Oh allergies...

I've spent the last 3 days with a stuffy head, my nose is running on one side and stuffy on the other (how does that work?!) and I've been sneezing constantly. My allergies are way worse this year than ever before. And I never had allergies until a couple of years ago. I'm pretty miserable. And it's so pretty outside, too! :(

My plants seem to be doing okay after all those days of rain we got. I thought for sure they'd drown and die on me. One of my strawberry plants is really beat up. It's been real windy today, and it bent the poor thing over and broke two of the leaf stalks in half. :( I cant wait to start using my herbs. I suppose the rosemary is big enough to use a bit of already, but the rest of them would be a single serving at this point. Zoe chomped a bit on my red bell pepper, so he has a few leaves looking pitiful.

Zoe is a good dog. We've taught her how to Come, Sit and Shake. She's working on Heel while she's on her leash, and does okay with it. Stay is one command that is just eluding her at the moment. :) Also she's very excitable when people come over... we need to start coming in calmly and ignoring her when we first enter the house, that should help out a bit.

My mom's gonna be here in a little over a week. I'm so excited. I cant wait to see her and spend lots of time with her. :)

Well, off I go, in search of some relief from this runny nose. Wish me luck!

I have a Garden!

Saturday was my birthday. M and J went and bought me some planters, then M took me out on Saturday and we bought dirt and plants. I now have 4 strawberry plants hanging of the deck railing (to keep bunnies away, and Zoe) and 2 pots. One with dill, rosemary and thyme. The other with a red bell pepper, cilantro and flat leaf parsley. I should have thrown some chives in one of them.

April has been extremely wet this year. It rained for 3 days straight. My backyard is thoroughly soaked, and so are my planters. I'm hoping that my herbs arent drowning. Looks like the planters are draining well enough, but the dirt is very muddy and thick. Everyone looks good except for my thyme, which is looking a bit wimpy. I guess if it dies, I can replace it.

Also, it's supposed to get down into the 30's a couple of nights this week. I fear that my herbs will get frosty. Must look into how to cover them up.

I am super excited about having this garden, and would be very disappointed if it died w/in a week of planting.

Pretty spring day.

Oh it's so gorgeous outside!

Husband and I went and got some Hacketts Hotwings and ate them on the deck, with Zoe at our feet. Oh man. What a good day it's been.

Also looking forward to dinner with some friends. I am making a great potato salad that I found on America's Test Kitchen. Yum!

I cant wait to start gardening. Maybe I will get some garden stuff for my birthday. I would like to do dill, thyme, basil, strawberries, red bell peppers, green beans, tomatoes. Maybe not all of those. But some. I'd also really love to grow rhubarb. Although I'm not sure if it's too hot here or not. And it's poisonous. So I'd have to grow it somewhere where Zoe couldnt get to it. Maybe on the south side of the house.

We're leash training Zoe. I bought her a harness (since she's so tiny) and it's going much better than when I had her leash directly hooked to her collar. I was afraid of choking her. So leash trained means walks, parks, and camping! Very exciting!

Next month my mom is coming to visit for 10 days. I'm looking forward to it tremendously. Mom needs Jesus. Mom is full of regret, and I think it effects her greatly. I pray that Jesus would use me as a light in the darkness she feels in her heart. I hope that Jesus will save her. That He will make her free from her guilt, shame, regrets. I pray that He will make her happy. I'm hoping to take Mom to a community group meeting, and possibly church. I hope Jesus speaks to her, and that she will hear Him. I so want to see her heart healed.

Many things to look forward to in the near future.

Her needles flashed in the sunlight.

I finally finished my cardigan. I worked on this thing for almost 3 months. I started it 2 weeks before we closed on our house, which meant almost a month of not knitting after we moved, of course. I really like this sweater. I sort of wish I had used cotton instead of wool, to make it more versatile. But that's okay. It's a great spring/fall sweater. I'm also super excited with the fact that I only had 2 ends to weave in (Cast on and cast off ends) even though I went through 5.5 balls of yarn. Learning how to spit splice is definately worth it!

What to knit next? Probably all those Christmas gifts I intended to give last Christmas, but didnt in anticipation of closing on Jan 31st (we closed almost 2 weeks later). That includes a neat viking hat for my uncle, some fingerstaches, and probably a couple of scarflets, also some gloves. I've also fallen in love with a racerback tank called "Coachella" that I really want to knit. But with the way it's been going lately, I wouldnt have that done until it was too chilly to wear!

It's hard to knit with a puppy around. I have to keep a constant eye on her. Thank goodness she's getting used to her crate. I can stick her in there whenever I need a break. She's in there now. I've just cleaned the whole house! Cleaning the entire house hasnt happened all at once since she arrived. So I'm feeling very productive today. :)

Looks like my peace and quiet are coming to an end. Zoe will be up soon, and miss Jade will be home from school. Then it will be crazy until community groups. And ahh, I have tonight off. Husband and I can relax after groups. I am definately looking forward to that. :)