A Vision in Lights

My vision, Terry implemented it. Yea!!

I have wanted bistro lights for some time. I love the ambiance and have researched the a few times but never made the move because the ones I wanted were quite expensive. So I finally decided to go "the less expensive route" and maybe not get the exact strings I wanted but at least get some. I did some more research and showed Terry what I found on hanging them permanently and then placed my order. The next part was all Terry. He had an issue or two but got it all figured out and Vuala! 

A Vision in Lights!

Weeds, weeds and MORE weeds

This is what my garden looked like last week. I spent some hours out there getting the weed out and Terry helped and put down some fabric that will help keep the weeds out. There were so many weeds it was a bit overwhelming but it looks like I am going to give the garden another try. I have a few tomato plants and broccoli, lettuce, zucchini and some herbs. I even had a couple artichoke plants but they fell victim to Joey who chewed them down to nubs. I don't think they stand a chance to grow. It will be interesting keeping Joey out of the garden too.

First Harvest

The Garden is coming along well - needs a little weeding attention but we got our very first harvest of home grown fruits and vegetables the other day.

We got some broccoli, zucchini, cherries, peas, blueberries and one loan potato

still waiting on the artichoke, and tomatoes as well as the yellow squash

btw, I went to the store and when I came back all the cherries, blueberries and peas had been eaten by two little girls who shall remain nameless

{Sarah and Emily}

Did i tell you

that flowers make my heart sing?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my flower baskets and picked them up about two weeks ago and already they have grown so much. Even though I become a slave to them {they must be watered everyday rain or shine} I enjoy them so much. When I step outside or drive up to our home and see them they make my heart sing!

first purchased

after two weeks of tender loving care

brand new

two weeks later - plus a little fertilizer

In search of the Blue Pots

Last week I went into Fred Meyers to buy flowers and as I was looking around I came across a big blue pot and was immediately interested. I had been wanting to replace my boring brown plastic pots with blue {I have a thing for blue pots} and had been recently looking. Not only did every place I look not have 4 pots they were very expensive {way over $100} so it was had to justify the cost. The cost of the pots at Fred Meyer were way less than $100 but I quickly figured out that each store was shipped one of this size and I was going to have to drive around to find them. The second and third pot was realitively easy to find at stores not too far from home - I just drove there, walked into the store and there it was. Getting it loaded on the flat and then into my car was another story but I was excited that it was turning out so easy to find all four pots. By the weekend I was on a mission to find the 4th and last pot and headed out in Terry's truck with my mom {no GPS} to Beaverton where I was sure they would have one. No such luck. I had an idea where another store was so I drove there - no pot. By this time my Mom remembered that she had a portable GPS in her purse and I used my phone to search for store addresses. I drove to two other stores with no luck and was starting to get disappointed as I was running out of time {we had plans for the evening and I needed to get home - and soon} I decided to try one more store and crossed over the river to the East side of downtown Portland to a part of town in my 17+ years living here in Oregon. It was fun to see the old houses with so much charter {I should have photographed some but I was on a singular mission}. I walked into the Fred Meyer and although they had a beautiful garden center I didn't see any pots - until..... I walked further back and there was my 4th and final pot! Whew! That was a lot of driving around but I think it was worth it. Here are my finished products.

from the brown plastic to pretty blue

to my beautiful planted pots - sigh, they make me happy

BTW again.

I have a lot of planting to do.

I better get busy!

{I even have more than this to plant}

Harvest - greatful week 35

This week I am grateful for three little helpers who helped me bring in our garden harvest. 

Once school started our already neglected garden was even more neglected. With the weather getting colder I knew if I didn't got out there and pick some tomatoes I was going to miss out all together. We spent more than an hour investigating what was growing, pulling weeds {one of which turned out to be potatoes}, picking tomatoes, and checking out the pumpkins. We even came across some strawberries and a couple of onions {although quite small}. I still have a large amount of tomatoes on the vines ranging in shades of green, yellow, orange, and red and have been giving them away as well as eating some of the best tasting tomatoes {sliced with a little salt} with just about every meal. I loved spending time with the kids in the garden - I really enjoy {although don't spend enough time} the garden and it was so fun to watch the kids explore and enjoy it just as much as me. Maybe I have some future gardeners on my hands?

Determination

One single red tomato on a plant that didn't quite make it, now that's determination. I am sure there is a lesson to be learned but I am not eloquent enough to write it so I will let it speak for itself.

My garden was planted very late due to our lousy spring weather and my plants sat in their original containers for quite some time before I got around to finally planting them. This particular plant had one green tomato on it when I planted it but from the moment I planted it, it seamed to be in trouble. The plant went from green to brown but the tomato stayed on the vine so I left the plant in the dirt and much to my surprise finally turned red. Emily picked it and ate it while it was still warm from the summer sun. 

The other three tomato plants have great potential - they are HUGE with hundreds of green tomatoes on the vine and hopefully they will all start to turn red {and yellow and orange} soon. Also my zucchini plants are prolific and the pumpkin vine seams to be doing quite well also.

Grateful Week 25

This week I am grateful for my first tomato to ripen in my garden. My garden has been quite neglected this year. The weather was so bad this spring that I didn't get anything planted until recently {last weekend} although I had bought some plants they just sat under my hanging baskets. I finally broke down and planted them because my wonderful husband rota tilled all the beds for me, otherwise they would still be full of weeds. By the time I planted some of the plants they already had tomatoes on them {although green} and while I was watering this morning I thought I would go take a look and found my first tomato of the season, a yellow cherry. Since I was looking I thought I would check out my strawberry's {that are overgrown} and found quit a few ripe strawberry's {yum!}. By this time last year I had everything planted and was watching my plants grow huge and just waiting to harvest the bounty. This year I still have three tomato plants that need to be planted - I guess I will be grateful for what ever manages to grow this year.

Flowers

I got my flower baskets this past weekend from the Garden Coroner. The baskets on my garage and at my front door are know as the Lake Oswego Basket {because they became know as the big beautiful baskets through out LO} I have gotten them for the past couple of years and I will admit that I become a slave to the baskets. They must be watered {rain or shine} EVERY day but I am willing to do it because there is something about flowers that make me happy. They make my heart smile when I walk around my yard and see them hanging there. Last year I was diligent on watering and fertilizing {we were having the Black's reception at our home} and I had someone comment that they looked like they were "professionally cared for". 

So here is what they look like now and n a few weeks you won't even be able to see the bottom of the pots. I am a little behind on my outdoor activities {note past blogs on the weather} and although I have purchased some vegetable plants, I haven't planted them yet. The green plants on the ground in front of my garage are said plants. The poor things have even flowered and a zucchini is even growing. Eventually I will need to plant {I usually have it done at the beginning of April} or I wont have any tomatoes ripe before summer is over - it is already looking bleak.