Garden Project

So first up, an explanation of this page: I'm taking Jessica Sprague's "Beautiful Evidence" class right now. It's a 20 page album and right now we are in the "me" chapter. Each page starts out as a complete layered template from Jessica and unless you change things up, you add the suggested pages from the included kit and then just plug in your own photos. I like the way she did things, so I'm not bothering to change much of anything (except the shade of green on this page, it didn't match!). I LOVE that I have the 20 templates to use again and again. For those of you who aren't digi (yet, evil laughter): It's like a Becky Higgins/FLeck/whoever sketch on STEROIDS:) Oh, and the pictures here are mostly from 2006.

Ok, on to our garden. The original 9 (!) cubic yards of mulch has almost long since disintegrated, disappeared, composted, whatevered, so I had 4 cubic yards (still "!") delivered on Friday. Michael (and me too) loved watching the dump truck dump it on our driveway and talked about it all day to anyone who would listen, including the teachers and other moms at school when we picked up Christopher that afternoon, lol.

Normally the grass is Jeff's domain and the flowers mine (and each of us is firmly convinced he/she has the worst end of the deal), but Jeff kindly agreed to help with the backbreaking work. He hauled the majority, I spread the majority, and I'd say we're more than halfway done. Just the center section of our huge garden area in the backyard, the smaller close-to-the-house section of the backyard, and the very small west side yard left to do. I also got a ton of weeding and a bit of trimming (hoping for a normal, not early frost!) done today. Already have the waste management called to come get the yard waste on Monday. Whew!

For anyone left reading: Any ideas on rabbit-proof fencing? I'd like an absolutely rabbit-proof fence around my huge garden to the north of my house. The bunnies like my burning bushes (although they are larger now and not quite as tempting), basil, lianthus, and "miniature hollyhocks" and will kill them if I'm not careful. Jeff is not really keen on the idea of having to put in such an expanse of fence so I'm thinking I might hire it done either this fall or next spring. If I could REALLY rabbit-proof it, I could grow lettuces/spring mix and save a bundle of money, plus have petunias (which I adore but cannot grow except in a pot b/c they won't last 12 hours with the damn bunnies) again!

Have some Daffodils with your Blizzard

Well we had blizzard warnings here in Iowa today...and by the looks of things out our window, it probably was blizzard conditions out in the country! Very powdery snow plus 35+ mph winds, not a good combination for visibility.

Anyway, here is another scraplift...Charlene J of scrapgirls did a layout of her Swiss Chard, and I couldn't resist doing the same with our daffodils last spring. So if you are, like me, in need of a bright flowery lift to your gray and blizzardy day, here you go:)


Supplies:
Valerie Randall Avalon and Annwyn
Selfish font

Back to Summer (at least in photos!)

On a very cold, overcast day I needed a bit of sunshine in my life:) I rely on my gardening expert/friend to tell little Black-Thumb me what to do with my flower gardens. After our blue hydrangea experiment failed (sob, they are my favorite flowers in the whole wide world) she suggested St. John's Wort shrubs to replace the hydrangeas. I call them my happy little flowers, heeehee. For those who don't know, St. John's wort is best known as a health supplement touted to help those with depression. Well just looking at these flowers helps make me happy:) (They are the picture clear to the right in the filmstrip.)

Plain Digital Wrapper KCS Designs "Joys of Summer"
Aneczka W flowers freebies
Angie Briggs filmstrip
Brandy Hackman daisy
A Langpap orange flowers/leaves

A couple years ago I ordered several iris from a catalog in search of a particular one I remembered from growing up. I did actually find one that fit the bill, and I also purposely ordered a couple "rebloomers" in hopes that every once in awhile the first killing frost would occur late enough for them to rebloom. Now mind you, I don't want global warming, just a normal, late frost every once in awhile, lol.
So this was my year...I took these pics in our front yard last week, and I'll be darned if they aren't STILL blooming today. It's gotten down to twenty-eight-ish degrees a couple mornings but iris are hardy spring/fall flowers and apparently that doesn't faze them. I purposely stood on my head and not-so-purposely snagged a new shirt getting the second pic shooting up toward our beautiful maple tree with its red leaves to remind myself that these, in fact, were autumn-blooming iris.
My friend Janet, scrapbooker and teacher extraordinaire, and fellow blogger http://ofcatsandcardstock.blogspot.com/ has tagged me:

You've been tagged!
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog -- we all want to know them).
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm actually not going to tag specific people, so if the spirit moves you, please consider yourself tagged! Post a comment here so we can zip over to your blog to read your 7 random and/or weird facts!

1. I am trying to learn Spanish, mostly on my own. It would really help out at Free Clinic and I love foreign languages. Honestly, if I could go back in time and have the resources available in the small town in which I grew up, I would want to be fluent in English, Spanish, French, AND Italian...I think Italian is the most beautiful language on earth.
   
2. I have now been volunteering virtually every Thursday night for 6 years at Ames Free Clinic as a physician assistant/PA.
3. If we lived in a community with a Waldorf school, I would almost go into the poor house if necessary to put my children in it.
4. I have more expensive things than ever before on my Christmas list this year...new laptop, new camera...well maybe, and I want to finish the half of the basement we actually use. I would love to be able to look up from scrapbooking and see a lovely color and artwork on the walls instead of the current poured foundation. Grey striped concrete is not really very inspiring. I was amazed to learn that my friend Rosalie has even more expensive items on her list, though, including a new van and a new HOUSE, not just basement, heehee. Maybe I can use her as leverage to convince Jeff to finish our basement, hehehe.
5. I'm running out of ideas, and as I told Janet, none of my seven items will be nearly as exciting/scary as hers...so I'm going to borrow the one of hers I can...my toenails are almost always polished, though my fingernails NEVER are. I simply do not like my thumbs and don't wish to call attention to them. I fully expect that y'all will check them out the next time you see me, oh well.
6. My tastes in music are rather eclectic, as pointed out to me years ago when Jeff and I were "just" dating...he saw in my car, CDs of Aerosmith, Tears for Fears, and Madonna next to each other. Basically I like anything, including classical, except country and rap/hip-hop. I can even sing you a rousing rendition of "Thomas the Tank Engine" :P
7. I hate gardening, but love the end results, so I have a rather large perrennial garden. I also love fresh tomatoes and fresh pesto, so I grow our own tomatoes and basil in the summer.