Sweet Peas and My Garden

I finally have blooming sweet peas!



I've already cut a small bouquet, and there are tons of buds, so I'm expecting some good results! Next year I'll spread them out much more. I kept them in a small group because I didn't expect all the seeds to develop. I could have thinned them out, too, but oh well! I'm just going to enjoy them. :)

Also, here's an updated picture of my garden.



Everything seems to be doing ok! I added green onion, sweet onions, and carrots in the bottom left. I only used some of the seeds; I'll plant more later for a staggered harvest.

My 100th Post

For my 100th post, I thought I'd do a nice little sappy number dedicated to my husband. Being pregnant, I'm entitled to be as emotional as I want to be, good or bad, right? Right.

I was thinking about how I've been doing the Cat-Cow yoga pose combination regularly because it helps with stretching and moving the core, something that can be slightly inhibited during pregnancy, and it helps with digestion. Then I began thinking about all the times my husband has been around, not minding (or ignoring? or enjoying?) the weird yoga poses I do at random times, depending on what needs stretching or flexing or bending or relaxing. He's always been fine with my unusual spiritual inclinations or emotional whims, Goddess depictions, Venus obsessions, and superficial interests. That's not something I can say for guys (or girls) I've known in the past, friends or otherwise.

Perhaps it's because he's Australian, where a "No Worries" attitude seems to apply to pretty much anything. They also generally tell it like it is most of the time, so I know if he DID have an opinion, I'd hear about it. Whatever the reason, it's nice to know that I can explore all kinds of cultures and interests without any nay-saying. That seems to be one of those things that makes for a healthy marriage - letting each other have our own individual interests that keep us excited about life. It also gives us new things to talk about with each other! Even if those new things aren't always interesting to the other person. ;)

Some of My Roses

A lot of my roses are in full bloom right now, so I felt like sharing some photos I took. I have over 30, I think, so this is only a few. Most of them are English roses, whose names I always forget. I'll just go ahead and blame the black spot on my pregnancy because I haven't had the energy to go out and care for them like I normally would. :(


Here are a couple of climbing roses on a trellis right by our patio. I think the hubby could do without them right there, but I love eating with roses right over my shoulder. ;)


This is Hot Cocoa, one of the more interesting roses I've seen. I got a wimpy little plant from a going-out-of-business sale, so I've only had the one bloom so far. I'm hoping to bring a little life into it.


Awww. The Love rose. :)


The Diana, Princess of Wales rose. Perfect name for it because it's a beautiful rose with a lovely scent.


The Iceberg rose is one of my favorites. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's full of the prettiest little buds. The rose itself seems pretty hardy because it has some of the nicest green leaves of all the roses, and I haven't done anything to it.


No idea what this is. Previous owners put it back in the middle of nothing in a shady spot. Terrible location - I just haven't moved it yet. It didn't bloom at all last year, but I cleaned up around it and pruned it with all the others in the winter. What a nice surprise!


Joseph's Coat is a neat rose. The buds and blooms go through many colors - no wonder it's called Joseph's Coat.


One of my favorites of the English roses. I think this one is called Pat Austen. I'm so glad I inherited all of these English roses with the house because they are so beautiful and smell DIVINE.


Finally, a quick (bad) photo of my garden. The back left wet spot is lettuce, the next long wet row is bush beans, the two tomato cages on the left are tomatoes, while the one on the right is for cucumbers, the plants in front of the tomatoes are bell peppers and chili peppers, and the two mounds in front of the cucumbers are cantaloupe and watermelon. The little bush against the fence is sweet peas. There are also blueberries and raspberries to the left of the lettuce, out of view. In front of the lettuce, I'll be adding my root crops: carrots, green onions, and Walla Walla sweet onions.

Don't Miss Tonight's Full Moon (Then Plant Your Root Crops)

Tonight (Wednesday, June 18) around sunset, you should see a pretty spectacular full moon. It'll look enormous due to the "Moon Illusion". According to this article from Nasa it's related to the Summer Solstice happening in just a couple days. When the sun is high (as it will be during the solstice), the moon is low. Also in that article are some neat images to illustrate the concept. Enjoy the full moon before ringing in summer with the Summer Solstice.

I've heard that you should plant crops that produce above ground between the new and full moon, and then plant your root crops between the full moon and the new moon. You're also supposed to use the new and full moon days as days of rest and celebration, so no need to do your gardening today! I finally got my garden started by putting in cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, beans, and lettuce. After the full moon, I'll put in the onions and carrots.

I did the garden in stages with the help of my husband because I get exhausted so easily now. We started by adding a layer of compost (compost bins are so awesome!), then I prepped all the holes and mounds I would need. A few days later :| I put in those above-ground producers.

Happy Rose/Strawberry Moon, Summer Solstice, and Planting!

Where I've Been

Since I'm starting to feel a bit better, perhaps now is a good time to explain my absence and hope that anyone who was reading my blog will continue to do so! I have lots of hits from people searching for MacGruber lyrics (to whom I apologize - I, too, have searched for lyrics and have never found any!), so I'm hoping I also have regular readers mixed up in there and haven't lost you due to my lack of posting.

Anyway! I'll give you a hint:



Yes, the stork will be visiting our house. The past few months have been filled with all the ups and downs - mostly downs - of early pregnancy. I say mostly downs because on top of the normal pregnancy symptoms you hear about, I also had one of the lesser-known symptoms (at least lesser-known to me!) - depression. I wasn't depressed to the point of needing medication or anything like that, but 'the blues' that I had were just enough to exacerbate every other symptom I had and make the whole experience less than 'glowing'.

Twice before I thought I was coming out of the fog, only to dip right back into it again a few days later, so I hesitate to say I'm done with it now. I'm feeling better though, and coming to the end of that time statistically, so here's hoping! I'm also starting prenatal yoga, so I'm hoping to get both physical and emotional benefits from that.

And can I just complain that I'm sick of my pants not fitting? :/

I haven't been wearing much makeup lately, even though the Bourjois goodies couldn't have come at a better time to cheer me up, so I hope to get back on that horse and get some reviews out to you soon.

I've also been taking lots of photos of the roses in my garden, so I hope to post some of those as well! I really need to take care of them, but I've been feeling too yucky and exhausted to do much lately. Bummer.

So there you have it. My somewhat valid excuse for not being around. Feel free to share your experiences if you like; I know mothers like to do that. ;) I probably won't discuss my own too much except for things that I discover that might help others (like asking your doctor about taking Vitamin B6 and Unisom for morning sickness or how papaya helps with digestion).

I hope we all have a good day today!

Vaccinate a Shelter Cat With Your $25 Order

Shop at the Animal Rescue Site through Thursday, June 5, 11:59pm Pacific, and your order of $25 or more will vaccinate a shelter cat.

Additional details at the Animal Rescue Site's Customer Service page.

Bourjois, pardonnez-moi s'il vous plaît!

Alas, my neglected blog. One of these days I will make it up to you. Probably next week. Until then, I just wanted to give you all a heads-up as to what I plan on writing about soon.

After my last Bourjois post, the beautiful Mademoiselle Bourjois and the wonderful people at Bourjois sent me the most incredible package of Bourjois goodies. I was FLOORED. I mean, I don't post expecting anything in response, and I will continue to express my amour for Bourjois as long as I wear makeup, so this was just a happy surprise (when I really needed a beauty boost). I can easily rave about everything I've tried so far, from the Brush Concealer and Brush Foundation to the Shimmering Shine Liquid Eyeshadow and Intense Metallic Waterproof Eyeliner, and I will give each product I received the detailed review it deserves in future posts. Well, as detailed as an amateur makeup fan can!

In addition to these products, I also received other eye and lip products, so keep checking back! I hope to get some rave reviews up soon because this stuff really deserves it.

If you want to take anything away with you NOW, I'd say go grab the Brush Concealer. It's the best concealer I've tried to date - it doesn't 'wipe off' when you blend it in (which it does so perfectly), and it matches my skin tone impeccably. More about that soon!

One more final juicy tidbit...Ulta is currently doing a sale on a few Bourjois goodies where you can buy 5 products for $25 on select products. All 3 choices are great products. Not sure how long the sale lasts, so get to it!

Bourjois, je t'adore!