New BFF

On Sunday, Rob, Pookie, Nanny (Rob's mom) and I went on a plant shopping expedition!  We are one step closer to our flower bed!  There will be a post later about our pretty new plants.  This post is about Pookie's adventures at the nursery.  Seeing as Pookie can move rather quickly, I have decided to invest in a snazzy leash.  It is a very cute lion!  Please don't judge me for using a leash on my child.  My younger brother was a runner and would be gone in 5 seconds flat.  I don't want to loose my child, especially considering what an inquisitive child Pookie is. 

I figured going to the nursery was a good time to test the leash out.  It would be quiet enough that if Pookie did have a problem with it, we could just keep a very close eye on him.  We brought the stroller with us just in case he wanted to get wheeled around.  The stroller also makes an excellent place to put things.  Seeing as Nanny only needed to get a couple of plants, she was in charge of Pookie.  I love watching the two of them, they have this mutual love fest going on, it's very cute to watch!  Poor Nanny is very used to walking our deceased pooch, Bailey.  Pookie is not a dog, even though he tends to act like one.  At one point I looked over and saw Pookie tripping over something and Nanny yanked up the tether.  Here is Pookie, dangling off the ground, with his feet going.  It was hilarious!  Good save Nanny!  Pookie takes a lot of spills through out the day.  However, the plants at the nursery are all outside and the ground is covered in 3/4" rock.  The ground would have made quite the lasting impression on Pookie, if Nanny hadn't yanked back on the tether.  At first Nanny was keeping Pookie on a short leash, but as the day went on, she was giving him more freedom to wander around.  By the end of our shopping expedition, Nanny and Pookie found the shed in the middle of the grounds.  Pookie was having a grand time going up and down the steps and finding a good spot to sit for a few minutes. 

Pookie has decided that his leash is his new BFF.  He'll go over to it and give it hugs and kisses.  Later in the day on Sunday, he picked it up and brought it over to me.  I tucked the tether into the backpack and put it on him.  Pookie seems to think that his lion is the snazziest thing ever.  Hopefully he won't change his mind any time soon. 

Garden, part 2

Rob finally dug out my flower bed for me.  We are putting a rather large flower bed in the front yard.  All together it is about 73 feet in length.  Thirty of those feet are being taken up by a couple of lilacs and at least one hydrangea bush.  The other 40 I need to figure out what to do with!  Luckily, I have a plan.  Or at least part of a plan. 

View from the street.

A couple of days ago, Rob needed to remove several bushes from a customers yard.  Seeing as he had a bobcat, Rob figured that it would be a good idea to put in our flower bed.  Pookie had a great time watching the "guck" aka "truck."  Pookie has a great love of all things that go vroom!  After Rob was done, all that was left to do was to edge the bed.  I like to put around in the yard, and I know how busy Rob is, so I volunteered to put the edge in.  Rob left me a wheelbarrow and some tools and wished me good luck.  It took me about an hour and a half to put in about 40" of edge and truck out the grass.  Luckily, Pookie actually took a nap for me.  Pookie has been having a lot of issues with naps.  They can be somewhat nonexistent.  Poor kid, he's trying to transition down into one nap and we've been hitting a lot of road blocks.  I managed to finish up just as Pookie was waking up.  Talk about timing! 

Closer view of my beautiful edge.

Later that night, Rob took a look at the edge that I put in.  "Wow, honey!  You actually did a good job!"  Um, excuse me?  Did I hear you right?  I put in an hour and a half of hard work and I get an "actually"?  About that, you might want to try that sentence again.  Apparently, my wonderful hubby is used to "homeowner" fixes.  When someone does something that he or she think looks wonderful, just because he or she happen to watch HGTV.  In reality, whatever that person did, could use a little work.  Silly, silly man.  I wonder how much longer it will take him to realize that I'm smarter than he thinks I am?  On the flip side, if he has really low expectations, it won't take that much to knock his socks off!

My "helper"

Now we just need to remove a few roots, add in some more dirt and get some plants!  There is a section of the bed that needs to be slightly reconfigured.  Regardless, we are on our way to a finished flower garden!

Garden, part 1

Other than mowing the lawn, I think I have taken over the yard.  Our yard is okay, it's pretty bland, due to the fact that Rob is very busy taking care of other peoples yards.  Now that Pookie is a little older, I have decided that I want to spruce up the yard a little bit.  A very large flower bed is in the works.  I am still in the planning stages and I will update on how that is coming along.  For now I've been having fun in the back yard.

Growing up, we always had a vegetable garden.  As I got older and my parents were busier, the garden fell to the wayside.  However, we did have grape vines and my mom makes an awesome grape jelly!  I've been itching to have a vegetable garden in my back yard.  Rob has been telling me that he will put in raised beds.  Unfortunately, he is a little slow at getting around to it, so I took matters into my own hands.  I bought planters instead!  Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone.  I bought some spray paint and had a little fun! 

before

after

There are five large pots and one small pot. I ended up painting two of the large pots and one small one. From there I got a little more creative. I have three vine plants and to help them along, I decided to make a trellis.

 

Yes, it is a ladder.  I'm not sure if I like it or not.  This might get reorganized.  But then again, maybe not, it's starting to grow on me. 

Of course I had my little helper!