May Bloom Day

The usual suspects are blooming in the garden this week. The lilacs are already gone by and someone - my kid, not some random person - picked the bleeding hearts. Oh yeah, she also picked the alliums, which were surprisingly small this year.

Thank you to May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day each month.

Hawaii Pictures

Nate got to/had to go to Hawaii for work, so the kid and I decided to tag along and make it a vacation. Yippee! Since we were lugging a three year old around the whole time, we had to pick and choose what we wanted to do. Before leaving I'd decided that I mostly wanted to see some cool plants and some sea turtles. I must be a lucky cat, because I got to do both!

In other news, we came home to a stinky surprise in the basement. Don't you love built-in blog content? More on that later. Also later, I hope to put together a quick run down on how we kept expenses to a minimum. We definitely didn't treat this trip as a "once in a lifetime" event, but I didn't feel like we nickel-and-dimed ourselves whole time either.

I think the best part of a vacation is having no to-do list for an entire week. You should try it, too!

The New Front Garden

The new front garden is as done as it's going to get for now. I transplanted everything from elsewhere in the yard, and most of the plants are happy. The magnolia looks dead, but I'm already scheming about replacing it with a tree peony (though there may not be space). Soon we will add some sunflowers and California poppies for quick-growing, inexpensive color. I think the broken concrete pieces work for now, though it's not my favorite look.

Umm...I also am not a fan of the cedar mulch. I completely forgot that I prefer aged hemlock when I bought this stuff. But it was soooo cheap. Ah well, it'll only be for one season - then I can justify covering it with something darker and prettier.

The layout ended up being very close to what I had planned out. There were a few additions, including some creeping Jenny, but the only purchased plant was a pansy. The kid saw the yellow and black pansy and declared it a "tiger face" plant and wanted it for the new garden. For $1.50, how could I say no?

Before

After

After after.

So we removed the cedar boards and added more garden on the house-side of the sidewalk. These are basically starter-gardens. Over time I hope to add soft flowy perennials. I like Scott's style over at Rhone Street Gardens.


*Pssst...this is my first scheduled post...I'm in Hawaii! 

I Heart Boston

I went to college in Boston.

I lived there for eight years.

My first apartment was in Boston.

I have lots of friends who live in or near the city.

I could still give you directions on foot but not by car.

My kid has a Boston accent, but I don't.

I think about moving back at least once a year.

It still feels like home every time I go back.

It's the city I compare all other cities to.

I heart Boston.

1. Boston Common (picture of a picture that sits on our dresser)

2. Public Garden 2010 - the kid's first visit to Boston

3. Ratchaburi the Boston cat (picture of a picture that hangs in our bathroom)

4. Public Garden 2010 - Make Way for Ducklings sculpture

5. Public Garden 2012 - Make Way for Ducklings sculpture

6. Christian Science Center night shot

7. Freedom Trail 2012

8. Storrow Drive (picture of a picture that hangs in our bedroom)

My Collection: ABC's

We tried to fill our daughter's room with tasteful pieces of art and heirlooms. Some things were gifts and some things we picked out specifically for her. The doves hang above her bed, the prayer flags hang in her doorway, the art pieces all hang on the wall (obviously) and the "kitty bank" sits on her dresser. She's currently obsessed with tulips...so we've got those right now, too.

As far as the framed art, the lower left is a watercolor and ink piece by our friend Kim Kei. The print on the right I picked out when I was pregnant. It is decidedly feminine, but I knew I was having a girl! It would have been lovely to purchase the original by Portland artist Hadley Hutton, but our budget only covered the cost of a print. The embroidered alphabet was made by Nate's great-aunt Vera, and it hung in his bedroom when he was a kid. It does need cleaning, but we love it.

We think these things will transition well as the kid gets older, and hopefully they will mean as much to her as they do to us.