And here she is…(plus a bonus joke)

Miss Fairy Belle

I kinda want to keep her for myself.

Anyway, the birds have been showing up lately.  Must be the big bag of birdseed I recently bought.

And the tomatoes have been growing like mad.  There hasn’t even been any sun for days upon days. Just rain.

My ds told me a funny joke today.  I think he really made it up.  Really.  Because he’s brilliant.  I also got his report card in the mail today.  Let me just say, he doesn’t get it from me.  :):) Anyway, here’s the joke:

Why did the fish cross the ocean?

To get to the other tide.

funny, right?

A little concert and a little dirt

DS sang in a concert the other night.  See that look he’s giving me?  You’d think he was having a bad time, but he said he was just nervous.  Sometimes, he’s such a sour puss, I don’t know what to do.  Yesterday, when I made dinner, he cried.  I made a perfectly good pasta salad with artichoke hearts and olives.  I’m so worried when this kid is a teen.

And my other kid?  Well, she’s happy even when she’s playing with dirt.

Not that I am comparing them, because we’re all different.

As for comparing, I’m finding I took the same exact pictures of my garden last year as I have been this year.  How do I spice things up?Hrm.  Well, at least last year didn’t have an ant on the peony. Check it out:

And really, you can never have too many pictures of your garden, right?

I love my garden so much, I put a lil dirty Buddha there to protect it.

Gardening, how I missed thee.

Finally, I got to dig my hands in the dirt.

You know what feels like an accomplishment?  When I can name all of the plants in my yard.  And all of the trees in my neighborhood.  Without the little tags to remind me.  The first year we were in this house, I brought my Complete Garden Flower book with me everywhere (a gift from my DH, awww), until I finally had it figured out what was out there and what I wanted add.

So,,,here goes:

spinach; cinnamon basil; carrots; rhododendron; hydrangea; mum; hosta; my veggie garden: tomato, beans, peppers, lettuce; tomato; pepper; a dying tulip; petunias with a wind charm; a garden angel; lily of the valley.

Spring has officially sprung.

The tulips are sprouting!!!

Nature is amazing, isn’t it?

Mr. Sun, please shine down on me…

Yay, the sun came out today.  And while the kids rode bikes and played hopscotch, I looked for signs of spring.

And here’s a little sneak peek of what I have so far for the spring boutique:

A perfect day for gardening.

Today, it’s a bit chilly.  The wind is busy and it’s a bit overcast.  Well then, we had to take advantage of it.  Before long, it will be cold, really cold.  Really, really cold.

So, first we planted the tulips.  (I paid DS 1.00 to do it )

Then, I planted some pine trees and hedges around where the porch used to be.  (but looking a little bit closer, I see I was a bit lazy with the mulch and yikes, we have a lot of crap going on around the yard.  hey – do you see my pup running toward me?)

And, then I found a special garden treat: a green pepper!!!

My, my what a wonderful day!

fresh salad.

tomato. basil. cucumber.

All from THE garden.

added vinegar, olive oil, and a bit of kosher salt.

My biggest tomato harvest thus far

it’s always somn’

what happened to these tomatoes?

and these zucchini leaves?

BUT the good always comes with the bad, right?

Look at this healthy jalapeno.

First Big Boy.

sprinkle of basil, sprinkle of kosher salt and…

YUM!