Sunday, July 15, 2018

Desert Blooms

The rains they are a coming!!  Warnings of extended thunderstorms just came across my phone this morning.  Maybe I'll be able to get some good lightning images.  It has actually been raining a little ever day ... sometimes a LOT.  Guess I won't be needing those sprinklers for awhile.

Water means everything is blooming in the desert.  These have to be my all time favorite plant.  As usual, I don't know what it is.  I even downloaded an app on my phone where I could take a picture and it would identify it for me.  Trouble is, it never works.  It always says it can't find anything like the picture.
Isn't this a magnificent view?  Right in my back yard.  
I was out cleaning up ... actually cutting and hacking away at the bushes ... making way for the lawn mower.  I even used the electric weed whacker ... boy that was a scary proposition.  I had rocks and grass flying all over the patio!!  

I did have one little oops!!  When I went to cut back the bushes even more, I discovered a piece of drip tubing with an emitter attached.  Unfortunately the tubing was no longer attached to anything.  I've no idea where it came from, but I imagine I whacked something in half.
There are even rose bushes planted here ... all very beautiful and blooming.  I hear the deer love to munch on them, as evidenced by deer tracks (deer poop) in the grass.  They are rather a pain when it comes to pruning, but I promised the previous owner I would try to keep them alive.
Even the trees outside the yard are blooming and the hummingbirds are going crazy.  All of this makes for lots of sneezing of course.
Just before I left last time, I had a yard service come out and prune this palm tree.  Not three months later and it needed a haircut again.  Unfortunately, the chainsaw on a stick is too short to reach.  Me on a ladder with a chainsaw is probably not a good idea, so I hotfooted it down to Lowes and got a hand saw on a stick.  This one extends to something like 18 feet long.  

I've never worked so hard in my life, and I'm pretty sure I sweated every single ounce of water out of my system.  Even at 6:00 in the morning it was hot.  I sawed and sawed, trying to get the blade wedged in between the fronds at the base.  

That's when it all came to a screeching halt.  The blade got stuck and it wasn't coming loose.  RATS!!  I pulled on it and the handle extended, meaning it wasn't tight enough.  Now I'll NEVER get it loose. I was never meant for this kind of manual labor.  With a ladder and shovel, I was finally able to extract it and continue the job.
When I headed over to the second little palm tree and began my investigation into how I could trim it, I found a sweet little dove sitting on a nest.  There will be no trimming of this palm tree.  Poor baby, even in all the rain, she never leaves.
WAIT ..... it just popped into my head.  That beautiful orange flower is a Mexican Bird of Paradise!! See??  Sometimes I really CAN remember things.

Now it's time to figure out why a light bulb fell from the ceiling in my bedroom this morning.  Sometimes the weirdest things happen to me.  By the way, I did not mention that I could not get the garbage disposal to work, so I was planning on a complete kitchen remodel.  Sink, disposal, dish washer .. might as well add in a stove and fridge.

When I added up the cost, I grabbed a long knife, stuck it in the hole and gave the disposal several hard raps.  Magically, when I hit the switch, it came on.  The kitchen remodel has been postponed.





12 comments:

  1. Your green thumb is showing,,,looks good


    Two things to get rid of
    one,,is a garbage disposal ,
    That's why they have trash cans 🗑and disposal pick up 🚚!
    (Truthfully you're not doing your septic system any good)(please ask any septic service company will tell you that)
    two,, is the palm tree, (s) (you're not getting any taller🏗 )
    The taller they get the harder they are to prune 💵💵 did anybody to ever tell you that their a species of grass 👍
    AND Palm trees 🌴are not native to Arizona but 🌵are
    (Yes there are palm trees in the south west portion of Arizona they snuck across the border from California they're called California fan palm.)

    Palm trees Native to California only has 2 . anything else is an import
    California palm
    Mexican fan palm

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    1. I have a garbage disposal, but I don't use it. Crazy, right? I do know the worst thing you can put in your septic system is food. It does not disintegrate, so I put everything in the trash can. Eventually it gets enough small stuff to require running.

      Did NOT know about the palm trees. The gardner said they are the devil to remove.

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  2. Your yard and your view are just wonderful. We have one tall palm tree which is still within reach of the guys that worked on our sprinkler system before we left for the summer. After they can't reach it, I guess they just don't get pruned.

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    1. Thank you Allison! I think you are right ... they just look bad after awhile. Maybe by then I'll chop it down!!

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  3. There is a tool that comes with a garbage disposal to dislodge anything caught in it.

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    1. Really? I didn't know that. I'll have to look around and see if I can find one. When I look down I see a kind of red rust, so I imagine it's either the hard water or lack of use when I'm gone.

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  4. You are keeping yourself busy getting some things done. gotta love the desert flowers and am enjoying your pictures.

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  5. No wonder you receive so many injuries. You think sticking a knife in a disposal and whacking it is a good idea. ???!!!

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    1. Hahaha Linda ... you are probably right! At least I made sure it was turned off first!!

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    2. Next time you have a broom you no longer need, cut the broom stick so you have about a 2 foot piece...that is just right to move a garbage disposal. Also, we pour about a bit (1/4 cup) of olive oil into the disposal, run for a few seconds, just before we leave Florida...it will help keep it ready for use.

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    3. I wondered about doing that Dave. Thanks ... I'll definitely do that before I leave.

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