Adventures

Today, I can barely walk. We're going to the Bahamas for my birthday, and I made Chris promise to make me exercise this weekend. I sincerely regret my decision. I am NOT a runner. Saturday, we went on a long run and Sunday, we did a shorter run followed by climbing the steps on Federal Hill repeatedly. Needless to say, I'm in a bit of pain. I'm sure one day I'll appreciate it, but today is not that day.

Chris and I spent as much of the weekend outside as was possible. It was gorgeous out. We grilled, did projects around the house, ventured over to the Eastern Shore to visit my aunt's antique shop and visited a quaint little town, Rock Hall, where Chris' family used to keep their boat.

My sisters and I all got together for a photo shoot last week for my mom. My younger sister, Suzannie, left to spend the summer in England the day before Mother's Day, so we wanted to put together some pictures for my mom before she left. I think they turned out pretty well. Downtown Annapolis has lots of fun places for pictures. Next time I am going to avoid white pants though. I found myself hovering awkwardly to avoid sitting on dirty surfaces. Oh well! 

We all got our acts together, which is a feat in and of itself. My mom was thrilled when we gave her the framed pictures. She has no recent pictures of us and I think she really liked these. 

                

What did you do for Mother's Day? Did you get to enjoy any of this sunshiney weather?

I'm loving the fact that it feels like summer. Summer weekends are by far my favorite.

Garden Makeover & St. Patty's Day

My favorite holiday has always been St. Patrick's Day. I love the history of it, the food and the celebration. This year we lucked out with great weather. 

Chris' friend is in town and had never been to Annapolis! We couldn't have asked for a better day to show it off. 

We ate lunch at Pussers, out on their deck. Crabcakes, Oysters on the half shell, Maryland Crab Soup and Oyster shooters...YUM! These little ducks loved the crumbs we threw them.

We swung by McGarvey's for a green beer and headed up to Baltimore for the evening.

Sunday, we attempted to salvage the disaster that was our back yard. Our neighbors had their roof redone this year and the roofers kindly threw all of their waste off of the neighbor's roof and into our back yard. My housemate had removed all of that debris, but in the midst of that chaos, she discovered that terrible awful harbor rats had invaded our garden. She set out poison for them, but they left quite the mess. Check out the damage below!

I don't know about you, but in my mind, rats are probably the most disgusting, vile creatures that have ever existed. The thought of them rooting around my plants, in my living space, totally freaks me out. 

Chris and I made a Home Depot run and got to work. First, we salvaged a couple plants that had hung on through the winter, transplanting them into pots temporarily. 

Then, we emptied a ton of dirt from the raised bed and  replaced it with fresh soil, filling in all of the tunnels that the rats left behind.  

We planted dahlias, viola pansies, snap dragons, moon flowers, and morning glories and replanted the lavender we had transplanted. 

We also put out some strongly scented powder that supposedly is safe for plants but deters rodents. It contains bobcat urine...YUM!! 

(ugh, if I never have to deal with rats ever again, I will be very happy! I didn't even have to see the one that the poison killed! My housemate's boyfriend had to finish it off because it wasn't all the way dead, SOSOSOSO GROSSSSSSSSS)

Here's the after picture. Please ignore the wire going across the top of the picture! That was one of the presents we received from the neighbors' roofers. Chris climbed onto our roof though and was able to move it back where it belonged.

In the pots, we trimmed some herbs that survived the winter and planted a tomato plant. Chris surprised me with the hanging flower bed :) I love it! We filled it with violas and I'm hoping they end up growing over the edge and hanging. 

We planted some tulips in pots as well. I'm too impatient to wait for summer for blooms! Spring bloomers are necessary!

I was thrilled to see that my gerbera daisies are coming back this year. Luckily, we had such a mild winter! I really hope they make it. Next to hibiscus flowers, they are my favorite. They are just so bright and vibrant when they bloom!

Chris' hanging basket.

I started some more herbs and veggies from seeds, inside. Once they sprout, I'll bring them outside as well. 


What are you planting this season? Do you garden? If you don't, but would like to, what would you plant?

Gorgeous

Gorgeous afternoon in Fells. I escaped the office for a bit to grab lunch. Got to eat outside and soak up the sun. If I could spend every afternoon outdoors in weather like this, my life would be infinitely happier. Although it's technically still winter, I believe Spring had mercy on me and arrived a bit early. I'm hoping New York will be this pleasant over the weekend. Chris was travelling, so I haven't seen him in three weeks. To say I'm excited to venture north would be a major understatement. I will be locked indoors for a solid portion of the weekend with some lovely take home final exams, but I'm sure  he'll persuade me to spend some outside time at the park. Let's be honest, we all know it won't take much persuading at all! 

I just recently rediscovered this song and have it on repeat today. I always seem to have a song of the moment, am a bit ADD. Do you ever do that? If so, what's your song of the moment?