Rhubarb Pie & Gardening

I said I'd make a rhubarb pie next, and I did! My neighbor gave me some fresh rhubarb and I knew Misti, I've mentioned her before, claimed to have the best ever rhubarb pie recipe.  We had everything in the pantry already, so I got to work.  Turns out she was right!  Del-ici-ous!

 I definitely got the stamp of approval from Lex, tho Eliz said it was too sweet.

 That's okay, more for me!  Although Bry-D liked it enough to have two pieces before dinner.  I didn't catch him, just saw that the pie was noticeably smaller.

 This morning we planted seeds, since the fence is supposed to be finished by this weekend.  I meant to plant these a long time ago, but well, yeah.  So we put dirt in cups,

 Made sure to write what we were planting on the cups,

 Put the corresponding seeds into cups,

 Watered,

 And placed them in a sunny spot where the dogs can't trample them.

We're going to paint the fence and plant a cut flower garden along it too, then I'll buy some tomato plants to go along with these.  I'm so excited!  Yay! 

Memorial Day

I told you that Memorial Day weekend is all about the Indianapolis 500.  So what did we do on Memorial Day?  Remember that old lawnmower?  Well, it died Monday morning.  Not surprisingly, either.  So Bry-D went to Sears(insert grunting noises)  and got a new one.  This picture was taken after it's first run.  Wanna know why it's not dirty?

 'Cause he rinsed it off afterwards.  Let's see how many times that happens again.

 He also got another new toy.  (Insert more grunting noises)

He wasn't nearly as gentle getting this one out of the box as he was the PS3.

 He immediately handed me the instructions.  Not so I could read them to him, but so that I could put them away.

 Lex knew exactly what the box was really meant for!

 He picked up that handle thingy and asked, "This for banging?"  I told him no, it was for...something with the new thingy.

 Look Daddy, I can work it!  (Don't worry, it wasn't plugged in) 

 Bry-D plugged it in and gave a 10 second vrroom.  Lex thought that sounded funny.

 Then Bry-D really let it loose.  Lex did not find that noise at all funny.

Oh, I forgot to mention why Bry-D got this new toy.  I demanded he get fence to keep the dogs out of my veggie garden.  So he measured and estimated, and decided he needed a miter saw and lots of wood.  Lotta lotta lotta wood.

 It was so blistering hot and not a cloud in the sky, he didn't get very much done, but he plans on working on it a bit each day.

He also promised to show me how to use it.  I think I'm going to like this toy!

Going with the flow of mud

You all know how much Lex loves mud.  And if you've watched the national weather, you know that Indiana has had LOTS of rain, and that translates into MUD.  Which isn't forcasted to end anytime soon(praying the 500 doesn't get rained out).  Anytime we go outside to play, we end up muddy.  I could fight this, insisting on staying indoors, or only playing in the front yard(less mud there)  Instead, I've been trying to think of a way to embrace the mud.  Lex particularly enjoys getting his vehicles dirty, then washing them, so I'm trying to come up with a carwashing area.  Of course, I then saw something I just had to do on Meg's blog. 

Mud Pie Kitchen

Our backyard has "the best spot" corner area, where the kids have dug holes that they use for all sorts of things, from fixing soup to washing toys.

 This is where we keep our firewood in the winter.  Seems to me this is the perfect spot for our new kitchen.

I did a Goodwill run, and got a bunch of supplies, with the intention of keeping half aside in case things got broken.

Eliz was big help setting up-we used the plastic bins for water and storage, and LEx immediately adopted one to be used for washing cars.

This was how Lex helped set up.

Soup's on!  I don't know how much we'll add/subtract/change this.  I suppose as the summer goes on, it can change quite a bit.  I was weeding in the veggie garden while they cooked up a storm, and was served several delicous dishes.  We have a family project planned this weekend for the veggie garden, can't wait to show you!

I followed the links on Meg's post, which led to extreme excitement, then I did a yahoo search on mud pie kitchens and found my dream-come-true-backyard here.  Seriously you need to look around this blog!  I need to stop before I gush all over you about how much I love this woman's ideas!  I spent for-ev-er looking and reading and getting all jumpy and silly with desire to try and make and do.  'Nuff said, happy Towel Day everyone!

Man vs Nature

It's a typical Indiana April-lots of rain, which means very tall grass.  I kind of like it, personally.  It's not that high, in my opinion.

 Ok, after a little perspective-the toddler can barely walk through some parts pf the yard, I guess it does need a bit of a trim.

 Work it, Baby!  That mower is 6-7 years old, and it's not self propelled.  Which is why I never, NEVER offer to mow for him.  The grass was wet from the rain today, so it was iffy how this was going to turn out.

 Man won, however.  I predict the grass rallying and growing several inches in the next few days.

 His son takes a more one with nature, or mud, approach, as we already know.

If you look behind the little guy, you'll see my vegetable garden, which Bry-D seems to think I want to grow grass in, not vegetables.  Hrumph.

What are they thinking?!

These are day lilies, and they don't usually peek out of the ground until mid-April.  Look at that!

I mean, really, this is way to early for them to be this high out of the ground, especially for Indiana.

Even the bearded iris is at it!  I need to divide and replant this, and it looks like I'm going to have to do it much sooner than I had anticipated.

This does not surprise me very much.  This is fringed bleeding hearts, and it's a very early riser.  It's usually blooming while everything else is just starting to think of coming out.

This has, however, got me into the mood to get outside and get myself dirty.  The few days of sunshine have also helped.  My grandmother has a flower bed that she said I could have, and I'm of a mind to drive over and dig it up.  Need to prep the ground and start planning the iris' move before that, though.  Yay Spring!

Since it's offically spring...

I'm getting my veggie garden plans ready. 

I'm so excited!  Last year I didn't do a garden, and I've decided that it's an offical must from now on.  I didn't know Luffa was a gourd, we'll try some of it green, since it says it can be eaten, but I'm really thinking of it as a Christmas gift/home spa sort fo thing.  I'm going to do a couple different types of tomato, small ones for Eliz and Lex to eat right off the vine and some for cooking and making sauce.  I'm making plans for my flower gardens also, although my daylilies didn't listen to me that there could still be a frost.

The Lamb's Ear isn't any better.

My beautiful Lilac has buds on it as well-last year I got three flower sprigs, I'm hoping for more this year.  It's raining today, and the predicition is for warm waether and rain.  That means lots of plant growth, yeay!