The Garden is In!

Today was busy! Brian and I got to working in the yard at 10:30 AM. We had planned on getting the garden tilled and planted yesterday but that did not happen we did other things that I will blog about later. 

This first picture below is of what my vegetable garden looked like this morning, dried dead leaves, fruit and other things that I have been throwing in there to enrich the soil (including my pumpkins from halloween!)

I say every year that putting your seedlings out is like sending children off to school, it is hard because they were raised from seed and something could always happen but I am confident they will be quite alright. 

I could not believe how soft and friable the soil was! When rototilling all of the soil up it was like cutting through butter compared to previous years!

Here is the rototilled garden ready to be plotted out and filled with veggies. It looks quite different than it did a few hours earlier. 

Here is Sofia laying in the cool soil.

Brian and I used a soaker hose held down with yard staples to water the garden this year. We like to try new systems. 

After the soaker hose was put in we covered the plots with landscaping fabric to hold down the weeds, but also to retain moisture and heat. 

This is the EarthMachine, it is the composting bin that I received from The Green Team. They gave a class on how to use it and this composter for only 5 dollars!

And this is the finished garden area, it looks so wonderful and the EarthMachine is right next to it. 

We Have Contact!

If you look very closely you can see the tiny tendrils of the sweet pea vines grabbing onto the twine. Soon they will start climbing higher and higher and then bloom their scented multicolored flowers. 

I don't remember  buying this Iris but Brian said that he does. I wonder what it is called?

Brian deadheaded these violas, I could have pressed the blooms but I didn't get to them in time. 

This is a pretty geranium leaf I think it is pretty!

Pretty Marigold.

Here is all of the growth around the pond. You can see the well worn path the dogs have warn around it. 

The Solomon's Seal have recovered from the neighbors destruction. 

Here is an upward view of the some Columbine, I like the color contrast against the blue sky. 

The Alliums have bloomed beautifully! I think that there are more this year than there were last year. 

Seed update

The seedlings that I posted about a while ago are doing great. They will be ready to plant out this Sunday. I am always nervous about planting them out but they will do well!

These are Zephyr Squash seeds. 

Charleston Destino Gastelum/Wells

Our dog Charlie had a recent visit to the vet. He had a lump on his neck and another on his hip, the vet was also concerned about the plaque on Charlie's teeth. I scheduled an appointment to have the lump (about the size of a large marble) in his neck removed and to also have his teeth cleaned.

Here is Charlie on his way to the vet! He is being unusually good, whenever he is in the car he is so quiet and observant.

 

Once we arrive at the vet Charlie curiously looks around and takes in all of the new smells. 

Charlie was in the care of the vet and her staff for close to six hours. When I went to go and pick him up they brought him out from the back offices. Charlie slowly started to walk into one of the patient rooms which was in the opposite direction that I was in. The vet tech was trying to tell him to look in the other direction at me but he was too out of it. I called his name and he started to look around and when he spotted me his tail wagged a few times and he immediately started to cry. He missed his daddy. Charlie was too weak to jump into the back of the car so I had to lift him, those drugs they gave him really knocked him out!

Charlie quickly made his way to his bed and was very tired. 

He was trying to fight those drugs but they had him out in no time. You can't even see his eyes in this pic!

The lump on Charlie's neck ended up just being a cyst that the vet said would be more irritating than pose any danger and under her advisement we had her remove it. Charlie's teeth are now pearly white and all clean, we will have to brush his teeth on a regular basis to avoid tartar build up. 

My Tree Peony Bloomed!

My Momoyama tree peony bloomed this afternoon. I wasn't expecting to see it bloomed already because just this morning I posted a blog about it showing just the bud. I went to get something from my car and this is what I found! THANK YOU BRIAN!!!

State of the Yard and New Additions

Here is our gazing ball at the back of the pond. 

Here is Sofia looking so precious and concerned with all of the noises in the yard. 

Here is the beginning of a new raised bed I planted my new asparagus in! YUM I LOVE ASPARAGUS!

Here is Sofia looking at the very tall asparagus plant!

Here is the asparagus all planted. It looks great!

Here is a close up of one of the baby shoots.

My chives are starting to flower, I need to do something with them quick! It just seems like everything in the yard is blooming so fast.

I am so sad because we are going out of town for 5 days and this peony looks like it is on the verge of blooming. 

The alliums are starting to burst open, they remind me of fireworks when they are in full bloom.

The iris are all forming buds, they remind me of lobster claws!

Here is Sofia sitting in the beginning of the fern garden on the shady side of our house, today I bought a Cinnamon fern and Japanese Painted fern.

Here is the Japanese Painted fern sitting next to it's new home and a hosta. 

Here is a close up of the Cinnamon fern.

And here are all of the ferns in the bed of carpet moss.

Momoyama & Martha Care Package

Today was a great day! My Momoyama tree peony has a hugeeeee bud on it. I am so excited to see the beautiful flower that this bud will burst into. Look at the size of the bud in my hand and I don't have small hands. I would say that the bud is about the size of an egg. 

Then after on my doorstep was the wonderful Martha Care Package sent over by the too generous Claudine K. at Good Things, Life of a Martha Stewart Wannabe. I was so excited when I opened the package. I even used the new rubber scrapper when making dinner. There was even a pill of some type in the bottom of the box! I hope you didn't need that Claudine!

I made "roadmap" lasagna my friend Steph calls it. The reason that she calls it that is because it is a lasagna that you need a map to find which section is which. It has different sections to accommodate different tastes. Brian doesn't like ricotta cheese but I do, I don't eat meat but Brian does. I did get one great idea from Steph, you puree an entire bag of spinach into the ricotta cheese and it makes it a beautiful color, and it is a nice way to get an entire bag of spinach into your food! I use the Ina Garten method of not boiling the noodles but putting them in a bowl of really hot water. Then homemade sauce, on my side of the roadmap there is the green spinach and cheese filling and then some sauteed veggies for the inside (in my new Martha Stewart Collection cast iron enamel pot!)

Martha Find/GREAT DEAL!

Yesterday before work I just had to stop at Macy's and buy a Martha Stewart Collection enamel coated cast iron pot. I love, love, love the color! This pot was originally $100.00 but now it is on sale for 39 dollars! Can you believe that! GET THEM WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! HAHA. 

I debated on these plates until I saw my friend/fellow blogger Claudine's beautiful panini displayed on one, after I saw that I just had to have them and they were on sale for 3 dollars. 

I also bought some more of these blue bowls I love the size and depth of them. Here is a SMALL portion of my Martha Stewart Collection. I AM OBSESSED/ADDICTED!!!!