Wow! It's been almost a month since I've posted anything! Time flies when you're having fun, right? :)

The weather has been awesome here on the edge of the Southern plains, and Hubs and I have been taking major advantage of it. A couple weeks ago, we finally found a place to ride his 4-wheeler by the river south of Norman and we have been trying to go back, but we have both fallen victim to Spring fever.


If you remember in this blog post back in January, I was all pumped about starting our own garden. Well, that didn't exactly happen in a timely manner, so about a week and a half ago, we bought plants that *gasp* someone else planted (I know, eeeek!) and that had already begun to sprout (okay, the tomato plant looks pretty mature but everything else just had a few leaves on it J). I actually had bought some seed packets back in February but we never got around to planting them because...well...we can get lazy at times. So Hubs finally built some cedar boxes and I filled them with healthy soil and planted the little sprouts we bought.

                                  

I also threw in a few seeds of squash and...something else-I can't remember now...I guess we'll see when it grows?- and we can already see the little squash sprouts! Aren't they cute?


They're growing FAST, too! I didn't really expect the seeds to grow because, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, you're supposed to keep them under some kind of flourescent lighting for X amount of days then coax them and sing to them to help them grow. Yeah. Right. I literally tossed these seeds in well after the "recommended planting time," and they are still growing. Hopefully they'll be edible. In all, we have planted jalapeños, red bell peppers, roma tomatoes, red potatoes, red onions, squash, cilantro, a grapevine and romaine, iceberg & red lettuce. I tried to get Hubs to let me import a cocoa bean plant so I can make my own chocolate, but he said this would be impossible. We'll see about that J

In addition to all of this vegetable-planting, Hubs also built a rock wall around our front flower bed. We ripped out most of the stuff that was there and re-planted our own flowers (pink & white azaleas and some kind of white perennials) and added some soil and red cedar mulch. Someday, we will transplant the little tree-bush-things that we left there to the backyard and plant some kind of tall narrow evergreen tree in their places on either side of the bay window. But until then, here is what it looks like:


I think I'll add some of that tall monkey grass to outline the edges with, too.

Now, for the most exciting project since our living room tables: Our little landscaping-island-thing in our front yard (let's call it Jost van Dyke):


You know I'm an instant gratification kinda girl-which may or may not contribute to buying the already-sprouted vegetables as opposed to planting each seed and taking special care of each one while they take their own sweet time growing- and these are the kinds of projects I love. We built Jost van Dyke all in one weekend, and that was even not leaving the house Saturday till after noon. It was kind of an impulse decision too, which is why I love it :)

I love love love Japanese maples and I knew one would be the perfect size for our front yard. It was our lucky day! Home Depot had what looked like almost-full-grown Japanese maples for 50% off Saturday! We snatched one of those suckers up like it was a Reese's peanut butter cup and here it sits!

In the flower bed by the bay window, I wanted perennials so I wouldn't have to worry about replanting them every single year. But on Jost van Dyke I wanted bold color and already-grown flowers, so I went with annuals.


Here are some updated pics of the exterior lighting we finished installing tonight: