Garden update

We had a perfect evening last night. I got home late from work and I walked in to a wonderful aroma. Jared had started dinner and it was almost ready. I set the table outside on the deck and Jared put on some classical music. We sat and ate a delicious steak meal with this coffee, burgundy vinaigrette dressing Jared had made, fresh lettuce from the garden, corn on the cob and roast potatos from the grill. It was the most perfect weather; the June I've been missing all month. Clear blue sky, lots of birdies chirping and a nice soft breeze making it not too hot or too cold.

At the end of dinner as we sipped wine, the sun set over the back of our garden. I was awestruck and angry at the same time. Why don't we do this all the time, I thought! We're always so busy. Busy doing what I'm not so sure. But we should be making more time for us to enjoy our home and enjoy the sun setting and the gardens.

It really was a great night and a great meal. I'm lucky to have a husband who enjoys to cook and is so good at it.



This morning, I was walking around in my bathing suit and towel at 7am, taking pictures of the garden hoping the neighbors didn't see me and think I was a freak. I can't help it. I love taking these photos and sharing them. I got up early to feed the roses and it was a nice quiet morning for me.

The last picture I showed of the vegetable patch it was pretty bare and now it's bloomed. The lettuce is at the bottom and it tasted delicious. The big sprouts in the middle are the squash and cucumbers.
Ah, the roses. They are so beautiful and each morning I can't help but look at them as soon as I wake up.
This bloom was closed this morning when I fed the patch. When I came back an hour later to take a picture, it was bloomed. This kind of reward is all it takes. I feel like I helped it bloom, if that makes sense at all. But the colors are so vibrant. This is one of my favorite bushes.

See the individual of the group? She's not willing to conform.

I took this picture of my purple roses for one of my favorite bride's to be. She knows who she is and her purple fetish!

Here is the rose trellis. It's grown considerably and I need to start training it some more so it's not so all over the place. The buds have grown nicely though.

Look! The blueberries are almost ready!

The pears look so good this year due to Jared's weekly sprays. I'm looking forward to all the fruit blooming.

Vacation

I can't wait for Friday! I'm on vacation! A real vacation. Jared and I are leaving for Orlando on Thursday night for 4 days. My cousin Jason is getting married on Saturday night (also Jared's birthday). So that is the reason we're heading down there. My fam is already there and they are spending the week.

Then I have all of next week off in which I'll be doing a bit of gardening and a lot of laying by the pool and going to the beach.

Can't wait to share some pics of the long weekend.

Sooty the Munchkin Cat

I've started a collection of pictures of Sooty since he always finds himself in cute kodak moments. He's so small he fits anywhere. And until we have kids, you're going to have to look at cat photos!

Biggest Snapping Turtle I've EVER seen

We were not sure if he was a snapping turtle but one attempt to pick him up with a shovel, one loud snap of his mouth at the shovel and one big yelp by Jared and we knew he was! This fella was munching/destroying Jared's nicely planted lettuce. He scurried away after we tried to shovel him back to the pond so we're not sure where he is now. What an eventful morning!

Bullfrogs = Death

It's a late Monday night (technically early Tuesday morning), and I'm awake. The joys of insomnia (can you feel the sarcasm?). How can a person be falling asleep at 9:30 PM and go to bed after barely finishing her book due to sleepy eyes be wide awake at 1:16 AM? Ooh pick me, I know I know! It's called insomnia. The inability to sleep night after night. The ability to keep your brain on and wandering for hours at end. Yoga for the brain. Isn't it so nice I've decided to give my brain an exercise at 1:19 AM in the morning. What the hell?!

The most annoying part of this entire thing is all the other reasons I'm not sleeping. Usually it's all my fault. I'm unable to be normal and stop thinking and just sleep. Which is the case tonight but there are other things, external things that are making it even harder.

You ever live by a pond? There are these things called frogs. So I go up to bed each night and contemplate keeping the windows open. Most of the time it's too cold but the past few nights there has been a fresh breeze that I'd like to participate with during my sleep (or so-called sleep). Tonight I left the windows open and crawled into bed, did some reading, did some chatting with the man and we turned the light off for bed. At that point and never before it, it's heard. At first you think it's an animal slowing dying. Then you listen some more and it sounds like an extremely pissed off cow, mooing at a quickened pace at the same time his balls are being electrocuted. The constant "moos" are loud, quick, sharp and completely obnoxious. Since I don't live by a farm, it's not a pissed off cow. Jared tells me these little critters are bullfrogs. Bullfrogs! You may as well call them bullhorns! They are so freaking loud. Give it a rest already. No one likes the sound of you, wants to hear you or live anywhere near you.

I slowly toss and turn wondering and the brain starts: (Jessie's brain on crack) Hmm, I wonder if the bullfrogs/horns are mating? Who could ever love something that sounds like that? Can the females even stomach it? Wait! What if the females make that noise too?! Are they talking to each other and making fun of me and the music I blast out the windows when they are sleeping? Oh my God! Do they hate Delilah? She's awesome late night radio! How dare they hate her... Damn them! They can go to hell. Jared, honey, can you sleep? Oh, you neither. Please, please, please can you get an exterminator and wipe those assholes out? I'm serious. The world would be a lot more peaceful if there were no bullfrogs/horns. Wait a minute! Remember that day last summer when a ginormous frog scared the shit out of you? (Exhibit A) That is the bastard getting back at me for giving him a heart attack with my every so panicked scream. He's the one. Him and his posse. Or maybe I can just close the windows and try and get some quiet... NO! I refuse to back down to the never ending pressure of bullfrog/horn bullying!

Exhibit A.1 (note this is not zoomed in, this MF is huge)

Exhibit A.2 (note this is not zoomed in, this MF is huge)

Okay at that point I had to get out of bed.

Of course the frogs were not the only thing disturbing the peace at my abode. One cat sleeps with us. Smudge is mature and normal. She sleeps on our bed. However Soot is not allowed. He feels the bed is his personal trampoline and drives us bonkers. It's impossible to sleep with Soot in the bedroom. He feels left out at first but he gets over it and sleeps in his bed outside the door. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. Most nights he scratches at our door for a while making us feel uber guilty. However if we give in, which we've done in the past, we totally regretted it so much Soot is never allowed back in.

Tonight was no exception. The three of us cozy on the bed, slowly but surely getting hypnotized into a silent rage by the pesky bullfrogs/horns. Soot starts banging. He's a 5 lb (and that is generous) munchkin cat, but he can kick some serious door ass. Scratch, bang, bang (moo-ribbit in the back ground). Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit. Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit. And I start again: (Jessie's brain on crack) I love that little cat but I'm seriously going to throw him out the window and make him try and swim with the devil frogs. Oh, that is mean, Jessie. You could never hurt an animal. Oh yeah I could! I need to sleep. I have an important meeting tomorrow, not to mention a life! What if Sooty is hungry? Jared, you awake? Does Sooty have food? Okay, okay, I'll shut up and go to sleep. Oh no! Is the basement door closed and he have no where to tinkle? Jared, you didn't close the basement door right? Jeez, okay I'll go to sleep. No I won't let him in. I promise. Poor Sooty. He can not come in and sleep with the family. He's going to punish us and be loud all night. Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit.

Soot finally gets on Jared's nerves and Smudge starts to get annoyed too. They both leave the room and Jared makes sure Sooty has everything he needs. Then he comes back to bed. Five minutes later what I hear disturbs me. One cat is screaming, one cat is galloping up stairs, a little bit of hissing and I hear it again: Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit. Of course this time it's Smudge trying to get back into her nook away from psycho-kitty. At this point there is no freaking way I'm sleeping: (Jessie's brain on crack) Wait a sec, is that snoring I hear? Is my husband honestly sleeping through this? I can not flipping believe this! Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit , SNORE. Scratch, scratch, bang, bang, moo-ribbit, SNORE. That's it! I've had enough. I'm going down stairs! I'm NOT going to sleep tonight apparently.

I realize I'm starving and pour some honey-nut cheerios into my bowl and start gulping them down dry in an ever so unfeminine way. I start to think that maybe cheerios have a secret super power of beating insomnia, fighting/crazy cats and bullfrogs/horns. As I shovel them down, I can only imagine how silly I seem to look. Deep in thought, I'm forgetting the fact that it's now 1:53 AM and I'm still awake! Cheerios are NOT going to save me now!

I turn on this blasted computer and think of my past nights of insomnia. Back in the day when I didn't sleep every night. I thought of my old friend Snood. So I figure it's time to bring Snood back into my life. Then after some searching I start to freak out. What the hell! Since when do you have to pay for Snood. This is complete and utter bullshit. I'm going to find a weapon, a flashlight and I'm going frog hunting. I've had enough for tonight! Wow, maybe these cheerios really are superhero strength...