New Tree and Scorpion Relief

The Moon Valley Nursery folks came at 6:15 AM yesterday morning - 1/2 hour early - to plant our new tree. They definitely knew what they were doing and within a half hour had the tree planted, staked and ready to go. Here is a shot of our new, Majestic Ash tree next to our patio:

Hopefully, it will grow quickly and provide the shade and blocking characteristics we are looking for.

At 11:30 AM, the exterminator showed up and did a very thorough job of treating our entire property for scorpions. He sprayed inside and out, placed "catch-box" traps around the yard and sprayed the entire perimeter of the house foundation and block wall surrounding the house. It already has shown to be productive as this morning we spotted this scorpion, on his last legs, dying outside our front door on the entryway:

That should be the last - and number 9 - of the scorpions on our property. He will return in two weeks and perform a second treatment to make sure everything is covered. We are already resting easier.

Finally, our landscaper came by and gave us our quote for the work to be done in our back yard. We will purchase all of the materials ourselves and he will perform all the labor to complete the job. It is going to be expensive to do what we want to do, but nowhere near the ungodly quote we received at the home we almost bought in Peoria. That was a $24K quote, and we will be at a fraction of the cost when it's all done. We will be able to utilize all of the pavers and artificial grass from Lake Pleasant, so we have a head start on the materials. We are anxious to get the ball rolling on those improvements, so stay tuned for progress reports...