Sill alive and running!!!

Hey!
I just wanted you to know that yes, I am in fact still alive! My computer hasn’t been allowing me to post… Besides that, life has just been too busy to blog!
Remember how I said that during my summer life, we work on the weekends? Strike that… We work at fairs on the weekend and we work the rest of the week getting ready for the fairs! :o) lol

But I got to thinking… You haven’t seen how “Herb” is doing lately, have you?
I went on a date with him last night. (In other words, he got weeded! If you didn’t know… my herb garden’s name is Herbert. “Herb” for short. I know, I know… I’m kinda weird like that! lol)

This is what got planted this year.

Sadly, my chamomile died out. *sniff sniff* We planted the cabbage too close to it and I think it choked it out while I was at CYIA.

But everything else is doing great!
I just realized that I forgot to tell you! Earlier this spring, I got chocolate mint and orange mint!!! They are SO fun! They seem to be growing with full force! I can’t wait till they get full enough that I can harvest them for tea! I’ve been grabbing a few leaves here and there, but not really harvesting it yet per se. Except for my good ‘ol Dutch mint that’s been around forever… I’ve already harvested a bunch of that for this winter.

Anyhoo… Just thought I’d post quick to let you know I’m still alive! :o)

Boy, it's nice out!!

Isn't this weather beautiful?!

Last time I posted a bit about the “outdoors-gardening-fingers-in-the-dirt” stuff that I’ve been doing. Here’s a bit more of a glimpse of what we’ve been working on.

I wanted to be more involved with the planting/watering/weeding this year. I’m not sure why, but last year I was busier or something. I didn’t do a lot with it and I missed it. It’s a fun thing that mom and I can do together.We bought about 4 flats of flowers... Petunias, Geraniums, Vinca Vines, Impatients, spiky grass things, and more. We still need to get a bunch of Wave Petunias.

I got the hanging baskets planted, but I have the rest of the flowers to plant in pots, planters, and in our flower beds.

We also got a flat of veggies. Tomatoes, Peppers, Lettuce, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Cabbage etc… We planted those in our raised beds northeast of the house.

Unfortunately, our pony, Buddy got out yesterday and we found out that he likes lettuce and broccoli. He ate 3 out of 4 lettuce plants and 3 out of 12 broccoli. Sad day.

We planted a bunch of seeds too. We had planted peas earlier, but that long hard cold killed most of them off. *Sniff Sniff* I love fresh peas!!!

My crazy cousin, Rachel, (Yes you!) likes to pick tomatoes straight from the garden and eat them… But that’s just plain weird! Peas on the other hand… Now peas… Fresh, right off the vine is the only way to eat them! ;o)

Last of all… That brings us to my beloved herb bed.

It too suffered last year from my neglect. *sniff sniff* Hopefully it’ll take off this year with more faithful watering and weeding! What do I have in my herb bed? I have Dutch Mint, Chives (My favorite!), Lemon Balm, and I just planted 4 parsley plants and another Lavender. The key word there is, another. The reason I say that is because this is my 4th lavender plant. My first was lovely. It lasted 2 whole years. Then, we moved to our current house up here in northeast Nebraska and I opted to leave it there. Then it died. I think it missed me! :o) lol My 2nd one I planted by our front door off to the right. Sadly, the dogs “did that one in,” and it succumbed. My 3rd one, I planted in my beloved herb bed and there it flourished all summer. Just before winter arrived, the dogs must’ve decided that it had been around to long and that they needed to do their beastly duty and get rid of it. Either that of they were after a “critter!” Whatever the case, when I found it, it was turned upside down several feet from its previous residence on the cold, hard ground. I replanted it and gave it a bit of water, but this spring when everything else was turning green. It stayed in it’s brown, vegetative state. (Or would that be herbative?) So, again this Spring, I got another Lavender plant and got it safely planted where the last one lived last summer. I think Caleb’s pony is trying to do his part to kill this one though too, because I went out there yesterday and it had a neat little hoof print right in the middle of it! ;o) *Sigh* We’ll see…

But that’s what my beloved herbs are doing. So if you ever call and ask what I’m doing, and I say that “I’m on a date with Herb,” you know what I’m doing! Weeding!My wish list for herbs: Chocolate Mint, Berries and Cream Mint, Apple Mint, Pretty-much-any-kind-of-mint, (I love making tea!) Chamomile, more Lavender, and any other herbs that I don’t have yet! :o)

Have fun this week, ya'll and enjoy the weather!

~Nicole

No... I'm not "lost forever!"

Well... Ahem...

Just in case you were wondering...
Yes, I got back from Florida! ;o) lol

Life has been CRAZY since then! What's been happening?!


Well... Let's see...
I had NCHEA Kid's Conference... That was SO FUN!!! Can't wait to start planning for next year!

Candles have wound down. We'll start those back up again in September. *Whew!* One less thing on my list!

Fairs have started up. In fact, we'll be doing fairs 5 out of 7 days this week!

We got our whole house re-wired! HALELUJAH! Gone with all the fuses! In with breaker boxes! No more switching blown fuses for me, baby! (Excuse my excitement, but last time I changed a fuse, I had smoke and sparks everywhere!!! SCARY! Someone told me that no one ever died from getting "just scared." I beg to differ! I was very close to being the first 20 year-old woman to have a heart attack!)

And it's very much gardening weather! We got our very small garden planted... All the flowers weeded... My own beautiful herb garden weeded and some additions planted... The hanging baskets done and hung on the front porch... And yet 4 more flats of flowers to plant. YAY! I love this time of year!

I'm not sure what else has kept me busy lately, but I've been busy doing it!!! :o) lol


That being said, I'll try to post a bit more than every two months now! Granted, I won't be working on a lot of projects this summer, but I'll try to keep you posted by keepin' posted! :o)

~Nicole