Spring is in the Air....Guess what that means....

It's garden time!!!!

Yes my friends that is what I have been doing recently. I have been planning, ordering and buying seeds, prepping, all for that wonderful time of year when I grow my own food!

I am trying new varieties of edibles this year and I am putting in more beds. I am going to be putting in 4 2foot by 2foot beds, one for each of my kiddos to grow 1 crop of their choice. I am also going to be digging up some ground for my corn since it doesn't do very well in my garden beds.

I plan on buying a long patio planter type thing to plant some garlic in the late summer. I also plan on buying some more seed potatoes of the yukon gold and red variety. Plus I want to get some red and yellow onion sets, a grape start and a kiwi bush, all of which have designated places I want to plant them!

As I have always stated, I want to have an edible yard. Of course my front beds will be dedicated to the pretty flowers but most of my landscape will be comprised of edibles.

Here you can see what my garden looks like today! My beds empty! I plan on amending the soil with some peat moss, vermiculite (only if I can find it), and some compost. I already have some red onion I have overwintered in the beds and I have planted one square of broccoli.

I have also started some of my seeds indoors. Mainly peppers and tomatoes and I have some herb seeds in started

Four of the cups contain tomato seeds of the "big boy" variety. I really wanted to grow the heirloom variety of "Mortgage Lifter" but I did not order my seeds in time.

I have 5 cups dedicated to starting bell peppers of the "Carnival Mix" variety. These bell peppers will be purple, white, red, orange, all kinds of beautiful colors as they mature.

I also have 5 cups dedicated to growing jalapeno starts. My hubby loves jalapeno's stuffed with cheese, breaded, and deep fried!

A new variety of pepper I am growing this year is the "Tequila Sunrise" hot pepper. The plants are rather small and the peppers will be a bright orange. I am sure they will be beautiful in the garden!

Another new variety I am growing this year is the Serrano Chili. I have dedicated 3 cups each to the Serrano Chili pepper and the Tequila Sunrise pepper.

I enjoy cooking so much and as I expand my culinary expertise, I have been experimenting with the various herbs. Mainly dried. This year I wanted to grow herbs in my kitchen for such reasons.

Here you can see I have rosemary seeds in dirt.

I also have dill seeds in dirt. I just LOVE the dill!

A new one for this year is Thyme.

Spearmint

Sage

I bought this herb "tree" kit at Lowe's a few weeks ago. I have cilantro, oregano, chives, parsley, and basil growing very vigorously in my dining room window.

 That is all about my garden for today. I will definitely keep you updated as the season progresses. 

Here's to great gardening and greater harvests!!!!

Picture of the day is a sort of brag.

My hunny came home a few days ago bearing gifts for little ole me!

A dozen yellow and pink roses, Ghiridelli Chocolates with caramel, and not pictured Caramel filled Cadbury eggs! How lucky and spoiled am I :)

Be blessed!

But the Dog DID Eat My Homework

Our pets are like kids to us. We raise them, train them, take care of them, love them, talk to them. I treat them as though they were my kids. As of right now we have 4 pets. 

2 dogs: 3 year old Chiweenie Tinkerbell and 3 month old Chihuahua Roxy.

2 cats: Indoor kitty Daisy  and outdoor kitty Wickett.

We just love our animals.

However, animals do weird things. For one, my Chiweenie Tinkerbell is completely housebroken; that is if it isn't raining. If it is raining when we let her out to potty she will hide on the porch or deck until we let her in. Then she will wait until we aren't paying attention and sneak off to our laundry room and do her business on the floor. It infuriates me to no end. I understand not wanting to go out in the rain but come on.....you're a dog :)

Now since Tinkerbell is 3 years old and I have raised her and know this about her, I make sure to put puppy pads in my laundry room floor for her when it is raining so there isn't any nasty on the floor. I guess all is well with that but I still get annoyed with her sometimes.

My kids can definitely say the dog at their homework. As you can see, there is currently paper all over my living room floor. Luckily, this paper is a graded report so there will be no doing over.

This sweet little face is the culprit of the chewed school work. Our new little Chihuahua Roxy. She is so rotten. I just don't know how her little body holds her big ole personality. She chases and wrestles the cats. She loves to sneak attack Tinkerbell and our big outdoor cat Wickett (he comes in to eat because if I feed him outside about 10 neighborhood strays come to eat his food and cat fights ensue). She likes to growl and bark. Her personality is way too big for her little tiny body.

 Roxy has also been testing my patience. She was puppy pad trained by the person we got her from. However, she she will just squat anywhere. Then when we pick her up to put her on the puppy pad she does the pitiful little cower move and then hides and finishes her business. Some days I feel I am constantly on my hands and knees cleaning up little tinkle puddles out of the carpet ( I want hardwood floors lol)

She is getting better though. I have puppy pads over her 3 favorite (yes 3!! ugh) areas in the living room and since she refuses the crate at night I have 2 puppy pads in my bedroom where she sleeps. She has hit them more than she has missed them the past few days so I hope to get her to where she will be "going" outside soon.

Beyond all of the frustrations of raising pets, there are so many joys to them too.

My puppies have been my constant companions while I have been sick these past two days. 

Here you can see Roxy enjoying my heated blanket with me. And can you see that lump she is looking toward? (it is kind of hard to tell with the brown blanket)

That lump is Tinkerbell, on my lap UNDER the blanket. It is really cool knowing my puppies whom I love so much enjoy a nice heated blanket as much as I do.

Picture(s) of the day.

I have several pictures to share with you all as my picture of the day. Each one of these pieces of art were drawn by my oldest daughter. She is only 12 years old. She has been drawing since she could pick up a pencil.

An Angel

Characters from the Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp

A Landscape

Portrait of her boyfriend John.

An eye and a hand.

Be blessed!

Round and Round I Go

Boy do I really feel bad today. I woke up this morning all stuffed up with a fever and a sore throat. I have spent most of the day on the couch with medicine head watching television and crocheting. I sure hope I feel much better tomorrow. I just hate being sick.

As I have promised, I have finally taken pictures of two crochet projects I have on the go. Both projects were requested by one of my cousins on my dad's side. She has a beautiful little boy and is currently pregnant with a little girl. She offered to pay  me for my efforts but I have found that I just enjoy crocheting so much more if I am making something as a gift.

Are you ready to see?

As you can see, I am making the baby girl blanket in the round.  I love how frilly it looks as it ripples up the larger it gets. I am making it out of scrap Red Heart Super Saver. I don't know the exact colors but they are a light pink, a light purple, and cream. I figure I am about 3/4 of the way finished with this blanket.

The second blanket I will be making for my cousin is for her little boy. She wanted him to have a blanket he can snuggle with as he watches tv. She also suggested the colors should be in the greens and browns area. So I went to Hobby Lobby and decided to try their I Love This Yarn line which I have heard so much about. I am using brown, mid green, and linen colors. I decided the pattern would be a diagonal granny stripe.

 I spent a lot of time last night just thinking of how I could make the stripes diagonal. Then an idea popped in my head and BOOM here is what I worked out. I will make this blanket as wide as I want it and then reverse the colors so I will end with the green in the other corner. 

As for the I Love This Yarn brand. This yarn is very soft. It glides really smooth on my hook. I love how it works up. I guess I could say I really do love this yarn.

Wanna see the picture of the day?

Here is the Columbus sky line. 

My hubby and I decided to venture out yesterday and I decided to we wanted to explore Columbus. I have to say I am kind of disappointed about the downtown skyline. There really isn't many tall buildings to oooh and aaaah over. However, we did go by The Ohio State University. It is a beautiful school BUT I am a strict MICHIGAN WOLVERINE fan so that's all I can say about it. ;p

I will write again once I feel a little better. 

Until then, Be Blessed

Dodge Ball?

Hello!!!!

How are you?

I am doing pretty good on this lovely Saturday evening!

Guess what we did?

Our family participated in a charity dodge ball tournament!

Yes. I said DODGE BALL!

We didn't make it past the first round BUT we went, we played, we had fun, and we made memories.

Guess what else?

I sprained my neck!

You know, there are certain things you should probably give up when you get a butt as big as mine..lol

A few days ago, my oldest daughter, who is very interested in doing all kinds of flips and flops, asked me if I could STILL do all of those flip flops I LOVED to do when my butt was smaller. 

Now it seems my butt likes to drag me down :)

So we did some front flips, some back bends, I did them and was super proud of myself.

Then I did a head stand!!!

AND I sprained my neck because the muscles in my neck were trying to keep my butt from pulling me over on top of my youngest son.

SO.....I spent two days on the couch, with my neck supported, using heat to ease the pain and tension.

Today, Thankfully, it was feeling a bit better and I was able to participate in the tournament.

Oh and one more exciting thing...My hubby is on a mini vacation. He doesn't have to go back to work until Wednesday!!!

Lots of snuggly cuddly time!!!

I promise I will get some pics of my crochet business soon.

Be blessed!

A Little Catching Up

 Hello my friends. Do you like that cute little puppy? That little puppy was my Valentine's day present from my hubby. She is a 3 month old female Chihuahua. Her name is Roxy and she is the sweetest little thing. I have wanted another little dog since our beloved Shorty passed away last April. When he gave me little Roxy, I felt like the missing piece of my soul was back.

I promised you I would show you our new van.

What do ya think? It is a 2004 Chevrolet Venture LS. It has 8 passenger seating (2 front, 3 middle, 3 back), cd player, dual climate controls, power everything, cruise control, good a/c. It had 120,000 miles on it. We talked the price down from $4900 to $4200 as there is a couple things we need to fix. One, the window is off track on the driver's side. We know how to fix it, we just have to wait for a nice day to do it. Two, the rear wiper doesn't work. We think it may be the fuse. And 3 the glove box clip is broken so it is wedged shut. That also is a super easy fix. We figured out it gets about 25-30 miles per gallon (non-highway) which is super!!! It has it's flaws but it is a great van and we are super stoked to FINALLY have a vehicle that will safely and comfortably seat us all AND one we will trust going the 12 hour trips down to Florida!!!

I am also working on a couple crochet projects. My ripple is ongoing. I know it is going to take me a while to finish as I lay it aside to do requested blankets and things. That doesn't bother me as it is a scrap ripple (ok scrap PLUS some yarn colors I saw and decided to buy :P) and it is being made for my bed. I just love working on it.

I am also working on a nice baby girl blanket for my Cousin's baby to be born in a couple months. It is being done as a circle and in the colors of cream, pink, and light purple. She has also requested a toddler size blanket for her adorable little boy to snuggle in as he watches television. It will be made in olive green, tan, and brown per her request.

I have also been clipping coupons. I have been so bad as I have two weeks worth I have yet to organize but I have been on the road (in my van tee hee) so much I don't have much time for it.

Oh, I also did my own acrylic french manicure nails this morning. I don't see spending $45 dollars for 1 full set at the salon when you can get a kit at Walmart or drug stores for $20 dollars or less. The kit does 3 full sets and 6 fill ins. Not to mention it really isn't as hard as it seems to be..Just kind of stinky.

Other than those things and all of the running around I have been doing, I have been trying to keep up on my housekeeping duties. Unfortunately, i do have a decent pile of laundry in the laundry room and my dishes need done. I don't really want to do it but I will have it done tonight.

I guess that is all for my catching up. I will do another post soon on my crochet projects. 

Ready for the picture of the day?

Here is how my dinner table looked last night for our Valentine's Day dinner. What food says romance more than Italian food. I made my family Lasagna, garlic bread sticks, and a fresh green salad. The kiddos had kool-aid to drink and my hunny and I had sweet tea. We ate our meal by candle light and the kids thought it was the most wonderful thing ever!

See you again soon.

Be Blessed.

Still here!

Hey everyone! Just a quick stop by to tell you all I am still around.

We have been super duper busy lately.

Good news is we did buy a van FINALLY.

We have been going non-stop since.

I promise I will have pics of it up very soon.

I will also have some pics up of the weather we are supposed to get tonight.

Okay I miss blogging so much!

Need to make my schedule fit it in!

Catch y'all soon.

Be blessed.

Van Shopping

Hello my wonderful friends. Guess what????

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

Yup at 10:45am this morning I officially turned 32.

My wonderful hubby took a day off of work today AND our taxes came in FINALLY so we decided to go van shopping.

Now there are TONS of places up here to purchase vehicles.

You have your big name dealerships.

Little family owned dealerships.

Side of the road car sales.

Buy Here Pay Here

We have it all up here.

Today my hubby and I went to several different places and looked at many vans. I am astonished as to what some places will call "good quality used cars"!

I saw vans for $4000 - $5000 dollars that had huge dents in the sides, busted lights, and even torn off mirrors.

I started up vans that sounded horrible when they were started.

I even saw a van that when it was going to be test drove and the driver tried to roll down the window, the window just fell down into the door!!!!!!!

On the bright side, we did find some vans we wouldn't mind purchasing.

One at a dealership and one at a family owned business.

We are currently waiting word on financing on the dealership one (really hard to buy anything without credit these days). 

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!!!

Be blessed everyone!