Mother's Day Recap

Thank you Momma and Daddy for the beautiful basket of flowers and plants. You can see here what a pretty arrangement it was!



Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers I know! We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, starting when Jeff walked in the door with some beautiful flowers in hand. I'd emailed him earlier in the day that in lieu of any gifts, I just wanted to stay home all weekend, relax, listen to good music, eat mango salsa, and spend some quality "family time" together. He got the flowers anyway and came home early - which I always consider his special treat to me! (it helps that most every Friday there's an ice cold G&T waiting, but still, I love it when he comes home early)
We sat out on the deck Friday night, watched the children play, listened to music, ate mango salsa, and got more than a few mosquito bites. So, after a few more bites, we came in for dinner and then discussed plans for the rest of the weekend.
Part of that plan was to work on this:






These are garden boxes Jeff and I built last Sunday. He built them, I held the boards steady.

Since this picture was taken, he's killed all the grass in and around the boxes, and Saturday morning after a trip to C.T. Garvin, we filled them with a soil/compost combination and planted all sorts of vegetables, herbs, and flowering plants. I took a picture with our phones, but not on the camera, so that will have to wait until next time.
One box is filled with herbs, including a beautiful, blooming French lavender plant in the center. (found at my local Publix!) There is a box with 4 varieties of tomatoes and a big lemon balm. There's a rosemary box and then a box with peppers, cantaloupe, and squash. We'll see how it all does. We'd love to plant more, but have probably missed the ideal window for some things until early Fall.
I mentioned before, one of our concerns with the garden is pest control. Here in Blossomwood, we have a thriving community of squirrels and chipmunks, as well as two or three rabbits that make appearances in our yard regularly. We've tried hauling off some of the chipmunks, but that hasn't seemed to deter them. V has suggested giving some as "gifts" to friends.....we're just waiting for the go-ahead on that one. ;) Next year we'll probably consider that as party favors for her birthday weekend......consider yourselves warned!
Hopefully, our Critter Ridder pellets will do the trick. We've also planted a few marigolds for insect control and will even put out some human hair if necessary. (this is an old trick my grandmother uses to keep deer and other pests out of her garden.......it's a little bit icky, but if it works then I'm willing to do it!)
Well, this morning, we all raced to the window to check and see if anything had eaten any of the foliage.......all seemed well, thankfully. While we were staring, a white streak caught my eye and I shouted to Jeff, "come quick, JB, there's a skunk over in Ann's yard!!" Yes, this is how I sound in real life, I say things like "let's haul off that chipmunk" and am quick to alert my husband to skunks.......I'm trying to convince him to get me a pellet gun for the squirrels too. No, I'm not at all ashamed, it's nothing Caroline Ingalls wouldn't have done. One time she slapped a bear!
Anyway, he came to look and we soon realized it wasn't a skunk at all, but a beautiful albino squirrel. JB went outside with the video camera and got a good shot of the little guy, scurrying here and there up into the trees in our yard. Neither of us had seen one before! We both figure he isn't long for this world, we could spot him very easily in the trees because of his bright white fur. But it was still a sight to see and V sure enjoyed watching him!