HAPPY HAPPY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MAMA!

Tired Tulip {rare words, those!}

Exhausted after a day in Miss Angela's kiddie pools {of which I got the report that she was such a crazy banshee the other dogs stopped playing and simply stared at her. She tends to have that affect!} and helping Jessie plant the bathtub garden.


She found her favorite squeaky squirrel from her Parm, positioned it under her chinny-chin-chin and just laid. Not moving. Not closing her eyes. Just still.

southern snow

So you may have heard that it snowed a little bit while I was on spring break. As in I heard a pretty reliable source say 48 INCHES in the mountains. Which was magical in the mountains, but a little cold/wet in the city for this now-southern girl.

When I stepped off the plane upon arrival in NOLA I was met with a wall of muggy, humid, HOT air. It was amazing. It even smelled like summer.

So imagine my surprise when I went out to my car and discovered snow! In NOLA! In April!!!


Silly reader, I didn't mean frozen-ice-crystal snow; I encountered pollen snow. Seriously, so much pollen that it was like a greeny-brown snow had fallen. My car looks green. I've had to 'shovel' {okay, sweep, but basically the same!} the walk every day and its still covered. Pollen has come through the car air conditioner and gotten in my shoe. Brandon promised me that once we had a thorough rain the pollen would stop falling from the heavens.


Luckily, the rain came. And everything was super-covered in pollen. And I had to sweep. BUT, since then, no more pollen on the walk! My car hasn't gotten any greener/scungier.

But I did encounter my first mystery bug of the season! Moving on to more adventures of southern summers!

bathtub wonder

Ever pondered what to make of that really cool, but kind-of-an-eyesore antique bathtub sitting in your backyard? Well, I had a vision for ours. Last year's efforts were a good start, but there was little follow-through on my part, and HUGE follow-through by the resident bugs. And there was also a late start. As in, I started in late July/August and the second round of baby plants never materialized at the farmers market. So let's sum it up with this: there were setbacks and learning experiences.

This year, I changed my approach. I ordered plants in January from a national company that ships you each plant at the correct time for the plant and your area. Perfect for me, as I am not really up on those types of details. Also perfect because due to our looooooooong cold winter, plants were shipped about every 2 weeks: flowers seedlings first, then potatoes and finally tomatoes and peppers and basil.

I diligently cultivated my dahlia bulbs and poppy seedlings in my large pot for the front porch {thank you in advance to the dear soul who moves that hefty beauty upstairs when we move!}.


I carefully tilled the soil in the bathtub from last year and perked it up with some new soil and some humus; I delicately dug a furrow and planted my potatoes under their little mounds of soil, each marked with a specific stick so I could find them.

Then came the neighbors rager, which caused me much concern for my dear little potatoes! I found a beer can in the bathtub, and frankly gave up my potatoes for lost.

Yesterday, my final shipment arrived: cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, red peppers, eggplants, basil and lettuce seeds. Probably unnecessary to note, but in case you missed it, we like tomatoes in our family. In fact, I can't recall ever growing anything except tomatoes in our gardens. So this is a leap of faith to cultivate so many varieties.

In my excitement over the final plant arrival, I decided to plant all of the goodies. I feared my potatoes were lost and went to dig them up. Lo and behold-my potato babies were growing! So they stayed...but if they have a funny tinge/taste to them come harvest, we'll know who to blame {I'm looking at you, neighbors that have ragers}.


So I plotted, sowed, and fertilized. I planted the seedlings and seeds. I staked in the tomato cages and tied them together to fend off any errant winds. Then I watered a bit more and swatted a big black snout that have come into the scene to investigate. I fear Miss Tulip might be a bigger danger to my garden than any bugs/diseases!

It was a snowy, birdy Birthday!

I woke up to a fresh layer of snow on my 'first day of the last year of the first quarter of my life'!


There was a surprise birthday breakfast-delish mexican benedict (maybe you had to be there, but it was amazing!) and yummy diner breakfast potatoes, all under the watchful eyes of this owl art!


Long chat with A and many loved ones and swishing down my beloved PC slopes ensued.


A divine {totally tart and delicious} jamba juice double feature kick-started the evening's festivities...


THE JabbaWockeeZ!


All topped off by a dip in the, previously pictured, snow-covered hot-tub. Thank you to everyone for the cards, calls, gifts, messages, breakfasts, performances, and birthday wishes! It was an amazing birthday week and 24 is off to a wonderful start!

Ski pants or not...

...I'm hitting the slopes tomorrow. Sixteen inches of fresh snow overnight and still falling. Seven to eight more inches due tonight. Tomorrow's my birthday and it's going to be perfect skiing. Now the big question is, will the box with my ski pants arrive before then?!?!?