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?

10 Day Challenge: Day 2

Day 2 of the Challenge! Nine loves. 

These will not be any type of particular order. 

9. My family: 

As much as they drive me crazy, it really is a blessing to come from such a large family. I have such a network of support, whether I want it or not. :) 

My mom is one of 5. My dad is one of 4. I'm one of 4. There are 16 cousins on one side of the family and 11 on the other side.  SO MANY PEOPLE.

It's fun too, now that we're older, the age differences don't seem to matter as much.

And the newest addition to the fam: 

Vivi Kitty

8. Water: 

For years, I swam on swim team year round. 

One of my winter coaches dubbed me with the most awful nickname, Reba, which has stuck, to this day.

 Sailing also took over a solid portion of our summers down at Indian Landing. 

Most people don't get the Landing. It's sort of a time capsule. 

A lot of our parents grew up there, and we've all taken our turns working there. 

I spent a summer coaching swim team with Bree & Richard.

It's a boat club, not a yacht club or a marina. 

There is a pool, tennis courts, basketball and woods to explore. We spent every summer there.

 Every parent was everyone else's parent. 

When people ask how I met some of my oldest, closest friends, they are shocked that I didn't meet them in school. To this day, I won't give up my membership. 

7. Bright Colors: 

Yes, we had an inflatable pool full of play place balls at our house in college. 

No explanation necessary. 

6. Sequins & Sparkles

5. Storms: 

Specifically, that crazy still moment right before a storm. 

4. Travel adventures:

3. Books: 

The smell of old books. 

The way you can get lost in a novel. 

Wandering through a library. 

Challenging concepts and ideas to tackle. 

I could get lost in here for hours.

2. Churches: 

Old, elegant Churches with traditional liturgy. 

I think my favorite so far is the Duomo in Siena. 

1. Crabs feasts and Beer:

 What can I say? I'm a MD girl at heart! 

Favorite Memory

A friend recently asked me to pick a favorite memory. Initially, I had no idea where to begin. The thoughts that quickly followed both relate to my grandmother. I grew up on 5 acres, most of which was field. Whenever I wanted, I could run across the field (or walk if my little sisters wanted to come, the rule was I had to hold their hand) to visit my Grandma. 

 I was home schooled when I was younger, so visiting Grandma was a daily thing. In the summers she would take me crabbing in the early mornings at the Landing.

Photo cred: guyfogwill

 We'd spend hours catching them and she would insist I wear one of her big floppy hats and one of her t-shirts over my bathing suit...they ended up being more of a dress on me. She taught me how to tie string around the chicken necks tightly so the crabs couldn't steal them from us. I learned to use the net properly without falling in or dropping the net in the river. By 10am we'd have a bucket full of crabs crawling all over one another and she'd scold me for poking them with sticks. 

Photo Cred: Anderson

She always warned me that if they got one of my fingers, they'd latch on and never let go. I found out the hard way she was right. Once we got them home in the back of her station wagon, we'd heat up her big speckled blue crab pot and toss them all in. Inevitably one or two would escape and skitter across the floor as we jumped on chairs and tables shrieking for her to catch them. She always grabbed the broom to shoo them into the middle of the floor and made us learn to pick them up from behind so we wouldn't be pinched. 

Summer evenings were the best with her. When my cousins were visiting from Italy, we'd spend the night running around in her back yard catching fireflies in mason jars. We'd fill the jars with twigs and grass to make sure they had good homes. 

Photo Cred: Observation Workshop

When my cousins went home, I'd wander down after dinner every day for a pop-ice on the porch. We'd sit on the glider together and she'd tell me all sorts of stories about her life. I learned about the plants in her garden and we'd strategize about keeping those damn squirrels out of the bird feeder. One of our contraptions was a cone we fashioned out of linoleum with the tight end fastened to the post the feeder rested on, just under the seed. It was by far, the ugliest thing we had ever created. However, we did keep the squirrels out for a solid week! Until, of course, they found a low hanging branch to drop off of onto the feeder. 

My mom always laughs that when she would look down from our house on the hill across to Grandma's, the only thing she could see was the two of us with our long gangly legs. Grandma's maiden name was Twig, and she always laughed about how growing up she was so embarrassed because the boys would tease her by calling her "twiggy" for those long thin legs she had. She told me not to worry about having them, I'd appreciate them soon enough as long as I didn't eat too much and get fat. After growing up during the depression, she thought a lot of people were fat these days. But, for some reason, knowing I had inherited her legs, made me feel like I had inherited part of her.

After a while, I realized, what I really inherited was the privilege of knowing a truly strong woman, a woman of integrity, tenacity, and pure grit. This woman grew up in Western MD with nothing. She literally had an outhouse and a pet raccoon growing up. To get to college, which wasn't a popular thing among girls of her age, she sold things from the Montgomery Wards catalog. During WWII, she worked in a factory doing something related to the sciences. This lady was tough as nails.

Then she married a man, a man who left her to raise four boys on her own. She got a job teaching and found a way to keep those boys fed and clothed which was not an easy task. Her sister passed away, and she took in her nephew as well. Can you imagine raising five boys by yourself? Now add to that, no money and a full time job. Oh, and by the way, one of the boys breaks his bones easily, so add a layer of stress and financial concerns to everything else. 

Not only did she manage all of this, but she believed it was wrong to remarry while her husband was alive. She stayed single and nursed him through the last days of his life when he came back to her for help. Talk about having the courage of your convictions! She outlived two husbands, a sister, a brother and a grandchild and never was crippled by her grief. Her life was dedicated to providing food, shelter, and strong character to her sons and grandbabies. She had no tolerance for poor behavior and lots of tough love to share. 

All this to say, my favorite childhood memories consist of my time spent with her. I can only hope to live my life in a manner that reflects well on the foundation she tried so hard to give me. 

We'd be happier as kittens - they are the ones doing the stalking

Vivi is a very curious kitten. She stalks anything that moves and even things that don't move! She loved the bathtub but was dismayed to find that it filled with water. Everything to her is a new game and something to learn about. In her world, everyone is here to keep her happy, to pet her, to play, to snuggle.

 

Wouldn't it be great if that were the case for us? Although, I must say, Maryland summers are pretty wonderful. Recently, life has been full of delightfully breezy evenings with friends, crabs, corn and beer. This weekend should include more of that! I've officially started the second half of this week, so the countdown to the weekend has begun.