A Demise Commemorated

Over the past few years I have learned a hard truth: there are only so many small growing things that I am capable of keeping alive at one time. Yes, all four of my children are still alive and well. But I have systematically and ruthlessly - albeit unintentionally- killed almost all of my plants. I truly love to garden- not so much the digging in the dirt part- but I love the beautiful flowers, the colors and shapes of the plants, not to mention the fruit, herbs and plants you can eat. But whenever I have a baby, my garden dies (which, I suppose, is a better alternative than the other way around).

Before you panic, my massive front yard project is still alive and well.We have a sprinkler system in the front yard so they have been kept safe from my brown thumb. But anything requiring watering... not so much.

The sad demise of my potted blueberry.

Chives and thyme, past their prime.

Dried rosemary, anyone?

The remains of the sage.

I have always particularly enjoyed growing herbs. You don't have to be particularly talented and because herbs are so expensive to buy fresh and recipes usually require very small amounts at a time, they are particularly cost-effective to grow yourself for cooking. But, not only did I manage to kill all of my herbs (I guess that's what happens if you go most of a summer without watering them), I managed to kill the plant starts that I bought to replace them.

Guess I didn't have "thyme" to water it. Okay that was a REALLY bad pun.

With my characteristic thoroughness and attention to detail, I killed all but one of my live houseplants as well. Fact: Live houseplants are more attractive than fake ones. Fact: Live houseplants are less expensive than fake ones. Fact: Live houseplants are better for the air in your home and for the environment than the fake-o ones. Fact: I no longer have live houseplants. (Well, actually I do have one, but it's on its way out... just give me a few weeks.)

Meet "Fern," the new, plastic-enhanced member of my living room decorating scheme. On the bright side, I no longer need to worry about toddlers dumping dirt onto my carpet.

Our New and Fabulous Front Yard

Here are some pictures of our new front yard after I finished my huge planting project. In the process of planting a tree in the corner, Dave and I broke a sprinkler pipe (which took a while for Dave to get repaired), so in this picture the lawn is getting really scruffy from not getting watered for a while- on top of the general abuse it took from all of the digging and renovation going on. I also still need to do the edging around the grass, but you can at least get the general idea.

But enough excuses- I'm still really proud of myself for completing the project- while I was pregnant, no less, and before I left on my trip. [Pat self on back.] =)

Before:



















After:

Workin' It

Today I planted a bunch of plants in our front yard. I am in a race against time to see if I can finish planting the front yard before we leave for California on Saturday. Do you think I can do it? (Or the bigger question: can I do it and still get all of my bathrooms clean before I leave?) Should I really have bought the last 7 plants today that I need to finish the landscape plan? (Please don't answer that.)

Today I also removed three big bushes and broke a shovel in half in the process. It was even our "good shovel" (not the one that the handle bends if you push too hard). Doesn't that make me sound burly and strong-- especially for a pregnant lady? =] "Yeah, I was out working the yard pulling out a couple of bushes and our flimsy shovel just broke in half... they just don't make them the way they used to."

So maybe our shovel was getting old and on its last leg... maybe I was trying to use it as leverage to get the roots to budge... but I wouldn't want to spoil a great story for the sake of a few details =].