Captain Random Strikes Again

So, this is most likely going to be a random, jumbled post this evening. First off, Lil and I transplanted some of our babies today. These are the "toenadoes".

Here we have basil, cilantro and parsley.

Let's hope some of these transplants take and I get some herbies and tomatoes this year. :finger crossed: As I've said SO many times, I do NOT have a green thumb (I leave that up to Jessie :oP) and when the weather gets HOT I have a tendency to wimp out, choosing to stay cool in the a/c instead of braving the heat and humidity. I think Lil (and the yummies and pretties) may have other plans for me this summer. :o)

My school held it's annual home and garden show this past weekend ("Perennial Days--It's an annual thing" was the catch phrase) and there were some pretties leftover that were being sold. I picked up two hanging baskets of trailing petunias--I'm a sucker for the sweet fragrance and vivid, vibrant color--five day lilies, and for buckets of coreopsis. I'm hoping I can split those, we'll see. Here's what we have:
'tunies

day lilies and coreopsis. The coreopsis are yellow and orange. I'm hoping they'll spread like wildfire. I had thought to plant them in the bed here, but maybe they'll go around the mailbox (which still needs to have the stupid rocks and weeds removed...maybe Saturday?). I'm hoping to turn this flower bed behind the swing into a day lily bed. As Lissie has told me many many times, they'll grow anywhere. :fingers crossed:


These guys are fairly sizable and I'm wondering if they can be split. Mom? Help me, please! :o)

Ah, the fruits of our labor today. Lil used her fork to loosen the soil and then helped dig the holes. (Please ignore the orange extension cord. :eye roll:) In this bed we have: two squares of chives, two of cilantro, four of basil (can you really have too much basil?), two of parsley, four tomatoes (cherry, I believe) and two more corn (which I just planted today).

This bed holds: two corn, two beans, two onions, two lettuces (ready to be re-planted fairly soon, I'm afraid--stupid heat), four "toenadoes" and four peppers (if they'll ever sprout...sheesh!). I couldn't imagine I would fill two beds, and yet, I have. It took me no time at all and now I'm actually contemplating asking B to build me a couple more. Eek! We'll have to wait and see how these guys come out first, I know, I know. I do know I'll be planting cukes soon. Maybe it's time to get the lettuce out and just give up on it until fall?

We have leftovers so I'm considering some toenadoes in pots on the deck. Basil as well. :o)


Hannah's garden is coming along beautifully. Ahhhh, perennials, how I love them! You plant them once and they return bigger and better every year. We have 13(!) lilies so far and I'm fairly certain we only started with four. There are other greeny things sprouting and I wish I could remember what they were, but well, Lil helped me clean up the garden last fall by removing those handy little signs that told me what was where. :sigh:

These are just a few of them coming up. Aren't they grand? :o) The irises are are folded down and ready to be buried as soon as the mulch guys arrive.

Okay, other random tidbits from today:

• Brien passed his final exam of the semester. Woo hoo!
• I survived the "rising fifth graders" parent coffee. :oP They are a lovely group of parents and I'm looking forward to working with them. Some I know because I've had their children before and they all seem so nice. :o)
  
• The temps have dropped again. Hooray! It'll warm up again by this weekend, but nothing as nasty has it has been. Whew!
• I saw a kiddo outside this evening picking up all the trash he had dropped when he was walking down the street. Sometimes people do do the right thing.
• I have Lil convinced every day is Earth day. As such, she and I are on constant litter patrol and collect when we see it in order to put it in appropriate bins. The only things I won't allow her to pick up are cigarette butts. EW! I just make sure to keep hand gel on me at all times anymore. ;o)
• The movie Wall-E has scared the fooey out of me with regards to how much waste I'm producing. I'm what I like to call "light green". I have CFLs, I take my own bags to stores, I don't use bags in the produce department (okay, okay, I do for green beans and Brussels sprouts), I recycle everything, I compost. After seeing Wall-E (which is very very cute and wonderful), I'm trying to be more careful of packaging as well. Do you know how much packaging there is out there???? I'm going to try to remember to do a post on my "light green" ways. Hm, I do more than I thought I did...

I know there were other items I wanted to include but darned if I can remember what they were. Oy.

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Today's Sparklies:

1. My porch swing makes me so happy:
2. Look what Brien saved from Holly:
How cute is he?
3. Signs of hard work in progress:

4. Signs I have a crafty toddler in the house:

5. Tonight's dinner (I apologize for the lighting in the photos, it seems quite jarring when compared with natural light):
Homemade pasta salad with spinach, kalamata olives and feta, dressed with lemon zest, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Mmmmmm. :o)

and:
maple syrup and soy sauce glazed "salmon fish". It was a banner meal night if you were Lil. She loved it all! :o)
6. I got SOOO much done this evening. The slug day was good, but I'm glad to be back on track once again. I got two loads of laundry done, all that planting, cooking and then cleaning the kitchen and some school work. Not too shabby! :oP
7. I like how I feel when I get "stuff" done more than when I'm sluggy. Getting motivated to move is tough, doing it isn't always fun, but the sense of accomplishment afterward is WONDERFUL. :o) (methinks this may apply to that exercise thing as well...)

No milestones. I just wish Han were here to enjoy the flowers with us. She would dance and twirl around the garden, I just know it. She was responsible for one of the lilies in her garden. Wouldn't she just love it all? I told Dad on Sunday that to me, Han will always be five. I can't get her past that. She'll be eternally five, and really, isn't that a glorious thing?