Eh, needs more pets.

A rare moment when everyone is content to hang out together in the basement...

Derby, Surprise Humor and Guests

It's the most exciting time of the year to be a Louisville resident!  Derby is next weekend!  Thunder Over Louisville kicked off the events last weekend, but it was rainy and nasty out so we decided to stay home and do some yard work instead.  It truly is a spectacle if you've never seen it, but being cold really isn't my thing.  My friend Jennifer is coming in from Boston this year to go with us and I couldn't be more excited.  It will be her first Derby experience.  We're planning an action packed weekend full of hats, horses, food and good company. The best thing about Derby time for me is the pageantry of it all.  The hats, the dresses,  the shoes, the flowers!  What's not to love?  I almost just called it "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", but that's the Indy 500, isn't it?  Anywho, next weekend should be a ton of fun if it's anything like our last two Derby weeks have been!

Photo by Allie Brosh

I love reading humor blogs.  Love it.  I stumbled upon one of the funniest humor blogs (could also be a web comic I suppose) I've ever read.  I realize I'm a little slow on the uptake here as she's been blogging for years.  Her name is Allie Brosh and she writes a blog called "Hyperbole and a Half".  Her intentionally crude artwork adds to the hilarity of her writing.  If you have a few minutes to kill I couldn't recommend anything more for a good laugh than checking her out.  A few of my favorite posts are her post about how Kenny Loggins almost ruined a Christmas, and a childhood recollection of her undying need for cake.  Both brought tears to my eyes.  She isn't posting as frequently due to an upcoming book release later this year, but there are hundreds of old posts for new readers like me.  Good stuff.  I aspire to be a fraction as funny as Allie!

O hai!

While doing the aforementioned yard work last weekend, a little surprise guest rolled up in our yard around 5:00pm Sunday evening.  He was a tiny little pug, and he had no tags or identification on him!  We knew he had to be someone's pet as he looked very clean and had a blue and brown collar on.  After walking him up and down the street, driving him around the neighborhood to no avail, we decided this little guy was going to have to crash with us for the night until we could get his microchip scanned first thing Monday morning.  As luck would have it, this would-be nomad's name was Tucker, and he lived very close to us!  We were happy to reunite the little guy with his family and hope that next time we see Tucker, he'll be safely on his leash!

Stuff I'm Diggin'

Instagram.  Yeah, it's been around for awhile but Android users are just now getting it (quickly doubling the community), and well I'm just now using it hardcore!  I love the way this free app makes me feel like I am professional photographer caliber!  It's a very simple app that allows you to apply filters and frames to your photos, and instantly share them with the Instagram community, Facebook, Twitter or email simultaneously.  Simple, yet genius right?  Genius indeed since Facebook just bought this little gem for One.  Billion.  Dollars.  That's right Dr. Evil...one billion dollars!  If you want to read more on that major acquisition you can read more here.  Check out some of my personal Instagram creations, pretty cool!

Spencer in a sun beam, Glass lanterns, Mom's barn during a storm, and Mom with a radish!

What else am I diggin'?  A couple of free online photo editing software providers are on my radar with the impending doom of Picnik closing on April 19th - this week!  My absolute favorite photo editing software since 2007 is shutting down.  Google purchased them last year, and apparently doesn't deem the community valuable enough to keep.  Bummer.  BIG bummer.  I've been testing some things out to make the transition a bit smoother and the ones I've found that have potential are:  Aviary,  Picmonkey, Pixlr and FotoFlexer.  Not one of these has all of the features that Picnik does, but between all of them I think I've found most of the features I use.  I'm very open to suggestions if anyone knows of something else!

I have no idea what has gotten into us this Spring, but we're plant crazy.  We can't get enough perennials!  The bad news is that we've spent a small fortune, but the good news is that we won't have to spend it again next year!  Fingers crossed that my black thumb doesn't come back to bite me on that one.  A comprehensive list of things we've planted would bore you senseless, but plants I'm way too excited about are the Clematis, Oriental Lilies, and Hydrangeas.  After numerous attempts to get starts from Mom's clematis failed, I bit the bullet and bought two established plants.  They aren't exactly the same type as hers...but they are gorgeous nonetheless.  The Oriental Lilies really caught our eye when shopping earlier this spring at Home Depot.  They were absolutely gorgeous, fragrant, and only $6.  We'll take three!  Trouble is they bloom early and then are pretty much just tall green leafy things until next spring.  The Hydrangeas were a perfect fit for the back yard area we had.  Partial sun, pretty open since we ripped out so many ugly shrubs so we really needed something that will fill out nicely in years to come.  We alternated with a pink-purple-pink combo.  I'm now learning that the "purple" is in fact "blue" and you can literally change the colors of these flowers by adding or taking away aluminum in the soil.  I hope you've all enjoyed (or will enjoy) happy planting this season!

Clematis, Oriental Lily and Hydrangea

Spring around the farm...

Spring is here!  There is no better place for that to hit you in the face, than the farm.  Everything is blooming , birds are chirping, frogs are croaking, Shorty and Turbo are on big adventures, and it's gorgeous.  We spent a lovely weekend at the farm this past weekend and had some people over for a bonfire.  The Graves clan, as well as former farm owner Jessica joined in the fun. We did some four wheel riding as usual to enjoy the sites, took a hike down by the river, and helped Mom do a few things.  Couldn't have asked for better weather, and got my first sunburn of the year in the books!  I'd like to share some of the gorgeous flowers and landscapes.  There is no better place to be during the spring than this farm!

Phlox in Geode planter

Close up of Columbine

Baby Peach tree in foreground, planted for Mike

Hot pink Azalia planted by the swing

Bleeding heart with watering can

Pond, Rigby, Columbine, Geranium and baby Iris in foreground

Red dogwood with Mike's memorial bench

Pansies!

Short Stack

Rigby "helping" Jessica with her beekeeping

Mossy log in the valley

Mossy log resident

Train tracks that cross the river

Mom and Michael in the valley

View from top of train tracks

Whoops, we did.

Michael tending to the bonfire

Updates, and recent projects.

We've been very busy bees this spring with kicking off the 2012 landscaping project with a bang!  You might even say we're outta control.  We've made more trips to Home Depot and Lowe's than I care to admit.  And we might have a plant addiction problem.  We started with ripping out the hedges in front of the house, that I've absolutely detested from day one.  Bye bye hedges!

Eek!  Gross.

Bye bye hedges!

The next step was getting some landscaping bricks and bricking in a new formed bed.  This proved to be a pretty easy task (relatively speaking), after the hedges were out most of the dirt was loose enough to easily work with.  We jotted off to Home Depot, filled up my vehicle with landscaping stones, and were off to create step one!  We threw in some soil, and decided on what plants we'd like to roll with.  We mirrored the bed closest to the house that we'd done the previous weekend.  An Oriental Lily, 2 Dwarf Rhododendrons, 2 Patriots Hostas, and 1 Bleeding Heart.  We had much more space, so added an additional 4 Azalia's and some Wave Petunias as filler until the perennials fill out for next year.  We worked very hard, and plan to brick in the remainder of the front of the house...but we need a couple weeks rest.  So, here you have it, half completed!

One of many Home Depot trips

Ooooo.....

....Ahhhhh!

Bricks coming HERE soon!

The backyard is still a hot mess.  It was neglected for a summer before we purchased the house and has become over run with weeds.  We managed to relocate a few of the evergreen shrubs to the back fence, and put in 3 large Hydrangeas, and some more lilies from my friend Laura's garden.  I got some starts of Clematis from Mom's farm, and those seem to not be doing so hot...they certainly don't look like hers!  I've placed some nice potted Geraniums on the deck, and tried to spruce things up with some outdoor rugs and Adirondack chairs for color, until we get the grass (or lack thereof) situation under control.  As with any home, always a project!  It's coming along very nicely since last year, and I can't wait until we've completed our backyard oasis in the upcoming years.

Rigby - professional rug stabilizer

Hydrangeas, lilies, and clematis on the lattice - GROW ALREADY!

Needed to add some color!

"We don't always lay down in the backyard, but when we do, we do it on your brand new rug"

Finished kitchen backsplash:

Finally finished.