The Turtle

I walked outside this morning(by morning i mean 1 o'clock) to let the dogs out, and Gus found this turtle...which he hates. It looked like it might be laying some eggs, so i took some pictures of it to send to my brother-in-law, Chris, who studies gopher turtles, to see what kind of turtle it is. They turned out pretty good....

Doghouse/suite

The dogs now have an outside cozy abode along with their inside cozy abode. A couple of weeks ago, Shawn decided to undertake the project of building a doghouse serving as shelter during hot summers and shelter during stormy weather. Though there were definitely some lessons learned through the process, Shawn did an excellent job! Kudos Shawn! Now, I just need to paint it...give it a little flair as some would say!

a.ka. "Betsy" Crocker

Well, I have officially baked my first dish as a married woman! Hootie hoo! As most of you know, I am not the most seasoned chef. I decided today at work that I wanted to bake something "different" with our abundant blueberries from the backyard. It is called a Blueberry Bubble Loaf (loaf is such an ugly word, by the way). I twisted the recipe up a bit and it turned out well. It is loaded with blueberries, brown sugar, biscuits and BUTTER!! I was even brave enough to send some of it to work with Shawn to share with the guys. Aren't I sweet?

Glorioso lily

So of you may or may not have heard us question this strange plant in our back yard. At the beginning of spring this year, a strange "creature" began to emerge from the ground. We watched it and watched it. We were thinking at first it was one of those weird weeds, but then we began to think otherwise. It has been such fun watching it grow into a beautiful flower. Aunt Jean told us a few weeks ago it was a Glorioso Lily. So, I had to Google it that night and find out as much as I could about this lily. Apparently, it is pretty rare and not very tempermental....that's my kind of plant. Hope y'all will enjoy the pics!

Spring "fever"

Spring is one of the best times of the year...if only it lasted longer. We have continued to keep ourselves busy around the house. All of our new plants are getting accustomed to their new homes. The azalea blooms have come and gone. They were absolutely beautiful. For about a week, we worked at trimming the azaleas back and clearing some undergrowth. Well, about a week ago, Shawn had to be at work early and I decided to work on some of the trimming by myself after work...which is usually no biggie. While I was going to town hauling branches and leaves, chiggers were going to town on my arms and legs. I just thought they were mosquito bites until my legs began to swell. Insect bites have never really bothered me. I guess since I got so many bites so quickly, I had a huge reaction. To make a long story short, my legs swelled like crazy. I had to have a steroid shot, tripled up on antihistamines and slathered myself in ointment. Now I look like I just got over a case of chicken pox. Oh well!

Spring Projects

Now that the weather has begun to work in our favor, we have have been busy as bees. We have been doing small projects around the house. I "revamped" a breakfast cart by putting a mosaic on the top part of it. It was a bit tedious, but it turned out well. Shawn has thoroughly enjoyed using his chainsaw to clear out some of the Katrina debris closer to the pond. With plenty of begging, he finally let me try out the chainsaw. Don't get me wrong, I loved having the power to chop down trees, but I'll stick to clippers or a hand-saw for the smaller stuff. I was definitely overwhelmed. Chainsaw -- no more, for me.
As most of you know, our grass got about knee-high over a two-month span. One small problem...the old lawnmower wasn't very motivated to tackle the grass this year. Needless to say, we ended up buying a new riding lawn mower. Shawn has tackled the massive front yard and it is beautiful. I have only sat on the new addition, but have yet to attend Shawn's Mowers Ed seminar. I'm sure it won't be long before I am out there with my straw hat riding around the yard.

Gettin' Crafty

I made a jewelry box for Betsy yesterday with my new wood-burning tool. I've never used one before, but it turned out pretty good. This was actually my practice box, but once I got going, everything just started coming together. I'm beginning to wonder if this was even a good idea at all, because now I'm sure she'll be wanting some new jewelry to go in it!