Stage II

We've been working today on the garden and making pretty good progress. We had rain on and off throughout the day so we had to work around it. We got more done after the picture above was taken but it was too dark to take a picture. Not only did we work on this, but we got Mawavi a birthday present. I know that some of you will question my sanity, bu I agreed to get him a fire pit.


Hopefully the fire will stay inside the pit. :) I got the plants planted in with the pavers so we'll see how they do. They are going to get a trial by fire literally. They are going to be getting a lot of sunshine with no protection. So we'll see who makes it and who doesn't.

Progress

We have been making some progress in the back yard garden the last couple of days. We stopped by Lowe's on the way home last night and picked up more topsoil, gravel and paver stepping stones. We had gotten the beds placed over the weekend, and last night we laid down the landscape fabric, got the blocks placed around the pond, and got the pavers roughly positioned. We have to stop back by Lowe's and pick up another roll of landscape fabric, several more paver blocks and probably a couple more bags of topsoil. I planted out some tulip bulbs that have been laying around the house since last fall. I got them to put out but was late in my pregnancy by then and it just didn't happen. We'll see how much we can get done around the rain this weekend.

Hallelujiah!

This round of classes has been the hardest by far since I've started them. I had to start up again three weeks after a c-section. Having to do classwork, recover my health and take care of a new baby just was really difficult. There have been several points where I was just ready to throw in the towel and quit altogether. I think the only thing that has stopped me is the fact that I only have one more set of classes and I'll have my associate's degree. I'm going to take the summer off so I can get some mental energy back.

Today we got to work on the back garden area. I had to hold Quickbeam the whole time while Mawavi did the planting. She absolutely refused to settle, and had to be carried around so that she could see things. It's a change for me to have to be the one watching the gardening and not doing it. So we got the beds along the fence set up and plants moved. We need some more bags of topsoil to finish them off, and we need to get the pond installed. I still have a couple more items that I'm going to need to get to finish it off, but I'll be working on that through the course of the summer. Can't have all of the fun in one week. :) I'll get up some new pictures when it's done.

Interview with a Rabbi

I am taking a Religions of the World class and for our final project I had to talk to someone from a religion besides our own. I decided to visit one of the synagogues in town here for my paper. I went and spoke with the Rabbi and had a very interesting time. The congregation of Temple B’nai Sholom was established in 1876, and the temple was built in 1899. The temple is located in historic downtown Huntsville. It has a very distinct architectural style, and lovely stained glass windows. I enjoyed my visit there and learned a lot about Judaism. Finding out more about my neighbors makes me feel more like a permanent resident here than a visitor.

Bleh

The location above is what is going to be my new garden spot in the back yard. It's our project that we are going to work on this weekend. I have several new plants to put out that I have to keep alive until then. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend, since we didn't really have one this weekend. Quickbeam scratched her eyeball on Sunday so we took her to the Urgent Care clinic nearby. This was late-ish on Sunday afternoon. The doctor did a consultation with an on-call eye doctor who scheduled her in for an appointment the next morning. He prescribed for her to have some eye ointment (not eye drops). So we took the prescription to the pharmacy in the clinic, and they didn't have it. So then we took it to Publix, and they didn't have it. So the pharmacist there called all over and finally found one in the downtown area that did have it. We took her in to the doctor on Monday morning and the scratch had mostly healed up.

Then last night I got very sick. I was pretty much passed out hard and almost non-responsive, which really worried Mawavi. He finally got me woken up and I had to go be sick. My throat was very sore and I felt just terrible. So I was home again this morning and slept for most of the day. I am behind on my college assignments and have to get them turned in tonight. I'm going to be glad when this round is over. I've been kind of behind from the beginning, trying to recover from childbirth and take care of a kid at the same time, then starting back to work. Just one more round left and I'll have my degree finished. Then I'm taking a break over the summer and going to start for my Bachelor's in the fall. I can't wait for a little R&R.

Lady Bank's Rose

We ended up making it to Bennett’s after all yesterday. We went as soon as it stopped raining, and it was the perfect time to go. It wasn’t too humid, there weren’t any bugs out, and there also weren’t a lot of people out. I carried Quickbeam around in the Baby Bjorn and she enjoyed the walk too. She loves being outside, especially when there is a breeze blowing on her hair. I had a mission in that I was looking for succulents. I found plans for a bird house that has a roof that you plant succulents in. I talked to my dad and he’s going to build me the birdhouse, and I’m going to give him some succulents for his. So I needed to pick up some and then divide them out. I found several different kinds, some hen and chicks and a couple of different kinds of sedum. I also have some creeping thyme and a different kind of sedum that I’m going to use. So I got enough succulents for a good basic start, and I can add in a few others as the season progresses. I can’t wait to get up another bird feeder.

Mawavi and I also drew up plans for our rose garden that we want to start in the back yard. We’re going to have a small pond, and several roses. I also have my butterscotch jasmine that is on a trellis, and some plants in the front yard that I’d rather have in the back. This garden is also going to feature a rain garden at the end of the downspout, and this is where the new bird feeder is going to be. The rose that we got to be the crowning glory of this garden is Lady Banks and is the picture above. It is a climbing plant with no thorns on it. The flowers glow in the sunset and will look spectacular when it gets established. I can’t wait to see the garden when it is done.

Rain

Alabama has been in a drought status since las year, so I should be grateful for the rain. But how can I be when it made me miss out on a trip to Bennet's Nursery?We woke up this morning to pouring rain, thunder and lightening and hail in some places. The wind was gusting up to 40 mph. Alas, so much for planting things today. I did wait for a lull in the storm and ran outside to take some pictures.

In other news I have finally been able to attract the elusive garden gnome into my back yard. I've tried to carefully cultivate the proper habitat, but was unsuccessful. Imagine my surprise when I found this sturdy specimen under my rosebush.

Normally I am not much of one for garden ornamentation, but I've always liked the campiness of garden gnomes. My ultimate quest is to find one reading a book. Maybe if I left a few small tomes laying around in the back yard....

Alabama Snowstorm

Okay, it wasn't actually what most people would consider a snow storm, but in these parts it is. I woke up this morning to snow on the ground. I had to run outside in my PJs to get some pictures before it melted. I got up early this morning with Quickbeam so that D. could get some sleep, because I'm nice like that. So we snuggled on the couch under a quilt and drank hot chocolate. Okay, I drank hot chocolate and she got breastmilk, but we were both happy. :) I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.

And so it begins...

Here you see the re-establishment of my water gardening fetish. We've been here for about a year and a half now, and I haven't done anything about a pond. We barely got here and then I got pregnant and had the baby, and now is the first time I've been able to entertain the notion. I decided that I am going to keep the pond very low key this time, because I don't have the time or the money to do much else right now. So I decided to start with plants that I'll be able to divide later and grow my supply. My first wave is a lotus and a water iris. The lotus is Chawan Basu (dwarf, pink and cream color), and the iris is Iris Fulva (copper/red color). They came in today and are floating in my bathtub for a while, until the lotus sprouts roots and I get something to put them both in. The lotus isn't going in the pond, it will be in a seperate container.

My goal for the pond itself right now is rather modest. I plan on getting around a 40 gallon liner, having a dwarf water lily, an iris, one or two other plants and maybe two goldfish. I want to have some kind of water feature to give the running water sound, but it can't be too active because the moving water will disturb some of the plants. The lotus are a bit different, because they are grown in seperate containers, but I have to be reasonable about them too because they take a lot of watering in the summertime. So anyway, that's the latest gardening news, we'll see how green my thumb still is. :)