{if.....}

I make it through my two weddings this weekend with any 

energy at all.   And, if a certain little boy will stay out of the

cucumber patch.  BTW, he has officially been banned. 

This is what I'll be doing Sunday after church....

I live a wild life, I know.  

I may actually jump in the pool with the boys for the 

first time this year.

And, because of the agony involved in donning 

a swimsuit.......do the only thing left to do.......

go out for ice cream!

It may just be my first summer day.

Sounds pretty perfect to me.



{bounty}

Since the rain, rain and more rain has literally made my garden a weed filled,

mud pit...instead of throwing in the towel, I've decided to dive back in. 

Well, then it rained last night.

So, that little thought will have to wait until I do not sink to my knees.

Again.

 I decided to appreciate what I had out there instead of how 

terrible it all looks.

Then,  I saw Jen's beautiful garden.{sigh}

I won't even go look at Angela's. 

It took me a bit, but here our little mud mess is in all of its glory. 

Or, at least the glory that should have been. :)

Below is a bowl of fresh spinach that our deer and rabbit

were kind enough to leave for us.

Yeah, that fence is still on the to-do list.

 

But, it was YUMMY!  And, there really is something about

growing it yourself that is very rewarding.

Below is the dill that is awaiting the cucumbers that drowned

in their own hills.

And, the raspberries are doing fairly well.

Although the strawberries are growing back, I'm not sure

it will be in time to get much of a harvest. 

The plant below is a pink lemondade raspberry bush.  I have

a few of those, can't wait to see what they do. 

Or, taste actually. 

Below are Evan's collard greens.  I'm thinking I have alot of washing in my future.

The boys love checking out the cabbage.  I must

admit, it is pretty fun to watch it take shape. 

Some romaine lettuce. 

And, my poor drowned out snap dragons. 

The cucumbers are perking up. 

The peas are grabbing hold to the trellis.

The chickens are loving the radishes.  

The onions are everywhere. 

The blackberries are producing.

The tomatoes are blooming. 

The flowers are recovering from way too much water. 

And, the grass is everywhere!  

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!

{in my rearview mirror}

*i finished a law firm project {FINALLY!}

*i am still "on call" for them, i have a fear my phone will ring tomorrow. 

*and friday.

*i had the house to myself today.  well, molly and i.

*my radio blared.  and, my windows were open.

*took the boys for treats after school:  pizza and braum's ice cream.

*treats for me too. 

*and six new chicks.

*seriously, what is wrong with me??

*but, they are the cutest things ever.  don't even know what they are??

*played in the garden tonight. bliss again. 

*planted more zinnias, bulb onions, pepper plants, a pretty bush of

some-sort {i knew the name, but cannot think of it at the moment}, reworked

some romaine lettuce, planted 26 tomato plants.

*tired.  but, a good tired.

*smiled alot while out there tonight thinking of my grandma and grandpa

{different sides of the family} and how hard they worked and how much

they loved their gardens.  i get it.  :)   

{sitting on my hands}

and locking myself indoors.

Today is really the first day I have felt back to normal. 

For the next 4 days, I am basically "on call" for our firm.  I have

to be ready to basically jump in the car and go when the phone rings. 

I had to pick up some plants as my brother is coming down to take 

care of a list for me this afternoon.  As I dropped them off at the garden,

I decided I no longer hated it.  {the deer gave me deep wounds}

And, hopefully after I complete today's work schedule, a meeting at school, and 

MUST have taxes ready to drop off by tomorrow......I'm hoping I can 

have a few minutes before dark to dig in the dirt.  

I had to buy several new plants to replace the landscaping fiasco in the

front of our house.  {HG & MW witnessed that mess} And, 2 old-fashioned Lilac

bushes, 2 Wisteria's, a flat of snapdragons for garden, some stinky marigold's

for the garden,  and three blackberry bushes.  

I hope to at least work on the strawberries and plant my peas tonight.  But,

that is very wishful thinking as I sit here with my must-do-to-do list screaming at me.

     

{welcome spring}

I'm not sure what I got accomplished today, if anything.

I did determine that they do not make clothes pins like they used to. Period.

But, I'm sure the 70 mph winds today did not help too much. 
 

After I finished accomplishing nothing, tonight I planted 70+ strawberry plants with more to go tomorrow. I can now go to the garden and not be stressed. It's actually coming together. Tomorrow I am putting in an fence-panel arch to plant my peas. Classy, I know. But, it was laying there, and it will serve the purpose just fine. So cattle panel arbor it will be. :)

The boys played outside while I was in the garden. Noah had his first big {not really} bike wreck. He is recovering on the couch as I type this. {he's fine, but is in need of a little sympathy} Since I am the QUEEN of bike wrecks {and my legs will tell that story} I have to be intentional about my empathy. I know it hurts so bad, and he actually held up pretty well to it. At least we got the first one behind us. Little man's may be a total wipe out at the rate of speed and all of his little "trick" biking he does. Noah's probably happened because of he tends to be VERY safe.

I can't believe this hasn't happened before now.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!!!

{i think i can, i think i can, i think i can}

Get from this...

to something like this.........

I'm pretty determined.

Although, it may kill me. 

Truly.  

{a good day}

This little guy saved the day!  And, yes, he pretty much ALWAYS wears his bike helmet because you never know when you may be riding through the field, do a bunny hop, jump off your bike and need to plant spinach.   You never, ever know.  Thankfully, he loves spinach.   But, he did great with the plant spacing although I re-set a few when he wasn't looking as the line got a tad wavy. ;)   Today was such a good day in getting us all out of the house.  Well, all except Scott, he's super-sick right now. :(  But, James came down and helped me out with the tiller.  Until it started smoking about 3/4 of the way through.  I'm thinking tillers are not suppose to smoke.    But, it was so nice to be away from the desk, medical records, driving in the car just to dig in the dirt.  There is just something about it, very therapeutic.  Something really nice until that back pain you've been having for about a month kicks into high gear.  So frustrating.  And, it's actually making me a little nervous, it's a pain I've never had and the stiffness if disconcerting in a big way.  I'm thinking I need to go back in {no pun intended, I've been on a roll with them}.

I will say early on in the day, I  got a bit overwhelmed with the garden.  I am already envisioning at its peak - not at the point all of the grass and rocks and weeds still need to be evacuated.  Or, that the seeds are hidden and the wimpy spinach is wilting.  I'm envisioning the lush, beautiful bounty.  So, I think I almost had myself a panic attack until I mentally {and physically} broke up that plot into small sections.  It will definitely take time and since this is the first year to use this location, it will definitely be the most difficult just in prep alone.  Baby, baby steps I kept chanting to myself.  The end result with come.  And, then, I'll be all sad because it will be time to pack it all away and ready it for winter.  So, to enjoy the here and now.  The birds singing helped a lot with that.   On a fun note, I do have my layout sketched and have decided to go with a natural picket fence around it.  {I have needed one for pictures anyway, so that tipped the scale}

Yes, the size of it - got the best of me for a few minutes.

Noah was in and out of it all day.  But, he had another project going on in the garage.   

 Uncle James saved the day! 

And,  Uncle Shawn called to inform me he had my clothesline welded together and ready to paint.  I think I am regressing back to pioneer days.  Forget the 50's. 

This is the project Noah helped with all morning.  He is great with projects like this; whereas I would be chopping it up using it as a firestarter before I could even finish the directions.  It is

is so fun to watch him in action.   This is the little coop.  I'll move the chicks from their bin in probably 5-7 days.  They grow so fast.  Then they will reside in here remaining in the garage where it is safe and warm.  In the meantime, the big coop will be built and this will serve as a separate area for injured/sick birds, new chicks/chickens that will join in the flock, etc.  Are ya'll getting sick of my chicken adventures yet?  Sorry!    

Although there is so much still to do out there {major yard work, yuck!}, despite my ailing  back...it was still a good day.  I have had the hardest time sleeping lately, so I'm at least hoping the fatigue I feel, will allow me to sleep tonight as the lack thereof is about to do me in!    

today we planted:  from plants - romaine lettuce, cabbage, onions and spinach.  from seed:  zinnias (yay), romaine lettuce, salad bowl lettuce and collard greens (for e)

next:  strawberries, daisies, sunflowers and i'm thinking.........more zinnias ;)    

{i've always wanted a greenhouse}

and for now, I'll just have to keep on wanting.

These will have to suffice. 

I've got spring fever so bad I think I need to be hospitalized. 

{getting ready}

I've purchased all of the seeds for spring.

 

I think.

I'm going to start some of them inside over the next few weeks.

Although, I love snow.

I'm looking forward to the carefree, simple days of summer.

In a big way.

{dreaming of spring}

I'm thinking the balmy upper-forty degree weather has sparked the fever of spring.

Although the chicken below really freaks me out. It looks mean?? I am really wanting to give chickens another whirl. I definitely learned from my last run. {pardon the pun}

But, I am researching different breeds and am totally going for the very

non-aggressive, docile, friendly demeanors. All girls. I hope they get that right.

I have Scott working on Chicken Coop plans.

Of course, I want the fancy chickens. But, I am happy, happy about organic eggs without having to pay near $4 a dozen for them. And, thanks to Ang's ongoing chicken saga - I have a great go-to source. However, my chicken coop will be a tent in comparison to her Chicken Castle. :)

And, I'm filling my online shopping cart with fun seeds.

I remember the hard work all too well. But, the outcome, more than worth it!