Backyard Gardening, Continued

You might remember the picture here of the garden in March.

Well, here are some current pictures of it!

Still doesn't look like much- i should have varied the heights more.

Italian parsley, tomato. spearmint, lavender, oregano.

Chives, lemon balm, salvia (looking very ragged!), and basil.

The tomato plant has produced TWO tomatoes, which I will enjoy in my lunch today, and has 8 coming in. Super excited about it- once they ripen, with the basil the way it is, all I need is some fresh mozzarella...

Springtime Decorating

With the roses blooming like crazy (I counted 64 buds a week ago!), that's the easy solution. But the pecan tree needed some trimming, so I brought in some branches for the first time.

T's grandma's bookshelf. I love the detailing at the top.

The bookshelf in the dining area, w/ WW2 era accordion.

The dining/piano hall, for lack of a better name, with new *matching* chairs! Only took 4 years.

The dining/piano hall, with The Emma hiding from the outdoors, keeping an eye on it.

And in the backyard garden:

Basil getting larger...  Bugs! Stay off my herbs!

Planted these last year. They survived the drought, the freeze, and look better than ever.
May need to plant more of this...

It's been pretty quiet over here. Just working hard on inviting and trying to stay afloat, with as few meltdowns as possible.


p.s. How many skulls did you spot in the interior pictures?
One is hard to see, but there are 3: dining bookshelf, piano, grandma's bookshelf.

A wonderful weekend

Saturday: kitten-sat for my brother, good printing run, delicious lunch, free comic books, french books, a fantastic new coat for the fall, ice cream, an informative crafting group meeting. A fun and productive day!

The Carnival- sweet cream ice cream, sprinkles, m&ms, and gummi bears. ROCK.

Sunday: kitten-sat, visit with mom, gardening, cooking, movie.

Worked on the herb garden. Fingers crossed they take.

Strawberry Upside-Down Cake from Joy the Baker - YUM

So sad that it's over. Why does Monday come after Sunday? There should be a buffer day. Like a 12-hour period of transition from sunny laid-back Sunday to Work-Day Monday. A period of novels on the couch with tea and fruit. Or maybe a matinee with parmesan popcorn. Something like that. I guess 8 hours of sleep will have to do.

Neglect is Good?

With my plants it would seem so!
Because it's been so hot, i hate being hot, and i'm lazy, i haven't done much gardening since the spring. The most I do is snip off some basil for cooking and toss its flowers in the dirt.

Well, cooler weather has arrived so T mowed the lawn and i cleaned up the edges around my gardens, and was pleasantly surprised!

 

My mint is bad looking *but* there are a bunch of babies popping up.

The sage thing in the middle was surprisingly in bloom- doubted it would survive the summer.

And my basil is out of control! 

There are 2 small plants, 1 good sized one, and 1 that's almost 4 feet tall!

 

The over at "The Sophie Garden" the pentas are doing great, the sage okay, and the rescued tropical plants from work are alive, and that's pretty much all i could ask.

 

Lost a branch in a tropical storm so had to re-hang the wind chimes.

Ready for outdoor parties!

 

This is the branch we lost. 

I'm going to spray paint it, hang small crystals/beads from it, and voila! - winter decoration.

Oh, and the cherry tomato plant (which produced a whopping THREE tomatoes) is still alive.

Gardening Plan...

Started a garden along the back of the house today- lined the area with that anti-weed fabric and started the beer-bottle border. Got about 4 feet of border done, planted the basil, but ran out of dirt so the mint is still in its pot.
It's going to be a long process. But here's my plan so far:

Wildflowers aren't there (garden hasn't been started yet- am waiting for the grass to be mowed before covering it with the fabric) but i have some seeds already- bluebonnets and wine cups. Need to figure out which other seeds to get and then that can get started. I just like the idea of tall flowers being visible through the windows.
The blackberry plant is small but alive, and in need of some mulch, and the pentas in the Sophie Garden need some good dirt as well. Would like to try some fragrant jasmine, honeysuckle or wisteria along the chain-link fences. Guess I'll need to keep an eye out for some sales.

Anyhoo. I'll post a proper picture probably next weekend. Should plan out the front yard too. Another time. : )

Wildflower Center

Got the day off from work to spend time with my dad and stepmom. We went to the Wildflower Center, then got lunch at the cafe, and bought herbs at the Natural Gardener. Was quite a warm day, even in a sundress, but it was perfect for walking through gardens. Had a very nice day.

In my vintage floral dress and silly beach sunglasses

More pictures HERE

Workout & Gardening Fun?

Started working out after work last week. Will be doing the trail 2-3 days (4 miles, walking then adding running) and climbing the emergency stairs at work (29 flights) up and down (and repeat) 1-2 days a week. A few of us from work will be signing up for the Fight for Air Climb in May, so watch out for a fundraising request as soon as i register! : )

With my tax refund I was able to buy new running shoes and so far (having not actually *run* in them) I love them. They're comfy, have lots of cushion around the ankle, and don't make my big feet look like boats. AND they were less than I expected to spend so I was able to get 2 more capri workout pants, 3 more pairs of socks, AND 5 cheap-o plain t-shirts from a craft store. (I'm not spending $16+ on a t-shirt that's just going to get ugly after 3 wears. No thank you.)

The new shoes! $40 at Academy

The rose bushes in the front yard are awesome. Previous Owner cared for them lots, we've heard, and I'm just trying to keep them alive. Apparently I'm doing okay on that front because even the ugly one at the front of the yard is getting 5 flowers, I clipped a favorite peachy one for my desk on Friday, and the big red one has 7 or so coming in. The middle one (another red I think) has so many buds appearing I just can't wait for them to bloom!

My favorite kind of rose from the yard.

Spent a day last weekend de-grassing the "garden" - the grass took over and there was no clear distinction between "rose garden" and "grassy yard." Now you can see the dirt/old mulch. Need to get a little rock border going and throw in some good organic mulch. Problem is, all that costs money! sigh. (Another pro of San Antonio- dig a hole for your plant, dig *up* 20 small annoying rocks you can use. We don't have that here- it's all dirt.) Well, it's at least tidied for now. The border can wait.

And by the front door there's a little garden with the crepe myrtle and some little boxwood things. I'd like to transplant them elsewhere, but for now they'll do. Yesterday I planted zinnias and a few daisies in that same garden; I hope they'll grow tallish so the garden gets some good fun color coming out in between the boxwoods.

Obviously I haven't swept up the mess I made yet!

Okay, Grandma, are you happy there's finally an actual post? : )

Stolen picture of bluebonnets...

One of the best parts about San Antonio:

(Picture swiped from Dad's facebook page)

In Austin there are bluebonnets but not nearly as much as San Antonio has. Wow!

The Sophie Garden

Sophie, the family cat died early Sunday morning. She was 16. As with Cat, who died when I was 12, a pinwheel marks her spot.

Mom bought some pentas and we planted those to attract butterflies. (The bricks are temporary. Will remove them in a few months.)

The other funeral attendant was the friendly white cat I call Pinky (from that 90s cartoon, Pinky & the Brain).

Darcy and Pinky engaged in a staring contest

Mom also bought me some zinnias. As I haven't created a garden yet (THANK YOU LOWES, jerks) they will live in a pot for a while.


For lunches this week (to keep T off frozen meals) I made some enchilladas- 1 dish/3 meals for him with a beef or pork that was leftover from his Conan game, and 1 dish/3 meals for me- veggie crumbles cooked with taco seasoning, put in the tortilla with cropped spinach and a little cheese:

Yes, I know corn tortillas are better, but T prefers flour and I didn't feel like dealing w/ 2 kinds.

This week is going to be crazy busy- have Bond Night tonight (grilling spicy shrimp and watching GoldenEye), tomorrow my dad's in town to help my brother move and I'm going to hopefully get him to take me to Garden Ridge for a patio sofa that's on sale, and then our summer/birthday party is Saturday and I'm sooooooo not prepared. Eeks.