I love my job!

Walking up to the front door

 I came to the stunning conclusion today that I love my job! My title is SAHW.... translation you say.... "Stay At Home Wife". For all of you who wondered if I would get bored "not working"- I am working very hard and loving it. I actually have time to get projects done around the house, garden, cook, and take care of Dave :).  When I was working part time I never felt like I had time to get everything done and as Dave became busier in his job I tried to do even more. Well, now I have time to whip this house and yard in order. I also love Sunday nights because I know I don't have to get up at 3:50 AM the next morning. I have time and more patience and I happily tell Dave that yes I think he should go golfing. He is working very hard and deserves to have some play time.
  I thought I would take you on a tour of our yard. There are a lot of pictures and this isn't even everything in the yard! So here goes....

Our beautiful fountain that calls you to sit down and relax!

Approaching our courtyard 

A favorite place to sit for lunch to bask in the sun and listen to the fountain

Rose trellis gate at the far end of our front yard

"Bottlebrush" bushes along our sidewalk

Looking down at our house from the upper flower bed. FYI- I found out you need to be part mountain goat to walk on that slope to weed it! The dead looking tree to the right is 1 of 5 trees called "Liquid Amber"- they turn a brilliant red in the Fall and shed their leaves. So we will have Fall here!

Familiar faces that won't get planted next year- they need too much water

Love all these in our yard!

One of 13 palm trees of various types that we now own.

California pepper tree I believe

What I see from the kitchen window

I call this the "Daisy Tree"

The "daisies"

Grapefruit

Lemon waiting to ripen. We also have an orange, tangerine, and figtree

The baby fig tree

Even pine cones!

I recognize these flowers- geraniums grow like weeds- often on the road banks

Yucca

Smells like an evergreen but has little purple flowers

That was just a sampling of our yard. You gardeners are excited and the rest of you fell asleep about 3 pictures into the tour. I have been adding plants already: Mandeville, Jasmine, and 3 huge flats of ice plant. Dave asks me immediately, "How much water do they need?" And my frugal self is pleased to answer, " They are succulents and very drought tolerant. " So on we go with this CA life!