Spring has sprung!

The weather here lately has been so unbelievably beautiful! There is a constant easy breeze. The high has been between 80-85 degrees. No clouds. Bright sunshine. Early sunrise. Late sunset. A moon bright enough to literally cast shadows.

As a result of the arrival of spring here in Arizona, our backyard has become a swarming blend of aromatic sensations! Our next door neighbor has a couple of orange trees in his backyard which hits up against the side of our backyard. Our three prized plants in our own backyard are magnificent - the French lavender is blooming like crazy, the rosemary bush is soft and fresh with new growth, and the pomegranate bush is putting out fruit with tons of quirky, tart juice inside. What a treat spring in Arizona is! No flowers, but these plants surrounding our yard sure are great.



From the desk on the back side of our huge great room, through the 6" gap we keep the sliding glass door open, across the yard and into our neighbor's yard, the orange trees have bloomed and that scent is the most pungent, sweet, honeysuckle-y scent I think I have ever smelled. And honeysuckle is by far my most favorite scent in the world, so you can be sure that I have been soooo happy lately! It floats all the way from their yard to my nose behind the computer desk inside. Heavenly. The lavender is blooming, but I'm doing some research tonight to see when it's best to clip it back to save most of the scent. I've heard it's best at a certain time after it has bloomed, but I'm not sure when. The rosemary is cooking right now on our dinner, which I'll share in a later post.

Does anyone know how to make soap at home? It would be such a waste to leave this lavender in all our windowsills and doorframes, which I am obsessed with doing, because it keeps scorpions out of the house. (We haven't seen any so far, but I'm not about to take my chances of an encounter with a spider with a butt tail stinger and crab claws!) Of course, there is plenty more than enough for the sills and frames, so I'm looking for other uses. Why not soap? I'm a little apprehensive about looking up internet recipes for this for some reason, because I can just imagine myself cooking up a purple soapy concoction in a huge pot in the kitchen and forever ruining my stainless/copper cookware as well as my spirit!


Would anyone like some freshly-clipped rosemary or lavender?