Marching Out Like a Lion!

I have a cooking blog (which I have lately been incorporating my book loving side into), on which last year, I posted "What's Outside My Kitchen Window" every Wednesday. (or I tried to do it every Wednesday...it got a little boring looking out my window week after week, after week, so I skipped a few), but today I posted about it again....starting off spring 2010 right!


Only look what our spring brought today.....
 

March went out like a lion!

It is time for me to map out my garden. Last year I did a "square foot" garden and was so excited. I asked my husband to make individual "cubbies" if you will, instead of just an overlay to the "square foots"
see here.

Yes, I know it was wrong, but it worked.

My father in law, thinks he is very funny, and sent me a newspaper article the other day, with directions on the "right" way to do a square-foot garden. Smart Alec!!
He loves his square-foot gardens and has always had good luck with them.
I plan to expand to two this year...and a compost pile!

And here is what it looks like outside my kitchen window this week.

On Sunday, the Handyman cleaned up the patio, go our patio furniture out and set up and also fertilized the yard.

On Monday I thought I should go take some pictures of my crocus that are poking thru the earth.  But I didn't get around to it.

On Tuesday, we had the wind storm to beat all wind storms.

Lawn chairs upended.

Watering cans blown off their hooks!

Bird feeders turned sideways

(empty,  yes, I know....poor birds)

And the patio, which the Handyman had just cleaned?

Scattered with leaves and debris...and signs blown off our fence.

And then today, Wednesday, What's outside my kitchen window?

Snow.

Spring cleaning

Spring Cleaning!

With help from our free laborer---our grandson, Camron.

For some reason he thinks this is fun.

We cleaned and moved  the dog pen area.  (We lost poor old Monroe this winter), so now the garden area will be enlarged.  It looks funny to me.

Because last year, it looked like this..click here.

I am going to try to have a compost pile this year.  Or... I'm going to look into it anyway.

This new look in the side yard, is forgien to me.  I have to plan out my garden and decide what I'm going to do now.

It's a whole new lay-out.

Lonesome Winter

Winter is a lonely place.  I think it can be sometimes anyway.....

It's a bit melancholy.

Some long overdue scenes from my backyard.

Quail.  They are fat birds! 

Just for the record, our bassett hound, Monroe died a few days after Christmas.

Even tho we always have Quail come to visit our yard, we think there might be more this  year. 

Poor old Monroe scared them away.

Sunrise in the Stone Backyard.

It's how the hanyman sees to BBQ in the winter.....the bare lightbulb.  And then, sunlight behind the empty hummingbird feeder.

And beneath those pictures,  just a lilac branch. Bare, wintery, barron.

A lone hen with a chick!

some "found" bottles in a flower bed

(old clorox bottles found in the desert)

A leftover apple....for the birds

Okay, so we had a few leftover apples on the tree.

Izzy the cat.  She waits paitently for spring.

Plus she is very sad lately....she misses Monroe.

What's outside my kitchen window?

I havent' even got all my "fall" yardwork done!!

Snow.  It was falling softly and silently.

A long time gone

So much time has passed since I've updated my Big Backyard.

I would feel the quilt if I thought anyone paid attention... anyone but my family from out of town. My father-in-law, Phil, especially. He got a kick out of my Square Foot Garden and how I did it.
He is an "old-hand" at square foot gardening.
Since July, we've had another grandbaby, gone to a family wedding, I did a 3day-60mile walk for breast cancer in Seattle.....
....so, I did miss some great summer photos, but, we'll begin again.  (and we'll pretend today isn't November 12th, but sometime  mid-October, when these pictures were taken)
Fall is coming in the Nevada Big Backyard. The Handyman is contemplating all the piles of leaves he'll have to gather. The Leadership Club at the High School is doing leaf raking for a donation, as their project. I asked him about calling them, and he said, NO, he can do his own leaves.
 

Ah... a few little leaves on the ground.  It's not so bad.... but look again!  Look what waits overhead for the Handyman!

Trusty Old Monroe!!

(he'll be as famous as Charlie one day)

So, see?   A little bit of raking and the yard is as good as new.

The colder weather makes the concord grapes GOOD!!

Izzy waits for some attention....on the potting table.

And then..... we make our way to the side yard...the square foot garden.

It's mid-October for heaven's sake!  I gave up watering when I went to Arizona 10 days ago.

Besides, the autumn leaves are falling....

....and falling.  The Handyman has more leaves to rake now.

But once again he gets the job done!!   Well done Handyman!!

(except you might want to pick up the empty leaf/garbage can)

OH NO!  How does this happen.  More leaves.

And more leaves and more leaves!

The Handyman has a helper!

Or...does he?

Our 2 year old granddaughter, visiting from Virginia, helps Granddad  in the yard.

(for some reason Granddad comes out  Bop-ah-dad)

Granddad gives up!!

Leaves can be raked tomorrow!