Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Garden is Exploding

wintersown pink poppy

I'm so pleased with my garden this year. After three years of adding a few plants at a time, plants bought on sale (often for 33 cents each!) or wintersowed, the garden is starting to fill in the way I'd like. Of course there are always improvements I'd like to make, new flowers to try, but that's the fun of gardening. Here's a peak into my garden today.

wintersown Cerinthe

coneflower

crazy floppin' daisies

The veggies garden has exploded as well, in addition to the zucchini I've already harvested, I''m waiting in mouth-watering anticipation for:

peppers

tomatoes, lots of tomatoes

Also in bloom:
  • Coreopsis
  • Lavender
  • Petunias
  • Roses
  • Sweet peas
  • Sweet William
  • Zinnia

Saturday, June 27, 2009

A FAB Kitchen Makeover

You may have noticed that I'm obsessed with all things kitchen lately as I dream about transforming my kitchen to something fabulous on a tiny budget. That's why makeovers like this fabulous and creative one by Meredith Ladik are so inspiring to me. I love the bright pops of turquoise, the rich-looking bottom cabinets and the pretty wallpaper.

Get the scoop and see more pics at Do It Yourself (originally spotted on Casasugar). And come back for pics of my kitchen makeover, hopefully coming sometime before 2012 at this rate (I hope!).

Sunday, June 21, 2009

How My Veggie Garden Grows

My little container vegetable garden is really flourishing. You can see what it looked like at planting time to really see how much it's grown.

This is my monster zucchini, which I planted because I thought the easy-grow factor would be good for my gardener's ego. Plus, what's not to love about a plant known for producing more veggies than you can use? I'll take that challenge! This monster zucchini is even more impressive in person (at least to me and the neighbor). As you can see, it's almost taller than the fence! Actually there are two zucchini plants in this Earthbox, along with the two poor peppers that have been completely overtaken. Note to self, in the future plant two zucchini plants per earthbox, max.

I have lots of baby tomatoes growing on my six tomato plants that are also in Earthboxes, although according to past experience I probably have another month to wait before I'll be tasting any of them.

I even had my first harvest today! I hadn't been watching my zucchini closely enough, and when I looked today I was delighted to see four zucchinis ripe for the pickin'. Yep, so far I'm pretty pleased with my zucchini growing experience.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sometimes It's the Little Things: Bathroom Storage

When your bathroom is this tiny, storage is at a premium. Since the Boy and I both like to have a selection of products in the shower, shower storage was even more limited. Shampoo bottles were lining the tub (and falling off every time I showered) and driving me nuts. Luckily, This Young House shared a clever shower storage tip, putting a caddy on the useless in-shower towel rack. The only problem was that I couldn't find hooks that would work to hold it up anywhere.


Luckily the boy is more resourceful. He figured out a way to hang the shower caddy without spending a dime. How, you ask?

By re-purposing part of an old metal hanger. Genius, no?

What might seem like a trivial amount of additional storage has really made a positive difference in my daily showering experience. No more falling bottles, shower scrubbies or other debris equals a happy hus owner!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Two Garden Favorites: Roses and Lavender

After spring bulb season, another garden period I anticipate eagerly is the roses and lavender season. My inherited pink rambling rose just exploded with gorgeous blooms this week. I also love how the lavender I planted next to the rose has grown around and through it. I love the combination of pink roses and purple lavender.

After visiting lavender country in Washington, I started planting some small lavender plants each year. I love everything about lavender, the smell, the color, the ability to dry blooms for later. It's a great plant! This year my lavender plants have really taken off, so much in fact that I need to get out and harvest the lavender later today to dry. I'm already anticipating the sachets!

What's blooming in your garden?

Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Neighborhood Watch

Nothing gets by these two, unless of course it's cat nap time, in which case all bets are off. And heaven help another cat (or raccoon) that encroaches on their territory! Meeeooowww!

I'm really hoping for a quiet, emergency free weekend. Last weekend Mikko, he's the little brown and tan one on the right, had a seizure. This was just four days after he had three teeth pulled. We took him to the emergency vet, but don't know what caused the seizure. He hasn't had another one, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way.

I have to give kudos to the boy for being so great last Saturday. As usual, he is better in emergencies and is always good with the cats and I don't know what I would have done without him. (What's hotter than a cat man ladies?!) While I was sobbing and panicking, he was checking the Mikko's vitals and was able to give good information to the vet. Thanks honey!

I've since learned that if your cat has a seizure, you should remove objects that might hurt it, but try not to touch the cat until it's done and let the seizure happen naturally. Of course you don't want to let the cat fall off anything or go down the stairs. Turn off bright lights and any loud noises that might startle the cat when it's over. If you can record the episode, do so, it's very helpful for the vets. Also observe as much as you can about what happens, how long it lasts, how the cat responds (did the cat respond to visual or audio cues?). Once the seizure is over, your cat will probably be dazed, but then it's okay to comfort him as much as you want. I'd contact a vet regardless, but a seizure that lasts more than five minutes can be life threatening and you should go to the vet immediately. Of course it goes without saying that I'm not a vet or medical professional and you should do your own research and consult a vet with questions!

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