Low water grass

Check out drought-resistant lawns.  Treehugger also lists some edible plants for your garden. Some of them probably won't work here in Phoenix, but I would like to try a few, such as globe artichokes, sunflowers, chard and rhubarb. I know someone that has had success with figs.

Here are turfgrass alternatives.
If we move to a large lot, I would like to again have roses, grass and citrus trees (more this time!) in the back yard but would like to really dedicate a section to growing food. I'm still working on my green thumb though. It's still kind of brown! The front yard, I think, would be desert-fabulous. I love flowering cacti and some of the beautiful desert bushes and vines.

House Hunting 8/8

Off to Laveen to start our search for a larger lot. The issue with several of these properties is the lack of usable yard space due to washes. Most had nice cabinetry, granite, tile work with mosaics in the entry, nickel or rubbed bronze fixtures. One had a long deep back patio.

The house that brought us to Laveen had this amazing tile work, using tile that looks like wood with stone look tile. However, the house was built on a wash that they rerouted around the back yard, which included a "pool" also known as a hole in the ground. The kitchen was beautiful but the layout was odd; the fridge was technically in the dining room; they should have swapped the pantry and fridge or something.One of the older properties we saw had a very large lot but too much work. It had a covered swimming pool, did not have a block fence and had a couple of dogs next door that I would guess are Dogue de Bordeaux, not a common breed but related to the bull mastiff.

We saw a baby bunny at the last house we visited.

Indoor composter

It's here! I got a Naturemill indoor composter. A guy I work with thought he was being funny and sent me an email that woot.com was having a deal on them. This has been on my wishlist for a while but I couldn't see spending the money. With the $150 off, we decided it was a great deal.

I looked at reviews online. The comments on woot and wired were informative, entertaining, and perplexing. I have had an outdoor compost bin for about a year and it is so NOT working. I know I don't turn it often enough and I can't keep it wet enough either. (I am not lazy like one guy implied; I live in the desert.) I like that I can actually put more stuff (like meat/fish) in the indoor composter than the outdoor bin. I know it is an odd, expensive purchase but I think it will be extremely useful.

I'm reading the book before I start using it. I'm wondering if I should wait to start it until I know if we're moving. It might be messy to move. Maybe not. I'll decide after we look at houses Saturday. (exciting, stressful, hot...) I'm thinking of naming my composter Oscar. Unless I think of something better.

Our neighbors moved today. Boo! :(

Buying for price or the planet?

I've been known to offend people by saying I don't usually shop at certain stores such as Walmart because I think they are contributing to the decline of our communities, our civilization, and our planet. Here is an interesting article on why we should consider NOT shopping at IKEA. I don't shop there anyway. Once we are out of college, adults should buy real furniture, something with craftsmanship, not something we have to put together ourselves. Of course there are always some exceptions to that, but overall, our houses should not be full of particleboard masterpieces that we put together ourselves and throw away when we're done because no one else would want them. I wonder how many I'm offending now....

Camera

My DH has a great camera, preceded by a great camera, preceded by a great camera. He has a great eye and takes great photos. He even put together a book recently of his bird dog photography--very nice.

So I haven't had a camera for a long time. Whenever I want a camera but he's not going with me, I'm out of luck. So he just got me my own Canon point and shoot camera. Excellent gift from an excellent guy!

Flagstaff

Training with the dogs in Flagstaff. What beautiful weather. I went up the mountain with Teka. My new boots were comfortable, but the left one rubbed on the heel. Not sure if it's the wool socks or the boots. Hmmm. We saw a blue jay. I read my book and took a nap in the truck. We had an early dinner at Bunhuggers (super busy due to Cardinals' fans) and headed back down to Phoenix. Mike got a sunburn on his neck.

Laveen or bust? Nope, Laveen was a bust!

We decided to look at some properties in Laveen based on several suggestions we got when we mentioned wanting land. The realtor that put us in our current house (11 years ago!) took us to look at eight houses.

Laveen is near South Mountain, so it would be about the same drive time for me and Mike to get to work in opposite directions. However, the houses we looked at were overpriced for the amount of work that we would have to do. And it was further from the freeway than I thought it would be. I'm still a city girl, and it's a bit out there.

We picked up some great ideas if we decide to ever build a custom house on our own (which I think would be too much work and too much money). The best was a house with tile floors with dark wood-looking tiles set as square outlines. It had a "mudroom" off the laundry room, with it's own door to the garage. It was just a square, empty room, but would be perfect for dog kennels and gear (with some upper cabinets). That house also had a fridge hookup in the laundry room and a water spiget on the water heaters.

We're going to look in North Phoenix before we decide to stay put.