Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Just about finished!

I'm super excited (and pretty filthy) because the garden is almost finished!

Yes, I know it's late in the year to still be doing gardens, but I'll remind you, gentle reader, that the yard wasn't completely closed off until two weeks ago. Plus: this is the first summer I've probably had off since high school. I'm enjoying being lazy for a while.

Just about finished!

I'm super excited (and pretty filthy) because the garden is almost finished!

Yes, I know it's late in the year to still be doing gardens, but I'll remind you, gentle reader, that the yard wasn't completely closed off until two weeks ago. Plus: this is the first summer I've probably had off since high school. I'm enjoying being lazy for a while.

Monday, August 15, 2011

I've got an actual, honest to goodness, GARDEN.

 

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No, gentle reader, you did not hallucinate.  I, Shannon H. have a garden.  With tomatoes and peppers and brussel sprouts and...flowers.  There are actually a number of edible things in the garden...and there are flowers, too. 

Why is this such a big deal?  The mister thinks it will take my mind off of worrying about real life and focus on the minutia of the garden plants.  Water them and just zen out for a while.  Eat the occasional strawberry...stop and smell the roses...ruffle the lavender plants a bit.  You get the idea.  In 'real life' I'm quite the worrier: will I be working on contract in the new school year (yes - good. Stop worrying. But it's a bitsy little contract - start worrying again), will we be able to move into our own place next year now that my (fairly sizable) student loan has been paid off?  What will happen to my garden when we move away?  Will the new people take care of it and love it as much as I do?

Do you see what he puts up with?  These kinds of thoughts lead me to sleepless nights and stomach aches.  However...the garden was a wonderful idea on his part.

It got me outside in the fresh air and working up a bit of a sweat while we were putting up a new fence (so I wouldn't have to worry about the llamas, alpaca and donkey tromping around and eating my precious plants):

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That's the view from the backyard looking north.  The donkey is less than pleased that he has been cut off from his daily brushing now that he can't just come up to the sliding glass door and look in to see if we'd be available for a bit of attention.

The mister is not keen on the idea of having rocks as garden skirting (or whatever you want to call it).  This is my little garden - the little garden needed more soil.  The little garden got more soil and a darling little rock skirting to keep it all in.  When he came home and saw my garden (then referred to as my 'poop garden' since I only had llama manure in it because we hadn't finished the most crucial part of the fence that would be directly BESIDE the animals), I asked him if he liked what I had done and that if he hadn't he could lie to me.  After an: "I LOVE you," and a shake of the head, that was that.

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It's been coming along - slowly, but surely.  I've got my vegetables in the ground and looking rather perky as well as almost two dozen strawberry plants in two 1/2 wine barrels and two black planters...which look remarkably like the office garbage bins from Costco.  Four for $9.99.  It's basic black - I didn't care what the original plan for the containers was.  (Pictures to follow I spruced up the planters since I took the last picture.)  I still have to put in the rest of my flowers (more of them keep showing up on my door step.  Literallly!), before it is completely finished.

But I can worry about that tomorrow.