Photo Contest

My work is having a photo contest.  I get to submit 2 photos.  The theme is "People."  Vote for your favorite from below! 

Sick Days - Exploration

Last week, Dan and I made the most of the nice weather dispite our illnesses and took Daisy out into the fields in the un-developed portion of our neighborhood.  Here are some pictures of our adventures:

She loves running through the tall grasses.  She will run in circles in the tallest patch she can find just to feel the grass whip at her face as she runs.  She is turning into a great tracking dog.  I'll hid down in the grass and she can smell me out. 

Daisy is becoming quite brave as long as mom and dad are close by. 

She will run just inside the tree line jumping out at mom and dad as they walk past.  She loves scaring the birds.  I can't wait for her to find a squirrel to chase around.  She's so loud, I don't think she could ever sneak up on anything.

She has learned that she loves to be in water.  There is a small creek through the woods.  At first she was very hesitant to get in the water, until Mom walked across.  Now you can't keep her out of it.

She loves jumping in the water and she high steps bringing her foot out of the water with each step.  Such a funny dog.  She loves chasing the small fish down the creek.  Of course she has to taste everything.

Here is a lake where we can see deer drinking at dusk if we are quiet (when Daisy isn't with us). 

This trip was filled with turtle and frog sightings. At one point we heard the deer, but they didn't come out of the trees.  Daisy has to see the bottom in order to go in the water.  This is a little deep for her.  She's not quite ready to swim, but maybe if Dad went with her.

At the end of the day, she had great fun and went home smelling of fish.  Walks won't ever be the same without a trip to the creek or lake.  She gets so much exercise and is using her hurt leg so much more!  She can run up hills using all 4 legs now without any problem.  Its unfortunate the creek and fields will be removed to make room for more houses.  Hopefully we can find other open fields to take her off the leash when that happens.

Planting My Garden

I’ve been waiting to post about my plants because I only have it half done, but it’s not looking too promising that I’ll receive the rest anytime soon.

I received a deceptively small package from Spring Hills Nursery and I couldn’t wait to open it! Unfortunately, the garden for my front yard is backordered and it won’t be in until the end of next week or the week after. That’s a month and a half after I ordered it. I’m not really happy about this, but I did get some in!

My wonderful MIL came over and really planted everything while I dug holes and learned as much as I could. We definitely had some bonding time, and even did a little exploring and found a little spring in the field!

The plants came in either 4” pots or as roots.   The strawberry pot is plastic, which I was not happy about, but next year I’ll buy a clay one. Seriously, I think growing plants in the hot sun in plastic is not good. If plastic leaches BPAs into water, what will it do when plants absorb that water?? My strawberries are looking fabulous though, and I can’t wait to see little strawberries starting soon.

We planted the shade garden in the back. My Daisy’s are sprouting and nothing has died yet. I have 2 plants that haven’t started to come up yet, but the rest are still alive and kicking, so I’m going to give it more time.

My lilacs are looking the best. They haven’t sprouted anything yet, and I honestly don’t know if they will flower this year at all, but they are growing big and strong! The best part is they replaced the ugly prickly bushes that were out there!

The hydrangea is doing well. It looks like it needs some support, but the base is getting thicker. My roses aren’t really growing, but they aren’t dying. One came pretty sickly and it still looks sickly, but hopefully it will start to grow. I don’t think it’s dead yet.

All in all, I got ½ off the price, and 3 plants aren’t growing. I’m pretty happy with it.

I decided to not have a vegetable or herb garden this year. Dan lost his job, and we have several farmers markets around, so this year we will focus on not killing my flowers, and next year we can expand. Maybe get a few trees in the back and another in the front. You can never have too many trees.

BTW, my aloe plant from Megan is still doing great! I re-planted it and it is still alive! It’s been several weeks now and so far it has lasted longer than any of my other inside plants. It really helps that I have a window to sit it in. I re-potted my azalea bush, but the pot started to mold, so it got moved outside. The flowers have all died, but it has new green shoots, so I’m hoping I’ll get more flowers sometime this summer.