Plants, projects and bad or lazy pets

The house filled up with peat pots this weekend. I'm obsessed with gardening this year. I went to one sale Friday and was about to drive to another when it occurred to me I could be working outside instead, and so I went home. You recognize the magnitude of this shift, I'm sure.


One of my hopes this year is to improve the views from inside. See the bluebird houses over there? I'm pretty sure we have a couple interested in one of the houses; I saw a bluebird with a long piece of grass in its beak sitting atop one of the posts.

I have a project that's going to take a couple of weekends on the other side of the house. (See up there in the upper right corner?) It doesn't look like much yet, and in fact, it may not look like much when it's done. That's because it looks so bad now that just getting it to look not-horrible is going to take a lot of effort. (And brush cutting!) I'll have to do some before and after photos to explain.
 
The sale I went to was at a place that has a sale every spring, and although I don't usually get much, it's a fun place to poke around. I did find some super-sized Shiny Brites, though.

Lazy pet #1: Polly. I probably can count on one hand the number of times we've left the bed unmade in our adult lives. Sometimes, though, I have to leave a corner unmade because I can't bear to move somebody who's that comfortable. (She's not grumpy, despite the expression. Just barely awake.)
 
Lazy pet #2: Carson, who was so exhausted at the thought of Mr. Oodles outside planting apple trees and me planting all those seeds that he took a nap in our honor.

Thanks, buddy!

Bad pet: That dog next door. Not only did I spot from the window a freshly dug hole in the hosta bed, I found the beast that created it at the scene of the crime. Alternate title for this photo: Exhibit A in my pending civil suit.  

Comments

[Beth Leintz]

Oh Barbara, are you ok? I'm worried that you'd go home to garden when there was another sale you could have gone to.

Love the pictures of Carson- that's how Buddy naps, too- neck stretched out- on the pillows, on the chair...

"Bad pet" doesn't even have the decency to look embarrassed.

[Tina]

He just looks guilty to me! lol

Your indoor greenhouse is awesome.

[Sarah]

So....have you told the neighbors their dog is a nuisance? I know no one wants to be the "bad guy", but seriously folks CONTAIN YOUR DOGGIE. Someone else's dog tearing up my yard would make me insane.

[Lisa]

My kitty loves weekends when the bed is made a little later, I always feel guilty making him get up. I've been known to make the bed around him. :)

Neighbor dogs. . . don't get me started!

[Carol @ Old Glory Cottage]

Civil suit, or jail sentence? I know it's not the dog's fault, so I would probably have to pummel the neighbors! Seriously, I know how dicey this can be. A past neighbor's dog was standing on it's hind legs, hanging over the fence and barking right outside our bedroom window, at 5:30 every morning. I told the neighbor 3 times, before I called Animal Control. We didn't speak for 6 months after that. That was just the beginning of so much more trouble. Now it's a new neighbor and their cats eating my birds and digging in my garden and using it as their potty. Around here, it's against the law to let your cats run free, so I guess it's an ANONYMOUS call to Animal Control. Thank you for letting me vent!

[Wendy]

We spent the weekend gardening too, it was wonderful, didn't even rain! I have a lot of plants going under lights, the window just don't cut it up here...
Lets think positive, perhaps the neighbor dog thinks he is helping?!?

[Shelley G in Iowa]

I too, have been spending all my free time outside in the yard. Getting outside and into the dirt has done so much to lift my spirits.

I picked my first batch of lettuce today, can't wait to have a salad (although small) for lunch.

Two questions.

#1-Where did you find the shelf with pots hanging from your sash? That's a great idea/find.

#2-Did you buy your rosemary plants? I have one, very large one I bring in every year. It's become so large I took cuttings from it this year, in hopes that I can just start a new (smaller) plant. Love the fragrance!

Have a great day, Barbara!

[Freckled Hen]

You are so productive. All that yard/project work and you still find cool Shiny Brites? Your pets are very cute.

In the past we have had two VERY bad experiences with neighbor's dogs...
I learned the hard way you can't be the nice guy in this situation.

[Lena]

Uh oh! I used to have a neighbor dog like that one. He was a huge pit bull, and the sweetest creature ever, except that in just moments he could dig a hole to China, and did, more than once in my garden.

Isn't this an exciting time of year? Yesterday my sister and I checked out a new nursery and I bought a package of Hen's Nest Gourds. She's going to plant them for me in her great big garden, as I have a small city garden.

I remember years ago, when it seemed as if people always planted their flowers and such, right up close to the house, where you can't see them from the inside. I always tell new gardeners to think about that when planning a garden. You want to be able to enjoy the garden from inside too.

All those peat pots....what hope there is, in that one photo alone.

Take care,
Lena

[LiLi M.]

Does it help that the bad dog looks very guilty? I (as the dog whisperer LOL) can tell that he is sorry! Oh those pots, every year I think I'm going to have them too, mmm I might be not too late this year.

[Linda @ A La Carte]

Wow gardening instead of shopping?

[bettyann]

hahah bad pet loves your wonderful yard, plus his owner has bribed him to do "bad" in your yard lol..

[Jenn]

Poor Ferris. He's just bored, needs to be walked or taken to the dog park - something. Please don't do anything drastic like calling Animal Control as someone else mentioned. That would be horrible. :(

[Martha]

I'm so impressed with all of your peat pots and the progress you are making in the yard. I like your idea of improving the views from inside the house -- it's going to be fun watching the activities of your bluebird neighbors.

[Brenda Kula]

What we do for our precious pets. That cat looked mighty comfy. As though he owns that bed. There's not a surface in my house that the pets don't think they own. Wish I could find some of those shiny brites.
Brenda

[Ruthann]

That purple shiney brite is a real find!

[Nanette]

Oh to be Polly right now and snuggled in a corner of a lovely soft bed. What a lucky kitty.

[Vicki]

A chocolate lab even looks adorable with somebody else's soil on his paws. I think he needs a hug!