292/365 A Thief and a Killer

Earlir today, my mom noticed this little guy in our unfinished butterfly garden. He would run up a stake planted next to the flower, reach out as far as he could to grab the stalk, then drop back to the ground with it so he could eat the flower. He did this for a good 20 minutes before my desire to get a closer shot startled him.

Sadly, over the next few days, he ATE THE WHOLE THING. And what he didn’t eat, died a very sudden death.

I guess butterfly are not the only creature who finds this plant nom-able.

 

279/365 Stop And Smell The Roses

Today was busy with cleaning, organizing, laundry, yard work and cooking. However, during all the business, I did take a moment to stop and admire the beauty around me.

273/365 Ho’n Is Hard Work

These bad boys kicked my arse this evening. Next time I decide to build a new garden bed where grass now grows, Gil is totally bringing out the tiller.

272/365 Vanny’s Garden

We lost our sweet kitty Vanny back in March. We went out a few days later and bought a memorial stone that the kids could make and decorate as a way to both ease their pain of the loss, and to memorialize him. After months of not finding or not making the time to do this, Natalie and I finally decided today that it was time. I pretty much let her do all of the work, including the mixing of the concrete and the design. A few weeks ago my mom went out and bought a white rose bush and planted it in the corner of our yard now known as  Vanny’s Garden and Nat wanted to use that in her design. I think she did a beautiful job. What do you think?

I love the way she incorporated the mulch and the rose in the stone.

Here’s where it will go and as soon as we place it next weekend, I’ll post more pictures.

The rose had a real pretty bloom on it today, too.

251/365 No Day Off for These Mamas

We finally made the time to build Mama’s garden beds. It was supposed to be her Mother’s Day gift but she ended up working much harder than we had intended. I think she liked it though.

This is actually a picture of one of the little side projects we decided to do in the middle of building the garden beds. This will be Vanny’s Corner. We will plant a white rose bush in the corner and memorialize him with a decorative stone the kids are going to make.

PS….I kinda miss him.

PPS…Happy Mother’s Day, Mama. I hope you like the beds.

PPPS….Yes, Honey, I know I’m not a REAL Mama, but I am a kitty mama so that totally counts. Now stop rolling your eyes.

 

213/365 Good Friday

http://bible.us/Mark14.32.NLT They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

208/365 Living on the Edge

189/365 Southern Noms

 

I had a craving for black eyed peas with pepper sauce. Isn’t it strange how these cravings come out of nowhere. Anywho, the peas and corn may have come out of a can but the pepper sauce was homemade with peppers from our friend Jeff’s backyard garden last fall. Let’s just say my craving has been satisfied. Well, at least until I have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. And for anyone who’s out there helping me count my Weight Watchers points, the total value for this traditional southern meal was only 9 points. Did I say nom nom?!?

045/365 Cat’s Whiskers (It’s Not What You Think)

When I was pulling into our driveway today, I was really struck by the beauty of our plants on the front walkway. So, of course I snapped a photo to share.

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Fall Plant Festival with my mom. We go each time they have a show but we were on a mission this time.  We had picked up these pretty plants, Cat’s Whiskers, at last year’s fall show but a couple of them had died over the winter. We knew they would be hard to find because we actually bought all they had at the show last fall. I couldn’t go to the show on Saturday due to a prior obligation, so we planned to be there when the gates opened Sunday morning. This is my mom.

Yes, it was raining cats and dogs and yes, were were the ONLY customers the entire time we were there. And, yes, we are insane. But, we were on a mission to replace my poor dead Cat’s Whiskers.  Sadly, no Cat’s Whiskers were to be found. We had missed the few a single vendor had for sale on Saturday. Oh well, we decided to improvise.  I mean, we were there anyway and certainly couldn’t go home empty handed. This is what we got instead. Now we have this lovely crimson and white walkway to our front door.

Roll Tide!

PS: Thanks to mom for planting and taking care of all of these plants. We all know what would happen if I was responsible for them.

PSS: While searching The Google for a link to Cat’s Whiskers Plant, I found this.  I think I want more of these and less of those green things growing in my front yard. Sorry, it was too good not to share. 🙂