Winter wonderland

Well it's finally cooled off. I mean , really, A week of 70% temps in the middle of January. It's rained today but tomorrow will be fine for my days off. Used last week for winter yard work, pruning and vacuuming the yard. Yes, front and back the yard is all rock. Any blade of grass or weed is round-upped. I've done the grass mowing thing and decided to leave it behind with the old house. And I love it.
Now we have lots of trees and plants in the yard, all with there own drip water supply. Lots of shrubs and flowering plants poke up through the rocks or live in planters. My garden will be going in soon for tomatoes and squash and lettuce and chile peppers. It has drip irrigation too. This is great. Here in the dessert water is scarce and expensive. We have lots of water rules in Vegas, assigned watering days and tiered rates that punish heavy users. Forget the fountains on the strip and golf courses, the major use of water in the county is lawns. So, of course, desert landscaping is becoming the smart thing. I think it's nearly required for newly built homes, (they took away our fireplaces 10 years ago because of air quality issues) and lawn in back yards are restricted.
I don't care. My water bill only gets to double digits in the summer and never has a 2 in the first digit. Never the less, the front, court, and back yards are nice places to be. And thanks to the rain my water clock is off for another week.
Adaven