Herb Garden Photo~

My latest venture into thinking I can do anything....the cinder block herb garden. It is by far the coolest thing to even grace my yard.

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Cinder Blocks and June Bugs~

We were being lazy on the couch watching Ty Pennington make over houses when I became obsessed with the idea of a cinder block herb garden. As usual, it didn't begin as an obsession. It began as a background shot of a garden wall leading into the house. It wasn't even a main shot or something that Ty pointed out or something the houseowner gasped at...it was somewhere behind what the camera was actually filming. And I didn't immediately want it, I just immediately liked it and was intrigued by it. I mentioned to Jack how cool it looked and he agreed. Then I went home and began to plan. Did I mention it is the dead of winter?

So when I went home, I began by googling cinder block gardens. As always, I needed all the information that my nerdy little heart could find before I planned my own totally better garden. I hit gardening websites and forums and pictures...and I continued to hit them for hours. By the time I feel asleep with my laptop in my...well, lap...I had plenty of information. The next day I made pen and pencil blueprint drawings of different layouts after researching block dimensions. I redrew them over and over, figuring out the best diagram to use for maximum planting while still being pretty. I researched all the different herbs that I would realistically use and found out which of those would grow best in a container garden. Then I created a corresponding map of planting spots, showing exactly which herb would be in each hole. I finished up by summarizing all my diagrams and maps into a shopping list of plants and block so that I could easily amass all the necessary items. Then I showed it to Jack.

This is what I love about Jack. Well, part of what I love about Jack. He didn't laugh, he didn't roll his eyes, he didn't mention the fact that it was five months too early or that I am not a very accomplished block layer or that he has seen me cook with fresh herbs roughly zero times since we began dating. He said he thought we could do it. And last week....we did. And it looks absolutely awesome. And that is me being modest. It really looks even better than that. I will post pictures so you can see for yourself. So check them out and brace yourself for gardening adventure blog postings.

***UPDATE***

Even before I posted this, I had a gardening adventure! Not a great one. Word of advice - when planting an herb garden, do NOT plant directly under a super bright yard light that is activated automatically at dusk and that will attract thousands of June bugs from every direction. If you do...I promise that about twenty of these June bugs a night will commit suicide by flying directly into it, thus leaving gross beetle corpses mingling in your strawberries and rosemary. Yucky.

Blog Refresh~

***UPDATE: After saying what a pain in the ass this was to do, of course I come back a few days later and it is all GONE. UGH. So I will slowly re-tag all this stuff, but I don't have the heart to do it today.

So this title is misleading. I did not change a background or reinvent myself or begin a new season or upload a picture gallery.

I DID however add labels! So exciting! And you better think so because it was very annoying to do, so like it damn it. So now, every character gets tagged if they are mentioned in a blog. This means if you want to read all the mush that is Jack then you click on his name and see everywhere he shows up. Or you can do the same if ya wanna see all my scandal and divorce disaster. I also added just a few labels for the important things in life - my family, my opinions, and of course....food.

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Paper and Pomanders~

So I have several traits that, on the surface look good. In fact, they are good...when used in a productive vein or when viewed on their own. I am very organized, very focused and efficient, and I attack new things with lots of energy and commitment. Sounds very positive. However when you combine all these things - and the power of internet browsing on my phone - and leave it alone on the couch during naptime.....strange things happen. Here is how yesterday went down:

Setting: Our heroine's couch, naptime, traditionally the time when cleaning gets done. Alas, a distraction...

Our (flawed, but amusing) heroine: "Oh look! An article about Kate's bouquet! I need to see that!"

Two minutes later:

"Oh look! A link to someone who made a do-it-yourself bouquet that looks like Kate's! I gotta check it out!"

Two minutes later:

" Oh look! Instructionson how to make paper flowers! I wonder if it really works or if this is just tacky? I need to try it!"

Two minutes later...

I am cutting out typing paper and trying to make paper carnations. Sucess! It could have ended right here, but all those previously mentioned traits? That combined can be used for evil if I don't harness them correctly? They won.

I decided I needed to see the flowers in color so I found scrapbooking paper. I wanted to make different flowers so I googled and researched until I had more designs. I found instructions to make hanging pomander balls that look like the ones I loved at The Wynn in Vegas. So I made my own core with balled up tinfoil and started toothpicking flowers to it and ribboning. When the kids woke up I let them run around like crazy animals - as long as they didn't touch my work station ( the couch) after briefly considering using them like a child sweatshop to churn out mini rosebuds for filler flowers. I seriously thought about telling Jack I would be late for date night so I could finish. Thankfully, a kid got bit which broke my focus and forced me out of my paper flower trance.

So now, I am a paper flower making goddess. And should Jack and I get married one day, we will have the best hanging pomander balls that you have ever seen - way better than the ones I saw online, maybe (definitely) even better than the real Kate bouquet. What a fantastic use of my time, I am genius for spending my free time learning a new, almost-pointless skill. Unfortunately now I still have to do all that cleaning. Maybe I can start selling paper pomander balls and pay someone to do my housework?

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