We're in what we affectionately call "Dirty Season" when we "shovel" dirt!  It's officially called the long dry season which is rapidly morphing into Harmattan.  That's when the Harmattan winds blow off the Sahara Dessert, and the sky turns a dirty shade, and the whole world becomes very dusty and dirty.  It's the only bad time of the year.  But we spice things up with lots of beautiful Christmas decorations (that have to be cleaned before we put them away for next year) and make the best of things. It only gets pretty awful (as in I'm SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS DIRT) after the first of the year when we put Christmas away.  Then it's nothing but dirt, dirt, dirt, with no relief in sight until the rains come back.  It takes about three big rains to wash all the dirt out of the sky and off all the trees and plants.  But that won't happen until February, so we get to sit back and enjoy the ride until then!  Not that we're complaining, you understand!  I don't start the serious complaining until early January!!!  We finish off Dirty Season with a massive Spring Housecleaning event that lasts for at least a month, depending on how many guests we have in the house.  All work is done around the edges of them.  Being a little bit crazy, I really love Spring Housecleaning.  But for now we're shoveling a lot of dirt out of the house in the form of dusting, sweeping, and moping.