April Showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes.  We did not have much rain in April.  We had a few drops on the wedding day, April 5, and then last Saturday we had some, but it was more bluster than rain.  The swallows have returned along with the hummers.  The ocotillos and the prickly pears are blooming and my garden has been planted.  I moved all my house plants outdoors and, since we have had almost no rain, I am watering the garden and plants every day.  I love mornings around here and watering plants and feeding animals is a ritual that I enjoy.  This is about the best time of the year here in southern Arizona.  The heat is not yet upon us and the winter has passed.

Steve built a more permanent cover for my raised garden.  It will keep the bed from completely drying out from the sun and also protect the new sprouts.  We have had so many covers blow away because of the almost constant strong winds here on our hill.  With the new one, Steve used wood to support the cover and also reinforced the cloth cover itself with small wooden beams above and below the permeable cloth so rain can get in and lots of light.  Hopefully it will protect the plants from the worst of the sun and not blow away this year.  I planted two rows each of spinach, romaine lettuce, radishes, jalapenos peppers, chard, zucchini and yellow squash.  I also bought 4 tomato plants, 2 cherry tomatoes and 2 striped regular size tomatoes.  I don't want too many tomatoes this year.  My grand-kids helped plant peppers, squash and radishes.  Some of theirs are coming up already.

Spring is shearing time again too.  The alpacas were separated from their heavy fleece over the Easter weekend.  Our neighbors at Cienega Creek Farm made it easy for us this year.  They came and loaded up the boys in their van and transported them to their shearing barn.  The alpacas were sheared, had vaccinations and their teeth and toenails trimmed.  Then they were returned to us, skinny new creatures!  Thanks so much to Melissa at Cienega Creek!

I am very pleased with my African Violets and orchids right now too.  They are blooming profusely and are gorgeous!

Along with planting, Spring seems to be time for cleaning and purging.  I have been busy doing that too.  I cleaned up all the clutter in my library.  New books were organized and shelved.  Magazines were pulled and purged or donated to a local doctor's office.  All the year's filing was caught up.  My lap top has a new clutter free place to sit and wait for inspiration to strike.  I also managed to get rid of old stuff my kids have stored in my sewing room for almost a decade!  It is hard to believe but we have been here for a decade!  Now I have a closet for all my extra fabric and sewing stuff.  Next I suppose I will have to go through all that fabric and see what projects can be finished and what new ones can be started.  When one gets old, it is nice to slow down, but one can never really stop!  We must have something to work on and to look forward too.