Memorial Day Weekend

Each of my days begins with an impatient ambush from Rudy and Felix in their enthusiasm to get up and start the day. Once cuddles have been had and slippers have been donned, I sleepily stumble into the garden with the boys to suck up some fresh air and hope my eyelids will open accordingly. Almost daily I am awarded with some pretty little detail that reminds me why I love mornings. Case in point: mini spider web in dewey grass. Lovely! (even better- not a spider in sight.  phew!)

Our memorial day weekend began with a trip to the lakes with our neighbors. Rudy hasn't been swimming for a while and wasted no time diving in after some imaginary object. Notice the ears. This is why we call him Yoda.....

Felix would follow Rudy to the moon and back, but after a magnificent start, he rather decided he didn't  like swimming! As such, he curled up on a towel and spent the rest of the day pouting and looking pretty. We are still searching him for ticks (oh, beloved South)..

Rudy was in his element, making good, hard-working parents out of us as we dutifully threw the ball to him for the thousandth time. Glorious start to the long weekend.

Also, remembering why this weekend is a holiday in the first place. Back in the UK, we have Remembrance Day where I would always buy a poppy, without understanding much of what was behind it. Now that I find myself in the unexpected position of being a military wife to my sweet (American) husband, I can and do say thank you to those who serve from precisely the bottom of my heart. Happy Memorial Day!

Fruits of the Morning

It is barely 9am and the day has sprinted off to a cheerful start. Not known for my observational prowess, I noticed this little message from the hubs two days after our anniversary. Whoops. (Heart you too, Toodles). Also, my beautiful lily opened up. I love lilies! 

I used to read about how you should never have two male German Shepherds living in the same household. It just will not work. We didn't heed the advice, and it looks like my Fluffies are an exception to this rule. Too cute, Rudy the Gentle Giant! 

My bleary-eyed early-morning venture into the vegetable patch was awarded with a sweet little harvest. Almost a meal (if I had a really really tiny appetite...)! Now, onwards with this day. Have yourselves a wonderful one!

Two Years? Why, yes.

Forrest and I have arrived at our second anniversary. It has been a colorful two years. 9 months of which we were on different continents. We moved house- we moved states. We got Puppy One and Puppy Two. We have laughed and cried and had some very long silences (we should work on that). I have cooked 1000 meals, assembled a million sandwiches, washed countless dirty socks.  

Forrest has mowed lawns, been chief spider-catcher, built furniture, put up with me. Husband and Wifey sort of stuff. I grew a heart shaped leaf to mark the occasion! Whee

Happy Anniversary deer. (sorry) Dear.

The Good, the Bad, the Messy and the Leafy.

 It has been a productive and frustrating week all at once. Mainly work-related details that I shan't bore you with, but either ends of the spectrum are well represented by the happenings at home as well.
Frustrating is accidentally launching a glass of red wine across your couch. Discouraging is not learning from your mistake and spilling a cup of coffee in your bed a few days later. The cleanup operations have been considerable, and the boys have capitalised on my clumsiness, taking full advantage of some temporary rearrangements around the house. Cuddletime, anyone?

Productive is getting our hands dirty around the garden, combined with some glorious rainfall and ambitions for growing every single salad leaf that I care to eat this Summer. Some people dream of fancy yachts and champagne and white sands. I dream of salad. (Also, I'm fairly sure I'm supposed to be the artist in this family...but behold if you will Forrest's spray-painted potato bin. F+L 4Eva. Guess he's not just a pretty face!)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our little garden experiment is certainly keeping us entertained this Spring. We have experienced our fair share of disasters...watching our potato bed float down the hill in a rainstorm, all seven sets of asparagus proving a total no-show, and the rhubarb that fell asleep and never woke up again. Let's not forget the growing number of unsuspecting seedlings that have met an early end courtesy of two curious canine mouths....

Garden-time has become a cherished daily obsession; weeding, inspecting, and accidentally poking terror-inducing spiders with my bare hands. Jump 10 feet in the air from a sleepy, idling crouch? Yes, yes I can. Scream bloody murder at the hairy awful thing, in a manner that befits a 5 year old having a tantrum? I have become adept at that also. Spiders. Shoot me.
We have harvested a grand total of three strawberries so far, and I'll share the gossip: Tastiest strawberries on the planet. True that. 
Start-up costs for this little garden venture has left us eating noodles for the final week of every paycheck lately, but things are looking greener, if you see what I mean. Pretty much excited for our Summertime menu!