Square Foot Garden

Bo mixed the soil. This flower pot was used a huge measuring cup.

Here he is spreading the mixed soil in our new 4x4 garden boxes. Our neighbor was teasing us about living next to the farmers. By no means are we farming, just trying to grow a few vegetables.

This is just a little bit of what we have planted. I hope it all grows.

I wanted to follow all the instructions in the book All New Square Foot Gardening. Bo didn't read it so he did most of what I suggested. I can't wait to show you what we grow.

New Gazebo - Maybe

The evening started out pretty good. Bo and I were jocking around with the corner pieces of our gazebo. It all seemed like it was going good.
Two and a half hours into it as we were lifting the top on to our gazebo this piece broke. I felt so bad because that was the piece our neighbor was helping us with. He felt so bad.

We headed back to the Home Depot to see if they could give us a replacement part. But they don't have any in this region. They have already sold the store display when they told us last week that they wouldn't sell us the display until the end of the season. We came home and contacted the manufacture. Now the sides of the gazebo are still standing up in the yard. If we don't hear from the manufacture we will have to take it down and take it back to Home Depot. I just hope it comes apart easier than it went together.

i haven't left

Sorry, I haven't posted much. Bo and I have been really working on our backyard. I should have pictures of it tomorrow.
I don't know if I told you or not but I have a new niece which has inspired me to think about sewing again. I hope to finish the back yard so I can make her something soon.

Need Some Light

I should start out by saying I didn't start buying these light bulbs for myself, but that my dad gave them to me as a gift one year for Christmas. You see every year for Christmas my brother and I each get a special gift just from my dad. Now it has turned into Bo and I get a gift and Sister in law and brother get a gift. We open this after all other presents and it is something that my dad has thought of and picked out himself. One year as little kids we got ball gloves and as a teenager I got a cordless phone. It is always special and a surprise, but as I have gotten older the items have turned more to items for the house, which is great. The first Christmas Bo and I were married my dad got us a 6 ft. ladder. At first we thought this could come in handy at some point. Now, I can't tell you how many times we have used it.

Sorry, I kind of got lost there. Now, back to the light bulbs. These light bulbs were expensive when they first came out so one year my dad gave me several for Christmas to help me get started in changing out my light bulbs. Since then I have changed out almost all of my light bulbs, and I think at this point I only have a few lights that don't use these bulbs. My dad help start me on the path to save energy. I have to admit I don't think they last as long as the packaging says, but I don't keep the stuff to send them back in for the grantee. Bo actually has a friend who has a spread sheet to keep track of his light bulbs and he has gotten many for free. I just don't think that is worth my time.

If you haven't I would suggest changing out your old light bulbs with these energy efficient one when your old ones die.

Building Our Square Foot Garden

Happy Earth Day!

I have been give the same task my entire life. Hold the item steady while someone else puts it together. I'm also an excellent flashlight holder! Here I am holding the box steady while Bo put the bottom on the sides.

This is Bo putting drainage holes in the bottom of the box. I hope that we have enough holes. I know that we are starting late, but I still have a lot of hope for this garden. I'm actually really really excited about it.

We got our boxes built, but then it got to dark to do any more.

Reuse

I know that you are tired of hearing about my pear trees. But I'm so excited about them. I just have to share a recycle idea with you.

Yes, that is the leg from a pair of pantyhose tied around my tree. No, I never thought I would have a pair tied around a tree in my yard nor did I ever think I would talk about them on the internet. But you never know what is going to come your way one day.

You see my tree was leaning. Bo and I were trying to think about what we could stake it up with. For some reason I remembered my grandfather using my grandmothers old knee highs to tie up his plants. Actually I know why I remembered it. It is because I always thought it was funny to see my grandmothers knee highs tied around the plants in the garden.

But I have to agree the materal is soft and strectches which is great for plants. My grandfather would say that it was gentle on the plants. Lucky, for Bo and I, I had a pair of pantyhose that had a run in them. I cut out the legs, cut them in half and then tied them around the tree. I know that my neighbors think I'm crazy, but it works. This is just one more way to reuse something that otherwise would be in the garbage.

Keep The Inside Cool

When I first meet Bo he already had the house we live in now. And from the first time I stepped foot in it I had ideas on how I wanted to change it. He actually let me paint the dinning room and kitchen before we were even engaged. This was the start of a lot of improvements we have done since then.

I need say that I have gotten many of my ideas from my dad. Because he has always looked for ways to lower the cooling cost at my parents house. My first idea was to put darker screens on our windows. This is something my parents did at there house. Well the screens on the windows at our house do not cover the entire window so it would not block the sun coming.

So I had to come up with a plan to help block the sun from heating our bricks. My idea was azaleas. They are some of my favorite flowers especially when they grow large. This year is the third we have had them. They are beautiful and functional.

I can't wait until they fill in and grow taller. This wall gets a ton of the hot afternoon sun, and I would love for them to help block some of this from heating this wall.

As I drove out of my neighborhood today I noticed that very few houses had anything planted on the side of their house that gets tons of sun. Just think of the amount of energy used to cool all of those houses.

Earth Week

This week is earth week. I have always been a little green. I'm going to try and show you ways that we are going green around our house, but we know that there is always ways to improve.

First Up:

This weekend Bo and I planted two trees in the front yard. We decided to plant pear trees. We hope in a few years to have some fruit. I have been calling my them my mom and dad's names. I think this is funny, but my mom does not..

I bet you are wondering about the umbrella in the front yard. Well, our dirt is horrible and it took us a long time to dig two holes and the sun was hot. Our solution was to bring our patio umbrella round front to block the sun while we dug.

Car Trouble

Let me start of by saying my car is nothing pretty, but it runs.

So Tuesday night I noticed it was leaking oil, which is never a good thing. I took it to my car guy yesterday and he fixed it. I would tell you what was wrong with it, but I don't remember. And it was cheaper than I had excepted, so I was happy.

This happiness didn't last long. I made my 10 mile trip home. I had made it to the traffic light at the entrance of my neighborhood. My neighborhood was just on the other side of the road... I could see it when my car apparently decided it couldn't go any further.

I immediately turned on my flashers, put it in neutral, and tried to start it again...nothing happened. I was stuck between two lanes in the middle of traffic. Those who were behind me started to blow their horns at me. Like I didn't know my car was blocking their lane of traffic. Like I wanted to be sitting there, and not on my way home. It was like they thought if they blew harder my car would magically start to run. It didn't work.

I was lucky because Bo was about 10 cars behind me. He pulled over and started to push my car towards a parking lot. Then some kind stranger pulled over and helped Bo push it the rest of the way in the lot.

Bo's cousin came and fixed it well enough to get it back to the shop this morning. The shop has called and said that my car is fixed at no charge to me. My car is not the best, but I'm so thankful for it and that is runs.

Yard Stuff

This weekend we did a little more than just watch movies. We also went to Home Depot several times and planted a few flowers.

We have a terrible problem with birds. Okay, it isn't really a problem until they eat stuff out of your garden. Our next door neighbor hates it when we grow cherry tomatoes because the birds pick them off our plants and take them over to his yard or patio. So to stop them from eating our tomatoes I thought I could feed them. My in-laws had given me some money for Easter. I used it to buy a bird feeder. Isn't it pretty? The birds seem to love it.

We also got a new planter. I just loved that it is shaped like a fish. For some reason I think it should be called Edward. I'm not into Twilight so it didn't come from there. This picture doesn't really show you how large he is. I think he would look great next to a pool.

Our Strawberry plants are really growing. I can't wait to eat my first strawberry. Unless, the birds beat me to them.

This is my first year growing Zinnias. I just fell in love with their colors at the Home Depot so I hope they do well in my back yard. I'm also growing some Marigolds, but I'm having a hard time keeping some kind of animal out of them. Whatever it is isn't eating the flowers just digging around in the potting soil. It is a pain to have to replant them daily. It is also the pot closest to my house so it has to be a brave animal. I should let you know besides birds, I have squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and deer in my back yard. I live in a neighborhood in the city we just back up to some woods. So if you have any idea on how to deal with a natural way to stop them from attacking my flowers I would appreciate some hints?

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

I had such high hopes for this movie because I love both Hugh Grant and SJP. This movie was a predictable Romantic Comedy of a misplaced couple heading from the city to the country. They are also in a bad place in their relationship. There were several times that I thought that the movie got lost and wasn't sure were it wanted to go.
Hugh Grant was excellent as always. But then again he does play the same character over and over again. SJP's character was very unlikeable and she wined a lot, and I hate to save that since I love her so much as Carrie Bradshaw.
As romantic comedies go this is the standard fair. Not the best and not the worse I've seen. Would I watch it again? Probably Not.

The Princess and the Frog

Bo and I have watched several movies in the last couple of days. What can I say there hasn't been much to watch on TV. Well, a couple of weeks ago I got The Princess and the Frog at a really good deal like I mean after mail in rebates it will cost me $3.00 so I figured why not.

After watching this movie I'm not sure at what age I would let my kids (if I had any) watch this movie. You see I grew up in house were my parents watched most of the movies before my brother and I could and I don't know if this one would pass because of how scary some of the magic is. I mean it is kind of spooky even for Disney Magic. Bo even said he didn't know what age child should watch this movie. The only negative about this movie would be the scary magic.

There were several things that I absolutly loved about this movie:

First -it is set in New Orleans. I have been to New Orleans twice and even thought I don't ever have to go back I realize that it is the perfect city to set this movie. Nothing against New Orleans but I don't drink and I don't gamble. I have already done several tours and I have gone to the aquarium and on the river boat. I do love the architecture and the food is amazing. Maybe I just need some time in between my visits. The last time we went Bo and I did not get along at all with each other and Alabama lost their game so all around it wasn't a good trip.

Second - the music. Like most Disney animation it is wonderful, but the music in this movie sets it a part as one of the best. It helps that had a lot of jazz, and that New Orleans has a lot of wonderful places to listen to music.

Third- the message. I loved the message of hard work and saving money. Tiana also had to learn that a little fun mixed in makes life so much better.

Forth - Mama Odie - she was perfect and I loved the scenes with her in them. She really stole the show in my opinion.

Overall I thought that this was a good movie and I would definitely watch it again. I'm glad that I purchased it and that it is a part of my Disney movie collection.

Herbs and Fruit

This is the Rosemary plant that we planted last year. We left it outside all winter and it is still a live and growing. We were both surprised that it is still alive.
Okay I going to show you this Shepard's hook to say it doesn't work. It will not hold the weight it says it is able to. It was kind of funny last night when we got home the hanging basket was sitting on the ground and the hook was bent over.

These are our strawberries. I have high hopes for them because I ordered the kit from Cottage Farms on QVC.

Spring Growth

A new elephant ear from last years bulbs. I can't wait to see how big they are going to get.
Double Knock out roses that the Easter Bunny gave us at my in-laws house. Yes, that is correct we get an Easter basket at my in laws and wait it gets better we get one at my parents house too. Bo and have some of the best parents in the world.

Azaleas that are waiting to be planted. We can't decide were we want to plant them in the back yard.

Happy Belated Easter!

Bo and I have a few days with more things to do than we had time. We did make time to enjoy some time with our family and we ended our weekend with some fishing. Okay I don't really fish, and I don't know if I'll ever enjoy it. But I do think that a pink fishing pole could make it better. Bo keep on catching these little fish, and I really wanted him to toss them back. I really just feel bad for the fish.

I hope to be more productive this week, but right now I'm just enjoying this wonderful weather. The pollen that comes along with spring is covering everything.

No Fooling!

Bo and I have been married for 4 years today!
This is us on our honeymoon! We went to Hawaii!

Us at our wedding! It was everything that I ever imagined!

Only one person pulled an April Fool's Joke on me on my wedding day-my brother! But I wouldn't have expected any less. For some reason he was in charge of bringing my dress to the church. (Actually he and my sister-in-law lived in the town were I got married so my dress lived at their house for a while). When I got to the church, he told me that he had lost it. And I fell for it. Needless to say my dress was waiting in the room for me when I got to the church.

One other thing about my brother and my wedding-As Bo and I were leaving the church people tossed rose petals at us, but somewhere along the way I got hit in the face with some. And let me tell you they hurt. Bo and I got in the limo and I looked over at Bo and said,"Those rose petals hurt." He looked at me like I was crazy. After a few weeks we get our wedding pictures back and there is a picture of my brother in his best baseball throw slinging a rose petals at me. I don't know how he got all of them to stick together, but he got caught in action. But I wouldn't expect my sibling to anything differently.

I have most definitely enjoyed being married to Bo and hope to have many many more years with him. He is not only my husband, but my friend and travel partner. And I couldn't imagine my life without him. Happy Anniversary Honey!