Randomness…This & That

July 18, 2012 by

We’re full throttle into summer…And loving every minute of it.

Late nights and lazy mornings is on our agenda.

No camps…

NOTHING! 

 A good old fashion summer…You know, the kind you had as a kid?

 

Remember our summer list?

We’ve managed to do about half of our ideas…with a few s’more repeates!

 

Our garden is flourishing…almost.

 The lettuce was decimated despite a fence that we were hoping would keep out  hungry critters. 

Fresh basil-perfect on our grilled pizza.

Get a load of those tomatoes!

 Seroiously, I hope our neighbors like tomatoes since we’ll be sharing the wealth.

If you think I should can some…think not.

I’m all about feeling like I’m Laura Ingalls, but I draw the line at canning!

See that little guy?

Yep, that’s a watermelon that may not be ripe until November :) .

Baby cucumber-GROW!

 I want to eat them with salt & pepper-yum!

 

We bought this sink at a tag sale in hope we could swap it out in our half bath. 

CRAP…it’s a hair too big.

 Onto plan B…

a gardening/potting sink? beverage sink filled with ice and drinks? filled with flowers?

 I don’t really know, but something awesome.

Any other suggestions besides cleaning it first?

We’re having a little fight around here.

If you’re thinking between my girls…Yes, we have had our share!

However, this one is a little more tricky…no one is listening to me and it’s getting me mad!!

We have a broody hen.

Red is causing trouble among the girls!

Doesn’t she look like she’s telling them off?

 They are not happy!

It’s serioulsy impacting our egg production.

 And why they won’t use the other nesting box??

When we pull Red out of the box you should hear the screaming. What a bunch of girls!

Pretty sure they’re cussing her out!

We bought two blue hydranga’s last summer… I love the color and am thrilled to watch them bloom, but they seem smaller this year.

I hope they’re getting enough sun.

All you green thumb folks please share any hydranga secrets you may have.

These are a few things keeping us busy around home.

 How about you?

 Hope you’re enjoying every minute of your summer!

 

Filed Under: flea markets, Garden, Life in General, outdoors, photos

Work & Play

June 11, 2012 by

What a weekend!

-we did a little bit of everything…sports, chores and play.

-we never grow tired of watching the girls play lacrosse-I’m sad the season is coming to an end. Good thing we still have soccer.

-our neglected lawn and gardens needed so much attention–weeding, mowing and a temporary fence around the raised garden beds. Yep, the deer thought we planted all those veggies for them!

-I also got ambitious and cleaned out our smoke house which I’ve always used as a gardening shed of sorts. I wanted to add a table I have as a potting station.

 

 

Quick fix for this years garden…do you see all that growth? We’re so excited!

My rock gardens needed to be weeded, edged and mulched. Each year I add a few perennials…I’m trying hard to have the garden flower all season long. It’s a work in progress. Suggestions on plants for a part-sun/shade bed to flower from Spring to Fall would be welcomed.

Next up was to clean out the smoke house…how does this tiny little building get so dirty and full of so much junk??? It was time to pull every last thing out, purge and add the potting table for extra storage.

So much better!

The second half of the weekend was visiting with friends on Canandaigua lake kayaking, canoeing, fishing, swimming and enjoying beautiful vistas and margaritas.

Being out on the lake felt like summer.

Eight more days of school and we’ll have many more days like that!

Hope you had a good weekend.

 Happy Monday!

 

 

Filed Under: DIY, Garden, Life in General, outdoors, photos

Raised Garden Update

May 24, 2012 by

This raised garden bed idea sounded great a few months back–this was before all three girls became knee deep in sports, homework, extra curricular activities and life in general! Over the past few weekends we’ve used pockets of time to work on the gardens-we may not get veggies, but it’s done–not 100% finished like my inspiration pictures…but the hardest part is over-phew!

Check out what we’ve done so far…

 

My husband doing what he loves–anything that involves wood, saw and music blaring.

Cutting all the sides for each bed.

With all three beds made we laid down plastic to keep out weeds and the ever dreaded walnut tree toxin-after all, this is why we had to do raised beds.

Did you notice how the center bed is higher? We did this so it would accommodate veggies that needed deeper growing space.

Now came the grueling work of hauling what seemed like 400 wheelbarrow fulls of soil into the beds. Surprisingly, the girls were willing helpers-they did great and were a huge help.

Check out that enormous pile of dirt in the background.

With the compost mixed in we laid out what seeds and plants should go where–the fun part.

I can tell you that our backs and arms were sore for days…but we’ll be one happy family when we can walk outside and grab our own fresh veggies. Each day the girls water and keep their eye out for growth-it really was a fun family project and something the girls can take pride in.

We still need to get some stone work put in between the beds and possibly a fence if it looks like critters are having dinner on us. We’ll keep you posted on garden developments.

Have you put in a garden this year? We would love any tips you have for a successful bounty!

 

Happy Gardening!

 

Filed Under: DIY, Garden, Life in General, outdoors
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