I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.  Ours was very nice.  Steve and I got up early to hide eggs for the grandkids.  We hid them all over the yard, under plants, in trees, and even in the flower pots.  An hour later, Steve yells at me, "Buddy is eating the eggs!"  Yikes!  I ran out and, sure enough, that smart old beast had eaten about half the eggs!  He cracked open the plastic eggs and ate all the jelly beans and chocolate eggs right out of them.  Wouldn't you know, it was only the ones I had hidden!  He didn't get as far as the back yard where Steve hid most of his eggs before we caught him!  I was afraid that he would be ill but he never was.  So much for revenge!  I ended up collecting all the eggs again.  I washed the shells Buddy had slobbered on and refilled them with candy.  Then Steve and Jeff hid the eggs all over again just before the egg hunt so they could watch that wiley dog!  

I used the good China for the Easter meal.  We had ham and potato salad.  Our daughters made bread and dessert.  Boy, was I stuffed!

On April 5, I noticed the return of the barn swallows.  I have no idea why, but the sight of them soaring and diving after being gone all winter, filled me with an inexplicable joy!  I love those little birds!

I spent the week after Easter getting ready for the yearly neighborhood yard sale.  It is a lot of work and I never really feel like I have much to offer.  But this year I decided to empty my over crowded book shelves and sort through my closets and drawers for all the clothes I haven't worn in over a year.  I ended up having over 150 books and quite a pile of magazines.  Last time I did this, a couple of years ago, I had the magazines out for 10 cents a piece.  They did not sell at all.  So this year I sold them for  5 cents a piece and gave one away for free.  They went like hotcakes!  I also sold my hard back books, which I love and hate to give up, for .25 each or 5 for $1.00,  I sold over half of them as well.  I put out my aprons and stuff that I made for the Farmer's Market this past summer.  NONE of it sold!  Not one piece!  People freak out when they see the price of new stuff at a yard sale!  

The first day of the yard sale went really well.  The weather was sunny and warm but not hot.  In the afternoon the wind picked up as usual.  By Saturday we were having rain, snow and sleet.  I tried to keep the sale open.  I even had about 5 or 6 hardy souls visit and buy a few things.  But after an hour with no customers and the pouring rain and cold I decided to close up shop.  I didn't do too badly.  We took in a little over $100 for one day's sale.  I just won't count all the work up to the sale!


The weather is back to sunny, if not quite warm yet.  I hung clothes out on the line to dry this morning.  The weather people promise we will be back in the 80s by the end of the week.  I hope so cuz I put all my winter stuff away all ready.


Sandy's little doxie seems to be pretty much back to normal and has not stopped challenging the bigger dogs.  Prince continues to take his medicine easily so all is well at the moment.  I have not heard back from any shearers as yet.  They are a strange lot, just busy I guess.  I posted pictures of the alpacas at the yard sale.  One lady said, "Oh!  You have Appaloosas?"  
"No, I don't have horses," is all I said.  Hehehe!

Last week it seemed that Spring had really sprung, but today we are getting blasted with 30-50 mph winds and only about 60 degrees!  Yikes!  Oh well!  I suppose I should be grateful that it is not blowing snow and hail stones again!

I have been giving Prince his valley fever medication for about 3 weeks now.  He has been very good about taking it.  I put the two good sized pills in a handful of grain and he runs to the fence to get it.  Sometimes I have to push the other two away but I do give them a little grain too after I make sure that Prince has gotten both pills.  This takes place at the morning and evening feedings.  I am about out of feed again.  I'll have to send Steve to get more tomorrow.

This weekend we spent getting our #3 daughter relocated to an apartment closer to her work.  It is a one bedroom but plenty big enough for her and her little dog.  Poor dog!  He is just a little miniature dachshund and he was attacked by a much bigger dog about 2 weeks ago.  It turned out he had several puncture wounds and a broken rib.  The vet put him on antibiotics and pain pills for about a week.  He seems to be doing fine even though the vet said it will take about 2 months for the rib to heal.  The dogs in the new apartment complex all seem about the same size as Chewy.  So maybe he'll be better off there.  Also, our daughter can now walk to her work.  That is a big help to me.


I moved most of my plants back outside last week when the weather was so nice.  Now they are getting blasted by the wind.  The wind was so bad and so cold this morning that I decided to wait til this afternoon to water.  I hope all the plants aren't dead from the drying blasting wind and no water.  In this hostile desert, watering plants becomes a ritual every day just behind feeding the livestock.


The little tomato plants that I put outside will have to be replaced.  I planted about 20 .  Each day I have fewer and fewer.  I think I am down to about five now.  No, it's not the wind or water.  It is the birds!  They are eating up the little leaves as soon as they appear!  So frustrating. Sometimes I have to remind myself why I moved here.  It was for the warm weather and our grandkids.  I guess if I ever want a really great garden, I'll have to stick to cactus and mesquite trees or move back east! Ha!


I took some pictures of the weather front that moved in about the 19th of last month.  It brought lots of wind then and snow and hail.  Now the weather people are warning us of fire danger again.  Why didn't I move to Hawaii???  Oh yeah!  It cost too much, it's surrounded by ocean and none of my grandkids live there!