It's a Jungle out there

At some point in time, this little house of ours decided to become the breeding grounds for all things creature like. Our backyard is like a little world all of it's own with 50 billion birds flying through everyday.....ok ok not 50 billion, but maybe 30 billion. Quail walking along our fence so that when I'm sitting on my couch I just see them back and forth, back and forth. It's as if they are just taking laps for some good old exercise. We had 13 squirrels at one point in time. I say one point in time, because if you looked closely at my husband Tonto's BB Gun you might see 13 squirrel cross bone X's etched into the side from running the little creatures off. I'm not talking about them just being in the backyard. Oh no!!! We would lay peacefully in our beds in the morning before the sun was even up, or be watching tv when all of a sudden we'd hear there scratching or running across the roof. They would get into the attic and run along the vents...oooohhhh it creeped me out so bad! A couple even died and Tonto had to crawl up there and bring the nasty smelling carcases out. Sorry to be so descriptive but that's the reality of life in the desert jungle I live in :) We now also have some pretty little plants, trees, and flowers in our backyard that have bloomed, which make me forget all together about Simon, Alvin, and Theodore, until I remember that along with their beautiful blooms come the bees! They are my sworn enemy now that I have a child. I know she'll be fine if she gets stung, but who in the heck wants that for their child? So let the duel begin, and if they know what's good for them they'll stick to the flowers. Word on the street.....ok well not on the street, but in the backyard at least; word in the backyard is there's a crazy lady who exterminates anything living in a 2 yard radius of her sliding glass door. BEWARE! :)



Bird of Paradise plant. I love it, just wish I knew how to prune it

Notice the bee?



All the little balls on the branches are the newly growing oranges. I can't wait til they bloom and the tree is all white with orange blossoms