The hummers and the swallows are back!  The desert willow and all the cactus are in bloom.  The mesquite trees have new leaves and the ocotillos are showing off their bright red plumes of flowers.  At 7 am this morning it was already 80 degrees.  I'm sure we will get very close to 100 today.  The weather has been just about perfect, sunny with big white fluffy clouds in the afternoons.  Soon the monsoon will hit and make it humid and miserable but for now, well just WOW!  This is why we live in Arizona!

The alpacas got their yearly shearing on May 3.  We did it a little differently this year.  My neighbor with the large alpaca farm was kind enough to pick up my boys and take them to her barn for shearing.  It was more convenient for the shearer and shearing in the barn was much better than out in the wild wind at my place.  It took no time at all and I got a discount on the fee besides.  So now the boys are all skinny again, all legs and necks!

With the help of friends, we moved the ducks and the assorted chickens to their new big yard last weekend.  At first it was a little scary for the chicks, who are about half grown now.  The little black bantam rooster escaped when I wasn't looking,  Unfortunately, he met his demise.  Buddy, my big white guard dog, either tried to keep the rooster in the yard or got hungry.  Either way, when Steve got home, he saw Buddy "gnawing" on the little bantam, (his word, not mine!)  I prefer to give Buddy the benefit of the doubt and hope that he just got too heavy pawed as he tried to prevent an escape.  

Later one of the hens escaped.  I heard Buddy bark and paid attention this time.  He was lying down watching the hen from across the yard.  She was pecking away at the ground just outside the pen.  As I approached her she started running up and down the fence line looking for a way back in.  Buddy decided to help me then but I managed to keep him away from her with the "Leave It!" command. I managed to catch her pretty quickly and returned her to the pen.  Then Steve and I went around the fence line and placed rocks and bricks and whatever else we could fine handy, all around the bottom of the fence to prevent any more escapes.  So far so good!

We placed a little kid's wading pool in the yard for the ducks.  They love it!  I fill it every morning with sparkling well water for them.  Then they hop in and swim around, ducking their heads and fluffing their feathers.  The chickens run over too.  They like to scratch the ground that is soaked with water.  I guess they find yummy worms and grubs that way. 

I am watering my raised garden every morning now.  I soak it in four sections for about a half hour each.  Everything seems to be doing better than when I was just sprinkling it with the hose twice a day.  We just do not have any moisture in the air and haven't had any rain  since, well, I'm not sure, maybe January.

I continue to read diet books and exercise.  I feel pretty good but I cannot say that I have lost any weight.  I am beginning to think it is impossible without taking drastic measures which I am not sure are healthy or long lasting.  Besides, I do like to eat.  I am turning 60 this year so I just find myself wondering what is the point in depriving myself?  Of course there is the health aspect.  I do not stuff myself and I certainly don't eat bonbons and cake.  I just do the best I can and try not to stress about it.  

Speaking of stress, the whole point of writing this blog is to relieve some stress, yours and mine!
I'm sorry I do not have any new pictures right now.  My printer is on the blink and until I get a new one I will have to hold off on the pictures. Hopefully that will be by the time I post next time!  Until then, enjoy life and smell the chicks and ducks!  HA!  Not really, they stink!