Birthday

Last week was my birthday and I had a great day. Matt planned a "surprise" party for me at the local Mexican restaurant that serves the best margaritas in town. I had lots of fun and enjoyed the night. He also (actually) surprised me with flowers and an i pod for my car. My sister also sent me 3 new teas from Adagio.com and a beautiful tea cup. It has been so long since I drank tea out of china (just out of laziness) and I had forgotten how much better it taste that way. Dad also brought me home two teas and a hot chocolate mix from London. In fact I now have enough teas that I had to take over one of the shelves that Matt used for "Bar" stuff! Anyone that wants to have a tea party, come on over!

Over all it was a great day.

Yesterday (well actually Wednesday)

Wednesday was just one of those days. It started out as normal (groaning as I was kissed awake by my husband to go to work) but then it just got better. First we drove down the driveway on the way to work and there in a glory by my front door, the Gardenia was in bloom. We had to stop the car and go smell it....so heavenly. And then I looked to the right and the Jasmine that my Mom bought me on her first visit here was in bloom. This is a true miracle because not long after we got it Baton Rouge had a freak freeze and we thought it was lost for good.
Work was as boring as usual but we went out to lunch with Matt's coworkers and it took much more time then planned so I didn't have to spend too much time in the office. Then we took the dogs on a walk and Chiquita got so dirty that we decided that she needed to rinse off in the golf pond. Well Chuggles are both afraid of water, so we actually have to throw them in to get them to even acknowledge that it is there and Chiquita decided that she liked it and actually swam half way across and back her tail wagging the entire time (I wish I had had my camera with me).
Then that night just as Matt and I were getting bored, the weather changed and we watched the most spectacular lighting show that I have seen in a long, long time.
Chicken hiding from the thunderstorm:
For some reason it was just one of those good days even though everything we did was normal and everyday. Go figure :)

This Week

Well I am still behind in blogging :( I guess life has just gotten in the way these days. My old boss was in town this week and I finally decided it was time to through in the towel. My last day working on Hurricane Katrina will officially be May 1st, 2008. I am so ready.....of course this was made possible by the fact that Matt has been given official notice that we are transferring to Sacramento. The house search and job search is on!
In other news, the dry spell (humidity at 19% in Baton Rouge!) has been upsetting my pots. Things just can't seem to get enough water. We need some rain and some humidity back.

The last week

Sorry that I have been out of contact for the last week. I spent it with my Dad in Houston going through the house and getting it ready for my brother to take over and my Dad to leave for England. I went through millions of pictures, all of the closets, the garden and anything else my Dad needed. It was stressful and sad but it is nice to get it all done. Matt and I found out that we will be moving to Sacramento soon (gardeners out there let me know what I need to start thinking about planting!) and I am glad to only have to worry about packing my own house and moving now.
Dad and I stayed busy visiting with his friends at night. We went and saw the play WIT, very well acted and an amazing story, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that has spent an extended amount of time in the hospital recently or lost someone in the last year. Dad and I were invited at the last minute and we thought it was a comedy....
Dad agreed to hire a gardener and a maid for the house. The lawn man was nice enough to pull a lot of the weeds and over growth in my Mom's garden plots and just this morning I was able to put some shade plants in the back two areas. I think Mom would like them.
I can't wait to get back to Baton Rouge and see the dogs and my boss Rose will be back for the week so I won't have to work with the new guy either. It is all promising. Plus I will be turning 28 and will even be able to spend the day with my Matt!!!

MS 150 Houston to Austin

My Dad road the MS 150 this weekend from Houston to Austin (actually 166 miles not 150). He road with two of his friends and fellow Knights of Columbus in support of their wives one of whom has MS and the other Lupus. It was amazing to go out to support them and watch them ride and, even with the bad directions and long days, Matt and I managed to have fun. There were over 13,000 people riding and I have never seen so many bikers in one place at one time. It was overwhelming to say the least. Here are some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

The bluebonnets were out in full force in the Chappel Hill area. They were so nice to see.
There were just so many people it was impossible to capture in a photo
After lunch in Bellville on the first day, the guys were looking good
They looked a lot more tired when they pulled into La Grange for the end of the dayBut all three crossed the line together in Austin after riding 166 miles at 14.1 miles an hour into a very stiff head wind. We are all very proud of them.

Road Trip to San Marcos

Well this weekend Matt and I took off to San Marcos to see Pat and Pat (his parents) in a vintage car rally, visit with my brother and look at wildflowers! It was a lovely weekend full of adventure. We started out Friday morning (we were suppose to leave Thursday night but Matt's flight from Sacramento was delayed for hours on the tarmac and we just weren't up for it) from Baton Rouge and got into San Marcos around 6 pm in time for dinner with his parents and my brother. The next morning Matt woke up early to help Pat and Pat get the car ready for the race (it wouldn't start and they had to make an emergency run to San Antonio for a part) so Matt and I set out to see the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I had never heard of it until looking at the planned itinerary for the Garden Blogger's weekend and it was just too enticing to pass up.Matt and I got so many ideas for the next time we move (and maybe own a house instead of renting!).

He really wants to make some trellis like these and I want to have a bench covered in flowers like this one.







I loved that they used recycled glass in some of the beds instead of mulch or river rock...I can't wait to try it out in my pots at home! We enjoyed the center immensely and can't wait to go back and see the summer and fall flowers.

Later in the day we met up with my brother Nate in Austin and walked around the shops and such. The book store was sporting this sign, which made me think of all of us gardener's out there.

The next morning, Pat and Pat's car was working great so they set out to race and Matt and I set out to see more of the hill country. We drove up to Pedernales state park. We were so happy to discover an amazing bird blind (see pictures below) from which we saw over 11 species of birds!













We also got some great ideas on making a natural setting for birds to enjoy. We are definitely gong to create some natural looking feeders for our yard like this one:
Then we hiked down to see the falls and play in the river.

For lunch we met back up with Pat and Pat and enjoyed some Texas BBQ on the lawn of an amazing house in San Marcos and then headed for Houston to pick up the dogs. Matt left yesterday afternoon for Baton Rouge and I stayed here to help Dad (who is in town to get his visa) pack up and leave for England for good (lots of closet cleaning and such going on).

While I am here I would like to tackle Mom's garden but I think it maybe just too big of a project at this point. Things are flowering beautifully (no thanks to my brother) but it has grown into a jungle back there. Wish me luck and let me know if you can think of anything that grows natively in Houston and needs absolutely no care from people to keep it under control and looking nice.

Happy 1st of April

I spent some time in my garden this weekend and discovered some wonderful things. I have two red strawberries in the strawberry potall of my little trees have at least one leaf on them, the birds are paring up and eating away and my finished hummingbird feeder looks like it will be a hit (when I got home the feeder had fallen off the hook.....back to the drawing board on that one).

Unfortunately, after cleaning up the backyard makeshift pond, I don't think Mr. Fish made it through the winter but we never know with him, so we will keep our eyes open.I am really happy with my current plant groupings...everything looks great right now and I am so happy.

This upcoming weekend is our friends daughter's first birthday party, since we are going to San Marcos to meet up with Matt's parents and to see my brother instead, I thought we would throw her a little party of our own. All went well and she really enjoyed the strawberries and homemade whip cream I made for her.

Through Blogtanical a blogger that also keeps her plants in pots, found me. I loved the quote that she has up from April Fools day. Blogtanical also connected me to Kiss my Aster who had photos from the TyTy nursery in Georgia up on her blog! I can't believe they think that slightly dressed girls is the way to sell plants, you would think they were a used car lot ;) Check out the Kung Fu action under the Agave Plant Nursery link too.