Proud pepper mama

All from one plant, and more on the way.

Whacking back the desert

I never thought it would come to this. At least not in the next 50 years. When we moved into our dream house, the house site was razed. I was dismayed to say the least as I had envisioned living in a natural desert environment.

There was nothing for it but to reintroduce it, and I spent a couple of years planting mostly native Chihuahuan desert vegetation. Now, eight years later, some plants survived, some died, some thrived and tried to take over the place. Most of the time I did not interfere as they would reseed in a more suitable place, but today it was time to tackle the mariola. It is in bloom right now, smells great, but it is invasive and overruns desirables.

This was just one of many carts taken to the brush pile. We now have some of our view back and plants can breathe again. I decided it is not so much creating a well-maintained yard as it is keeping it in controlled mayhem. After all, we do live out in the desert.

Confused?

Probably, because this little bat flew several rounds in the garage, and appeared healthy. Reluctant to leave though, and he was eventually offered the broom as a mode of transportation to the "garbage hole", where it is also kind of dark so he can catch up on his sleep. He went a-chattering: "thank you", or "no, thank you"?

So cool to see them up so close.