Walda Cometh

Yesterday afternoon I was in a tank top running the A/C and thinking about making some sun tea.

Then Walda came.

A nearly fifty-degree drop in a matter of hours reminds you that Oklahoma's weather is decidedly bipolar.

Thankfully it got too cold to have any real threat of a tornado, but this morning we got to experience a bit of freezing rain. 

This is when I'm glad I can stay in my pajamas (get the kid breakfast), make a cup of tea (get the laundry basket and balls so she can play), put a fire in the fireplace (clean up the 100 plastic balls she dumped out), reheat the tea (wash the breakfast dishes and start lunch), put on some soothing music (turn it off to put on Elmo so she'll eat something for lunch besides a gallon of milk), and relax (sit down for the 18th time to get up before 30 seconds to kiss a boo boo or go to the potty or get her a snack or yell at Roy for trying to sneak her apple slices).

Doesn't that sound lovely? Sometimes the condensed version is what I think is going on in my head, and the italics are what is really happening.

Now that she's down for a nap I'm reheating my tea again, putting my music back on and took a few minutes out in the freezing wind to take some pictures of this event.

This is when I'm thankful I haven't put any seedlings out yet! 

This tree is normally a nice domed shape, but with the wind and ice it took on a new shape.

We lost a small branch off the maple tree...thankful it wasn't a bigger one!

Off to get another snack, wipe her nose, get the blocks out, and think about what to make for dinner.  And there is GREAT news--my parents are flying to Arizona tonight and on Friday will be headed back east with Ammah in tow! They're due to arrive Saturday night, so if you could please keep them and their travels (and Ammah's house appraisal) in your prayers we'd appreciate it!

50 Shades of Brown

Yesterday Matt and I rolled up our sleeves and set to work on the swath of mud that is our garden space. First order of business was to get those raised beds into the ground so I can get some plants and seeds in. 

I was going to use landscape timbers to have that rustic look, but after calling Lowe's and learning they don't cut that type of timber for you--and not wanting to hand saw 22 timbers--we decided to go with the pre-made cedar beds from Home Depot.

Putting them together was a breeze, then came the task of making sure it was level. I assigned that to Matt while I marked out the edge of a sunflower border and area where we want an evergreen tree.

After a lot of shifting, mallet-pounding, and more shifting around Matt declared he was finished. I turned to appraise it and saw it wasn't parallel with the fence...and if you're doing squares next to each other they need to be parallel. 

During this time, we decided to put Tatum in an old dress and let her go crazy with sidewalk chalk paint. Sadly, I don't have any pics of her painting the sidewalk, or her feet, or her legs, or her dress...we were all too muddy and messy to handle a camera! But I do have an "after" shot...it looks like Roy was a canvas for the paint as well.

After a lot of shoveling, digging, smoothing, tamping, rinse and repeat, we finally had the bones of our garden up. Sunflower, coreopsis and nasturnium seeds are planted, and a nomadic rosemary has finally found a home. 

Since we are expecting some severe weather early this week, I'm waiting a few days to put my seedlings in as I don't want them pummeled by hail the day after I plant them. 

True, it just looks like a lot of different shades of brown at the moment. And Matt bought a different mulch than we already had so we're way behind on the mulching aspect. But in my mind it is lush and green and brimming with gardeny-goodness!