James & Emma

Only a daddy would put a hat on for his little girl and follow her around.

Every time James comes home, Emma takes him by the hand and leads him around.  Sometimes I have the hats out and she insists he puts it on.

I'm pretty sure he wouldn't wear a "girly" hat for me.  :)

Crochet Bunting

Sweet bunting to go with the party hats I've been making.  

There are tons of tutorials out there for crochet bunting.

This is one of my favorites...here.

What Makes Me Smile

These things warm up my heart!

I finally bought Ree Drummond's cookbook!  I'm loving it!

If you haven't checked out her blog check it out here.

You'll find the recipe for these wonderful cinnamon rolls in her cookbook!  They really are the best I've ever had.  It was hard to stop eating them.  I will NOT  be making these every week.  I would gain 100 pounds if I did.

I was so lucky to come across this Cath Kidston mug at Barnes & Nobles.

You can look at her items here.

Drinking my tea from this lovely mug makes me feel special.

Emma and I have been listening to this 3 CD collection of Doris Day every morning.

We love to sing and dance along to the lovely voice of Doris.  

Marlo Thomas plays Ann Marie in That Girl.  She is giddy, funny, sweet and gets into little pickles just like Lucy Ricardo.  I love her best friend and next door neighbor, Judy, who is beautiful and just as funny!  I've watched the 30 some episodes of season one through probably thirty times.  I think it's time to purchase season two.  If you want to laugh, watch it!  It's great!

I'm loving this afghan I'm making with stripes.  It's just so cute.  I work on it when I get a spare moment which isn't very often.  It's slowly getting larger.  Bright, colorful stripes are so cheerful don't ya think?

I'm loving my sweet dogs!  They give me lots of snuggles and are just so sweet!  Emma and I adore them.

Of course, what makes me most giddy is our sweet Emma!  She is such a blessing!

My Girl That Loves the Sun

 Emma loves, loves playing outside.

She never wants to come in...not even to eat.

She just loves it out there.

I tell her that her mama doesn't do the sun as well as she does.

I'm going to find a big beach umbrella for me to sit under out there!  

My Garden

When we moved to our current home, I had this brilliant idea that I was going to start a garden.

 I really don't know anything about gardening.

Not only that,  but I do not like the feel of dirt on my hands or in my fingernails.

I do not like bugs and I particularly do not like spiders. Have I mentioned the ugly, ugly, huge, hairy spiders we have here?  They are ugly!  Oh wait, I already said that...but they really, really are!

So why did I start a garden?  I had read all of Gene Stratton-Porter novels and became inspired.  I don't live in the Limberlost but I could embrace nature here.  Maybe I would make my own teas, use some herbs for healing purposes and I would can!  I was going to fill my pantry up with wonderful salsa and whatever else I could come up with.

Now.....after all my dreaming, lets laugh!  

My first step was to figure out where to even begin.  I bought this book and it is by far the best book I have found.  It gives simple, step by step instructions on square foot gardening.   James built me some boxes and we filled it with Mel's mix.   He tells you the ingredients you need and how much.  

That sounds simple.

Next was planting.  Hey, no problem.  He tells you everything you need to know and how many square feet per plant.  It's easy, simple and quick.  With his system there really isn't much need for watering or weeding.  That sounded perfect for me.

It all sounded perfect I tell you.

Until.... I realized I don't think that Mr. Bartholomew ever tried to garden in the area I live.

Of course when the hubs and I decided to move we had to pick an area that was next to impossible to grow anything.

This was my sad, sad garden at the end of last year.  It was taken over by weeds.

  Having it in my yard actually depressed me.  I was at a loss.  I didn't know what to do.  

 

This is my garden a couple weeks ago..I'm so proud.  

It's not perfect but it's getting so much better.

Here is a picture I took today.  I'm hoping everything grows for me.

What I did....

1.  I'm not for putting chemicals on my lawn but I finally faced the fact that it was going to take something strong.   Earlier in April I went out and put my first coat of  Roundup all over the white rocks.  I did this again in May.  I'm probably just going to have to suck it up and do this every year.   As they started to die, it became easier for me to pull and clean up the weeds.  By the way, most these weeds are impossible to pull.  They are so strong!

2.  My next step was to put organic preen down all over the rocks and in the raised beds.  This is suppose to help prevent new weeds.  Hopefully it will help a little but I do see quite a few new weeds coming through so I'll just have to keep pulling.  This is suppose to be done every 4-6 weeks.

3.  After I got things planted, I added mulch on top.  Mulch is suppose to help keep moisture in which we need here since we live in a dry climate.

4.  As Jame's aunt says, "accept imperfection."  My garden area will never be perfect but hopefully I can get some things to grow.  

Thanks to Jame's aunt for all the tips and advice.  I've basically followed her instructions.  :)  So far I think it's looking great.  Maybe I have a little farm girl in me after all!