A Week of Rain in the Desert!

So this has to be some kind of record for us here in Tucson. We've lived here 5 years and I'm serious when I say it never rains (except during monsoon season and little bit in the winter). It's rained pretty much every day for a week! I love it!
The freshness it brings the desert is like no other....which inspired me to do some yard clean up. When we first moved here I was so diligent about keeping up with the yard but I lost interest especially the watering part. One summer I literally had to water our garden patch 3 times a day. It was like having a full time job!It was a hard realization to come to.....a California garden isn't the easiest to maintain in Arizona!
We'll see how this Spring and Summer goes. I planted snapdragons, violas, pansies, hibiscus, ivy and primroses so far. It makes having neighbors drop by feel so nice when there's a big pot of color greeting them at the front door instead of an empty pot of dirt and cobwebs!
We have this messy tree in our front yard called a Sweet Acacia which is so high maintenance. It spills yellow puff balls in the Spring, brown hard pods in the Summer and leaves in the Fall!!!! So in order to keep the landscape rocks clean we need to vacuum our yard!!! How ridiculous does that sound? It's true. I had to take some pics so you can see the difference. Black n Decker makes a Leaf Hog which sucks everything up but not rocks! A bit hard on the back but good exercise right?
So here's the Before, In Between and After shots. Amazing huh?

We still have a long way to go with the vacuuming.....we've only tackled under the Sweet Acacia tree so far....but at least it's a start! So it's suppose to be sunny and 60 today : ) I've been waiting to take pictures of all my flowers so I'll be out in the yard later today to snap some! I can't wait to post them!