Lovely Weather We've Been Having

Ah, Spring.....but, wait....it's still February! Surely this is not some kind of a joke, these 70+ temperatures we've had for the past week. I cleaned out a flower bed and saw tiny green plants actually peeping up out of the dirt. It's so exciting to  think warm weather may be here to stay. We live in the deep South. You just never can tell about the seasons. Sometimes we start out with ice on our car windows and by the time school ends in the afternoon short sleeves are required. Seasons, we have them, sometimes we have ALL of them in a twenty-four hour period.
My Daddy used to say, "Never plant your vegetable garden before Good Friday"...He was right! I have tried it before and have been sad when my little tender plants got nipped by a late frost, but Daddy! This year it falls the end of April! That is so late! I won't have tomatoes until AUGUST! I suppose I will need to go ahead a plant some things in indoor containers and wait it out.
This warm spell sure does make me want to get out and do some stuff though. Our play yard is in desperate need of attention. I really want it to be pretty with lots of little areas of flowers and shrubs.
I want to be a good gardener, but I am not really very skilled. And I am forever hunting my tools, thanks to my three little girls and the constant temptation of the creek.  When I can find a shovel or rake it's usually covered in mud or hiding in the butterfly bushes.
The winters are not so harsh here in Alabama but the sun is. I have had little wooden plaques and cutouts on trees and they fade and fall apart after a few months in the weather, metal is the best choice to hold up especially if you don't mind rust. I am collecting metal flowers to paint (and repaint) so that I'm guaranteed color and "blooms" all Spring and Summer.
I bought a trellis and attached it between two trees, I was hoping to make Smilax grow on it and hold it in place. So far it's holding up okay but the actual trellis is formed from vine and it's starting to look dry and weak. I might have to resort to rounded iron rebar. Smilax is tough stuff, like Kudzu...but thankfully not quite as agressive.
We have fought the Kudzu enough. When the play yard was first built it was the predominate plant on the property. It still wants to be, some of it's roots are about the size of my wrist. We dig and cut and poison and dig again. I have heard and believe it's true that Kudzu grows a foot a day. It is that fearce. If I could grow roses or even Confederate Jasmine like I can grow Kudzu I'd have something to see. Unfortunately my Jasmine died last year and the only roses that have survived my pitiful soil have been the wild variety. They have taken over everywhere. Good thing I like them.
I suppose I could go on out and take a look at my little water feature. I would really like a waterfall running the width of my yard but I've settled for a foot tub size "pond" with my little gardian angel fountain. She stands guard over the play yard, and the girls, and the cats....and my missing tools, welcoming gardening season!

Couponia

What is it about reality television that attracts us the way a light bulb on a summer porch attracts mosquitoes? I am not one who enjoys the suffering of others, by nature I guide the remote to the home and garden networks but last week I was drawn to a reality show called “Strange Addictions”. I soon got into a facebook conversation with some friends about the show.

One lady had an addiction to powdered cleaners…”Comet” was her drug of choice. I couldn’t imagine anything less appealing than eating a cleaner right there in front of her freshly scrubbed sink but she did it. One of my facebook friends quipped, “It was all fun and games until she had to have all her teeth pulled due to the rotting away of tooth enamel by harsh detergent”. What would possess a person to do this? I was not adequately grossed out yet

The next lady ate TOILET PAPER!!! Yes sir! Up to a roll a day! I started to get nauseous. The next lady took the cake for sure, she ate….are you ready for this? Couch cushions!!! Now, I want to know what would make her TASTE a couch cushion in the first place. I vacuum them occasionally and there has never been anything I’ve even found in mine I’d like to pop in my mouth much less taste the cushion itself., but there she was pulling pieces off and swallowing as if they were cotton candy (now cotton candy…that’s an addiction I could wrap my brain around). What is wrong with these people?!!

Finally, they came to a somewhat sane person. A coupon addict. Now, I liked her. She was not really an addict but thankfully they included her because I was going to have to move on to some other channel. Although she did exhibit some addictive tendencies, she was at least doing something constructive! She saved tons of money at every grocery visit. I got excited about this.

My friend Ellen is a coupon queen. She is a retired teacher and is just really good at finding bargains. She has another friend, Lynn who spurs her on. They two of them can be seen on any given day going to particular grocery stores for super deals. My cereal cabinet has been completely stocked on numerous occasions due to Ellen’s skills and a buck or two. Ellen also keeps us stocked with toothpaste, deodorant, body wash, shampoo and such. She is a giver by nature. This is what separates the smart girls from the addicts. The addicts hoard their stuff, the people doing this for the fun of it, share. That’s my theory anyway. One of the people I saw featured on the show provided food for his church’s food closet. That would be the addiction to have. I can see him now, showing up at church with a truck load of non perishables banging on the door, begging them to open up after hours because he has to have his “give fix“. He is able to do this by collecting coupons and using them at stores that double and have sales running simultaneously.

I have another friend Candi, who makes a business out of bargain shopping for others. She saves people incredible amounts of money and makes a little for herself in the process. She knows the “ropes” too.

I am learning what I can from Ellen. I would really like to get good at this game, stock a few pantries, have my menu planned a month in advance. Who knows, I may even be featured on a reality program someday.

Help for the Clueless

I put out a request on facebook for help with my blog. I know I haven't changed it since this summer when Colin M. helped me put this flower on and then Micah rearranged some things.
To be honest, I am clueless when it comes to blogging. I feel so dumb.
I love writing and communicating with people and would very much like to have a blog people visit regularly but my ineptness holds me back.
Well, enter Sydney Nichols. As a self-professed geek, she has graciously agreed to sit down with me and show me how to manage, change, post pictures and otherwise make my blog more interesting.
Thank God for her!!!
So, on Friday I will go to "Sydney School" hopefully something fun is in the works!