We had the best day at the zoo yesterday!
It was overcast and thundering and not super busy. We saw every single animal, which included lots of babies. Got caught in a heavy downpour and waited under a pavilion for a while, which was fun. And a zookeeper gave the kids peacock feathers.
It was a family yard day today. The kiddos willingly worked hard. 💚
Took a blackberry bush thorn to the end of my left pinky finger this afternoon. It bruised almost immediately and is, surprisingly, quite bothersome.
Reflection circa Thanksgiving 2020 in Sikes, Louisiana #mbjune
Currently researching: rabbit fencing (to keep them out of my garden)
Coreopsis showed up next to my blackberries this year.
Finally cut back my irises this week. Here’s what they looked like last month. 😍
Hoping to add more soon. I envision one whole end of our pond covered in them.
Between playing a game of wiffle ball last night against my son’s baseball team and getting adjusted today, I’m going to bed sore tonight. A good sore, though.
Our day was supposed to include the zoo after a chiropractor appointment this morning. But the weather was unexpectedly very stormy. So, I got the kids smoothies, then we came home and started some paint-by-numbers I’ve been hoarding.
This is mine so far…
My cucumbers have arrived. 🥒
I’m currently growing 2 or 3-year old straight-eight cucumbers on a cattle panel trellis.
April Monthly Round-Up: Plants: Baseball, Homeschool, + 90!
My husband has recently started doing weekly round-ups, so I’m taking his format and making my own monthly round-up. With more photos. Because that’s what I like.
GARDENING
My garden was a huge focus in April (it is a lot of other months too, but especially in April). Planting transplants, putting in more seeds, purchasing other plants. I love it all so much.
Pictured here: Swamp Milkweed, Spoon Tomatoes, Craspedia, Sage, Jalapeños, more Sage, Bachelor’s Buttons, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Borage, and Four O’Clocks
I’ve also been reconfiguring a few of my garden beds. I’m making two from three. And they’ll match two in front of them, so it looks a little more symmetrical. I’ll also be able to add another arched trellis (like in the photo below) for some climbing plants (and beauty).
I let the kids take over one of these new beds, and they have been excited. They’re currently growing (everything from seed) beefsteak tomatoes, jalapeños, bush beans, sunflowers, borage, sage, and swamp milkweed. All with minimal help from me.
So far, I’ve harvested about 30-something Sungold cherry tomatoes, several handfuls of strawberries (the birds have enjoyed way more than we have this year), and 2 banana peppers. And there’s a lot that’s looking good and should be ready to pick pretty soon.
OTHER PLANTS
Outside of the garden but still in the outdoor plant realm :), I’m probably most proud and excited about my Louisiana irises and Peggy Martin roses. They were beautiful this year. My next project is going to be attempting to propogate some new Peggy Martins.
I have 3 of these roses climbing on their own 16 ft. cattle panel trellises secured to 3 t-posts with UV resistant zip ties.
BASEBALL
My son is enjoying playing coach pitch baseball for the third season. And I thoroughly enjoy (with some nerves mixed in) watching him learn, grow, and have fun doing it. We all do. He was invited to try out for an all-star team again, but we decided to pass on that as he’s only 8, and we’re not ready to have baseball completely take over our lives. I really don’t know when we might become more involved, but now just isn’t the right time.
HOMESCHOOL
We’ve found a pretty good rhythm in our homeschooling lately. Getting done earlier in the day has always helped, and we’ve actually been able to consistently accomplish that.
We’ve also had a really great semester with our co-op. Our topic this semester was animals by location (so there was geography mixed in). There was a lot of great learning opportunities. And most weeks included some sort of a craft or hands on project. Simply because I love how all of their creations look in a group, here are a few of the things they made this month.
We also had some pretty cool field trips. Just a couple of weeks ago, we met a fellow homeschool momma and her daughter at a park and learned all about showing goats. Milked goats and fed the kids too. But the highlight was definitely baby goat snuggles!
MY GRANDPA TURNED 90!
My Pop, my last remaining grandparent, turned 90 at the beginning of April! We took a trip to North Louisiana to see him and celebrate with a lot of other family.
Garden candy!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Mammoth dill. Saved the seeds last year and growing lots more this year.
It has rained a lot here today.
Recently realized that our property is eligible to be a certified wildlife habitat through NWF. Thinking about moving forward with that.
Fairly certain no one wears more socks in a week’s time than my daughter. I did (her) laundry for the second time this week, and there were 15 pairs. 🤪🧦
While Matt took B to baseball practice this evening, Ro and I: Transferred painted lady chrysalises to a larger enclosure, I did a maze she drew, I read a book to her, played catch, she put on a scooter show, planted flowers, fed fish, and she tried to coax a bunny out of the fire pit with grass. ✅
She’s his (littlest) biggest fan. 🖤💜
In case you’re ever faced with the decision, I’m gonna help you out… Opting for a cleat over another type of shoe to try and squish a spider is the wrong choice.