It is technically Spring around these parts, but I feel deceptive in saying so. The days are growing longer and warmer... mosquitoes are everywhere and the other day, I stepped out of the office after work and it even smelled like summer already. My goats refuse to go into their house until at least 8:30 pm, and soon, they will insist on even later. The wildflowers have had a field day... get it, field?! Maybe I am just paying more attention this year but I swear that the spring bloom has been bigger and has stuck around longer... the lupin are exceptionally intense and the grape vineyards around our house are just covered in purple blankets. We had so much late Spring rain this year and even though the hills have clung to their chlorophyll for a long time, this past week they've all started to turn gold. It won't be long before everything has died off. As much as I love the intense heat of the summer, days spent at the river and barbecues afterwards... there is always something about the spring that revitalizes me from the outside in.
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| weed barrier down over the septic tank lids |
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| Slate? we dug up and wooly sage |
And following suit, our garden has really taken off! Everything that we planted from seed is absolutely thriving, in fact, I plan to pick the first of our lettuce to have with dinner tonight. Our transplants (mostly pepper, tomatoes and herbs) are doing good as well and we haven't had too many pest problems yet. I did have my mint stolen from underneath me but for the most part our neighbor cat has done an excellent job at keeping the mole/vole population down, my husband even saw her chase one up a tree!
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| Dill |
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| pretty little bell peppers |
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| Snap peas |
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| Onions |
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| Lettuce!! |
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| My pumpkin from Halloween's jack-o-lantern |
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| James and the little peach |
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Spidey
We've also tried to clean up the patio and the side of the house a bit for summer gatherings, James even built a little step down to our gravel path, but I also hope to build some outdoor furniture soon to really spice up the space! Speaking of furniture, the husband was also commissioned to build me a storage solution for our living room (our old Target furniture just wasn't cutting it anymore and honestly I can't believe it even lasted that long). Anyway, I designed a simple sideboard that he built and stained it for me and it turned out beautiful.
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| before some clean up |
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| a bit better for the time being |
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| adding the step |
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| my pretty new sideboard |
I also got a shelf out of him while his creative juices were flowing, but I'm most excited for when I can convince him to get to work on our bed! Since I've lived with in October)my husband (10 years this October) we have never had a bed frame, just a box spring and a mattress on the floor... so classy. I've looked A LOT for a bed to just buy but I am really picky about what I want and nice bed frames are just so dang expensive. I have a very simple design in mind and soon I will have it!
So, that's the haps on the hill. Other than many small projects that we have going or in mind, our next big focus is to clean out our garage... it is overflowing with junk and is crying out for attention. James and I had fun building those two little pieces of furniture and we like the idea of gaining some wood working skills. Heck, if I can clean out, organize and PURGE a lot of my craft supplies, we might even be looking at remodeling the spare room in the garage sometime soon... a girl can dream, right?
Until then... some more bits and pieces of the last remaining days of Spring...
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| Baby birds nesting in my rain chime |
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| this is where I lay out and read... I took the picture to capture all the green that will be gone soon |
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| Jones |
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| Sage |
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| Willow ;) |
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| Sisters |
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| Happy Spring! |
