A Frozen Garden?

My poor little fledgling garden, not even a week old and the forecast a few days ago was calling for super cold rain and snow possibly down at 1500/1000 ft.. What???  The forecast has since been revised, higher snow levels, but still probably cold enough to do a bit of damage to my little seedlings.  My Dad had suggested  building a portable greenhouse to keep it from freezing, so I went to Lowes and bought some supplies (which the husband told me later we had most of the items already, oops - communication has never been our strong suit...).  I must say I felt rather industrious picking out pvc pipe and connectors and even a pvc pipe cutter (to my male readers, please stop rolling your eyes at me).  After lunch Noah and I rolled out some burlap and wrapped my new baby citrus trees and then I attempted to use the pipe cutter...after several minutes my prior feeling of industriousness was gone and in a moment of frustration I asked my almost 5 year old if I was not talented enough to figure out how to open the the pipe cutter if that meant that I should not be using the pipe cutter...he said, "Yeah Mom, I think it does..." and he kind of chuckled as he said it.   Honest kid...love it.  I did finally figure out how to get it to work  (have all my fingers left too!).  Shay came home in the middle of my "building" (thankfully) and took my maybe-ok-and-probably-more-complicated-than-necessary idea and modified it into a simple, but very viable solution - it's like he's has experience in building things or something?!?  So,we'll see how my "winterizing" techniques stand up to the great Southern California blizzard of 2011, HA.



A Garden, Finally!

Back in May of 2010 the very talented hubs re-designed our backyard a bit to put in a small garden area.  I had great hopes for this garden!  I was going to plant lots of yummy veggies and herbs, it was going to be great!  We decided to wait just a tiny bit to plant so we could replace the fence behind the garden area and put in some irrigation.  So we waited a bit, and a bit longer, and a bit longer...why put off today what you can put off tomorrow, right?!?  Fast forward to this weekend...the in-laws had the kids overnight so we went to a nice dinner last night (at 8:00, when was the last time we had dinner that late??), walked aimlessly around the Apple store, enjoyed drinks, it was fantastic!  During dinner we casually talked about what we might do with an entire day to ourselves, we decided to get coffee and go by the Home Depot to pick up a few things and clean up the yard a bit.  That's how it always starts, a seemingly insignificant trip to Home Depot...


Halfway through our "little stop" by HD I was looking at fruit trees and convincing Shay that fruit trees would fit in our backyard and we could also plant the seeds that had made their way into our cart...and so, our garden was finally born!!  TA, DA!

The Dwarf Lemon!

As you see, the fence is still not fixed (nor is the irrigation in - the hose and I are now the irrigation) - there's always next year...

Sorry, for the life of me I can't figure out how to change this picture's orientation...but this is the Mandarin Orange at the other end of the planter

Shay is still not totally sure that the fruit trees in a small area will work, but he was kind enough to give me the chance to try!  In between the trees I planted tomatoes, chives, basil, cilantro, bell peppers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, green beans, onions and carrots!  I am so excited to see what comes of my little seeds!!

 Tomatoes and herbs

Carrots, Onions, Bell Peppers! 

It's still a little early in the season, per the seed packets' instructions, to be planting some of these items - so I'm not sure if they will all be successful, but I will give it my best effort!  (Oh, and I am notorious for killing all living plants..so...there's that too..). The front yard got a mini make over too in the form of some serious rose bush pruning and shrubbery pruning and re-planting (not as fun to blog about - but was so glad to have Shay home to help with this huge task!)

When the kids got home Noah was SO excited to see the garden, I can't wait to water it with him and watch our little veggies sprout!  If it's successful I'll post some pictures!  

Life is better with an iTan and a new Car

As I was driving down the 15 the other day I saw a billboard I have seen a few times.  Each time I see it I say to myself, "really, is it??"  The billboard proclaims "Life is better with an iTan".  First; side rant on iTan - just because Apple found huge success naming many of it's products iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc., simply putting an "i" in front of your service does not mean you will instantly have the brain power of Steve Jobs or the overnight windfall of Apple, but I digress... The real point here....is life really better with something as simple as a tan? (or an iTan, if you must?)  Now, must know - I've tanned - not going to lie - I do feel a little more lovely with a little color on my skin.  Not saying those who tan are shallow (I would be one of those), but (to me) the message here; forget about the things that really might make your life better and go for something trivial.  I've been thinking a lot about contentedness and fulfillment lately.  Per usual, my kids words shed light on my heart.  We recently traded in our car for a bigger car, we also recently bought a new car seat for Leah....(stick with me here - i promise the tan and the car idea will come together in some form of continuity).  That sweet little girl just could NOT get over the fact that she got a new car seat; every time we got in the car for several weeks all she could say in her sweet 2 year old voice was (insert said voice at appropriate 2 year old squeal here) "NEW TARSHEET" (translation: new car seat).  Put said "tarsheet" in new (to us) car and holy cow - she had won the lottery, "NEW TARSHEET IN MY NEW TAR!!!!"  Noah too was pretty excited about the new tar, and if I must admit - so was I.  That got me really thinking though about the state of my heart and the message I am sending to my kids about value and what's important.  Do I think it's OK to get excited about new things, sure, but so often we get wrapped up in "things" like a car, or a tan (see..i told you...) and allow the temporal things of this world to take up all of the "thinking space" in my mind.  When I allow the temporal things to take up residence all I want is more of the temporal.  Thus, the thinking about contentment...I've been a Christian for a long time and to say that the idea that we are supposed to find our contentment and fulfillment in Jesus is new would be just plain silly.  But because I've been a Christian for a long time I tend to forget sometimes "the basics".  Isaiah promises us again and again and again that when we search after the Lord we will find his promises and He will fill us with His hope and His peace, which leads to contentment.  One of my favorite verses of all times is Isaiah 26:3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you, Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."  When I am keeping my mind steadfast in the Lord I don't have the tendency to focus on the things that are temporal and bring momentary happiness but to find my contentment and fulfillment in the Lord; really the only thing that matters.  So, that's the story of how a new "tar" and an iTan billboard made me stop and take stock of what I was allowing to take up residence in the last two working cells I have left in my brain...what's taking up yours?