June Stuff

I've just spent the last while trying to change the background on this blog, thinking it was definitely time for a change. However, I have been frustrated at every turn, following the steps exactly, and it's still not working. I guess you'll have to look at palm trees for a while longer yet. I found a really cute strawberry background that I want to use, so I'll just have to keep trying.

Our last month or so has been full of company from Calgary, birthdays, gymnastics, a piano recital, running, and lots of fun school activities. We've had mostly fabulous weather so far, and have spent many hours enjoying our backyard. Speaking of which, I made it almost to the end of May without seeing a single snake! Thrilling. However, we did happen to see one, although that was the only time. Thankfully, the kids were outside at the time, so while I leapt onto the safety of the deck, they came running over to see it, where they proceeded to actually FIGHT over who got to touch it and hold it. If it weren't for their matching brown hair and eyes and a striking resemblance to their mother, I would swear these children didn't share a single strand of DNA with me. Anyway, after they'd all had a chance to interact with the snake (why would a person want to do that, I don't know) it finally got away from them into the tall ferns, and hasn't been seen again. I'm still not letting down my guard, but I'm feeling a little better about things. (I never did tell you about the snake skin we (I) found stuck in the chicken wire protecting my strawberries. Horror.).

I managed to get my garden completely dug out, and then we dumped a very large amount of soil all over the bed. I planted kale, red chard, spinach, romaine, corn, cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes and onions. Unfortunately, much of it was eaten shortly after it came up, but some did survive. Apparently, rabbits (assuming that's who is eating my garden) don't like kale, and they also leave cucumbers and tomatoes alone. Some of the corn survived as well, and the onions are meant to deter them. My mother-in-law was here for a week, and we spent a bunch of time building (as in hammer and nails and wood) cages/boxes to place over the garden to help protect it. I've since replanted a lot of the greens, so we will see if these boxes do their job. Taya's favorite item from the garden so far is fresh green onions. With all the gorgeous sunshine we've been having, with a bit of rain mixed in, the garden seems to be thriving. It won't be long before I can actually pick some of my kale to throw in my smoothies.

I'll keep this short for today, but I've added some updated photos (the garden before, the garden after, a close-up of my kale, one of the flowers in our pond, me finishing my race, and Taya's birthday cupcakes - easiest ever!) Ciao!