don't eat chocolate ice cream after dinner...

unless you want insomnia. i should be exhausted. i am. yet i cannot sleep. so i've spent the last hour browsing online for ideas for a flowering hedge at the top of our cliff. Ideally, at least 4 feet tall when it grows up. Right now, there's some pink phlox that actually came back from last year. And that ugly cliff. It's too steep to mow, so why not plant a bush or hedge to take over? I figure planting 3 in a row should make a nice natural fence at the top of the cliff.

Here are some ideas I've come up with so far:

• rosa regosa (white)
  
• crimson king rose hedge
  
• yellow forsythia
• peony (white)
  
• hydrangea
• lilac
• butterfly bush
• rose of sharon
  

The ideal hedge must not clash with the red brick of our house (scroll down to previous post), and must be very hardy. It has to tolerate the extreme TN summer heat and not-so-good soil. I'm thinking something that flowers more than just a couple of weeks would be really nice, too. Preferrably cheap enough to replace if something happens, or not care about if a retaining wall does get put in. Cut-able flowers would be a nice option, too.

Any thoughts (other than the obvious "you need help with your blogging addiction")?

yard destruction

well, we've lived in this house for 3 1/2 years. for those of you who don't know the history, we, naive first time homebuyers opted not to use a realtor. we bought in a brand new neighborhood, and assumed everything would be perfect. we paid a lot premium for a corner lot. a week or two after we moved in, they came in and started cutting out where the street next to our house will go. this resulted in a big hill and a little cliff at the back corner of our lot. it was slightly sloped when we closed, but not too steep. we kept getting promises from the builders that they would put in a retaining wall when they build behind us, yada yada yada... e-mailed codes last spring and wrote another letter to the developer this summer.... received a written response that they would begin fixing the cliff later in the summer. it's november, and today they dug up where they are going to put the sidewalk next to our house. this makes the cliff steeper. i suspect i'll be contacting codes again to find out how and when they are going to make them put in a retaining wall. i'll try to take pics and post them tomorrow. bottom line- we love our house and neighbors, mostly. but we will never recommend that anybody purchase from the developer of this community due to their land development issues. they finally repaved the streets this summer, but they are still tearing out and redoing sidewalks around the neighborhood because something wasn't right.

please pray that they do actually do the retaining wall right, since the current situation is prime for slumping. this state's consumer protection is pretty week. i believe some states would require builders to have the streets/lot development done before the homes can be built...

live,learn, and try not to break your leg or neck mowing the yard.....

A breath of fresh air

One of the advantages of having a job with the government is that when all the bigwigs get to go to funeral services for former a president, the little guys and gals on the totem pole also get the day. I am not trying to dishonor President Ford in any way, or make light of his death. I just want to express my gratitude for another day with hubby home.

Today is one of those winter days one can't help but love. It's comparable to an autumn day in the upper midwest. The sky is a clear blue, with few clouds in sight. The sun has shone for a majority of the day. In college, days like this could calm me or invigorate me as I walked across the Quad, back to the dorm, or over to the BSU. The breeze is cool, but not frigid.

Hubby, Baby-Bear and I went for a walk this afternoon. One neighbor was in her driveway with her 6 year old son, who was adopted from Russia almost 2 years ago (or maybe 3). Their house is for sale and under contract, and I'm going to miss them. (They are joining the exodus to the county a mile away with the better school system. Why people didn't just buy down there in the first place when homes were less expensive there is a mystery. At least our neighborhood resale average is good. And to be fair, there are more new homes available now than there were even a year ago. Though none of them are in our price range in the size we would want.) They were trying to get a remote control car going.

Baby bear became bored while we stopped, and had a grand time toddling down the sidewalk holding our hands. She looked so cute in her new blue jeans, coral/striped sweater, and with her silver fake-fur-lined vest over the sweater. So big.

Some of the rock pink that I planted on the cliff last Spring apparently took. The stuff looked pretty dried out when I planted it, but my parents got it really cheap on clearance at a nursery, and knew we needed erosion control. Anyway, as we walked to where the sidewalk ends, I saw a few of those tiny fuscia flowers blooming about 7 feet up the hill. Apparently they think it's Springtime already. The image of life in the midst of dead grass, weeds, and above a cliff that has been cut away is refreshing. And for those of you who want a ground-cover that even those of us with a brown thumb can't kill, rock pink might be just the thing.

The dishwasher hums, the laundry rolls, and hubby and baby bear nap. Among the other things I still hope to do today: vacuum downstairs, hang up my clean clothes, make a couple of phone calls, and clean off the kitchen counter.

Getting into the season

Baby Bear and I went to the store today. I purchased her first Easter Basket, 1 dozen plastic eggs, some candy, and some cheap odds-and-ends to go in the eggs. When we get together with my side of the family, Baby Bear and Juliana will have an egg hunt together. While the two of them will be quite content to gather as many plastic eggs into their basket as they can without opening them, I personally cannot resist the temptation to buy chocolates. My Mom has some plastic eggs around the house, so some of them will have surprises inside, and others won't.

I also purchased a few seed packets. Sunflower seeds, daisies, and a perennial mix. After the cold front leaves and Spring returns, I plan to actually plant them. The sunflower seeds will go at the very back of the part of our yard that is not really ours but has not been developed and most likely will not for another 2 years at this rate. Make that 10 years. There is a cliff and a tree line, and hubby doesn't typically mow back that far. So the birds will thank me for some extra food. The others will go in the hillside. While I have the urge to sprinkle them and see what comes up, I think I will actually plant and water them this year. The past 2 attempts to sow seeds by just sprinkling them on the dicrepid cliff resulted in 2 or 3 lone flowers. The packets were only 10 cents each, so my hopes aren't high. But you never know when the miracle of life might surprise you. And since I obviously didn't learn my gardening lesson from the parable, I'll make changes based on my experience in which God told me "I told you so."

are we being bribed?

when baby bear and i got home from having lunch with hubby and his coworkers, the development crew was out. apparently they had just reseeded next to the new sidewalk. we still have a nice big cliff. baby bear was sound asleep in her carseat, so i walked over to the bulldozer driver, who was friendly enough.

"can i help you?" he asked.
"i was just wondering if you know what they're planning to do to fix the drop off. you know they can't leave the cliff like that," i replied.
"i don't know, but i can ask him to come talk to you," (he nodded toward someone, who was nowhere in sight).
"that would be great," i replied. "i just need to go put my baby down for her nap."

well, whether or not whoever-he-is comes to share the developers' plans has yet to be seen. but as i walked back toward my house, i noticed extra seed on the front sidewalk. and yard. which is very far from the new sidewalk. it kind of reminds me of when i was in mexico, and the incumbent mayor of the pueblo i was in had put fresh dirt on the streets for his constituents. exxcept we got the leftover grass seed. i'm not complaining; our lawn needs all the help it can get. however, we don't want the side yard to slump down, sending our house with it. i had to call hubby and tell him about the "generous gift."

a few minutes later, i spoke with the supervisor, who said he doesn't know what the plans are, but he'll try to find out...

i'll keep y'all posted....

"Somebody, quick... watch for flying pigs!"
-hubby

Baby Bear slept in until almost 8:00 this morning. But that was not the cause for astonishment. As hubby began his day of working on reports in the guest room/office, and I tossed and turned, I was fully awakened by the sound of a bulldozer, shovels, & a saw outside our window. I know it is not normal to be excited about hearing such sounds at 7:45 a.m. It might be a little bit crazy. But elections are in 2 days, and I suspect our city councilman wants our vote and put some pressure somewhere. And by golly, now that hades has frozen over and pigs are flying in 90-degree weather, leading us to the beginning of a retaining wall on the side of our property, well, I just might go out and vote on Thursday. I suppose I should vote for Mayor while I'm at it.

So, this
at our house is actually being done by a team of workers, but it took effort on my part to find someone to listen to us. After 4 years of my requests being put off by the developer it appears we are finally getting somewhere with the help of the city councilman and public works department. Our yard may not wash off the hill after the next rainstorm after all. (For those of you who are new around here, the cliff was not so bad when we moved in. It was sloped nicely. After we closed, they tore up that side of our lot to put in a sidewalk part of the way down. Almost a year ago, they tore it up further to extend the sidewalk, and left it as an even worse safety hazard and eyesore.)

Please pray that in the steepest part, the wall is high enough to make it safe for hubby to mow the back corner of our lot without twisting his ankle or falling and braking his neck. Right now they are saying the retaining wall will be 4 feet at its highest point... I'm not convinced that will make the situation better on that part of the cliff, but I am far from a landscape design expert. They are actually beginning the wall further toward the front yard than we expected... no complaints about that!

Here are the "before" pics:




"After" pics to come. Or maybe some "during" pics when they take a break. I don't think the workers would appreciate having their photo taken in their sweaty grandeur.

As for my Tackle? The usual housework. I need to fold all the laundry that was washed yesterday. Maybe I'll try to see if there are any swimsuits on clearance at Kohl's or the mall department stores. Oh, and I should really make a list of everything I need to pack for our upcoming family vacation.

Happy Tackles!

2:15 p.m.- Other than their lunch break/siesta on the neighbor's gently sloped yard, the workers have been very busy. The frame/support for where the wall will be poured is coming along. Granted, it looks worse in some ways because that's just how the process goes, but once we have the wall, with somewhat stable ground to work with, we might possibly be able to put in shrubs or a fence or something so nobody dies falling off our yard. Until this point, we were very limited, and we didn't appreciate having the developer tear into the corner lot (which we paid a premium for because it was supposed to be a good lot).

Please pardon my run on sentences. I'm going to fold laundry now.

Here are the "during" pictures...





please, God, let the slope at least be mowable when they are done filling in the dirt....

updated 5:26 p.m.

technology.... can't live with it, can't live without it....

i should be cleaning my kitchen or some other part of my horribly messy house, especially considering the mood that blogger has been in lately. it's like it's possessed, has a virus, somethin'. i keep telling myself "you get what you pay for!"

baby bear was sitting up like such a big girl watching baby einstein from the couch this afternoon. you know she's getting tired when she sits still. she was clapping to the music, giggling with glee at the animals. so cute! times like this are why i wonder "am i...?" with a tinge of hopefulness when my cycle is later than i think it should be. God's timing is perfect, and i keep telling myself that i am in no rush. so many women i know can't have kids biologically, and i feel fortunate to have our one.

i scrubbed the bathroom counters today... the look so much better. the kitchen floor was scrubbed on Sunday, and it already needs another washing. ah, life with kid.

the sidewalk is poured along the side of our lot. still waiting to see what they'll do about the slope/cliff. can't help but wonder who they tried to pay off but couldn't, since the sidewalk goes to nowhere for the time being.

wish me luck...

i'm baking chicken in cream of mushroom soup with french's onions.... green bean casserole but replace the green beans with chicken. hubby's not typically a big casserole fan, but he likes chicken and he'll eat gb casserole. i have leftover asparagus to cook up, so i thought i would sautee it as usual, and then put some of the sauce from the chicken over it. i didn't want to torture hubby with the taste of asparagus baked into the chicken, when I was already taking a risk.

baby bear has apparently decided that she is too big for 2 naps a day. i feel sorry for the nursery workers at church tonight already. hubby and i are going to a meeting, and she'll be in nursery. she is jabbering away in her crib, sometimes fake crying, sometimes talking, sometimes quiet... it's been that way for 30 minutes now, and at the moment she is quiet. maybe she fell asleep after all. if i'm lucky. we played outside today... it is warm, sunny and breezy here. she chased her ball around the yard and wanted to jump off the cliff into the woods, but i stopped her. she also wanted to go make herself comfy on the neighbor's lounger on their patio. i didn't let her get that far either. she dug her fingers into the earth pot... nothing like recycled wisconsin dirt! as she did so, i realized they will need weeding and more soil if i am going to give potted veggies another shot. so far my luck has not been very good with potted tomatoes or peppers. it's a shame, because i LOVE both. the thyme in the herb pot is green, and we'll see if the oregano and basil come back. they did last year. i love fresh herbs. they make my limited cooking skills seem fancy. nothing like a little fresh herb sprinkled across the top to say "homemade". that's what my mom taught me. anyone else grow up with parsley sprigs and cayenne pepper sprinkled across their mashed potatoes just to be pretty? (besides bec, of course). or a dad who grew nastirtiums because they were edible (they taste like radishes, if you want to know)?

it sounds like bear actuallly went to sleep. Calm. QUIET. Aahhh... that's what they mean by the phrase sleeping like a baby.

where the sidewalk ends

... our cliff begins...

the grey dead grass is where we let the weeds take over in the summer because it was too steep to mow. now even more of it is too steep to mow. but we have a sidewalk to nowhere. thanks developer! you take such good care of your customers. almost as good as blogger.

anyway...
locked myself and baby bear out when we went out for a walk and to take these pics. gina came to my rescue with a couple of her hubby's membership cards to organizations. at least i didn't lock the bolt. but let this serve as a reminder that you should always lock your deadbolt if you really want your home secure. if you are just going for a walk, don't, because you never know when you might have to break back in!

This might seem to be an odd post to follow a hymn, but I'm doing it anyway...

Ok, you know you're too stressed, or coming across that way, when a neighbor gives you a bottle of wine that's 2/3 of the way full. We don't drink a lot or very often at all, but we do like a little every now and then and my neighbor said it was too sweet for her taste and "made" me take it.

For some reason i thought some of you might find that funny. The wine is in the fridge... not sure if I'll drink it or use it for cooking yet. I'm thinking I might have a glass before bed.

For the record, the fact that my house is once again a wreck and family is coming over tomorrow(cousin from NY is back in town) is only part of it. A small part, actually.

***warning: vent ahead...
For some reason I've become obsessive about trying to get answers about when and how our cliff on the west side of our yard will be fixed. I swear, if we don't get answers soon, I'm going to ask a state senator to propose legislation that builders must complete the extra-structure, i.e. sidewalks, retaining walls,etc. on ALL parts of existing phases/lots (including those that adjoin future phases) to closing on the sale of a home. I am sure there are states that already have that covered. This is not one of them, apparently.


If you want common sense consumer protection, don't move here. Schools are only good in select counties, elevating the cost of living so normal people can't afford to live in them and the rest of our public schools, well... are ok at best. We've lived here almost 4 years and I still can't figure out how to landscape because we're getting the run-around from the developer and our public figures are not helpful.

... END OF VENT***

p.s. 2 seconds after I hit publish, hubby came up the steps with a crystal glass of chilled wine for each of us. Guess he thought I need it, too. ;->


Ok, is it normal for people to take the blinds with them when they move? The people that originally lived in the house across the street left them there. The people that are selling it now took all of them down. Maybe it's just because they are going to paint per the home-buyer's request? She did have a bunch of things on her "fix it before closing" list when I talked with her. I think it's a little odd. I don't think it's worth the trouble, with everything else. And with my luck, some of the slats would break in the move anyway...

Just wonderin'....

Night y'all. Gotta go straighten the kitchen and living room before I hit the sack!

my "vision"

I'm not talking about some kind of mystical, philosophical goal. OR my eyesight. This is, or should be, much simpler and attainable than that. After almost 6 years in this house, 3 since we finally got the wall up, give or take a year (I've lost track), I think I know what I want to do with the cliff. I want a butterfly garden. Now, the plants I put in today are not really butterfly friendly. But we have all this slope, it's a pain and an eyesore because we can't get the grass to grow nicely on it. And while I am pleased with what I did today, in my mind it says, "just the beginning."

If I were to admit that aloud to hubby, it would translate something like "be afraid, be very afraid." (I could go crazy buying plants.) Although I think it SHOULD mean, "less to mow."

See how the grass STILL hasn't filled in very well along the retaining wall? Hubby has worked very hard to make the grass grow every year. It already looks better this weekend than it has since last July or so. But I can't help but want to try to grow something else there. I planted what I bought yesterday in the worst patch; lots of slumping going on there. My hope is that the roots from the plants will help reduce the slumping. Eventually, the phlox should grow closer together, ast the instructions said to plant them 15-18 inches apart. The forsythia should grow to be 6-8 ft. Eventually.

My vision is still a bit cloudy, but it includes a big butterfly bush placed down the hill from the patio. And butterfly-attracting flowers, grasses, and/or ground cover of some type in between. Perhaps some cascading petunias or ivy hanging over the wall.

I haven't told hubby about my vision yet. I think I'll just suggest that he read the blog.

rock pink on the cliff...

it's not much, but there is hope for the Spring.... BTW these were taken when I posted about it a while back. It's rainy and gross outside today.

a visit to the past... and looking ahead

We drove by our old house this weekend.  It wasn't like I expected.... or maybe it was.  It looked like someone else's home.  Which it is.  They had chairs on the front porch, patio furniture out back.  The flowerbeds hadn't changed much, I think they must have pulled out the yellow rose bush, but they certainly had not added any bushes or shrubs.  The butterfly bush has quadrupled in size, and the yellow spring-blooming shrub whose name eludes me even though they are out in full force was also taller. Forsythia.  It looked lived in, cared for enough.  Perhaps because we've finally moved on, moved into OUR new home, perhaps because 6 years is a relatively short time to live somewhere, I did not want it back. Did I want to see my friends from the neighborhood more often?  You bet.  In fact, we had a miscommunication, our dear friends thought we were staying with them when we had not planned to, so we cancelled our reservation and DID stay with them.  Except for the onset of my allergies, the visit was wonderful.  Dinner at one of the nearby restaurants (I think the food at Las Palmas on Nolensville Rd. has improved, it was more flavorful than I remember), the girls dressed up, the boy chased the girls, played with tinker toys, and squealed at the cats in the backyard.  This time followed a birthday party for another sweet friend, so the whole day was just that... sweet.  Driving back home on Sunday, in between my hacking and sniffling that prevented us from visiting our old church and seeing more friends, we loved that it took less than 3 hours, more like 2 1/2 from our old house to new house.  So maybe our friends can come visit us here more often, too.

I think Bear remembered the neighborhood once she saw it.  I am not sure if the walk home from the restaurant with her friends and the Daddies jogged her memory further.  But she was so glad to play with her friends again.  And I was so glad to sit on the couch with a crochet project while my friend knitted. (We must be getting old.)   Buddy loved our friends' cats and their Bradford Pear tree in full bloom (hence my allergies).  Both kids loved their carpet, and Bear proclaimed that we only have hard floors in our new house. (Which is true, except for an area rug in the family room and occasional throw rugs.)

I remember how excited and anxious we were to buy our first home.  It was newly built, we got to pick out the fixtures from the builder's spec model, choose upgrades as we desired or could afford. (There were not too many, thankfully they included more than other builders at the time, like a fireplace which we rarely used and 4 ft wide shower in the master bath).    The yard... tiny. Steep.  Remember the posts about the cliff where the developer cut away?  Well, it hasn't gotten any flatter.
The mortgage... ah... we paid extra on it while I worked, before we had kids.  In spite of the dropping market, we had an offer within 4 weeks of putting it on the market in '09.  An offer that did not fall through.

I look back at the hand of Providence, how God has provided for us since we were married, and I am just thankful.  We did not do anything to earn or deserve such favor... before the house, there was the 2 bedroom apartment on a pretty hill.  Before THAT, we lived with Hubby's parents, and they became my friends and mentors in a way that few get blessed with.

And now.  Here we are.  The kids call it the "big, big house."  Which it is.  Bigger than I ever dreamed or expected.  With some amenities I would trade in a heartbeat.  Well just one.  I prefer to walk barefoot on carpet, now I have to wear my socks all the time.  But the bright side is the hardwood is better on allergies and easier to clean when your 2 year old pees on it.  We have new neighbors to get to know, though they will not replace our old friends, they will be added to the list of people God has placed in our lives "for such a time as this" (whatever "this" entails).  This home has a history, it was someone else's, it has some quirks, but also a lot of character.  We did not get to choose every detail, but someone, 18 years ago chose a lot of special touches for themselves, and then they did their best to get it ready for us when it was time to say goodbye.

Little Man probably won't remember the first house he lived in, or the apartment, and his Big Sis might not, either.  However, I am pretty sure they will make some memories in our new home.

It's only Saturday?

I'm tired! We went to the church to help set up for FBA this morning. The sun was hot, so my freckles have come out quite a bit. Baby Bear had fun playing with the big kids in child care, and swinging on the playground, and by the time we picked her up at noon, she was tired. She fell asleep before we got to sonic for lunch, and slept until past 3:00. While she and Daddy were napping in their beds, I went to the local cheap haircut place. I took in my pics from my good friend Steph's wedding in '04, and told the girl that I wanted something like that again. The end result? 8 inches (more or less) CHOPPED off. Someone could have made a (short) wig with it. After spending the morning outside, I decided I had enough of the extra insulation on my neck and back, and of pulling my hair back into a ponytail because it is like a horse's mane- too thick to stay up in clips, too much of it to spend time styling... those of you who know me... know. So now my little sis and I have similar hairstyles. Mine is kind of layered in the back, about chin length in front. It feels so good.

The rest of the afternoon has been pretty relaxing. Hanging out with hubby and baby bear, walking around the neighborhood. Baby Bear saw 2 of her "friends"... one is 19 days older than her, the other is 3.

Oh, yeah, the city council rep stopped by to look at our cliff last night. It wasn't very promising... he says he's going to try to get public works to help put some pressure on the builder, but..... who knows. Our builder constructs decent houses. But their lot/land development and business practices leave much to be desired. They think nothing of tearing into your property after you've closed and signed all the paperwork and leaving it to erode. So if you or someone you love is thinking of buying from them, beware. Oh, they don't mind being nice to your face and saying they'll fix it "sometime"... but 3 years later we're still waiting.... and contemplating our options.

Comin' 'round...

I was back to 100% by early this afternoon. I never got the fever or anything, which is a good thing. Very good thing. Ran up to the new superstore, returned the vacuum bags which were the wrong size, and picked up some goods for the week. Most importantly, carrots, celery and broth for our soup. If I actually cooked chickens with bones, I might have had some broth on hand in the freezer, but I didn't. I put in a little garlic, fresh-picked oregano, basil & thyme from the herb pot, and cheated on the carrots... I bought the pre-cut bagged "baby" carrots because I was not up to chopping and peeling carrots today.When I returned, I enlisted Baby Bear's help in dropping the Diet Mt. Dew cans into their drawer. She loves that chore. As I began to set my soup ingredients on the counter, Bear saw the carrots and grunted for some. Thinking she wanted some to eat, I sliced some lengthwise into chewable strips and put them into a snack cup for her. She immediately took the snack cup, lifted the lid to the 1 qt. saucepan she had on the floor, and dumped the carrots into her "pot." Maybe there is hope for me to teach my daughter a little domesticity. See her blog for the rest of the story.

After dinner, we went outside. Bear and I watched hubby mow the yard. (Note: I would have done it if I were allowed to, but that cliff is too steep.) He took periodic breaks and I made sure he had plenty of water. Bear and I also visited Sundae, the Jack Russell Terrier, and his owner, who was planting "flou-fuh" (flowers:petunias) in her flowerbeds. After the mowing and trimming were done, we finally spread the last bag of mulch over the flower bed, giving it a polished look until it fades back to the natural tone from its current medium brown.


Oh, I'm going to brag a little. Three more calla lily buds have appeared since last week, and the tallest of my 5 asiatics looks like it's budding on the tip. The Sweet William which Tech Mom brought from Gramma's farm is blooming, and the hostas and seedum are still alive. Perhaps I'll take some pics of my babies this week. I told hubby that since I can't have any more babies right now (at least, we aren't planning to try for bit longer), I'll just have to take care of ALL my babies. I'm sure he wishes I'd give the inside as much TLC as I give my flower bed. We'll get there...

Baby Bear has decided she HATES evening baths. I guess I'll have to try giving her morning baths. I bathed her while she was standing up and trying to climb out of the crib all by myself- hubby was watching the sprinkler water the flower bed for me. I do believe the terrible twos are beginning at almost 19 months. She was in bed by 7:20, which is becoming the norm now that she rarely takes an afternoon nap.

i think it's time to use my mother's day present....

my feet are sore from standing and walking all week. my hands are tired from peeling stickers and taping foam visors so they fit onto various sized heads. my eyes are tired from constantly looking around and monitoring my surroundings. my heart is weary from dropping baby bear off in her nursery class crying, and finding her in a sour mood upon pick-up. (today her teacher came and found me to come get her, that's how sour her mood was. ) she is going through a clingy phase. what happened to "happy hannah" who had no cares in the world and helped her teachers keep the calm during last sumer's FBA week?

why is it that no matter what size group you are a part of, 10% of the people seem to always do 90% of the work?

we had a great team this week. kids had fun. they learned that Jesus is the light, the way the truth and the life, the bread of life, and the living water. they had object lessons and crafts galore to reinforce the week's themes, skits, and crafts galore. and this morning during the praise and worship time, several went forward to talk to someone about how they could accept Jesus into their heart. that's what it's all about. our church doesn't typically have lots of invitations. they encourage people to utilize the prayer room which is right next to the sanctuary, find someone to talk to, etc... but they are not into manipulating the end of every sermon toward a big life changing decision. they tend to let the holy spirit do his job.

now, my home is in disarray. that's not terribly unusual. oh, but i spoke to the head developer dude (not to be confused with the owner of the company, just the guy in charge of the land development aspects) this morning as he surveyed our cliff, and he says that situation should be resolved in 90 days.... i'll believe it when it happens, but it was better than previous responses. wall dude is supposed to come out tomorrow, who know if he will talk to me or not. can i bribe the city council rep by saying i'll vote for him if it's done by august 2nd? j/k!

i wanted to cook dinner tonight, but i think i'm already too beat. way too beat. maybe i should nap while bear is down.

Happy Monday!

It's almost noon; let's see what I've accomplished today (I use that term rather loosely):

• walked (with baby bear, of course) to Kroger to buy a $1 9 lb. bag of potting soil (didn't want to spend more in gas than the dirt cost!) Those of you who live in the country, feel free to roll your eyes at $1 for 9 lbs of soewhat decent dirt.
• stopped by starbucks while I was down that way... I couldn't resist, especially since I tucked cash in my pocket as I walked out the door. Their caramel frappuccino is worth every penny. They didn't have any used grounds for gardens in their bin yet, though. Bummer.
• walked home... that made over 2 miles round trip, maybe closer to 3?
• moved mulch aside, added soil around the hostas, black eyed susans, asiaatic lily young calla lillies, all of which seemed to need a little extra good dirt in this drought.
  
• re-positioned mulch to cover the soil.
• (baby bear "assisted", including eating a little bit of dirt in the process.)
• drew shapes on the sidewalk and let baby bear scribble with her sidewalk chalk.... for well over an hour. She even said all of their names and frequently stepped on the drawing when I called out a specific shape. A neighbor girl, who is 8 or 9, came and played with her, giving me the chance to spray the dirt off my dirty hand spade, baby bear's "tools", and our buckets.
  
• watered & photographed flowers and veggies

Technically, the berries and honeysuckle are not on our property. They are in that undeveloped part behind our lot. Sometimes I whine about the cliff, but today I remembered that there is nothing like the sweet scent of fresh honeysuckle wafting across the yard. And if the area behind us were developed, we might have nosy neighbors breathing down our neck, or stinky dogs barking through a fence. (I have nothing against dogs in generaal, I just don't want stinky ones next door.) I remembered summertime walks to the Bay, when we would stop and suck the honey out of the flowers on our way. And I wonder if perhaps I'll get a few minutes to pick ripened raspberries and try my hand and Gramma M.'s frozen berries in syrup recipe. I think the birds are enjoying the berries- I've seen a lot of cardinals frolicking back in the trees.

The dishes and various other indoor chores are waiting. And as far as I am concerned, when you have a cooler (80-ish?), partly-cloudy day in this part of the country, you take full advantage of being able to enjoy the outdoors.

3:37 update- got the dishes done and the floor swept, and dinner is planned- bowtie noodles with meat sauce and FRESH from the garden-pot green beans.

Friday "fun"

Last Sunday morning, before they went home, Em & Mad reminded me that I had promised them we could plant their cantaloupe seeds (taken from their actual melon) in the pot that held my dying green bean plants. Look what I found when I watered the "garden" this morning:


When I set up the sprinkler for my front flower-bed, it started raining. It was barely enough to settle the dust, so I still had to water the flowers after it stopped, but it made me happy:


Baby Bear and Juliana have no comprehension that it is dangerous to be outside very long in this heat (it will reach over 100 again today). We took them out for a brief 5-minute walk and to check out the new retaining wall. They actually finished the wall while we were on vacation, then put the seed and straw down yesterday afternoon:



It's not stone-faced like the developer said it would be, but at this point, we are just happy not to have an eroding cliff. Now I have to decide if I'm going to attempt to landscape with ground cover, spring bulbs, & shrubs or just see if the grass seed takes.