Windy, What else is new?

Hello friends and family!
  Remember when I was whining about the spring winds? Now that the weather has gotten hot, I'm not complaining anymore. It helps keep the house cool, especially now that we have a security screen on the back door. The breeze/wind can blow right thru the house. Who cares about dust and sand? Who cares if it feels like you are walking on the beach in the kitchen. That's what they make brooms for, right?
   Pa wasn't happy about it, but I did not attend the annual POA meeting. Why sit there having steam come out my ears, blood pressure going high enough to blow my eyeballs out listening to the lies put forth by our POA president? They allowed voting by emailing your ballot in and then didn't let anyone see the emailed ballots, just said they'd already been counted. They allowed proxy votes even tho they are illegal in Arizona. The state legislature let the bill allowing HOA/POA's to vote by email die and didn't vote on it so I guess emailed votes are illegal also. No one saw the proxy votes either. But those in the know, know that the POA prez, stuffed the ballot box with proxy votes to get his "yes" men on the board so they will do what he wants. They are talking about forming all sorts of committees to make sure we are all towing the mark and seeing what else they can make us do. One of the reasons people bought out here was because the CC&R's were so easy to abide by. There were some very unhappy people at the meeting.
   An interesting thing happened to one of the new property owners out here. They were driving down the road in their truck, minding their own business when the Rodeo Queen (rancher's wife) pulled them over and told them they had better keep their dog on a chain or she would kill it. She was armed with a shot gun or rifle. A big argument began with her threatening the property owner . He complained to the sheriff's department but they didn't file a report. Then he went to the judge and tried to get a restraining order against her and the judge refused to do it (being a friend of their family). He told the property owner never to leave his property without a gun. What kind of a judge is that? Then he called the real estate office and told him he wanted his money back and they wouldn't do anything either.
    Some days later, one of the board officers saw the Rodeo Queen riding around with a rifle and he asked her what she was doing and she said "Hunting dogs"!  He either went to or called  the sheriff's office since it is illegal to shoot out here and they didn't do anything either. Both these people need to file a complaint with the AZ attorney general. As you can see, it is still the Wild West out here.
   My dear friend, Todd, sent me some iron on vinyl to try. Today I cut out some dragonflies and ironed them on to a new t-shirt. It seems pretty easy to do. He may have created a monster and I may need to buy a heat press!

So, what do you think? too many dragonflies? Too late now, cause they are on to stay. He also sent me some outside vinyl so I made a sign for the gate.

I should have made the NO Trespassing sign larger and put it on straighter. I really like the little guy with a gun tho.
  Lo and behold! Wayne met a lady and is now living with her on her ranch closer to Holbrook. Good for him! I thought it would be next to impossible to meet some one out here who was still free for the taking. He seems to be pretty happy so we are happy for him.
Toodles for now!

My Stunted Garden

 My first strawberries! They were so tasty. Can't wait till more ripen.

 This is one of my garden boxes with different things in it. It started out with only strawberries and onions in it, wintered over from last year. A bunch of the onions died and I didn't want to take a chance replanting the berries so I left things where they were and planted lettuce, brocolli, dill, and cabbage (I think) in all the empty spaces. You notice the milk cartons. This is the way you have to plant in Northern Arizona to protect the plants from the wind and sun.

 The milk cartons not only make little green houses, they also give the plants shade. When the plants are strong enough and big enough that the birds and mice will leave them alone, the cartons will come off for the summer.

 I cover the tomatoes up every night but leave them uncovered during the day.

 I made these tomato cages last year using hog wire and compactor trash bags. The trash bags are so darned sturdy, they last for a couple of years. This not only gives the plant shade but keeps the ground moist after watering. I need to get some sturdy tomato cages pretty soon. The plants surrounded with the trash bags seem to grow faster than those left unprotected.

 Sweet taters! We never get many but they sure do taste good.

Looking down into a tomato cage

 If I remember correctly, these are cantaloupes. Ya have to replant so many times, ya forget what went where. I'm not a good one for taking detailed notes unlike our neighbor Tom who takes notes on everything. He can tell you what the temperature was 4 years ago!

 These are early girl tomatoes. I have these, Mortgage Lifter, Pruden's Purple and grape tomatoes.

 The strawberries are doing best of all.

 I keep them covered 24/7 to keep out the birds and mice.

 My Moss Rose is doing nicely especially since it is protected from mice and birds.

 Lavendar is starting to bloom. It does well here.

 Desert Spiderwort is doing great. The rabbits figured out they could at least eat the tops off the plants. Last year they were turning the cages over and eating as far down as they could.

 Petunias do great here. I'll bring some in for the winter but not all of them.

 Moss Rose again. It was doing great until something ate it down to the dirt level

 For some reason, purple petunias smell so good, kinda spicy

 I got so tired of my lemon tree in the house, I took it outside where the wind promptly blew off all the leaves.

 It seems to love it outside because it is not only putting out new leaves but is putting out new branches.

 This is the second or third year for my Peony. It has never bloomed....maybe this year?

One of our wild cactus. It's amazing how something so prickly could put out such a delicate flower.

We had a jack rabbit nibbling on the straw bale by the garden and was driving the dogs nuts. He didn't mind them barking at him and when we tried to chase him off, he would go a few feet and then stop. Pa finally got out the pellet gun and shot him. Well of course all Tilly could think of was bunnie, bunnie, bunnie so we let all the dogs out to investigate. Tilly dashed out and "killed" the bunnie and then tried to pick it up. She couldn't figure out why she couldn't pick it up. Maybe because it was bigger than she is? She couldn't even drag it anywhere. Meantime Harley was licking it's face, he's got such a killer instinct! Pa finally picked it up and threw it out back for the ravens to eat. He said it was surprisingly heavy.
The weather has turned hot and next week is the official start of our monsoon season. Come on rain! The garden will really start growing then.
Pa is calling me outside to do something so I gotta run!