Back in the Groove

My inner gardening goddess was awoken this weekend. The weather- perfect. My mood- followed suit. I had been having all the usual February and March feelings of despair and depression, coupled with the decision to come off of some serious mood altering medication- needless to say I'm glad we all made it to April:) 

After the Easter sunrise service, I waltzed on over to Home Depot to get manure, mushroom compost and a few plants. After mixing in the compost and manure in my raised bed, I planted cucumbers, squash and jalapeños. My goal this year is to only plant things I will actually eat, and to eat things as they ripen. I am the worst at picking things and then never eating them.... But enough about my faults:) Another challenge I will have this year is a new garden pest that I have been having over for play dates. She enjoys digging, so I'm planning on installing a chicken wire fence around the bed. We will see how that goes.

I also decided to add a little color to the yard. This year I have petunias and marigolds in the pots on the pallets images of Gerber daisies. The yellow pot has pink jasmine in hopes that it will really grown and add some fun randomness to the very geometric pallets. 

The garden pest has been nice and lazy as of late...I'm hoping he continues to be disinterested in what I'm up to;)

Garden Pest and Heartworms

The GP is on day 4 of his heartworms treatment. Last week he had two rounds of essentially chemotherapy injections in the muscles next to his spine (see picture below for cool design in his coat). The injections were given 24 hours apart, and really knocked him out. This morning was the first time he has seemed back to his usual chipper self.

I can tell he is still very sore from the injections, and he doesn't have much of an appetite-this is a problem he has never had:) Last night I think he was feeling pretty rotten. When I came into the room where he was sleeping, he didn't even raise his head to acknowledge me. My husband sat on the sofa with him and fed him string cheese, one string at a time. It was adorable! That helped him perk up a bit. My husband claims that all he needed was a little TLC....

From everything I have read, the next 48 hours are the most critical. This is the timeframe when the worms will be dying, and will break up and pass through his lungs. There is a big risk or blood clots and other complications, so we have to keep GP as calm as possible. I think we will be okay- unless an ice cream truck drives by the house... Then we may not be able to control him- he's a sucker for Frosty Paws:)

Sanctuary

This morning I am having coffee in the backyard with the garden pest, and my surroundings are aiding in my quest for peace and understanding during a time of grief. It is very easy to watch a garden travel though the seasons of life, and it is truly a blessing to be sitting in my garden, surrounded by plants that I have watched weather the seasons as I try to grasp the happenings of last week. My best friend's mother passed away very suddenly 4 days ago. She was so vivacious and filled with life and energy, it is hard to comprehend that she has passed on to the next life. Today I feel like we are in the bleakest days of winter, where the cold and darkness have us wondering if we will ever see the lush, bright, warm days of spring and summer again.

I keep thinking in my head " to everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose, under heaven". The lyrics are from a song by the Byrds, in which they go on to quote Ecclesiastes 3:2. We will never know why things happen when they do, all we can hold on to is knowing that winter will melt into spring, spring to summer, summer to fall, and that all of these seasons of our lives have a purpose.

When I began reclaiming my yard I set out on a quest to find a peaceful place in the dirt. I feel like I have accomplished that and so much more. I have create a sanctuary for myself and for my friends. Here is a place where we can come together to celebrate the seasons of our lives.

The Gardening Pest's Lump

I have been under a lot of stress over the past week, and was in the yard with the GP and noticed a mole he has had for almost a year has recently doubled in size. Needless to say I freaked out and immediately began searching on google to figure out what the lump could be.

The lump originally looked like a swollen tick on GP's chest. It was grayish-black, and was hard to the touch and harder at the base where it met his skin. Now that it has doubled in size, the middle is squishy and the color has changed to more black and less gray. Everything I read on message boards and websites had me convinced that this lump was cancerous. I freaked out, called the vet and begged them to work us in.

The next day we went to the vet. After a short wait he was ready for us. I think GP knew I was on edge, because he was on his best behavior. When the vet walked in, he looked at the lump and told me it was just a cyst caused by a clogged pore. Totally harmless, but that it needed to be removed so it wouldn't rupture or cause other pores to clog.

The best part is that they will not even have to use general anesthesia for the procedure. They will give him a tranquilizer, and numb him locally. AND the whole thing is affordable. He is scheduled to have the lump removed next week... Maybe we will have some cone of shame pictures to post afterwards:)

The Weekend Accomplishments

I was hell bent on spreading mulch and throwing pinestraw last weekend... But I just couldn't bring myself to actually doing it! Something about 3 or 4 trips to get all of the supplies, and actually wrestling with 30 bags of mulch just made me not want to go there:)

So instead, I cleaned up the steps, planted some stonecrop, hostas and tried to find a subtle, pretty way to block the view I have of my neighbor's gravel parking lot. ( it isnt REALLY a parking lot, but that is just a nice, dramatic way to describe their driveway).

So the pictures below are of my cleaned up steps with new plants ( all of which claim to love dry roots an stoney terrain). The other pictures are of my attempt to hide the parking area that I have a fabulous view of... And then a picture of the Garden Pest- who is worn out after trying to eat one of my new cushions....

The rest of the weekend was spent weed whacking, mowing, blowing... And then enjoying the beautiful space that I have created!

January Gardening

Well, it is January, the daffodils are blooming, the leaves have just finished falling, and I am secretly hoping to get snowed in for a week:) It has been unseasonably warm this year, and I am a little mad at myself for not overseeding my fescue. Of course, at this point if I threw seed, I am certain we would get a cold snap.

So what's a girl to do who normally spends all day Saturday playing in the dirt? I have tried baking- which is fun, but then I feel guilty for eating whatever I make, so it just ends up growing mold (I guess that could be considered gardening), or ruining someone else's diet. Then there is cooking, which is fun, less stressful than baking, and can typically be healthy and flavorful... But that gets old too. So this morning I decided to give the Garden Pest a much needed soak in the tub. Needless to say, he hated it. I found it amusing... Especially to see how much dirt his coat could hold. Yuck.

So now we are sitting on the front porch watching a family of Bluebirds eat the berries on my holly bushes, and listening to a BlueJay complain that we are out here.

.... And scouting the front yard for my next gardening project...

A Fresh Coat of Paint

I am always amazed at how a little paint can change the entire feeling of an area. Recently I had my house painted, and a new roof installed. The whole process was a bit invasive to the normal ebb and flow of my day, but worth it in the end. It made me realize the difference a fresh coat of paint can make on something.

As you guessed it, it inspired me to spruce some other things up in my outdoor living space. The Garden Pest's house got a new paint job, going from a faded light blue with white trim, to a vibrant teal with chocolate trim. I finally painted my white picket fence ( I installed it over 5 years ago- slacker much?), and my mother donated some lovely cushions to replace some very old ones on my front porch furniture!

No joke, it looks like a new house! I am excited when I pull into the driveway instead of overwhelmed with the feeling that I will never get everything done.

Growth Update

So far, all of my little plants seem to be doing well! My first baby tomato was spotted yesterday -  I tried to get a picture, but my camera would not focus on it. For some reason, my cilantro is flowering... I am wondering if I didnt water my herbs enough initially, they are not doing nearly as well as my mother's. Strawberry plant is growing by leaps and bounds, as are the asparagus and sweet potatoes.

I think my biggest failure as a gardener is watering. For some reason I simply cannot get it into my head that plants need water on a regular basis. I have gotten a little better over the past few weeks. My body clock seems to have adjusted to waking up earlier lately. So, instead of rolling over and trying to fall back to sleep, I have been getting up and spending some time in my yard with the Garden Pest before work. It is so peaceful to take my coffee and sit on the swing in the back. I think my original goal from working so hard in my yard was to find and create a sanctuary for peace and fellowship. I believe I am well on my way to achieveing that.

Garden Pest

My #$%* dog now has a new nickname, the Garden Pest. Today I was trying to get my plants in the ground, get the other bed frame together, and take some pictures at the same time. I got everything I needed together and in a chair in the backyard. I had forgotten my screws, so I ran back inside for no more than 5 minutes, and came back to find a guilty looking dog... and a camera with teeth marks all over it! After I threw a fit, I realized my camera still worked... and it was my fault for leaving such a tempting treat within his reach.

So I got over it and started mixing up my dirt. All 6 bags went into my bed,with room to spare. I again had to run grab something from another location, and came back in the back to find the GP elbow deep in my bed! He was covered in black, stinky dirt. Since I had caught him in the act, I scolded him. He quickly darted to another side of the yard.

Here he is sulking:

Needless to say, in his mind it is his backyard... so anything I bring back there must be for him, right? I have a feeling my raised bed is going to have to fight to survive!