A Poppy

Beauties in the Garden...last week before the cold snap!

Peonies Bloomed

June-uary

So while we wait for summer to actually begin (we lit up the wood stove last night, and it felt so good after being chilled all day long!) we have been busy getting caught up on house projects after the busy month of May (some photos will be added in the next few days...while a lot has been done, some things still haven't):

#1 best thing done: The Learning Chair

Now Truitt has a safe place to stand and watch me cook, wash dishes, and just hang out as I bustle around the kitchen and get things done. It has helped tremendously! It is so much easier to get the kitchen chores done now that he can watch!

#2 better late than never: Planted my Victory Garden

Okay, it really isn't a "Victory Garden" however, we are against the war, and we did rip out our front yard, and we did end up filling it with seeds for things we can actually eat. But all of these events did not happen on purpose. I wanted some vegetables, and it just happened to be the only space available. I did consider putting up big signs that say "Food is Beautiful" or "Make Food not War" or "All we are saying...is give food a chance", but then I imagined rabid conservative teenagers demolishing my yard, plus, it seemed slightly hypocritical as this was not our intended goal, and Stephen hates to make a statement that is hypocritical.

So now our parking lot drive way is a courtyard for tomato and bean plants. Our front yard will soon be filled with: chives, rosemary, lavender, cilantro, nasturtiums, butternut squash, zucchini, pumpkins, fennel, sage, thyme, and artichokes. I tried planting carrots and beets under the trees, but my dad says they probably won't grow. Also, how long do seeds live for? The pumpkin seeds were from 2002, do you think they will grow?

In the back I have basil that was potted and the mesclun seeds in pots (that have been dug up slightly as the neighborhood cats used the pot as a litter box!) I also have flowers waiting to be put in hanging baskets. I picked up some cheap planters at Lowe's ($1.47 each) and a bunch of cheap annuals for about the same price each. So for the cost of one hanging planter I will be able to make 5! And if you want to be really cool and cheap, you can actually use plastic grocery bags as hangers! Once the flowers grow and hang you will hardly be able to tell it is a bag!

#3 Re-selling stuff we don't use for money

We cleaned out our clothes closet and got a huge box of clothes. Then I went through the attic and found a ton of home decor items we don't want. They can all be resold and hopefully next month we will be a little richer!