Spring...In Full Bloom

I've been taking more walks around the park during down time at the office to keep myself away from the computer and off my ever-widening behind lately. I've made sure to bring the trusty Canon along for my walks because you know I'm all about the visuals. I've been able to catch some really nice shots of the flowers in full bloom.
The park is gorgeous right now and the Knockout Roses we have planted in front of the building are out of control! these things just don't stop growing. I'm not really a rose girl but the colors on these things are so vivid they sort of exude happiness, and ya know I LURVE to share my moods with y'all.
So, here ya go-happy flowers just for you!

The Garden: 30 Days In

Over the weekend the garden passed the thirty day mark and so far things are going well. The Spinach, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts and Peppers are all still in the starter tray. I have transplanted the pole beans and snap peas into pots. We've had an abundance of sun over the last few days which is really helping to mature the plants. I usually water them in the early morning and a bit more in the early evening. Its not good to water at night in our humid climate because it can lead to mold and fungus attacking the plants.

I used some bamboo skewers to help give the peas some support, they have been sprouting little vines like crazy trying to find something to latch onto.

I had pinched back the original leaves on the bean plants and within a couple of days they had doubled the amount of leaves.

Brand New Obsession

Decoupage Collage! Like painting and scrapbooking in one! Messy scrapping. I love it. OK, maybe I'm strange but I love peeling the dried polymer off of my fingers afterwards too.

Today I spent the day doing forced fun at work and it turned out to actually be FANTASTIC. We did these collages at the art place. Love it, because ya know crafts are my therapy.

Anyway, the project is really simple and you only need a few supplies: a canvas (the one I used was 8x8), acrylic polymer, paint, and whatever else you want to add. things like concert tickets, newspaper articles, photos, buttons, marbles, old jewelery, ribbon, papers, sheet music, old keys...anything!

First you paint the canvas, then allow it to dry. You can use a hair dryer on low setting to help speed the process. then you put polymer on the back of the items you want to include in your collage and press them onto the canvas. Layer away, and as you place items on your canvas paint more polymer on top of them to help seal them onto the canvas. the polymer will dry clear.
Here's my first attempt at decoupage collage:



I was thinking about buying a bunch of picture frames and covering one wall in our home office with pictures, but now I think I'm going to make a sort of border around the room with these collages.

I found the supplies for really cheap here: http://www.dickblick.com/

This Old House

I love this old house. Its located within a block of the town square right on the main street. Its nestled amongst other old homes that have had owners that have resisted the trend of remodeling and updating. All of the houses on the road have massive front porches with ceiling fans and rocking chairs. The elementary school is on the same road and its the same road that the town parades take place.

If I have to live in a suburb-can I live in a house like this? Its not fancy its not big. Its just what I need. Its got potential.

It would be so nice to have big giant potted topiary style trees on that porch and black wicker furniture with thick comfy cushions. I could walk to the used bookstore or the little java joint on the weekend. I could watch a parade from my own driveway. I could walk Red to school in the morning and still make it to work on time. I could sit on that porch sipping on an icy glass of honey lemonade and paint or scrapbook or read books to myself or Red. I could blog on that front porch! We could go to the Mexican Restaurante and have salsa and chips and sangria and get a little tipsy and walk home safely!

Did I forget to mention its for sale? Yeah, its for sale. Ahhhh if only. Its just not in the deck of cards right now, but eh-one can dream right?

I bet it has wood floors too. Doesn't it just scream "I HAVE GORGEOUS WOOD FLOORS!"?

Domestic Violence

I had to put out a restraining order against Red's basketball hoop yesterday. For reasons unbeknown est to me, this angry hoop felt the need to clobber my seedlings! The audacity. Imagine my surprise as I arrive home and look outside to see this deranged hoop lying on top of my feeble seedlings just suffocating them ruthlessly. The hoop wouldn't stop its attack on the seedlings so I was able to snap this pic as evidence for the cops.

Horrific to see that kind of violence isn't it? I had to take the little guys inside. Sadly, some of them didn't make it. I won't allow this to happen again. The hoop was hauled off to the basement on charges of domestic violence.

I did have to take all of the plants in yesterday as the winds were a bit strong.

I had to reposition the brussel spouts and spinach because they were becoming a tangled mess. I also pinched off the initial leaves from the pole bean plants to allow them to begin to branch off and get really leafy. I'll put them all back out on the deck today, for more sun time.

The Peas are beginning to develop the little vines and they have started curling around each other. I'll probably get something to use as little stakes for them to attach to for support.

A Georgia Springtime Classic

Yep, its that time of year again. The time of year when Georgia looks as though it suffered a nuclear attack and bright yellow-green radioactive fallout is covering everything. You can't open your windows or it will be covering everything in your house. Its pointless to wash your car and whenever you have to go outside for anything you come back in feeling like you've got a gritty film covering you.

It will be nice to get some good soaking rains to wash away this mess.

Mud-licious and Puddle Wonderful?

"The world is mud-licious and puddle wonderful!" -E.E.Cummings

After having such a drought the last couple of years in Georgia I'd have to say I agree with that statement. Its nice to have mud and puddles again instead of dry dusty cracked earth. We hope the rains will keep coming. We desperately need it in this part of the country.

All the mud is fun for the kids too. Kids love the mud, its squishy and messy. When you grow up into an adult you do NOT (normally-I know there's an exception to every rule) love mud. Mud becomes one of those things you DON'T want on your clothes, body, or hair-that is unless you've paid for that sort of thing at a swanky day spa. When your child insists on splashing in the puddles on your way into a store or running through the mud before you take them into school-it does nothing but make you want to scold them for getting dirty. We parents take the joy out of everything do we not?

Well, when I walked in to Red's pre-school this afternoon, the kids were all out playing in the yard around back. They were in the far back corner and I couldn't see Red right off the bat. The teacher walked up to me and you could tell she was nervous as she started to tell me, "Um do you see that big mud puddle right there?"

I shook my head yes...and watched as her face grew bright red.

"Well, he just went over and dunked his head into it and then slid right in."

At first I did that parental sigh when you have just heard that your child did something wrong. Then I looked over and saw him-he was laughing and playing. His clothes were covered in mud-but his face was covered with a smile. So I laughed too. I mean we were going straight home. The clothes can be washed, and so can his body. That's what being a kid is all about. Experimenting, playing, laughing and getting messy along the way.

I think the teacher was relieved that I laughed about it. They must get sick to death of parents coming in expecting their kids to be shiney and spotless everytime they get picked up. Now, I wouldn't have wanted them to let him stay that way-that's what the change of clothes is for in his cubby box at school.

There's a muddy pair of shoes, socks, jeans, and shirt in the washer right now and there's a kid in the tub smiling thinking about the squishy mud he rolled around in today.