Fixing to Get Ready

I took this picture of Desert Peach in early May and just didn't get around to posting it. It's just about the first sign of spring that we have, not that we actually get spring. It's a teaser.
I took a picture this morning when I walked the dogs. Desert Peach, in addition to having peach-colored blossoms, actually gets little peach-like fruits on it. The birds don't eat them and haven't found any mention of Natives using it - I'm not sure they're anything more than pretty. Laura tells me that as a fruit any dye would be fugitive. No thank you.
I grew up in San Diego, accus-
tomed to whole fields of California poppy, the California state flower. We assume these "volunteers" are courtesy of migrating birds - the state line is a mile west of us. It started with one plant and now the bank is filling. They're such scrappy plants. I've tried to cultivate them, to no avail.
If you were reading my blog a year ago, you'll recall that I posted about spotting and reporting a fire. Actually, there were more than one, as a man pulling a trailer north on the highway had unknowingly left his safety chain unconnected and had sparked several, two major.
The area is coming back, though too much is from cheat grass and the junipers are gone forever. I cried over this fire as did many of my neighbors. Nevertheless, our beautiful rocks stay and for them is our Red Rock Valley named.
The colors this late afternoon were golden. If you click for big you'll see my neighbor in a pink blouse walking her Min-Pin (miniature doberman pincher) on a leash. She's the best neighbor ever, but her dog is psycho. It makes me feel so much better about my dogs, especially Buster. At least he minds me, groaning and muttering all the while. It's all relative.
We have a small front yard though with all the native grasses and weeds, it's suddenly become huge. I originally thought I'd get it in hand with a half hour a day. Hah! This is on the east side of the house, away from the prevailing winds and where we've been able to put bird feeders - away from the prevailing winds. We like to hang out here in the summers. I think summer just started here - today. Yesterday it was too cool to sit outside.

Today was our last leisure day of June. Prepar-
ations and packing begin in earnest tomorrow. We won't be home until July. How did I suddenly become such a home body?! I have lists and piles on the dining room table to keep me on track. We are Oregon bound.