Gardening

All my life I have been accused of having a black thumb. The miniature rose I received as a high school graduation gift only survived through the first month of college. After my first child was born my father gave me a pot of cacti. They died too. Thus, the "You are less nourishing than a desert" speech.

Despite this, I have once again found myself puttering around the yard. So far so good. Would you believe that I have spent over 8 hours between Saturday and today weeding my flower beds? Eight hours. And I'm not done yet. Just mostly done. =) My entire body aches from the effort of pulling and squatting for so long. Which means it's really good for me. The sunshine isn't bad either. ;-) Especially since I picked up my new glasses (transitions!!!).

I am attempting to start a vegetable garden from seeds. Scary...I've never done that before... It's been a fun experiment for me and the girls. Every morning we run out to see which seeds are doing what. So far the green beans are the biggest, with the peas in second place. Aside from an incident with a chipmunk and a tiny tomato sprout and Tempe needing to "see" the sunflower there have been no casualties in this process. But the year is still young. Ha.

See? My little seedlings. Green beans, peas, two varieties of tomatoes, corn, and sunflowers. Not all pictured

Another fun thing about gardening is that I can be productive, completely ignoring the growing pile of dishes. Who needs to vacuum when there is weeding to be done?

Also, you find fun surprises in the yard. We moved in to this house almost one year ago so we missed most of the spring flowers...imagine my surprise when these showed their gorgeous faces!

My second favorite flower. Aren't they gorgeous?

We even have an apricot!

This tree hasn't even been here a year, and look!

So maybe my thumb isn't so black after all??? Maybe there is hope for me yet? We'll see...don't want to get my hopes up too much. If you have an handy tips for gardening, vegetable or otherwise please share! I need all the help I can get!

Stay tuned for more adventures in gardening...

Mantra for the Day: It's OK!!!

I really didn't mean to rhyme that.

Today I've been reminding myself that "It's OK" no matter what is happening in life right now. Thought I'd share some with you. Some are serious, some are silly. But that is me. I have a hard time being serious for more than just a few minutes unless its really important.

It's OK that it is SO hot outside (currently 102+), because we have a working air conditioner. And popsicles. Lots of popsicles.

It's OK that the house is a mess and I have company coming for dinner. Last night I finished knitting two scarves and watched many episodes of White Collar. So I was productive and had fun too!

It's OK that I have dark circles under my eyes from too little sleep. Black is a good colour on me. I may even go goth.

It's OK that my hubby is sick with bronchitus. He'll live.

It's OK that I made cinnamon rolls twice this week. I still managed to lose 4lbs. Maybe I can start my own diet... The Caitie Khan Cinnamon Roll Diet....hmm...I'll work on it.

It's OK that Herbert the Mouse is still living under my bathroom sink. He is a quiet roommate. And he will soon die. As soon as I actually remember to buy and set traps...

It's OK that my kids are doing nothing today (and probably nothing else all weekend) but watch TV.

It's OK that I am suffering hair loss. So far it isn't so much that anyone (but me) would notice. Probably stress. But the doctors aren't quite sure. Hard to avoid stress when you're stressing about losing hair... I just get to enjoy a new haircut soon. I love haircuts.

It's OK that I spent $200 on groceries, etc today. Much of what I bought is for my freezer. But boy did handing that over feel painful...

It's All OK!!! I bought a Michael Buble CD today. =)

The kids watching TV. Isobel was not thrilled with my photo interuption. I liked the interuption. It meant that "Go, Diego GO!" was paused. Anyone else find that show really annoying?

This is my new apricot tree. She hates the heat. I might buy a giant beach umbrella for her. Doesn't she look pitifully wilty?