#1 – My very first strawberry harvest, lol.  I have been waiting for these babies since March!  They were everything I dreamed of  😉

#2 This is the best spray nozzle ever!  I bought it at Lowes http://www.lowes.com/pd/Orbit-Max-8-Pattern-Nozzle/50335965 and it’s worth every penny ($14.98 – the first one I bought was on sale).  I loved it so much I went back and bought another one, back & front yards are covered.  Great water pressure and the flow of water is controlled by your thumb – no more hand cramping squeezing a handle!!

Finished planted one of my garden beds over the weekend.  On the left is several Blue Lake Bush Green Beans, in the middle 2/red & 2/green bell peppers, on the far right are my tomatoes and then some random marigolds that are suppose to be good for pest control.  The other bed I built will be seeds, which I’m hoping to get done this weekend, lettuce, beets, carrots & radishes.  Yum

June 12th

Pumpkins are in the ground!!  I probably shouldn’t have planted them ALL (33, lol) but I just couldn’t bear to pull some of them out!  I had put 3 seeds in each cup and they ALL sprouted.  If they get too crazy, I’ll deal with them then. 😉

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I bought this shelf awhile back from Hobby Lobby.  It’s the perfect size for this wall in my Mistress Bathroom.  I wanted to add some cute knobs to hold my towels because I don’t have a towel bar in there.  I also bought the knobs from Hobby Lobby (they have the best knobs!) but the backs are always wayyy to long.  Jasoni had done something similar and told me “mom, just use a spade bit to hollow out the back and then cut off the threads with bolt cutters”.  Ok, first what is a spade bit and can I borrow your bolt cutters? LOL   It was way to hot this weekend to be outside working so I attempted to work on the bathroom shelf.  I first drilled holes in the shelf to get the threads of the knobs through, then turned the shelf over and used the spade bit in order to get the bolt flush with the back of the shelf, then cut off the excess threads with the bolt cutters.  Worked perfect!! Thanks for the advice and the bolt cutters, Jason!

P.S. This is IMPORTANT!!!  Before you cut the threads, place the knob and mark the threads where you want to cut them.  Remove the knob from the shelf and thread the bolt back on below the mark to cut (bolt is closest to the knob).  When you cut the threads you can remove the bolt, which will in turn re-thread the end you just cut off.  I used needle nose pliers to remove the bolt from the cut off end, kind of go back and forth with the bolt a few times before you remove it.  😉

Some new additions for the garden.  The plants in the back are 4 bell peppers, some green beans & a lemon balm. Still need to get some herbs.

I was able to get my Pumpkin Patch Fence painted over the weekend and added these two hanging plants.  A friend of mine gave me the baskets and I bought the plants at Home Depot.  The plant “hangers” were purchased at Hobby Lobby – I love them and they were 50% off – got both for $12.99!  At some point I’ll add a little pumpkin patch sign to hang above the entrance.  😉

Industrial Lights

Guide Line Parts

LOVE!!!!!

Woohoo!  I spent a good part of the day Sunday putting up my garden lights.  Do you remember that I bought these months ago.  One box for the garden and the other two boxes will be for the back yard dinning area (at some point, lol).  These lights are awesome!  I ordered them through Costco:  http://tinyurl.com/hgkstjc .  They are 48′ long and very heavy duty – hence the guide wire.  I first cut a piece of string 48′ long so I could get an idea of where I needed to position the beginning and end of the light strand.  I pre-drilled and inserted the huge “screw eyes” so I’d have something to feed the wire rope (cable) through, 3 screw eyes – beginning, middle and end.  Then at the beginning and end of the wire cable I used wire rope clips.  Once I pulled that taught and got it secured I started hanging the lights.  The light strand comes with the bulbs in a separate box – which is seriously perfect because you’d be busting those babies left and right trying to get the light strand attached!  So I started with the light strand plug “male end” and actually plugged it into an outdoor timer.  Then each light socket had to be secured to the cable wire with zip ties.  I kept a few light bulbs in my pocket so that once I secured the light socket with the zip tie I just added the light bulb while I was up on the ladder.  I can’t even tell you how great these look in person!!!  They just look magical, the ambience is sooooo warm, relaxing and inviting!  LOVE!! 😉

Dirt is IN! (Thanks Hep & Jason) It was a busy weekend.  I’ve got the tomatoes planted – 2 Yellow Cherry tomatoes (on the outside) and 2 Best Boys (in the middle).  Anddddd yes my tomato cages match the color of my tomatoes – duh! LOL 😉

The rain has stopped – garden beds are stained & lined!  Ready for dirt 😉

Soooo this happened last night!  I have my pumpkin seedlings on a plastic lid to a tub – just easier to carry.  I normally set the pumpkin seedlings outside when I leave for work in the morning and bring them in at night.  After watering everything last night I brought the pumpkins inside and set them on my mudroom counter, turned to shut the door behind me and when I turned back I saw it!!  That little toad jumped off that plastic lid and onto my counter.  I have to say . . . I was totally “that” girl – “that” city girl who was having a coronary!!  Listen, I have caught/killed spiders that would curl your toes and I’ve seen a few of these toads “outside” and they did make me jump a time or two buttttt in my house?!  Oh mmmm geeeeee – I didn’t scream but I was on high alert, lol.  There was no stickin’ way I was catching that thing – so I did the next best thing – I called my neighbor!  Thank goodness he was home!  I didn’t want to startle that little toad because I was afraid he’d hop behind the dryer so I kept my distance and waited for Bob to come over.  Lol, he was laughing his head off!  Yeah, yeah, I know, seriously Ronda it’s like a baby toad – but I couldn’t help myself I was a tad freaked out! He’s now back outside, safe & sound.  LOL  😉