Family Fun

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My Green Thumb

I have developed an interest in gardening over the past few years. Now that I have my own place where I can plant whatever I want in my flower beds I have been having a blast filling them up. I'm definitely a beginner in this, so I wanted to spend money on plants that would hopeful last year after year. Last fall, my parents helped me put in a bunch of hostas along the front of the beds. This year, my in-laws helped me to fill in the rest. It was so much fun. I took a whole bunch of pictures once we got everything in. I have bulbs and seeds that haven't come up just yet. I look at it everyday hoping that something will begin to peek up. In my mind it looks gorgeous all big and full. It's going to be so colorful. I hope everything comes out well.

Right in front of the mechanical boxes you can see my dwarf boxwood. That will hopefully get much bigger and help to camouflage the boxes without getting in the way of the meter-reader. I also got a shepherd's hook to hang my bamboo wind chime on. Scott won't let me any of my other ones out, so I was so excited to have this one out.

All across the back of the bed I planted Gladiola bulbs--over 55 bulbs to be exact. Those should be amazing once they're up and blooming.

In between the hostas are something so cool I can't remember their name. I love the frosty leaves and bright color they have. In the corner are more of the Glads. Right in front of those are Chinese Lanterns and a Money Plant. (My mom had both of those in her huge gardens when I was a kid. It seemed natural that I would have them too.) Then in front of that scraggly bush I planted some Columbine. And of course the big spiky plant are the Day lilies I planted last year. They should be blooming soon. I think they're yellow.

This is my annual pot. The only two plants I remember the names of are the asparagus fern on either side of the purple spiky flowers called Verbena. I took these pictures last week and already the purple flowers are filling in and getting bigger.

This is the other side. Over hear I planted more of the stuff I can't rememberf I between the hostas and some Columbine in the empty space between the hostas and the bush. The plant in the very back is a Weigala. My mom told me to find a place to have one. She loves them. Her gardens always look amazing so I do what Mom says to do. I fell in love with it too. It should get big and really fill in that space back there.

This is my big shepherds hook. It's so pretty with the scrolling and gold leaves. It's holding a hanging pot full of stuff.

I'm not sure what all is in there, but I know it will bloom and be really pretty!

Here's my amazing husband watering my gardens.

And finally a "before" picture. Hopefully in a month or so I'll be able to post pictures of a full garden!

I am waiting until my bulbs and seeds come up before putting mulch down. We have the most beautiful dark brown mulch to go down. It'll make everything pop!

I could not have done this all if it wasn't for my mother and father in law. They were an amazing help to me and a great inspiration. My father in law took me to all sorts of garden centers and said, "pick out whatever you want--it's all on me." He's incredibly generous. God has definitely given him the gift of giving. It's what makes him happy and hey... it makes me happy to be on the receiving end, so everybody's happy!

My mother in law really helped me to put together the overall color scheme of the garden and worked like a workhorse to get everything in the ground. We worked long days. (I've got the mosquito bites on my bum to prove we were out later than we should have been.) It was so fun having them here and doing stuff that we all (minus Scott) love to do. Now if only they could come each week and help me weed the garden! Hmmm... I'll have to work on that.

Turkey Point

So when Scott's parents were here we took them to a place called Turkey Point. It's a part of Elk Neck State Park and is only about 20 minutes from our house. I can't believe we'd never been there yet. It's so cool! When you come to visit I will take you there!

[This is the Turkey Point Lighthouse.]




"Sandy beaches, marshlands and heavily wooded bluffs comprise the peninsula formed by the North East and Elk Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay, where this park is located. Several trails meander through the diversified topography, revealing the great variety of plant and animal life. An easy walking trail to Turkey Point Lighthouse provides a view of the Elk River and the Chesapeake Bay." That's a short little blurb from the DNR's website for the park.

We had a great time walking through the forest.

We came to a clearing and Natalie found some flowers to pick. I just couldn't help myself from taking a bunch of pictures of her. I never could get her to turn around and face me but the pictures turned out really nicely anyway. Her pink dress on the green, green grass with the tiny little yellow flowers make for some cool pics.



At the clearing we turned around. It was a good walk yet to the lighthouse and it was so hot and we were so tired from all the yard work we'd been doing. We decided we wanted ice cream worse than we wanted to see the lighthouse.


This was the most amazing view. You could see all the way to Aberdeen from where we were. It was so gorgeous. I still can't believe I live here sometimes. There is no place else I'd rather be.

And there is no one else I'd rather live here with than these two. I am a happy woman.