In other gardening news...

This year, I'm not as on top of things as I was last year (ie. blogging every minutes growth of each plant). I have a lot on my plate with graduation coming and finishing the kitchen. I'm nervous my plants won't be "as good" because I haven't had the time to nurture them. Memorial day weekend, I really have to do some mega plant-kissing!

Here's their progress:
My little Hen is a mama! Look at her little chicks growing from underneath.


Mini Basil - grows into a 6x6 bush. It looks interesting enough, but doesn't smell like basil.


Cosmos - I started some cosmos in a container in case the ones directly sowed didn't pull through with all the rain/wind we've had. All the ones in the garden are coming up too.


White Wedding Zinnias - Started these for the heck of it.


Watermelon - I directly sowed some of these too but the birds ate them all! It's a good thing I started some in a container.


Sweet peas


GEEZ LOUISE! My mother gave me 1 dinky mint last year and I know how obtrusive mint gets, so I actually pulled a lot of it out and look, it still came back 100 times! I spread it around in other bald areas of the garden. I think this makes nice centerpieces.


Daylilies are budding.


Heirloom Irises - Only one came up this year! I think it's because I disturbed them this year when I transplanted some into other areas of the garden. After this month, I'll relocate some more. These are suffocating one another.


Lavender bush - I was ready to cut the thing down last year and look at it now! Last year I had no new growth. I thought it was dead. This year, I decided to give it another chance by giving it some TLC and I guess it worked.


Roses - From Home Depot are about 2 feet tall now! I can't remember if this is the yellow or pink one.


Mallow - 1.5' tall now. I plan on relocating this somewhere more special.


Broom - It bloomed a little. Hopefully next year, it will bloom all over. My neighbor's broom looks amazing!


The 2nd flower of my Kansas peony.


And in the veggie garden, we have lots of snowpeas of course! And sugar snap peas.


The tomato plants are finally starting to get rather big to my surprise. It's about 5-6" now.


I don't know what this is, but it might be from last year. It looks like it could be cantelope or sunflower.


Zucchini - It's getting big so I'll remove the fence soon. They can defend themselves from nibbling critters now.


Edamame - These are beautiful plants with lovely leaves. I directly sowed some more seeds in the "in between" areas and they came up nicely as well.


This weekend:
- Put all my seedlings into the ground.
- Lots of Weeding.
- Label markers.
- Put out yard sale.

Painting: Day 2

It turned out to be a beautiful day today. I'm away from home, but Keith was sweet enough to send me pictures so I could blog about them.

The kitchen got some touching up with some more spackle and sanding. Then it was painted again.

Peony Watch: Day 3

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head...

Getting to Know You

Hello Friend,

Recently, I realized that I have readers on this blog. I rarely get comments, but when I do I'm always delighted, excited and all that warm bubbling good stuff. The hubs and I started this blog to document our home improvements in our first house as both a reminder to us and to help other young adults like us doing the same. I'm glad to know the network is slower stretching out.

If you read this blog, please leave a comment and say HI! so I can return the favor. It's also nice to know what audience I'm blogging for.

Cheers,
Anita aka Pink Thumb

Painting Drywall

After the 100th coat of spackle and sanding, my father-in-law thought it was okay to do one coat of paint to see how the wall would take it. You need to be 99% sure that you're done spackling and sanding before painting; otherwise, it's pointless.

Glidden 5 gallon Ceiling Paint - $50 It's more cost effective to buy a large 5 gallon bucket than 1 gallon buckets ($18). You can also use ceiling paint as primer ($23) because it's cheaper and you're going to paint over it in color anyway. Behr sells paint made especially for unfinished dry wall such as this, but I think it's a gimmick.

Here's my father-in-law in action.



It's starting to look like a kitchen soon!











The walls still need another coat of paint. These other areas still need more spackle, so we have to do that again before we can paint. Keep sending me *finish kitchen* vibes!

Peony Watch: Day 2

This peony ("Kansas") is such a beautiful color. I want to get more of these.






My herb box is really doing well. I can't believe these were little seedlings just a few weeks ago.


The geraniums are blooming in my window box. It's so adorable.


In other news, the kitchen has been a long, painful process. Keith and his dad have been spending the last 5-6 weeks spackling and sanding. It's really come a long way. Notice the corners that meet the ceiling are really smooth now.







We should be able to start painting soon! I just want it to be done already! Send me "complete kitchen" vibes!