Getting Dirty

The weather in Sedona has returned to normal and all of the snow is gone.  Yay!  Back to those beautiful blue skies and temps in the mid-60's.  Perfect!

Did one of my favorite hikes this morning, a 4.3 mile loop around Courthouse Butte.  Lots of birds - jays, wrens, finches, one beautiful Scotts Oriole.  Wildflowers are popping up - desert marigolds, primroses, verbena, and lots of this pretty vetch (I don't know what kind) which I saw blooming in the crook of a dead branch.   So pretty!

             Pile of rotten wood removed from front of studio

It was a long day of working in the yard, and it felt great to be outside and feel the sun.  I finished one job that I started yesterday - pulling up the old wood decking in front of the studio.  What a job!  I did all of this using only a claw hammer and a lot of determination.  The area will be filled in and graded, and the wood will be replaced by flagstone.  (The photo shows only half of the wood - there's another pile...

There are a few nice wildflowers scattered in the yard, but also 84 million weeds.  Yes, I counted them.  There will be many days ahead of weeding/cleaning/clearing/planting.  There are amazing native plants here and I am trying to learn as much as possible so that I can be successful in transforming the yard.

Sweet little primrose in the yard                        

The rest of the afternoon was spent weeding under a juniper near the house.  I saw something move nearby...and there he was - my new friend, Spike!



He is a Horned Lizard, and I think an Arizona Horned Lizard (there are lots of types).  In all the years of coming out here, this is the first one I have ever seen.  He stayed put for a very long time, moving only an inch or two if I got close.  In fact, I had to delay finishing my project because I didn't want to further disturb him.  He finally moved on to...?  I hope he hangs around, as I'd enjoy seeing him again.  I'll have to watch out when I'm digging in the dirt!  By the way, he was about 6" long, very wrinkly and spiky, quite prehistoric-looking.  Cool!

I'll be back at it tomorrow!