Garden Log: Extra

Whatever something that has dug the little holes in my soil just might be larger than a mouse... either that or Fluff was chasing something small. This morning I got up to quite a mess on the porch. (Did I mention that I'd bought some new transplants this week after many of mine froze? Well, I did and they were still in the "nursery" on the back porch.)

2 new tomatillo plants (I found a transplant that had 2 in the pot & separated them!) - both were tipped over this morning. Dirt was dumped out of one of the pots. My firecracker peppers that were in the pretty pot and in a terra cotta pot were both tipped over. Soil & plants were fine. Then whatever it was apparently walked across one of my flats of peat pots. Very soft peat pots. 2 pepper pots and 1 asparagus pot were crushed. Several others were squished.

So first thing this morning, I repotted the crushed seedlings into nursery containers. Hopefully they'll survive. I think this afternoon when it warms up some, I'll repot as many as I have containers and soil for and hope this is not an ongoing problem.

After dealing with the plants, I then noticed that David's foam baseball bat that was on the porch has been chewed up as well! Crazy!

Spring, Coffee, Seeds

Let's see how many things I can cover in one post! HA!

First, welcome on in, Company Girls! The kettle is whistling... I've got instant decaff with Splenda and Half & Half so the baby won't freak out.

Next I'll do my garden log and review for The Growing Challenge: From Seed to Seed.

And this week's You Capture photo challenge is Spring. I thought my garden log would provide some appropriate photos for the challenge. It was fun thinking of both of these challenges as I photographed my plants this week!

We had the open house last Saturday, along with a baby shower! Everything went wonderfully. We enjoyed sharing the day with friends, family, and neighbors, and were showered with wonderful gifts for the coming baby. I posted a Virtual Open House and baby shower.

We had a frost last weekend. : ( I did cover my tomatoes, but it was so windy that the cover of Raised Bed #1 blew off. The Roma, which had suffered some stem damage from an insect earlier this week looked like a goner. The Mariglobe tomatoes got frostbite. The tomatillos' & onions' stems were broken by the flapping cover. I cried. Raised Bed #2 was fine.

The next night, another frost. Dad put out the covers for me because I wasn't feeling well. The tomatoes (Roma & Mariglobe) & tomatillos in Bed 1 appear to be gone. Also covered, Raised Bed #2 got frostbite as well. Both Wild Cherry tomatoes look completely dead. The Mortgage Lifter lost some leaves, but I think it will be ok. I still can't tell about the Yellow Pear (that's it in the photo).

Meanwhile, 3 yellow tomatoes planted in troughs at the back of the house were fine, uncovered. Those are the ones I got for free. Go figure. I think the house blocking the north wind helped.

Other bad news - the peppers that were transplanted into the garden? Too early. This truly is a learning experience! Luckily I had a lot of pepper seedlings. Here are some of the ones that are left:
I thought their leaves were having some kind of problem, but it turns out that those first leaves that appeared when they first sprout are starting to fall off, just leaving the true leaves behind. That makes the plants suddenly look smaller again! This one below is a firecracker pepper, which will be a pretty plant, so I put it in a pretty pot.

And of all the seeds that I had great success germinating, I'm having more trouble keeping them alive & transplanting them. I have moments of thinking, "Next year, I'm just buying plants," followed a little later by feelings of "I can do this!" Dad has a greenhouse that's not put together right now & even he mentioned using part of it for vegetable starting in the future. Maybe that would help. I think part of my problem now is that they dry out so fast on the porch with the wind we've been having.

And now, something has been digging little holes into the dirt in my pots (seedlings and larger pots!) on the porch at night!!!! Apparently this cat is not doing his job defending my plants at night! It's not him, because his paws would leave a bigger hole. Could it be a mouse? or some type of insect?

Now, some better garden news...

The carrot seeds that I replanted after David dug them up the first time are sprouting. I have no idea when I need to thin them. I don't think we'll be getting a lot of carrots out of this one pot, but it's still fun to see them grow. Elizabeth loves carrots, too. We'll enjoy whatever we get.

The lettuce garden on the back porch is still growing well. All the seeds came up around the edges of the pots. I wonder if maybe the seeds floated to the sides when I watered them in? I ate one of the tiny leaves Thursday evening. It was good!

A couple of bunches of Swiss Chard are still looking good. They've enjoyed the recent rain.

That's all the seeds. The potatoes also got frostbite last weekend, but they look like they'll come back. Onions are still growing well in the raised beds & troughs. I was tempted to pull one of Grandpa's the other day...

Dad will be excited to see this one (he's been at work) - the horseradish root I planted for him has sprouted!


Now on to the flowers! We don't really have much blooming this week. But we were given this beautiful geranium at the open house by one of our neighbors. The color is amazing and the plant is huge! This photo has not been edited at all!

I had purchased a 6-pack of petunias a few weeks ago & put those in little pots on the front porch to welcome our guests. I lucked out with a pack that was all different colors. (perhaps you've noticed I like things colorful around here) We had white, bright pink, red, deep purple, pale pink and one hasn't bloomed yet.

I think this is a claret cup cactus that we moved here with us from West Texas. The blooms were just starting to open.


I can't remember which post she commented on, but my bloggy friend Heather @ Not a DIY Life asked if the kids garden with me. (Her Ladybug is a few months younger than my Ladybug.) They love being outside with me and I do have some kids gardening tools.

David has a kid-size hoe and I've taught him that we want grass in the back yard, but not in the garden... and that we want sunflowers in the garden but not in the back yard! So far, he's done pretty good attacking the right thing in the right place. And when I say "attacking" that's really what it looks like. We've worked on controlling the hoe to actually hoe a weed, but when left on his own, he just attacks the plant (or the ground), leaves it maimed, and moves on to the next one.

I do most of my potting on the back porch. I have a big flat bucket thing that I set pots in while I'm working & it contains the potting soil mess. Elizabeth has a little hand rake and likes to scrape in the dirt in my work area. She also likes to fill little pots with dirt, pour it out, and do it again.

I use a watering can to water my seedlings & pots and MawMaw gave Elizabeth a little watering can at our first baby shower, so she also enjoys watering things. I don't want her watering the seedlings, so I usually ask her to water the flowers. She gets so proud that she's able to help, proclaiming, "I helpin'! I water flowers!"

As I forked some hay/compost into my potato cages this week, Elizabeth also threw in handfuls of dirt. I usually don't mind most of their help as long as they're not adding rocks or moving rocks from where I want them. We have a big pile of dirt that usually gets their attention that they dig & play in, also.

As they get older and continue to be outside with me and Dad, I'm sure teaching them about the plants and how to take care of them will just come naturally. It's all a learning opportunity. David understands about compost, recycling and how earth worms help the soil. And of course, they know that ladybugs are the good guys, so don't squeeze them! Dad is also looking forward to the day when David will be old enough to teach about lawn mowing!

Reflection

I just stumbled upon the weekly photo challenge called You Capture. I love photo challenges, so I thought I'd play along when I can. This last week's challenge was Reflection.

Belly Shot, 38 Weeks

I accidentally noticed this reflection one morning as the sun came in the windows & thought it would make an interesting belly shot. A little more revealing than my normal belly shot, but since it's a reflection, it doesn't feel so exposed... look away if it embarrasses you. Oh, and try not to notice the mess on the floor.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I really shouldn't tell this one, but it was already said in front of about 20 people!

David & Elizabeth spent the night with MawMaw last Friday while Dad & I finished getting the house ready for our Open House that was Saturday. We also had a Baby Shower that started about noon, which is when MawMaw came & brought the kids back. David has been so excited about the open house, because he loves to have company. He had a cookie & then in all the excitement just started running around the house. He went into the laundry room and in his loudest voice proclaimed, "Wow! Look how clean it is in here!!!" Everyone died laughing & someone said, "I guess we know what it usually looks like now!" Yes, yes you do. Thanks, David, for pointing that out, too.

On the plus side, now we're trying really had to keep it this clean! David was helping me put his dishes in the sink on Sunday & said, "Mom, you're a really good cleaner." Aw... thanks, sweetie.

Dad was very proud of Elizabeth last night. She was up past her bedtime when Dad fired up his xBox. When she saw the game menu, this conversation took place:
Elizabeth: You play heh-woah?
Dad, with a big grin: Yeah, I'm playing Halo.
Elizabeth, watching the next screen: Number 3, Number 3!!!
Dad: Yes, it's Halo 3.
Elizabeth: Yellow Y, Green B, Red A!
Dad: That's right!
If you or any male at your house plays the game, you may know what they're talking about. A little bit later, Elizabeth was dressed for bed and went to tell Dad goodnight.
Elizabeth: Nite-nite, Dad. Nite-nite, heh-woah.

See more tiny talk over at Mary's.

Baby Shower for Rebekah

We also had a baby shower during the open house! And I think there were some aunts & (girl) cousins who'd like to see those photos...

The cake was absolutely adorable with little ladybugs on it!! It was delicious strawberry cake! And now I don't have to have a birthday cake, because I've got about half of this one left in my freezer! : ) I got to set out my precious Willow Tree mommies and the hostesses gave me these beautiful roses instead of a corsage. I like this better.

Grandpa & Aunt Wee were the official photographers.

Guests were family, friends, and neighbors.

We were showered with lots of adorable and useful baby gifts!

FIVE blankets with Rebekah's name on them!

Gowns, Sleep & Plays, Crib Sheets, Flannel Receiving Blankets

Afghan by Toni H

and lots of cute new outfits ranging in size from
newborn to 12 months!

We are so blessed by family & friends who love us and our kids!

Belly Shot, 38 Weeks

Baby Shower photos on Flickr
Grandpa's shower photos on Flickr

Welcome to Our Open House!

Saturday we hosted our open house! So many people said they wanted to see our house when it was done that we decided just to host a day to invite everyone over.

We've been in since the end of November and I celebrated our first Christmas here before I finished unpacking. OK, so I admit, I probably should have worked on unpacking a little more back then.... it's made the time since Christmas go very slow as there was still lots of settling in to be done and I've only become more & more pregnant! Anyway, we've finally arrived here & I want to welcome everyone in - whether you dropped by the house or just drop in for the cyber tour.

Our house is styled after a barn - one of my Grandaddy's barns, to be exact. Of course, it didn't turn out looking exactly like the barn, but similar and I love it! Our siding and roof are corrugated metal, just like you'd see on an old barn in this area.

Our living room is the first room you'll enter when you come inside. It's open into the dining area and kitchen. Lots of natural light comes in. (This was after the open house, evidenced by Dad asleep on the couch!)

The hearth is kind of between the living area & dining area and is made from bricks that we collected from the house my great-grandparents lived in for a while when my dad was young. The house has since fallen down. Some other of the bricks came from another old house on Grandpa's property. The mantle is made from a mesquite tree that was here on the property, cut down by dad and GrandpaH helped dad finish it into the mantle. The clock was my Grandmother's and the jug comes from Dad's family! : )

Our large dining set belonged to Dad's grandmother.

When I planned out my kitchen, several ladies raised concern about me opting for windows rather than upper cabinets. Instead of upper cabinets or a walk-in pantry, I came up with the pantry wall. Nobody worries about my lack of upper cabinets any more.

We have a long hall that often gets referred to as "the runway" when the kids are racing back & forth! I didn't take a picture of the hall, because it's rather uneventful without the race. I have a cute video that demonstrates the runway in action on this post if you'd like to take a look.

The first door you'll come to as you go down the hall is the kids bathroom. It's decorated with sea life, inspired by David's interest in sharks & crabs. The painting that hangs over the potty is a watercolor done by David last year. (I drew the shark in white crayon, then he painted over it.)

You'll also see a unique door into the laundry room. This screen door came off the house my great-grandparents lived in for a while when my dad was young. Having this door here also allows some light to come into the hallway and helps keep the cats contained when we want them to stay in the laundry room.

The next stop down the hall is our master bedroom. It's dark to allow for daytime sleeping if our fireman (Dad) had a rough night. I haven't really decorated in here yet because I'm planning on putting my Grandmother's buffet in here & am not sure how it will be arranged. Rebekah will sleep in here with us for a while. I have a bassinet that rolls right up to the edge of the bed. This makes nighttime nursing a lot easier than me having to get up & go to another room to feed her.

Through our bedroom is the master bath. Much brighter than our bedroom! It's our "island getaway." I did the hand texture & painting in here. Our shower is one of my favorite parts of the house and the clawfoot tub came out of Dad's great-grandmother's house. It had been sitting outside for years, but refinished beautifully.

Next to our room is the guest room, where you're welcome to stay if you're ever in the area! That quilt was made by dad's great-grandmother for our wedding, the afghan was made by my grandmother, the painting over the bed was done by my mom when she was in college and the other painting was done by me in college.

Just inside the guest room, is my crafting corner. It's currently set up for sewing. I was working on some diaper covers when my machine continued to mess up. It's gonna have to go in for a check-up, I think.

Across the hall is Elizabeth's room, aka the ladybug room, aka the girls' room. When Rebekah leaves our room, the girls will share the ladybug room.

Next is David's room. It's a combination of fire trucks, Cars, sharks, and Wall-E!

I think that covers the inside. You may have noticed that we have a small front porch, but the back is our "entertaining porch." As the evenings are starting to warm up, we've enjoyed sitting out here watching the daylight fade.

We needed a retaining wall at the back of the house and choose to use cattle troughs (some new, some are old) as a retaining wall that we could plant in. If you hear me mentioning some plant I'm growing in one of the troughs, this is what I'm talking about. There's also a mess of toys in the back yard, and a slide off the back porch. And it's a very FAST slide!

From the back porch, we have a great view of the pond... and a fence to keep the kids from wandering down there. Yes, there are fish in the pond, but we haven't been fishing yet.

Some grass seed was planted in the back yard where construction disturbed the native grass. Then the doves, sparrows, cardinals & who knows what else came & cleaned out the place! Now sunflowers are coming up. Maybe some of the grass will still come up back. We'd like to add a swing set or something out here for the kids and we usually get a little pool in the summer, but I don't know if we have a place flat enough for one here.

We really enjoyed being able to incorporate pieces of family history into our house, because that's where we came from. I wish I could show you the family photo wall in the hallway, but I just couldn't get a very good photo of it.

For those interested in the building process, visit my Flickr photos. Be warned, there are a TON of house photos in the set, showing from before ground breaking to current, and I have re-ordered them so that they start with the oldest first and show the progress.

Our house construction photos on Flickr
The open house set on Flickr

We were also given a baby shower during the open house...