How I Spent my Husband's Vacation, by....

Jeff has been home from work since last Wednesday (going back to work this Wednesday), and oh my, have we been busy. Every garden but one small strip on the side of the house is done done done. Weeded, mulched, planted, moved, split, tilled... it's done done done.

We spent today finishing up the vegetable garden, after spending several hours in there yesterday pulling weeds and raking. I planted 12 tomato plants, 6 green peppers, 2 eggplants, two rows of cucumbers and two rows of green beans. I still need to get some zucchini plants or seeds, and I'd like to find some spaghetti squash seeds as well. I took this photo at about half way through the planting. You're looking at about one-half of the garden.

Sadly, I discovered my raspberry bushes have pretty much died out. Entirely my fault for not pruning them back and weeding last fall. The grape vine (upper left hand corner, runs along the top of the fence) is doing really well and already has tiny grapes on it. The "walkway" you see is recycled wooden decking we put down several years ago. When it rains here the Ohio clay soil turns to cement and you can't walk through it. This way I can get in to the garden even if it's wet.

I have had this peony bush for at least 6 years and it's never bloomed -- until this year. And my oh my, these flowers were worth waiting for! They are spectacular! The outer leaves are the palest of pinks, but the inner leaves are a striking bright yellow, then the very center is pink again. And oh my, the scent is just heavenly. I picked several and brought them in the house (after de-ant'ing them) and you can smell them through out the downstairs. The bush is really laden with blossoms as it's never been before. I'm sure it's our cool, rainy Spring we've had.

We had a large "circle" area in the back yard where a huge cottonwood used to stand. Jeff brought stones up from the creek and levelled the area by making a little stone wall. We moved the bird feeders and birdbath out here, and I planted the small lilac tree and day lillies. I also divided some of my herbs out of the vegetable garden and brought them out here -- oregano, rosemary and chives. I want to move some of my lavender out here as well. I planted flowers around the bottom of the birdbath, since this is an area we can view when we're sitting on our back deck. I do have one more Shepherd's hook and birdfeeder to put up. I'd like to put some windchimes out here as well!

On Saturday, Jeff took Brayden to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. I found a photo of the last time they went (November, 2007) and asked Jeff to take a photo of Brayden in the same place. Just look at how much this child has grown in six months! From rolly-polly baby to a little boy...awwww...

I love his shirt. It says "'No' means ask Grandma"! And how about those sunglasses?! LOL

Jeff said Brayden almost never rode in the stroller. The Wright-Patternson Air Force Base Museum is HUGE and includes a lot of walking outside to view planes and vehicles. Jeff is a World War II buff, and Brayden is an Umpa buff, so it's a good day for both. After all that walking, Brayden was asleep in his car seat before Jeff could drive out of the museum's parking lot. He slept all the way home (about 45 minutes), then Jeff carried him into the house and he slept in Jeff's recliner. I finally had to wake him up at 6:00 PM so he'd sleep that night! Brayden spent the night with us -- first time in awhile -- and didn't get to sleep until around 11pm, and slept until 8:30 am Sunday morning.

Tomorrow we're headed to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the quilt display there, then out to eat and spend some time down on the Ohio River. We both need a good day of relaxing after a week of gardening, weeding, planting, and grandparenting!