See How My Garden Grows – A Summer Series

After so many days with 100 degree weather, I am happy to report that this weekend we are blessed with only 80 degree weather. So nice. I am sure my garden appreciates the cooler temps too. Anyway, I captured some nice photos this week. Enjoy!

This is a photo of some  of the flowers in my front yard. I can not remember what they are called, but for sure, they are beautiful. I did not edit this photo. The motion blur is natural.

Nice photo of the corn. The sky is so blue in contrast to the corn.

Here is my first beefsteak tomato. Not quite ready for harvest, but in time.

Another shot of my first tomato.

Here is a view of my garden. Through Lolly’s tree.

Another shot of Lolly’s tree.

You Capture – Sky

I was not able to get any good shots over the week, but I checked my older photos and came up with these. First of all, I must say that the first few pictures were all taken on Tuesdays. You see, on June 23 2009, a Tuesday, our family lost our Lolly Pop Kid. He is my grandson and Cinderella’s son.

For many Tuesdays after that, I would walk outside and see a red sky. Our Lolly has flaming red hair.

We. Miss. Him.

I would like to think it is his way of saying hi. I do not know.

This first photo looks like a red angel to me.

The next photo looks like the hole to Heaven.

This photo, although not very red, is still amazing. Yes, it was a Tuesday.

Another amazing shot on a Tuesday. The rainbow is coming out of the clouds. Thanks Lolly, for the amazing shot!

Thanks, Lolly for sending me these beautiful scenes. Till I see you again!

See How My Garden Grows – A Summer Series

The garden is coming along. I harvested one lone radish the other day. Yea, I know that is kinda pathetic. Nothing else is ready yet. My cucumbers have pretty yellow flowers on them and they will soon turn to nice cucumbers. The green onions are doing nicely as are the snap beans.

I went to Home Depot the other day and bought a  trellis for the beans to grow on but decided to return it and get a taller one. I want the beans to have plenty of room to grow tall.

Anyway, here are some recent pics of my garden.

The Lone Radish Harvest

Cucumber

Snap Beans

Carrots

Lettuce

Peppers and Strawberries

Tomatoes

Radish

Corn!

More Corn!

My Garden

I had a request to post Lolly Pop Kid’s tree. It is doing well and we expect many oranges this summer.

Our Lolly's Tree. We picked an orange tree because he has flaming, red, orange hair.

So that is it for this week. Please tune back in to see how my garden grows.

You Capture – My First

I found a great blog, I Should Be Folding Laundry, that I have been visiting on a regular basis. I love reading about Beth and her family. She is mom to three, she recently had a baby. She loves photography and design. Of, course these appeal to me too since my degree is in design and I am just starting to explore photography.

She came up with the idea of You Capture. The goal is to post pictures that reflect a theme that changes each week. You Capture happens every Thursday. You post your pictures on your blog and then link your blog on her Mister McLinky.

I am happy to be participating in my first You Capture. I hope to improve my photography skills and photo editing experience. I am a real newbie people, so bear with me. I welcome any pointers and/or criticism. I really want to learn! I am using Photoshop Elements because I just can not put out the money for the full version at this time. My main focus is getting a DSLR camera.

This week’s theme is Sweet. I can not think of anything sweeter than my grandchildren, so here goes.

These are my twin grandsons, Fuzzy and Wuzzy.

The one on the left is my granddaughter, Butterfly. She and her friend are trying on my Marine son’s gear.

This is Butterfly with her brother, Lolly Pop Kid. Butterfly is a cancer survivor.

This is Lolly Pop Kid enjoying a marshmallow bunny. Lolly has been an angel in heaven since June 23rd, 2009. We miss him.

Sweet!

Garden 2010

I love to grow plants and veggies. When I was a teenager I started growing houseplants in my bedroom. Then when I got married and moved out I continued growing my plants. I get a real satisfaction from watching a plant grow and thrive. I am not sure where this came from.

I remember visiting my grandparent’s house as a child. My sister and I used to run through their huge garden. They had rows and rows of corn. I remember my grandmother going out to the garden and picking food for dinner and supper. They did not have a lunch, but a full meal at noon and a full meal in the evening. As a child I thought this was a little strange, but now I know that when they lived on a farm they had to feed the farm hands and since farming is hard work they had to have the energy to complete the work.

I also remember visiting my uncle’s farm as a child. He had pigs, chickens and cows. They even had an outhouse. I loved going there and I think my love of animals may have came out of those visits. Corvette and I have our love of growing plants, flowers and veggies in common. My mom, Grandma M says we probably should have been farmers. Maybe.

So we put in our garden on Saturday. We are right on target for planting here in the desert southwest. Last year we planted too late. Since it was late we did not get a good yield. So I am hoping to harvest before it is too hot and then I will plant again in September and hopefully have another good harvest in the fall. This year, I need to learn about canning. I am hoping for a bigger yeild and I need to figure out how to preserve my veggies.

So here are some pics of our day. Oh, one other thing, My legs are so sore from crouching down to plant. I will recover, but another reminder that I am not a spring chicken. Also, as long as Lucie, my big red dog does not try to eat my crop, it should all be good. Last year she ate more than her fill of peppers and tomatoes.

So here is what I planted:

• BeefStake Tomatoes
• Roma Tomatoes
• Green Bell Pepper
• Anaheim Pepper
• Santa Fe Pepper
• Carrots
• Green Leaf Lettuce
• Asia Radish
• Red Onion
• Cucumber
• Zuccini
• Red Radish
• Artichoke
• Chives
• Brussle Sprouts

The beginning.

Lucie laying by our plants. Don’t even think about it!

Me planting with Lucie’s help

Me and Corvette being silly.

Plants and Seeds are in! The red thing is a balloon that landed in our garden last year right before we planted Lolly Pop Kid’s tree. It will remain there.

Lolly Pop Kid’s Tree. Which is doing awesome.

We also bought some flowers.

Love the pansies! I will update on how the garden is doing. Love the flowers! Love the growing!

Today

I am not going to sugar coat here. Today has not been a good day. I want my grandson back. I want him back everyday, but today seems harder then some. Today I seemed to feel more pain, not only for missing him but for my Cinderella and my family. I feel it. If some want to be mad at me for this, then so be it. I have refrained from letting my feelings out, but no more. I have feelings too.

Last week I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day. No one has ever sent me flowers. Ever. Thank you Cinderella, Tango & Butterfly. I have no words.

This weekend, I planted flowers from Lolly Pop Kid’s service. I decided to do it because it rained and the ground was soft. I never expected the reaction I had. I felt it was happening again.

Today is exactly eight months that we lost our Lolly, it is Tuesday, the day it happened & Cinderella has been married for one month.

I want my grandson back. I am not ashamed to say that.

The Wedding

Sorry I have not updated sooner. I have been busy taking care of Butterfly and getting her to and from school while Cinderella is on her honeymoon.

The wedding was awesome. Everyone looked great and Butterfly was a mini-me of Cinderella. And Cinderella was just that. The ceremony was perfect and the reception was so much fun. I enjoyed dancing with Corvette and spending time with my family and friends. My parents were the longest married couple there. 62 years and counting. My mother gave a wonderful speech about marriage and I watched my daughter dance with her father.

There are too many pictures to post here so you can go to my shutterfly page to see them. They are not in the correct order and some were taken by Tango’s uncle so I will have to wait for the professional pictures to see our family picture.

Congratulations Cinderella and Tango, and may you live happily ever after!

The Booklet

Cinderella’s New Tattoo and Butterfly’s Girly Bedroom

Cinderella got a new tattoo in honor of Lolly Pop Kid. The movie ‘Cars’ was everything to him so of course she got the Lighting McQueen car. Here is a pic of it. The artist drew it freehand and did a nice job. She already has Butterfly’s name tattooed on her back and it is only fitting Lolly is there too. I thought about getting one. I really have no idea what to get. I thought about his initial. Hmm maybe a lollypop with his initial intertwined. I am going to have to think about that one.

I also spoke with Butterfly yesterday and she was kind enough to send me a picture of her room. She told me she rearranged it all by herself and for the most part decorated it too. I love it. It is sooo pink. What little girl would not love this room? I especially love the pink butterfly curtains. Very appropriate if I don’t say so myself!

Also, notice the movie on the TV. Yes, it just happens to be ‘Cars’ and of course there is Lighting McQueen with his big, toothy smile. Just like our Lolly. We know he is still with us and many ways.

BTW, his tree has a brand new orange bloom. I look forward to watching the oranges grow.

Love you big boy. Thanks for sending the love from heaven.

Angel Tuesday

Today’s Angel is Nicholas Aiden Laplante. Nicholas became an Angel on October 8th, 2008 fighting a battle with a brain tumor. He was fourteen months old.

Nicholas was sweet baby boy with a popeye smile and beautiful eyes. During his short time on earth he learned to say what, mom, dad, sis, quack, and no. He loved to ride his four-wheeler ride toy.

Nicholas is loved and missed by his mommy, Daddy and sister. Please add this family to your prayers and stop by their memorial for Nicholas.