Mt Storm

We ended up going back to Mt. Storm. This time we took Amanda and Zacious. It was a lot of fun. There were a lot more people there this time, but there are enough spots along the shoreline that you don't feel crowded.

We brought dive sticks. The water is so clear you can see the sticks from many feet away. The only bad thing about this was that Frank got swimmer's ear and now never wants to swim again.

Chewie floated around in his "Pool Patrol" float for an hour before swimming out.

Look how BIG the lake is!

Mt. Storm

Last weekend we went to Mt. Storm Lake to swim. I loved it! The water was so warm. It was fun to float around. The windmills blew me away, they were so huge! We are going back this coming weekend to camp out. Yay!

Wow! I am a lucky woman

My husband is always surprising me. While I was reading last night I thought Frank was in the living room watching a movie. It turns out he was in the garage organizing and cleaning for me!

He did such a good job finding a home for everything. Finally our garage is up to par (organization wise) with the rest of the house. I am so lucky to have such a great husband.



He made a place to hang the umbrellas.





He even created an area for my gardening stuff! Complete with my old license plate.

He even did the insides of the cabinets!

Now I am planning on painting all the cabinets and dressers the same color and adding matching hardware to make it more aesthetically pleasing. And using my mulch so it's not piled in here.

Wonderful Saturday

Today was a pretty enjoyable, productive day. I got up and had a garage sale. Eventhough I only had 4 customers and made only 2 dollars I was able to set my laptop up and write my 7 paper final paper. I also got all my grades put online. It is so much easier to get work done when you are sitting in the sun.
After I gave up on the yard sale around 2 I had a little lunch and took a power nap. I love it when I get to take naps, I always wake up feeling so much better.
After my nap I went out to work on making my new flower bed. I am very pleased with how it turned out. My big plan is to do the whole hillside with a variety of evergreens and ground cover. It is a long term gift to my husband because he will have less to mow. I have also started planning out next springs plans. I am envisioning two small fountains and ponds, a barrier of plants along my retaining wall, and possible trying out a rose garden. Here are a couple photos of all my hard work.

Below is the bed I started last year. Everything is really coming up well. My mother-in-law always says "The first year they sleep, second year they creep, and third year they leap". I can't imagine what it will look like next year. I still have some more mulch to lay out and some weeds to pull.
This is what I made me mother-in-law for Mother's Day tomorrow. I did this a while ago so I could make sure they did better than the last time I tried and they really flourished. I wish I had a picture of how small they all started out. I hope she enjoys them. She is the reason I got into gardening. I plan on taking a couple of hostas and mulch to my mom's next weekend and fixing up her garden for her Mothers Day present. I will try to remember to take my camera and get some before and after pics.

I love working in the gardens so much I am a little sad to see this years projects almost completed. But I do need to turn my focus over to taking up the old pool deck and replacing it with a stone patio, staining the fence and creating an outdoor kitchen. I want to get the deck done incase we are able to build in our patio like we plan. We don't want to lose our outdoor cooking space.

*Add pictures to Internet -Check

I added some pictures to past blogs. There are now some Vacation pics, and some early spring garden pics.

Sunny Day

I love this weather! Yes the heat was a little surprising yesterday, but still wonderful. I got up early today so I can take on some outside projects! The plants in my garden are really starting to come up. I was convinced they weren't going to grow. I am so thrilled! I was convinced I had a black thumb. I will add pictures later.

My mother in law made this birdbath for me last year. It needed rinsed out again.

Whenever I tried putting these in the pots they were supposed to be in they died. So i left them in here. They grew so much I had to move someto another pot. Now they are taking over that one.

Of course I have a lot of work to do out here. I am excited to finally have a pretty flower bed again. Everything is so depressing in the winter.

Much Better

Well things are looking up! Frank is able to return to work, and I think I found a part time job. So this has eased the pressures of the bills. My masters classes are still taking tons of time but there is only a month left! Then I get a week off before summer school starts.
I got to go out and work in the garden today. I love being out in the sun. I got most of it weeded (it's 45 feet long, and there are lots of weeds). It looks like all my hostas and flags are coming in nicely. I have been saving my change so I can buy some flowers in a month or so, mulch too.
My knee is really doing great. I started walking 3.5 miles again and made it without it hurting. I think I may try jogging tonight. = ) I love to jog.
I also was able to buy some fruits and vegetables! I love fresh fruit and vegetables! Now I can munch on those instead of junk! YAY!
I still haven't uploaded the pictures from vacation. We honestly didn't take many. I don't think we got any in NYC or Boston. I was having too much fun and forgot to get out the camera! Hopefully I will have some time to get those uploaded tonight or tomorrow.
We may be putting an addition onto our house. If that happens then we can start working on fixing up the pool deck. I don't think we can afford to repair the pool this year but things are looking up for next year.