Ardent Garden

I told you about the caterpillar that my Mother in law was bringing to my daughter in an earlier post. Well, she brought it to us and the very same night it peeled off it’s “skin” and turned into a chrysalis. That process was pretty darn cool. And my daughter LOVED IT! Well, it’s been sitting beside the tv for the last 2 weeks (exactly 2 weeks!!) and today my daughter started screaming and carrying on in the living room while I was doing something in the baby’s room. So I race into the living room to A) make sure she’s ok and B) to fuss at her about being quiet b/c baby was sleeping in the living room! I didn’t get that far though b/c she handed me the caterpillar jar and I saw this:

So cool! We talked her into taking it outside and letting it go in the coneflowers since they only live a few days anyhow. So reluctantly she agreed, only after being promised that I’d take lots of pictures for her to remember it by. Husband opened the lid (which she was hanging from) and it became very obvious that she had just come out of her chrysalis b/c her wings were still very floppy.

Aren’t those colors amazing!!?? After watching her for awhile she had dried out a good bit and was holding her wings up, and sticking out her tongue:

Over the course of the next hour hubby and daughter went outside a bazillion times to check on her, and eventually she was gone. Daughter was very upset over this but I assured her that she probably just flew around the corner to hide out in pumpkin vines. (More about pumpkins tomorrow)
I’ll leave you with this:

admin on September 7th, 2008 | File Under butterfly plants, fall, insects, kids | No Comments -

and I’m sorry. But you know how it goes. Bring new baby home, life gets turned upside down. Dawson Louis Cosmo ____________ was born August 25, 2008 at 11:33am (after only 2.5 hours of labor, go me!). He weighed 8lbs and 3oz, and was 21 inches long.
I have more updates to post, about pumpkins and butterflies etc….but baby is crying so it will have to wait!

admin on September 7th, 2008 | File Under Uncategorized, kids | 1 Comment -

The mums are getting ready! I stopped pinching them back in July so hopefully around mid to late September we’ll have flowers! I can’t remember what color they are though……..

ps- this is a schedule post. if all went well this morning (if the hospital had a bed for me)I should be in the hospital RIGHT NOW having a baby. I’ll let you know!

admin on August 25th, 2008 | File Under fall, garden, kids, perennials | 2 Comments -

Green Thumb Sunday


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These came up last year but didn’t bloom, and the foliage looks a lot like lupine so I figured that’s what they were since I remembered throwing out some lupine seeds. But this year they bloomed and have grown to be about 4 feet tall, and it became obvious they were not lupine. So I googled today until I figured out that it’s Cleome! Although Cleome is supposed to be an annual, not sure why they came back. Maybe from seeds that didn’t germinate last year? At the beginning of the summer they were looking pretty ratty because they became a fast favorite of the flea beetle, BUT they bounced back and are quite striking now, especially their seedpods (the bean looking things hanging down in the photo). Definitely an annual I will plant next year!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

admin on August 24th, 2008 | File Under annuals, garden, green thumb sunday | 1 Comment -

We got our first carrots from the garden yesterday!! They were quite tiny, but we just couldn’t wait any longer. They were pretty tasty! We still have a few left so we’ll see how long we can let them grow before we pull them. I know we’ll definitely plant more next year.
I also managed to brave the jungle of pumpkin and melon vines to get some pictures of the pumpkin and muskmelons.

The pumpkin is about the size of a baseball and growing so fast!! I’m not sure if it will be ready in time for Halloween but I sure hope so!

The biggest muskmelons are about the size of large (long) limes. I’m not sure why they are oblong. I always assumed they grew round, but these are definitely not. I’ll have to look it up and see what the deal is. We have quite a few of them out there though! About 20 I’d say!

admin on August 23rd, 2008 | File Under edible, garden, vegetables | 1 Comment -

My Mother in Law sent me this picture today. It’s a black swallowtail caterpillar that she found on her sage (looks like sage anyhow). She’s trying to keep it alive so she can bring it up to my daughter when they come up for the baby (if he ever comes out). Lora has her little butterfly tent all ready to go!

For some gorgeous pics of a black swallowtail butterfly in action head over to Leanne’s blog!

admin on August 20th, 2008 | File Under insects | 3 Comments -

You should be jealous. Why? Because the peaches that I wrote about yesterday are the BEST peaches I’ve ever had in my life. They are SOOO GOOD. I don’t even want to use them in a recipe, I just want to eat them ALL UP. But I don’t think I can manage that. I mean I can only eat so many peaches in a day. I think I might just slice them up and freeze them.
And guess what!?!? I have 2 musk melons about the size of golf balls! I’m sure there are more but the vine has really taken off, so between that and the pumpkin vine I can barely get in there to look much less take pictures! I have to pull it back from my neighbors yard every day. They really need a lot of room! I also saw a little pumpkin today too! That just tickles me beyond belief! I’ve always wanted to grow pumpkins, and every fall when I have forgotten to do it I’m always so bummed. Not this year!! I will TRY to get a picture of the pumpkin here in the next few days. Provided I don’t have a baby. I’ve pretty much given up on him. Is there really a baby in here? Maybe it’s all in my imagination….

admin on August 18th, 2008 | File Under edible, garden, vegetables | 1 Comment -

Green Thumb Sunday


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Ok, not really millions, but I have quite a few. My neighbor has a peach tree and she’s been bringing me peaches over the past few days. They smell DIVINE. I think the smell of a ripe peach is one of the quintessential smells of summer, or end of summer rather. Anyhow, I have all these peaches and I’m trying to figure out what to do with them. I’m sure a few of them will get eaten today, they smell to good to pass up! But I am the only one in this house that likes peaches so the rest will need to get used up in a recipe of some sort, or frozen for later. Anyone have any killer peach recipes that they would care to share?

I’d love to make some peach jam or can some, but I just don’t have the time for that right now. For those that are wondering this little boy has yet to be born, so needless to say I feel like a walking timebomb! (A really huge fat one.) I’ll add some recipes later once I figure out what exactly I’m going to do, besides feel sorry for myself all day.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

admin on August 17th, 2008 | File Under edible, garden, green thumb sunday | No Comments -

Well I am due today. Do I think the little man will be born today? Heck no! He’ll probably wait until next week. Although there is a full moon on Saturday so keep your fingers crossed for me!
While I am “patiently” waiting for him (I’ve already cleaned everything three times) I’ve been googling through the net looking at cute baby stuff. I came across this site that sells personalized baby shoes. So cute!
On one shoe they emboss the baby’s name and on the other shoe the baby’s birth date. Imagine how cute that would look in pictures with their little feet sticking out? They have the shoes available in white and then in a cute sneaker like style with either pink or blue on the sides. I am thinking I like the white best, but they are all awefully cute. And what a cool keepsake! They even have a little preview feature on the site where you can plug in your baby’s name and birth date, and then they show you a preview of the little shoes. It could just be that I’m about ready to pop, but that got me a little choked up. Surely I am not the only one teary eyed over embossed baby shoes?
And if that wasn’t enough to get teary over, they have a section of other personalized baby gifts.There is a little teddy bear that you can get a personalized necklace on, or you can get him wearing a little t-shirt that says “Dawson’s Bear”, obviously your’s would not say “Dawson’s Bear”, unless, you know you happen to have a baby named Dawson too. My personal favorite, I think, is the personalized cereal bowl! So cute! It says “Good Morning (name)” around the lip of the bowl! If you could manage to keep that unbroken throughout childhood that would be such a neat thing to pass down. It’s stoneware too…..ooooooooo!
Of course they also sell the obligatory silver brush and comb set which are old fashioned, but I am still oogling them! Of course there is no way I could buy only one set for baby, because I have a four year old princess who would absolutely throw a fit over that. What else do they have? Cute little velvet lined boxes for first tooth and first curl! I always thought those were silly, but wouldn’t you know we have my daughter’s first curl, I even have her umbilical cord. (yuck i know! but I can’t throw it out.now!) They also have personalized magnetic name puzzles which are really cool. I never realized just how much seeing their name every day made a difference but, in my daughter’s preschool they had little place mats they used for snack time each day, and just through looking at her name on her place mat for a the few minutes she ate snack (3 days a week) she learned to write her own name. That’s pretty impressive, or at least I was impressed!! These puzzles also have pictures behind the letters. Very neat! Anyhow, now that I’ve drooled all over my keyboard I really should get going! I’m sure I could fit one more round of cleaning in today.

admin on August 14th, 2008 | File Under random | 2 Comments -

That’s what we did this weekend since little boy is due in TWO DAYS! We also made one when I was pregnant with my daughter and it’s such a wonderful keepsake. It’s also super easy so I thought I’d put a little tutorial up for anyone who’s interested.

Making a Belly Cast
Items needed:
1. Vaseline
2. Plaster Cloth (I got mine at Hobby Lobby, it comes in a roll of 8″x180″. It took about 1. 25 rolls to do my cast)
3. 2 Sheets, or tarps (one for the floor, and one for the chair you are sitting on)
4. Someone to apply the plaster cloth to you! You cannot do it yourself. And you’ll be naked so keep that in mind.
5. Bowl of warm water to wet the plaster cloth in. (we made ours in the kitchen so we just used the sink)

Instructions:
1. Place sheet or tarp on the floor where you plan to place your chair.
2. Cover chair with sheet or tarp. (I used sheets for both of these, don’t worry all the plaster washes out)
3. Take off your clothes, down to your undies.
4. Apply vaseline liberally to ALL the areas where the cast will touch. If you don’t do this it will hurt like a mofo when you try to pull the cast off.
5. Cut the plaster cloth into strips. You will need some long and some shorter. We cut our longest strip so that it went all the way across my belly.
6. Sit in the chair and get comfy! You will be sitting there for a good bit.
7. The person applying your cast will need to wet each strip of plaster cloth as they go. Just dip each strip into the warm water and shake it off.
8. Apply strips to belly, and any other area that you want to cover. You’ll want to get at least 3 layers of strips in all areas to assure that your belly cast is sturdy. Also make sure that you reinforce the top with extra strips if you plan on drilling holes for hanging your cast.
9. Once you get all your plaster cloth strips applied, you must sit and wait for the cast to dry. For me it took about 20 minutes for drying, but we do live in a dry climate. You’ll be able to tell if it’s getting dry enough because it will start pulling away from your body.

Once your cast is completely dry (this might take a couple of days) you can paint it and seal it, or just leave it plain. For longevity I’d say painting it might be the way to go. I left my first belly cast plain and 4 years later it’s in great shape, but a bit dusty. I’ve been contemplating cleaning it off and painting it so it will be easier to keep clean in the coming years.

admin on August 12th, 2008 | File Under crafts, kids, random | 3 Comments -