My Dad's visit and garden update

Hello Bloggers! I finally have a moment to write another post! I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last post. Time has really gotten away from me. My Hunny and I were super sick the weekend after my last post...blah! I'm pretty sure we had food poisoning and boy, was that a horrible 48 hours! I've been busy in my garden and backyard since then and was so happy my dad was able to come visit this past week! My dad has been retired now for about two years or so and I think he's finally realized he can go places, aka visit his kids, without the hassle of having a job to schedule around. He flew out here last Friday and I think it was the first time he has flown in about twenty years! He kept calling me and asking me questions about flying...can he bring this in his carry on, when should he be at the airport, how long does it take to get through security...etc. When we picked him up he looked like a little lost lamb among the hustle and bustle of the airport!  I woke up early this morning and hugged him goodbye...I hate not being close to my family! I miss them all the time!

Anyways....

I thought I'd post some pictures of my garden and yard, as well as some from our adventures while my dad was here!

 My potatoes are out of control! I mounded them up right after my last post and they wasted no time popping back through the dirt and growing crazy style!

 My tomatoes! Since I took this picture a few days ago, they have now grown over the first rung of their cages!

 Happy tomato plants!

 My lettuce is in need of some thinning...

 as well as my onions...

 Happy broccoli

 It's hard to see, but the sweet corn is coming in! Since this picture, I've had about 6-8 more sprout!

 My new garden boots! We went to the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine and I snagged these puppies on clearance. They are perfect to slip on, work in the garden and hose off when I'm done.

 The front of the house with some flowers...finally!

 Planted some geraniums for the stairs!

 Up close of one of the front porch hanging baskets!

 I love the bright red color of the geraniums!

An up close of the hanging baskets on the back porch!

The first place my dad wanted to go to was Maine and have seafood. We went to Kennebunkport, Maine and ate some absolutely delicious fried clams and scallops!

 I could live there!

 So Gorgeous!

 And I could live here!

 Lobster traps!

 My dad in front of the Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont

 He looks like he belongs in the olden days!

 This reminds me of our old farm. My mom had an old wagon in the corner of our front yard and planted flowers all around it.

 My dad taking in the beautiful park that is two blocks from my house.

I have a bunch of work in the garden this week and the temperature the next few days is going to be in the 90's...yuck! I need to plant my pumpkins and sunflowers(zucchini went in about a week ago, no sign yet) and put in the rest of my flowers in the flower beds! Wish me luck!

I sure had a blast with my dad this past week and I think he really enjoyed his time here as well! I hope you all enjoyed my pictures and I'll be back to update soon!

Garden Update and other things!

Since my last post, my garden has really come along! I have transplanted/planted all my vegetables except the zucchini, pumpkins and sunflowers! So far, all my transplant vegetables have made it, except one broccoli that some bug made a snack out of! I've also noticed that something has been rooting around in my garden and where I have planted my iris bulbs and flowers in the retaining wall! I sprinkled crushed egg shells in the vegetable garden because I read that small animals/bugs don't like walking/crawling over them and so far it has worked! No more destruction in the garden!

 My sweet bell pepper plants! I got a little ahead of myself and planted SIX! Only five came up and I really only will use one in the garden...So, I just transplanted one into today and will make sure it does well and list the rest on freecycle.org. If you haven't heard of freecycle, you are missing out! You can list anything you want to get rid of or need. Nothing is for sale it is all free! I browse it regularly to see if anybody has listed anything I may want for craft or DYI projects. I'd rather give the pepper plants away to someone who wants them than toss them.

 Beautiful pepper plants!

 My tomato plants have really taken off! I planted five plants so I can make a variety of pasta sauce, salsa, and pizza sauce with my harvest! Once I planted them, I put their tomato cages around them and wrapped some plastic wrap around the base of the cages to give the plants a little shelter from the wind until they are established in the ground.

 My lettuce is starting to pop up! (Notice the egg shells!)

 When I planted my broccoli I covered them with cut up 2 liter soda bottles. I just cut the bottom off them and stuck them in the ground over the broccoli. My mom always uses gallon milk jugs but I usually only buy cardboard cartons of milk so I used the soda bottles instead and they have worked fine! This is not the best picture but you can see how the bottle kinda works as a greenhouse for the broccoli and it won't be much longer until I can take the bottles off them.

 The first sign of my potatoes!

 Since I took this picture a couple days ago, all of my potatoes have sprung up and have at least tripled in size! I can't wait to dig them up and have homegrown potatoes!

 Out in front of the house I planted gladiolus and dahlias. No sign of the glads yet but I have some signs of life from the dahlias!

 I'm so glad I left this plant out front! I had no idea what it was when it came up this spring but I took a chance and left it. It turned out to be a very happy Bleeding Heart plant! I love them!

 I made a fun spring/summer wreath for my front door! I saw one like this on pinterest but the link to it led nowhere...kinda annoying, but I tried to figure out how to make. I think I did a good job! I bought a 15ft garden hose, some bright colored fake flowers, bright garden gloves and some bright ribbon that matched both the flowers and the gloves. I played around with the garden hose until I liked how it looked and then used super glue around each coil to keep it together. I used some crafting wire and glue to hold the flowers and gloves to the hose and then tied the ribbon around them as a finishing touch! So far, it has held up and I love it!

 My wonderful husband bought me a camera this past week and I have been in heaven! I have wanted a nice camera for awhile and I was so surprised when he let me pick out the one I wanted! I got the Canon Rebel T3i and it is awesome! With that, my cats have been the subject of my adventures in photography. I don't have any aspirations of becoming a professional photographer but I just wanted to be able to take nice pictures of my family, friends and landscapes.

Fizzgig, being the good sport he is about posing for the camera!

 Scout wants no part in anything to do with pictures. She has always shied away from the camera!

 My pretty boy!

 Causing trouble, like usual...

 Eating grass, because what else is there to do outside...

 I love his face in this one!

 Scout loves her grass too! I treated them for fleas earlier in the month because A) I like letting them outside to explore the backyard, B) I do not want to deal with treating them after they get fleas and having to bug bomb the house for fleas, and C) Scout is allergic to fleas so I really don't want to pay for the vet bills that come with her allergies...

I love this one! He never misses an opportunity to get in a box!

 

Hello Bloggers! My new camera and a makeup-less me! I've been minimizing my makeup for the past few months. I feel like it's better for my skin and my husband doesn't mind me without it! 

I hope I didn't bombard you with too many pictures of cats (crazy cat lady, right here!) and you enjoyed seeing how my garden is coming along! I'm hoping that it all turns out alright and trying not to stress out for everything that doesn't!