My Garden is HERE!

It is done!! As long as we don't get torrential rain in the next few days, I believe I've been successful in my garden this year. I was able to finish weeding and turning it over on Friday - that is the first picture - oh, and the tomato plants I rec'd from Vicki are in too!. It is far from perfect, but most of the weeds and grass are gone and I've raked it. I thought I might die from doing this..it was SO labor intensive. I was about to give up when David appeared with a glass of water - bless my boy! I took a long drink and keep on going. I then let it rest for the day, and then on Saturday Sami and I planted it in the rain. I just wanted to get all the plants and seeds I bought IN. I planted lettuce, carrots, onions, radishes, my mother's day dahlia bulbs, peas, two kinds of cukes, watermelon, honeydew melon, and strawberries. I am SO jazzed!!

Zeus May 16, 2011

Zeus lost his battle with lung cancer today and joined his canine sister Cassie in Heaven. He was a great dog - just always happy and sincerely loved us with all of his being. He was happiest going for a walk or having you just sit with him outside. He loved his "squeakies" - the toys we bought that quickly lost their squeek! He also loved ice cream, and always knew when it was his turn to "share". The minute Dan's spoon started clicking the bottom of the bowl he came running. Dan shared a last bowl of ice cream with him today. It was hard to let him go, but we know he'll be happier and will be able to breathe better again now. We love you Zeus!

Sami is Home!!

Our girl is home! Dan and I flew down to Provo, Utah to get her on April 21. She was all packed up - I was so proud of her efforts. We did a little cleaning in her apartment, and then we were free to do what we wanted. I had a list of stores to shop at - ones we don't have here at home. We managed to get to all of them, and fit in visits with family and friends. On Saturday April 23 I flew home and Sami and Dan drove home. They stopped along the way and visited family, and still made it home Easter Sunday at 2:30 am. We are so glad she is back! She hopes to gain employment this summer to help with college costs, and enjoy home cooked food. I hope the summer is a nice long one so we can enjoy her before she goes back in the fall. And yeah, I don't know how to fix the pic - you get the idea though.




It stormed in Utah when we were there - aren't these clouds something else? The wind was so strong it really knocked the car around on the way back from the airport. Sami was nervous -she almost pulled over to let Dan drive but then it calmed down a bit. A truck with garbage packed in the back started losing his load - and garbage rained down! I was glad to get through that all.




I thought I would add this pic of Dan eating this scorpion laden sucker. Why he would do such a thing is beyond me...other than he can now say he did it. YUCK~!

My Garden "Becomes"

So as you can see, I've weeded a bit more and am now up to the crawlspace entrance. I'm now 1/3rd of the way there! If you compare this pic to my last post, you can see what I've done. I've been disappointed with the weather - I am a fair weather gardener, and pouring down rain doesn't help my causes! By the time I went back out after the days of rain had passed, I found new weeds in my already weeded garden. So patiently I plucked the new ones out and then moved on to the old. It kind of reminds me of life. When we work hard at overcoming a bad habit, or work at maintaining a new one, we can't just say "okay I conquered, I'm done with that and on to something new!" Periodically we have to go back over old territory and pluck weeds to make sure we are maintaining what we've gained. It doesn't take much usually, just a little care.

Oh, and I've learned how to grow the best, most wonderful lawn anyone has ever seen! Plant a garden - you'll have all the most hardy, hard to pull grass you could ever want.



I thought I would update you on Zeus too. Here he is with his second most favorite play thing. Yes its a log - and a small one at that. Usually he will get one from our wood pile that is nearly too big for him to carry in his mouth, and then proudly run around with it. He was tired in this photo because he ran around "visiting" his neighbor doggy friends (from his side of the fence - he didn't run loose) while I gardened. He is getting shorter of breath now, and if he runs too hard he nearly passes out. Generally though, besides a little coughing he does okay. He coughs occasionally, some days more than others, but other than that he seems happy. The lump on his side gets bigger with each day, but it doesn't seem to slow him at all. We are watching closely for signs of pain, although the vet said he probably wouldn't have any, just a tougher time breathing as time goes on. We are just loving him, and taking one day at a time. It is a good outlook on our own lives, don't you think?