A Day in Numbers

Leaves blown by this man = 225,000

Sticks Picked up by these hands = 1,000

Calories burned raking (according to my Lose It ap) = 800

Trips made on the Four Wheeler with loaded dump trailer = 3

Trips made on the Four Wheeler just for fun = 6

Trips made with me on back, holding on for dear life = 1

Friendly neighbors who stopped by to chat = 5

Neighbors who stopped to ask what we were doing with all that firewood = 2

Times Mo was told to get out of the street and back in the yard = 75

Minutes Mo (the Morax) spent sitting on the stump on neighborhood watch = 35

Hours spent raking and cleaning out the hill in front of our house = 4

Burn piles on the road waiting for a less windy day = 4

Burn piles in the yard waiting = 6

Snakes spotted = 1

Times I thought about letting God be the Master Gardener instead of me and going inside to watch a Real Housewives marathon = 10

Dollars needed to complete all of the landscaping projects we dreamed up today = 75,000

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.

Spring Springing

I'm on Spring Break this week. Most of it I've spent on the couch battling a sinus infection. But I've managed to enjoy a few things during this much needed break. Here they are:

Crocus Bulbs Appearing!

I nearly broke my nose planting these last fall. I can't wait for the rest of the blooms to emerge. I used a kit called "100 Days of Flowers." I think we are on day 5 and that means 95 more to go...

I really wish I would have mulched around these sweet babies!

Jumpy Jump & Dippy Dip

Spent a fun day with my niece Addison and her mom Kristin at Pump It Up, followed by some "dippy dippy" at McDougal's Chicken. Highlight of the day was hearing her say, "Hi, Kate" when I walked up! Love her to pieces!

It was kind of hard to get a good pic of her with my camera phone. She was very busy and not into photo ops!!

Cleaning & Thievery

We did a little garage spring cleaning and reorganization of the convenience store that blew up down there. (More details to come on that one - not ready to post a post about post Post).

Here's Pete "helping" with the dustpan & Mo sneaking off with a little Twizzler treat. He also enjoyed some nerds, a nutrigrain bar and gum before being discovered with his pilfered treasures.

Gotta love these innocent looking faces.

"See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

is heard in our land."

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Why Didn't I...

...think of this!

Taking boring, cheap cardboard magazine holders (or when back to school time rolls around, free cardboard "folder holders" from Wal-mart school supply aisle).

And adding a little modge podge and cute scrapbooking paper to create this:

What an awesome idea. You've got to check out the Southern Hospitality Blog for some great decorating inspiration. I have some "folder holders" at school that might be getting a makeover very soon!

Lord of the Leaves

I'm the daughter of a man who has been known to mow the neighbor's yard just so their lines matched his.

I'm the sister of two strapping brothers who mowed, battling locusts and carving football numbers into the backyard.

I'm the wife of a husband who once owned a lawn care company and took great pride in doing the yard work, magically while I was at work.

I'm the woman who has no clue how to take care of a sloping, acre plus yard covered in leaves, assorted nuts, sticks, leaves, twigs, branches, leaves, limbs, leaves, rocks, leaves and leaves.  

So for the past few evenings, I've put on my big girl gardening gloves and tried to win the battle of the leaves.  I'm making progress, but whew!  Do I have a new appreciation for all Nathan did to keep everything looking so nice.  Our lawn in Murfreesboro was the envy of all neighborhood walkers and UPS men.  Our yard here is still waiting for a master plan, but he always kept things tidy for us.  I'm trying to keep up.  Stress the word trying.  Here are a few pics from my hours of what seems like "Promethean" raking efforts.

 "Before"

Nuts, sticks, leaves, rocks-aplenty 

"After"

Piles of aforementioned nuts, sticks and leaves waiting for bagging. Correction, still waiting for bagging.

A new friend.  Best nature photography my iphone camera can muster.  He was strangely interesting.   

Leaves awaiting bagging.  Bagging party, anyone??

Mo posing with the first fruits of my labor.  He was a nice raking companion.  Pete quit early and retired to his dog bed.

Raging Red Bull

Looks perfectly harmless, Right?

But put this "Red Bull" on a spin cycle and she turns into a "Raging Bull". I came home to this:

Disaster. Brand new Costo sized bottle of fabric softener "bucked" from it's perch on the Red Bull, oozing on the laundry room floor, spattered on the walls, soaking the dry cleaning, and creeping out from under the door like The Blob (only a lovely shade of light blue accompanied by a spring fresh scent.) After 30 minutes and a roll of paper towels, I tamed the red bull's reign of terror. On the bright side, in the midst of this mess I managed to find a lost earring and become very intimate with every nook and cranny of my laundry room.

Rocky Top

One of my students gave me a Sweet William plant as an end of the year parting gift. It's beautiful and such a thoughtful gift. To blow off some steam after the FINAL DAY OF SCHOOL, I decided to plant it. Only our yard is in a shall we say, natural, untouched state and I didn't really have a great home for "Willie". We'll see if he makes it, as I tend to have a brown thumb and have quite a few elements working against me. Challenge #1 - Love the Tennessee fight song, but hate to discover how true it really is. Sing it with me now, "Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me, good 'Ole Rocky Top, Woo, Rocky Top Tennessee...". I had to dig and dig and battle rocks to make the small hole needed to plant my Sweet William!

Challenge #2 - Our barren landscaping... we moved into our home in July, in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. What a time to try to cultivate new grass seed or new landscaping! We decided to forgo landscaping until we can install an irrigation system. After that is accomplished bring on the sod and shrubbery. (However, I think we'll be forgoing until we hit the lottery or strike oil or weasel our way onto HGTV's Groundbreakers). So until then, I've opted to enjoy the rustic, natural look of our Kingston Springs topography.

Challenge #3 - Clay, clay, clay and more clay! Although I did manage to throw in a little potting soil and fertilizer into the hole.

Challenge #4 - My brown thumb. I have a bad track record with plants.

Poor, Sweet William. I hope Willie can hang on and make it this summer!