True Confessions

How many times have you seen the words in the title to this post or heard them spoken, and suddenly, you leaned in a little closer to hear the dirt about...who knows what! Well, here it is, my true confession: I really LOVE the song "I've Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas! Can't get enough of it! Even loaded it onto the blog site I created for my middle school students! They're starting to get sick of it. "I don't care," I say! It gets me moving and moving and moving! And I really need to get moving! I know, it's not like a confessed to robbing a bank or something, but it is a confession nonetheless.

Okay, so the new puppy is insanely adorable and is biting everything in site...irritating but puppy. Our 50lb. dog is terrified of her which is hysterical because the puppy is about the size of a water bottle. Not sure about Wilbur (thanks for the name, Amber) yet, still contemplating the eviction of my home owner's association and if it'll be worth it!

New News:
I decked out my chicken coop! At first, I thought I would spend $500 on a brand new coop that was made in the image of a red barn...too cute...but get real...$500! Have I completely lost it? Almost! I was moments away from complete regret. I mean really, what was I thinking? Last year, I created a coop out of old farm house window screens and old fence wood. Too cute. But it leaks, and it is a little small for my 5 portly hens. So, what did I do you are wondering? Well, I added a fenced in play yard and cut a chicken door (doggy door) in the screen, and now my portly ladies can go inside and outside at will! They are so happy! They are taking dirt baths and nesting and making happy sounds! Not only did I improve their life, but I also completely beautified the coop with galvanized tubs full of flowers, pots full of flowers, a bird house, a lantern, gosh, it's super dee duper cute!

So Inspired!

Okay, here I am again, the subdivision gardener/wanna be crafter extraordinaire/get a grip on reality girl. My herb window boxes are going off, and I am beyond thrilled to be including them in my daily meal making. My tomatoes are already blooming, and I have some random pumpkin seeds that have popped up in different places all around my yard! Yea! I have recently decided that the jig is most definitely up. I have five chickens in my subdivision backyard, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors know. Several months ago I overheard one neighbor say to her husband, "Craig, did you hear that? I think I heard a chicken!" To which he responded, "You're crazy, there aren't any chickens around here!" He said this while out front cleaning his speed boat, in front of his manicured house, while the sprinkler system activated. I felt kinda sad for the wife. But, admittedly, I laughed a lot! So, now I have a student who is dieing to give me a pot belly pig! Seriously, a pot belly pig, which, I might add, I have always wanted. The question being, "Is this too much for one subdivision gardener to handle?" I think I am crossing over into being a subdivision farmer. I think the pig would definitely be pushing it. I have also recently been given a cocker spaniel puppy by another one of my students. Super cute. That makes three dogs, one cat, five hens, and one possible pig. I live on 8,000 square feet of land. Most of it house. Have I completely lost it? I am living the dream, people, living the dream!

Cutest Thing

Okay, so I have been working diligently to not purchase cute stuff for my gardens. Why? Because I have more stuff than any one person, or family, should possibly have. I've decided to scrounge around my plot of earth for the remnants of things cast aside, the pieces of things broken, and any little thing that catches my fancy. What have I discovered? Chicken eggs. Yes, chicken eggs whole and in tact. Okay, so I can blow them out and collect them in a McCoy pot, done that. Obviously, we can eat them, done that. But what else? I also have in my collection of this and that a small pile of bamboo reeds. Guess what I created! A bamboo topiary. Now, picture it...I should take a picture...three bamboo reeds (18 in. long) stuffed into a window box (center) to form a teepee over Mexican Terragon. Grab the tops of the bamboo and bring them together to a point and then add a cracked egg shell on top to hold the points together. Too CUTE! Used a blue/green chicken egg and a brown chicken egg. I have had so many compliments on this new creation. I think, I shall make more. Happy scrounging and happy creating!

Heriloom Seeds! Heirloom Seeds!

Thanks to a great friend I am embarking on the quest for heirloom edibles. Not much to choose from in any of my local nurseries, boo hoo! Why heirloom? Better quality! Stronger plants! They WILL germinate and produce seeds with little attention, unlike new hybridized varieties that are weaker and less inclined to do very much after the first small crop. So, I am very excited! I tapped into Granny's Heirloom Seeds (grannysheirloomseeds.com) and purchased: cantaloupe, watermelon, summer squash, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, and baby red bell peppers. I also picked up a package of heirloom lemon thyme to act as a cover crop for my raised veggie garden. I am so beyond excited to get this going! The earth under my fingernails, the grit on my palms, the sweat on my brow...ah the sweet relief of a day well spent toiling in my soil.