Drama Week starts tomorrow! It sure has snuck up on me. I have 2 of the 5 Shadow Guard costumes done, but they are easy to fix up at this point. When I picked them a week ago they were almost done, so I really just need to zip up the fronts and put in a hook.

I do however need to get into the kitchen in the morning and make lots of snacks for the week. Drama Week means long days with dinner in the crock pot..... which means I have to go to the grocery store SOON.

Yesterday we went to my cousin Jennifer's house in lower Georgia. Her house is always so much fun because she has so many animals. Let's see, I saw: 2 ponies, 1 colt, 1 donkey, ??? ducklings, ??? ducks, 4 or 5 chickens, Guinea babies, 3 wild snakes, 1 fish, and 1 really frozen gator baby. Yes, gator! He was dead- a long time gone! Apparently, my cousins' husband Rusty thinks it is fun to bring out the dear dead headless gator for family occasions. Oooh!

Eric asked to go fishing and so Jennifer strung him up a red squiggly worm, and he cast it out and reeled in a beauty of a fish on the first try.

Doesn't he look so proud? He begged to take it home, and I said "NO". Number 1, I don't like to eat fish, have no idea how to cook fish. Number 2, I was not about to clean it! One day he and his brother will learn how to gut and clean fish, maybe from Papa this summer, and Grandma can show them how to cook it.
Jonah came back from camping this evening and looked beat! He hiked 7-8 miles and camped on the trail this weekend. His leader said he did a wonderful job, including encouraging the other scouts when they became tired. I wish I had had more time to get him a camera before he went. I would love to know what the scenery looked like in the Appalachian Mountains.
Anyway- I am signing off for tonight. I really must start this earlier in the evening. My brain has gone to mush for the day.

What a Wonderful Sound a Piano Makes

We have now completed another year of piano lessons with our fabulous instructor Tina. The kids played beautifully. Hannah played Hall of the Mountain King and Eric played Puff the Magic Dragon (one of my favorite songs as a kid). I am so proud of how far they have come in the last year. They have grown not only musically, but in maturity, and spirituality. All three children continue to amaze me with their loving and caring attitudes for their siblings and family.
Anyway, here are Hannah and Eric posing for Recital photos.










My camera is acting up, and did not take the best photos this time. Just erks me to no end. Both the fact that it is a new camera and my lack of understanding for photoshop and the camera itself. I still haven't figured out how to download the video's onto my laptop. Grrrr!
I did get a lot accomplished today!
Dropped the oldest son off for Boy Scout camp out. I had to really work on convincing myself that he is not going to get lost and never come home. I have been watching too much drama on TV.
Obtained new post decals for my van. I had to have the lady come out and scrape off the old decals. I am not tall enough to reach the top and she was barely tall enough. She agreed that it was OK for me to put the new stickers down lower on the window.
Picked up refill meds from PX.
Made the "call", and I now have an appointment for next week with a quilt shop owner concerning consigning in her store. Woo Hoo! I have been fretting about this for days.
Now motivated by the call, I rushed upstairs to work on quilt cards. Accomplished 1 set of 3 cards.
Sent care package to husband. Hope he reads the two things I sent him on farming!
Purchased dress shoes and a black t-shirt for the youngest. Shadow guards must wear black under their cloaks for the Wizard of Oz Play next week. Still need black pants or sweats.
Searched for hair net to help when I put Hannah's hair up next week. She needs to wear her hair in a bun and I hate bobbi pins.
Attend Piano Recital!
To do list on Saturday May 30th:
1. Sew Shadow guards' costumes- at least put a dent in the lot of 5.
2. Work on cards.
3. Make RJ a graduation card.
4. Attend RJ's graduation party. Leave early it's a 2 hour drive.
5. E-mail those pictures of the trees.
I guess that is it for now.

Another Thursday Down

I am not keeping count- but one less day until my dear husband comes home.

Thursday's have been harder for me.... I think it is because the kids have music lessons and I have an hour with nothing to do. Leaves me too much time to think.

I am getting many things accomplished in the effort to keep my mind busy. Garden has been planted and the yard cleaned up. My bedroom is finally clean... well almost. I hate to file, so there is a box of filing left to do. I have been throwing myself into my crafting, in an effort to prepare for a possible consignment opportunity.

Here are the baskets that I dressed up with high hopes they will help sell my cards. What do you think?



Here are some of my cards that are going to fill these baskets.

On to the household chores:

I had the turf guy come out today and spray fertilizer and weed killer on the front lawn. Not much grass in the back, therefor no spraying back there. So the vegies are safe. I know it is not very green to have your yards fertilized, but I can't get it to grow, and some day I will have to sell this house. What is a girl to do? I did do away with pest control services. Partly because they ticked me off, but also from the possible side effects on my small animals. So I am left to tackle the fire ants on my own. Ughh! Oh and the wasps, bees and slugs!

On to the garden- This planter is just outside of my window. It holds the three salsa tomato plants that I got from Burpees. Oregano, lemon balm, and basil are in the front planter.

These are my blueberries, one on each side of my porch.

I have also taken pictures of the trees on top of my house. Literally- on top of the house. The branches are now touching, and the neighbors say they have seen squirrels running the rooftop. Having fun no doubt! I am going to send these pictures to a friend who has offered to come and help cut them down. Won't the squirrels be disappointed? Too bad!
To Do List for Friday May 29th:
1. Drop the oldest son off for Boy Scout backpacking camp out. Yes- he is going to hike 5-8 miles this weekend. And he is excited? DONE
2. Piano recital tomorrow 6:30pm, and I have to figure out the blasted camcorder. DONE
3. Maybe, just maybe, see someone about consigning cards? DONE
4. See a Movie with a friend??? NOT YET
I know there must be more, but the mind is not working efficiently right now.
So I am signing off for tonight.

As promised- Pictures of Garden

Well I did it- One more day of posting.
Having the list of things to be completed really helped today. I completed most on the list- I am going to go down after this post and cross off everything that was done.

So here they are:




This is the original raised bed that we put up in 2007. Being our first garden we had no idea how it was going to go- so we used pine, that did not weather well. This year we bought cedar? or cypress? and painted it with deck stain. Hopefully, this will make it last longer. It looks so beautiful with all the vegies growing.
The middle larger planter is currently growing sweet potatoes. We still have some from last year. It is always so much fun to dig potatoes- like finding buried treasure.


This is the strawberry patch. Last year we had a bumper crop, but this year we have SLUGS. Tonight, I have put out beer in the hopes that the slugs will get really drunk, pass out and die. I sure did get many questions asked of me when we bought the beer tonight. Ooooh and I got carded! The cynic in me says it was just policy- but the happy part of me is so excited and chooses to believe it is because I look so young.

These are my peas. Aren't they lovely? I wish there were more of them, but maybe they will still grow more with time. Some are mature enough to eat. We have tried them in the raw and they are delicious. I am hoping to have enough to cook and maybe freeze for later. I built this trellis by myself with a little supervision from my husband. My beets are to the right of the trellis. I picked about 20 beets today.

These are my squashes- I started them indoors and did not label them- so you guessed it- I have no idea what plant is what. The one on the left is definitely a zucchini. But which one is a butternut, spaghetti, or winter squash? Guess time will tell!

Broccoli and Cauliflower are in front. I wish they would do their thing, because I am worried that the squash is going to overtake them. I cut back the zucchini today, and hopefully it will not kill it.

This is the other side of same planter- with carrots and lettuce and another squash plant peeking out from behind.

Onto the new planter which is an mirror image of the older planter. Although we did not use the stacking brackets in the new beds.

In this bed you can see broccoli and cauliflower. Eric and I planted 3 different types of carrots to the front and all beets in the rear of the bed. You can also see that I have begun the sprinkler system for this bed too. It is not completed yet because I need some parts in order to finish.

This is the bed that will hold our Kennebunk potatoes that I ordered late last night. I really was going to plant the spuds that are in the pantry that are sprouting, but then I read an article that said that grocery bought potatoes could harbor diseases and I definitely do not want to start a new planter out that way.



Eric and I planted spinach, and a mix of lettuce in this bed. I have not decided what else to plant in this bed later on.

This bed will hold our corn, which is under the grow lights in the house. I planted 40 cells today, so I am hoping for 80 ears of corn.

This last photo is specific for my husband. Honey if you are reading this, you will know that you are missed.
Looks like I will have to go next door and see if my wonderful neighbor can deal with this hornets nest. I cannot and will not for I am allergic to bees.

So for tomorrow's to do list:

1. Meet with the gardener from Turf Pride who will fertilize my nasty front yard. My Bermuda grass will not grow in the front... or the back either. One side of the front yard greens up well, but the other and larger side will not. Hopefully this gentleman will be able to fix it for me.

2. School the children.

3. Work on cards

4. Call friend to help role play cold call I want to make for local quilt shop about selling my cards.
5. Mail care package to dear husband.

Gonna Try This Again

Well- Here it goes again.
Today- was another cloudy, wet day. I haven't had to water the lawn or garden in weeks. The kiddos and myself (mostly kids) put bags and bags of compost, soil conditioner, peat moss, and sand into our raised garden beds. We have added another 12o square feet of garden this year, but haven't had soil in them until today. We are using "Mel's Mix" without the vermiculite. I have a source for vermiculite, but the lady who owns the nursery is very suspicious of my purchases. I wonder if she thinks I am starting my own horticulture business?
I have been watching other bloggers and trying to learn from them and how they post. One of the things I have seen and enjoy, is a list of to do items that they are trying to accomplish. So I thought I would try it.
So here we go: Tuesday May 26
1. Start kiddos on their schoolwork DONE
2. Fertilize garden with seaweed fertilizer DONE
3. Contemplate planting corn indoors or out? Will grow faster indoors under grow lights, but it will disturb its roots in the move. Maybe I should plant indoors in peat pots that will breakdown in the soil outdoors. Hmmmm. DONE
4. See a movie with a friend
5. Add protection/warrenty on new cell phone- important DONE
6. Plant more lettuce- trying new mix DONE
7. Plant cucumber indoors- will move outdoors in the next few weeks where the beets are currently. DONE
8. Contemplate what to do with the zucchini that is taking over the broccoli plants, and everything else in its path. DONE- I CUT IT BACK
9. If time permits- weed eat the weeds behind the garden beds. DONE
10. Have #1 son mow the lawns DONE- I MOWED BACK LAWN- HE MOWED FRONT
Future:
Lay down weed barrier around new planter
Put down edging around planter and fill with cedar chips
Try out the beer/slug treatment HOPEFULLY WORKING AS I TYPE

I will get out tomorrow and take some pictures of the garden for ya'll to see.

On the kid front- We took a holiday from school today, just like the school kids do. Well that is not necessarily true here in Georgia. The public school children here are out until August. Not mine..... we will be doing at least Math and Writing throughout the summer.
As I said before the kids helped with the garden today. We even had the neighbor boy working on the dirt shoveling. Later on this afternoon, after showers for everyone to wash the dirt from our bodies, we went next door and swam for several hours. They are sleeping soundly right now, but will no doubt be sore tomorrow.
Jonah had a Boy Scout meeting tonight. It was a "get ready and prove your worth before the backpacking campout "at the end of the week. The boys had to show that they had all of the packing list materials in their pack-plan their meals-make and find sleeping arrangements (who are you bunking with?)- and lastly, hike 3 miles with full backpack. The boy was exhausted when he returned from scouts. I told him to take an Ibuprofin and Benedryl and head off to bed. Hopefully, he will not be too sore tomorrow.
That is all for now- I will update more in the evening tomorrow.