More Gardening Glory

We have ripe tomatoes!!

Those of you following my virginal gardening season know how excited I get. (More excited than my son whose idea it was to have a veggie garden as a matter of fact.) You also have read about those pesky squirrels I've been dealing with. Well, while they've helped themselves to a few of the greener tomatoes (and my pepper which was lost a couple of weeks ago) there are PLENTY of tomatoes to go around. So as long as I'm able to keep picking, I will refrain from allowing my husband to purchase a Bebe gun.

I am happy to report, also, that while the previously mentioned squirrels destroyed my lone pepper and annihilated my eggplant even before it had a chance to sprout flowers - it looks like both plants have been given a second chance at life. I have what appear to be a couple of pepper sprouting now (on a couple of plants instead of just the one) and the eggplant is now in bloom with a couple of nice, healthy looking flowers which I hope will bear fruit, er, vegetables.

Yes, I'm a little crazy about this whole gardening thing, but it's been so much fun! I'm already making plans for next year's crops (this from a woman who doesn't eat very many vegetables) and I'm thinking about changing a few things in the yard itself as well.

I never thought I'd love playing in the dirt so much!!!

Our Garden

As those of you who have known me for any length of time can attest, the "domestic" life was always something I said would never appeal to me. I don't cook (except for Kraft macaroni & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, tacos and occasionally pasta and sauce as long as the sauce is Ragu), my house is clean, but certainly could be cleaner and while I enjoy being a mother, when I was young I used to say that my sister (who loved to babysit and said she was going to be a teacher because she loved kids so much) was going to be my live-in nanny while I went to work in my corporate power suit.

My how things have changed.

Anyone who reads this blog even occasionally knows how I feel about corporate America and, of course, my boys. I love being married. I love my new home. I still don't cook (I leave that to my husband, aka The Chef) and I hate laundry, but I've surprised many with my new found interest in gardening.

Now I wouldn't call myself a gardener just yet. I have stumbled along and I think had a lot of luck. We still have a lot of work to do on our yard and I have plans, but the vegetable garden has come along quite nicely (as you can see). It was the one thing my older son wanted when we told him we were moving into a house and it's actually panning out.

I'm kind of obsessive about the watering thing and I find myself chasing squirrels away on a regular basis. The squirrels have been the worst. They completely annihilated our eggplant, although it seems to be coming back nicely and when I put some sunflowers out the other day it took all of 24 hours for the nasty little critters to eat them. They seem to finally be leaving the vegetables alone, however, and as you can see we've got LOTS of tomatoes and even a pepper!!

I'm like a proud momma talking about it. I just can't believe it really. I thought maybe we'd get something this go around . . . but it's been so exciting to watch the plants grow and we've got LOTS of somethings! I think I'm now more excited than my older son and I think he thinks I'm a little crazy about the whole thing.

Anyway, praise is welcome (for me and the garden). The pictures really don't show just how big the tomato plants have gotten. I'll have to spread them out a little more next year. Next year! I'm already talking about next year!! I'll make a gardener out of myself yet ;)

Feels Like Home

My precious mantle

With every passing day our new house is feeling more and more like home. I was telling people the first couple of weeks that while I loved it it felt like we were staying in someone else's house - like renting a house on vacation. But we've unpacked most of the boxes (and what remains to be unpacked is hidden away in closets), we've started to hang things on the walls and put pictures on tables and shelves - but last night's festivities really made this house feel like a home.

My husband's parents host a weekly Sunday night dinner. We don't attend every week, but it's one of those things that you know is there if you feel like stopping by. Well, we decided to host Sunday dinner at our house last night and invite his entire family (which isn't small, btw!) Everyone was able to make it except for one sister who had to work, but they'll be over this week.

It was a total success. My husband cooked an amazing meal of spaghetti and (homemade)meatballs and sauce. There were appetizers. There was a dessert. There was wine. We had good conversation. The kids were playing without any major meltdowns or fights. And best of all everyone had good things to say about our home :)

It just felt so good to host a gathering again. We hadn't done it in quite a while because, frankly, we were embarrassed by our apartment. The 1970's wallpaper, the permanently stained brown (supposed to be white) linoleum in the kitchen, the flooring in the bathroom held down by duct tape, the washer in the pantry and the dryer in the kitchen . . . We just weren't all that excited about having people over. So it was so nice last night to not only play host to our family, but to be proud of the house that we now call home.

I LOVE this house. I really do. I feel blessed to have found it. I've always felt lucky for all the wonderful things and people I have in my life, but tonight I feel extra blessed, as I have for the last three weeks.

P.S. Another one of my homeowner dreams came true yesterday. While we were getting ready for everyone to come over last night our neighbor stopped by to introduce herself. (I wish I had been more presentable since I was still unshowered because I was cleaning floors and such, but even dreams aren't always perfect) She has a little girl about my younger son's age and has invited us to come over this summer to swim in the pool. We talked about the neighborhood (especially how quiet it is!) and she gave us the lowdown on a few of our other neighbors.

It was just how I always wanted it to be. People coming over and introducing themselves. Someone waved to me the other day while I was pulling out of the street and they were pulling onto it. Someone else said hello when we were getting out of the car the other day. You know, a REAL neighborhood.

We're going to make a lot of wonderful memories here. I just know it.