Weekly Wednesday Ramblings

Hurray inventory is over!!!  Today was the final day, back to a more regular and relaxed work environment.  I was also able to finally finish filling my second raised garden, though tomorrow I may change my mind and add another bucketful of dirt.  I also went ahead an replanted a little bit of the things in the seed tray I accidentally cooked.  Hopefully the seeds will sprout fast and I will be able to put them into the ground. ☺

I was also able to finally get my closet cleaned out and organized, and boy it's so nice!  I'm slowly getting my house into a cleaner, more organized place even if I haven't gotten to do any of the remodeling my father-in-law said I could do.  We'll see what the future holds.

Awesome Blossom

Okay, I know the title is very corny, but check out the "awesome" blossom I found today on my cucumbers while I was watering this morning!  I've been so excited about it I just had to share it with you guys.

Sunday Catch-up

Oops!  I ended up working an extra shift this week and for some reason it helped me forget it was Wednesday until too late it was Thursday, and I've been trying to play catch-up ever since.  So, my apologies dear readers.

Well, as you can guess I've been working a lot this last week, one of my jobs is getting ready to do it's inventory next week and we've been scrambling to get everything done in time.  So unfortunately the only gardening I've been able to do is my daily watering sessions every morning, but I was still able to get a few photos for your enjoyment.

Do you remember these little cucumber plants??  Look how big they are getting!

The rose at the beginning of my last post is actually a hybrid miniature tea rose.  I fell in love with it last year and had to get it.  Funny thing is that last summer it did the same thing that that my Icelandic poppy is doing this year.   It blooms flowers of a different color on the same bush.  In fact last summer I got peach, yellow and pink roses,  Does anyone know why plants do that some times?

My mom have been celebrating the beginning of summer by eating fresh cut salad and radishes out of her garden.  I know that those radishes look a little small, but they are sweeter that way.  Mmmm!  I just can't wait until mine are big enough to eat!

Well, I hope that the rest of this week goes by a little less hectically.  See you on Wednesday!

~Fraise

P.S. Isn't the process of a strawberry turning red adorable?  It starts turning pink from one side, progresses to turn all pink then slowly moves on to red.  It's like it's blushing!

Weekly Wednesday Ramblings

So I actually went out of town over night last Friday and went 4-wheeling on ATVs for the first time on Saturday, and I forgot to take pictures!  I actually remembered to take the camera, but neglected to bring it down that day so that we could have our friends take photos for us.  I can't believe myself.

Other than that I wasn't able to get a whole lot done outside either because I've been working for my two jobs and it's rained a lot.  I did however find some really big mushrooms growing in the lawn on the bottom part of the yard and I thought I could make some really cool mushroom prints with them (for how to go to Martha Stewart.com).

Also I was able to eat the first strawberries off our plants!  They were small but very tasty.    Anyway these were the little joys I'm celebrating this week.  Hope yours was just as full.

~Fraise

Wednesday Weekly Blurb

It's that time again....my weekly update on the stuff I've been up to over the last week.  Well, you remember the flower bed by the side walk (I posted somewhat updated photos on Sunday)?  Well, I actually worked hard on it last Saturday and here are the fruits of my labor:

I know that it looks a little sparse right now but those ground covers I planted will eventually fill things in some and I'm planning on transplanting more plants into the bed as I go along.  I might even finish cleaning out the left side of it and transplant some of those gorgeous orange asian poppies I posted on Sunday.  We'll see.  I'm also going to thin out the phlox in the bed to the left of the path and add it to part of the back of the currently cleared bed to add more diversity.

I'm looking for any suggestions you all might have for shade loving plants/flowers/shrubs that I could put in that bed as well.  I know 'bleeding heart' and ferns like the shade.  I would also do hosta too but I'm not sure if they are selling any more in the garden centers.  I might just have to wait until late summer when my mom thins her hostas out.  Anyway, if any of you think of a plant that would work well in my little bed please leave a comment and let me know.

As far as my exercise regime and diet are going, they aren't really.  I know I need to have more will power.  I'm hoping that all the cleaning up and hauling and work I'm doing in the yard is helping some.  My goal is to start trying to get done a little bit of exercise each day and then build up on it as I get more space in the house cleared and maybe get my outside bike cleaned up and I can start riding.  Wish me luck.

~Fraise

Make-over Continued

Since I was cleaning off the flash cards for my camera, I ran across a few more photos of my progress on the yard.  I thought I would post a few more before and after shots that I forgot yesterday.  So without further ado.....

Not all of the transformations in the yard have been just with cleaning and clearing.  Here's what a little bit of spray paint can do.  See those yucky peeling yellow pots.....

Presto, Chango, aaaannnnd......

I'm so pleased with how these pots turned out. Even the peeliness of  the yellow paint made an interesting texture when painted over with the bronze paint.  They've made beautiful planters.

Making a garden is really turning out to be a fun experience!

Irregular Saturday Update!

So dear readers I'm sure you noticed a significant lack of blogging this last Wednesday.  That is because yours truly was getting ready for a surprise birthday for my father-in-law.  Lots of hard work!  We had a really fun time.  It was a small party consisting of us my father-in-law's siblings and their respective spouses as well as a neighbor or two.

So although I still haven't lost anymore weight, I have not gained any either.  I think I am gaining however gardener's endurance and pain tolerance.  My body doesn't ache quite as bad as it did when I first started working on the yard. However,  I still end up exhausted at the end of the day even if I'm not super sore. Wow, who knew this would happen.  I hope that you like what I've done with the place so far.

So here are those long awaited  "before and after" photos that I promised:

I spent most of today working on the flower bed by the sidewalk, and one of my next porch projects to tackle is cleaning and organizing the closet under the stairs to the upstairs porch.  Wish me luck!

~Fraise