Spring Planting

One holiday in January or February we headed out to a nearby preserve.  I'm not really sure what our goal was, other than the weather was nice & it was close & we hadn't been to that preserve yet.  So we loaded up the razor scooters & headed out for a 'nature adventure.'

As exciting as that description was, about sums up the excitement of our 'nature adventure.'  It was lame.

Like going to a park without toys.

why?  not sure.

But there were some serious photographer peeps trying to capture the birds & desert wildlife that my children would continue to scare away.  I'm pretty sure they were thrilled we decided on a 'nature adventure' that day.

But if there is one good thing that came from that little adventure that was not, it was this tree.

 

It may as well be the tree of my childhood dreams. Where the Swiss Family built their tree house. Where Tarzan was raised by gorillas.  You get the idea.

And since we lost our entire backyard in the freeze of 2010 {yes, true story}, we are now replanting & replanting some more.  We had the freeze in January of 2010.  We spent that spring, hoping for it all to come back to life.  Everything in the front yard came back.  Lost 2 trees & an entire hedge along our back wall in the backyard.  So we spent the fall pulling it out, winter looking at the barrenness of our backyard & now...now we are planting.  All over again.

And this tree was first on the list.

I took a lot of pictures of it while we ate our lunch under it {see? We really planned for an adventure that day!} so I could be sure I could find out exactly what it was.

Fast forward 1 week & I am the Depot.  And guess what catches my eye?  A little whipper snapper of a tree that looks just like the ones from the preserve!  I checked my pictures.  I double checked online.  We had a match.

Lucky for Scot I did not leave with it that particular day.

I waited like 3 days, until we landed on a Saturday where there were no soccer games & I was sick {shocker} to let him know that was on his 'honey do' list.

He was less than thrilled.

But I know two people who were beyond thrilled...

 

and were more than willing to change their outfits 5 times until they found the perfect 'tree planting ensemble.'   Don't worry the pink gloves in this picture did not make the final cut in Scoobs' ensemble.  He traded them out for actual mittens.  My black ones to be exact.

 

And while I am not sure either of them was very 'helpful' they have both taken great pride in their little tree.  Watering. Fertilizing & trying with all their might to not terrorize it & yank leaves off of it.

1 tree down.

1 more to go.

as well as an entire hedge...

thank you freeze of 2010.

Spring Planting

  {Scoobs & I are reading Super Fudge...and they catch worms to sell to a neighbor.  He thinks he's in business!}

I know in the rest of the world it is winter.  Here in the desert though, it feels a lot more like spring.  At the start of my nesting phase was this little project, that I drummed up on & whim & an 80 degree Saturday.  Flower planting.  You should know my mother & grandmother are expert flower planters.  Me?  Not so much.  Scot rolls his eyes whenever thoughts turn to flower planting.  But eye rolling aside, I am starting to figure out the ins & outs of flowers at my house.  Growing up, we lived on the 'sunny' or north side of the street.  My house now, sits on the 'shady' side, or south side of the street, which I have learned can really make a difference in your flowers.

So I have one area, that screams for beautiful flowers.  It leads right up to my front door & is perfectly contained for a flower garden.  Problem #1:  It receives a couple hours of very harsh afternoon sun in the summer & just about zero sun in the winter...which is our prime flower season.  Problem #2: Above this little plot my roof line converges as such to produce massive run-off when it rains.  Pleting & pounding any poor unsuspecting flower into submission.  I've looked into gutters to protect this one little spot...the price tag? $900.  Um, no thanks.  And so, I've killed plenty of flowers in this little plot.

 

Here are the first ones to bite the dust.

 

And here she is this winter.  In her barren glory.

 

On this particular day & Home Depot trip, I wasn't even going to tackle planting anything here.  I had yet to devise a plan & so I was just going to leave it dirty & lackluster.  But of course, when I am actually at Home Depot, something shiny catches my eye & ends up coming home with me.  This time, it was bulbs.  yes. Bulbs.  I don't think my mom has ever even planted blubs, but I thought, what the heck, they are marked for shade.  So I came home with bulbs for 2 different varieties of Lily of the Valley.  I wish you could have seen Scot & I looking at these things trying to figure out which way was up.  I'm still not sure I've planted one variety correctly.  But the other?

 

Is growing.  And I couldn't be more happy.  I've actually surprised myself with this whole process, as this planting has actually required some patience & effort without the encouragement of one green thing for weeks.  Not something I am known for.

The second area I planted was in my backyard, which receives an abundance of winter sun...it just required me moving mounds of gravel.  No big whup when your 7 months pregnant and longing for a work out.

 

Here she is, all prepped & ready to be planted. 

 

For this area, I planted a variety of different sun-loving seeds.  My mom had done this last season & the flowers were amazing.  This plot sits right outside my kitchen table window & so I thought the height would be fun & the flowers can actually be cut & put into vases.  And so Scoobs & I prepped & prepped & then planted.

 

Only to come out the next day to a huge water leak.  And by huge I mean I was literally shoveling water out of my freshly planted plot, that I had just shoveled gravel from for 2 days.

I may of wanted to curl up in my bed & cry.  Instead, I headed for the Depot & got the part I needed for free & fixed the dang thing.  And yes, there was some serious eye rolling going on from the spousal unit.

And then I waited.  And watered. And hoped I had disturbed my seeds too much with my sprinkler fix. Then I checked with my mom to see how long before something would pop up.  She was not very encouraging with her raised eyebrows & response of, 'oh, it took a long time.'

crap.

 

Until I was watering on Sunday & saw these little guys. 

Eye rolling husband pointed out that they were probably weeds.  I tell you, some times his support of such projects can be under-whelming.

 

But I knew better.  Because see?  These leaves are a little different & I planted three different seeds.

So weeds?  I think not. thankyouverymuch.

I can't hardly wait to see what these babies drum up.

More pictures to come.

Happy Spring. er. I mean winter?

I Spent My Morning Doing This...

instead of unloading the dishwasher, laundry, laundry & more laundry, putting breakfast dishes away {oh wait, I did do that}, getting dressed properly, showering, sweeping my floors...you know, the daily usual.

And I am happy as a clam about it. I never knew installing a drip system could be so satisfying. I had to call Scot at work to tell him what a rock star I was...a dirty, muddy, stinky one, but a rock star nonetheless.
And to top off those beauts...I have two baby birds nesting right above them. Their mama was ever so diligent in sitting on her eggs & now we hear these to babies all day long.

happy. spring.

design stuff tomorrow.