Thanks Tonya!

Lane is the gardener in the family. I have great plans every April. I imagine myself dressed in overalls, holding a hoe, farming the backyard. No one is more enthusiastic than me when we go to the nursery to buy the plant starts. I am ready! Nothing can diminish my excitement. I oversee all the planting, frequently telling Lane what he is doing wrong (he ignores me) and shouting out orders of what we have forgotten to do, declaring that he better get his rear and gear so we won't forget next season. I diligently go and check on the plants as they grow, watch as Lane carefully waters everything and makes adjustments as needed. I am involved and helping . . . .


And then June turns into July. July is hot. Gardening is no longer fun - it becomes a chore, and I DON'T LIKE CHORES! Luckily, I had the good sense to marry a man who will do the chore, with a smile on his face. He enjoys the yard work, for the most part, and puts up with me telling him how he's done it all wrong.


There are 2 things that I do (sort of) take care of myself in the yard. One is the roses. I dead-head/prune the roses with some degree of regularity, although not often enough. And even then I don't clean up after myself. I leave all the cut stuff in a neat little pile on the grass for someone else, meaning my kids, to come pick up. The other is my herbs. I stay on top of them pretty well. That's what the THANKS TONYA! is for. I took Tonya's herb class a lot of years ago and have been hooked on fresh herbs ever since. There is nothing like just walking out in the yard and cutting fresh stuff.


But today, since Lane was home, he was kind enough to cut my dill and my cilantro for me. I bundled them up to dry so I can have them during the winter. (Have you checked the price of spices lately?!?)

I even found 1 cucumber in the garden.

After I took the photos I remembered the ones in the front yard needed to be cut, too, so I also have rosemary and oregano drying.

Taylor is gone off to Trek, and it never ceases to amaze me how the absense of just one person can be so noticeable in our house. I miss her. We went to the pool for a while tonight without her, which also felt strange. She'll be home on Saturday, and then Jack leave on Monday for a week at Clear Creek.