Clearly behind

Clearly I have got behind on keeping up with this thing so over the next few days, I'll try to catch up and post some pics. First and foremost, we did get the bonus room finished and it's already gotten great use as a sewing room for me.

From the stairwell, looking onto my sewing area.

View from sewing area.

View from opposite end.

The room also served as a guest room for my father-in-law who came to visit for lil'G's 2nd birthday. Oh, did I say that? Yes, my baby boy is now 2 years old! I can't hardly believe it. Time flies so quickly. I have to do his 2 year letter some time this week. We're at the point now where people are asking if we plan on a third and all I can say is I'm not sure. I think S would be fine with just 2 or even prefer just 2, but I can definitely say that I'm not ready yet to close the door to a 3rd baby. So, we'll see. But back to baby G, or rather toddler (preschooler?) G. Here are a few pictures from his "Dactor" aka Tractor Birthday Party which was partly held at the park near our house and then moved to our house due to rain.

At the park , taking it all in.

Our friends having a good time.

Playing with friends.

Our one table smooshed in between the other 2 parties

held at the park at the same time.

Tractor and farm animal birthday cake

A full house

Bird-day ca-ak! YAY!

Digging in with our good friend, E.

Also, we've been working on getting our garden ready. This is our 3rd year with 2 large raised garden beds (in addition to the container garden on our back deck) and I'm trying something new this year to see if we get even better results. A couple years ago, I started hearing such great things about Square Foot Gardening and Mel's Mix and I finally purchased the book this past winter. Apparently, it's a specific garden mix of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost and 1/3 vermiculite which plants thrive in and weeds do not. I will say it has cost a bit more to create and put together than what I had thought so it better be worth it or Mel might hear from me personally.

Mainly a container herb garden,

or as my mother used to laughingly call it "a pot garden."

The beginnings of the vegetable garden.

Mmmmm...more great veggies!

I am looking forward to a bounty of cucumbers, squash,

zucchini, okra, sweet red peppers, sweet yellow peppers, tomatoes,

lettuce and green beans this summer. Think we got it covered?

You'd be surprised how much Mel's mix I put together and shoveled into those 2 beds. Wanna know? Over 18 cubic feet which worked out to 471 pounds of mix. *I am woman, hear me roar!* And yes, I am sore today from doing it. I still need to finish up the right bed. (I have French green beans to plant.) And lest I forget, weeding the pea gravel walkways and adding more pea gravel around the perimeter of the garden beds.

So as you can see, we've been keeping busy, but hopefully, these efforts will pay off in the long run. Stay tuned!