Little Abby Chillin in her bubble bath;)