Summer holiday

I’ve taken some annual leave, so I might not post as much for this week & next week!  I know I haven’t posted horribly much yet this month, but I’ll get back into the swing of things very soon, I swear :)

I want to use this time to establish some new habits, like making use of the Wii Ben got me for Christmas, and walking everyday, if the weather permits (when it doesn’t, I can use The Beast instead).

I’m also taking some time to notice the small things again — it was much too easy in December to rush around trying to get a million and one things done.

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses.

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Ms. Chameleon is in her third batch of flowers now, and putting on a spectacular show.  I could take pictures of them all day.

Have you noticed any small things today? I hope you have! <3

Plantnappers & Christmas

Sorry for the lack of posts!  Work has exploded with activity, I was out-of-town for a bit and then before I knew it, Christmas had come and gone.

Things in the garden are exploding, too.  I can’t keep up with the lettuces, and I’m getting so many snow peas that I could eat them at every meal and still have more! :) Luckily, I love snow peas.

I can finally tell the difference between the sugar snap peas and snow peas, by the way.

King of Blues BeansMy king of blues & scarlet runner beans are starting to come out.  It’s really cool to see these little sticks on the vines turn into beans!  Even though Ben doesn’t eat as many veggies as I do, he loves the idea of being able to grow your own food, so he’s getting a real kick from how much our garden beds are giving us this season.

Our Christmas was really lovely.  We got to spend the day over at Ben’s parents’ house and have an amazing lunch there.

I really got spoiled this year!  Ben got me a Wii with the new Zumba game & Wii Fit because he knows how much I love Zumba and how the original dvds are getting a bit boring for me.  I also got two pairs of glasses.  I haven’t had glasses in about ten years — my old optometrist used to yell at me for that.

Ben’s parents have been reading along here and spied my garden wish list post from a few months ago.  They gave me a dwarf lemon tree and english lavender for Christmas!  And Ben’s brother got me some socks (I love socks! I always need socks!) and some new gardening secateurs.

On a sad note, the plantnappers struck again early Christmas Eve morning (or Christmas Eve Eve? night).  I went outside to water the garden late on Saturday and opened the door to find that Mr. Courgette had been stolen. They weren’t so neat about the roots this time and left quite a few of them, which looked really horrible because they were still bringing up water and just sticking out of the bed, dripping.

I’m not sure if whoever doing it is just screwing with us, or if they really like courgettes, but I was (and still am a bit) heartbroken.  Ben is really upset as well…we just feel a bit powerless at this point to really try and stop them from ripping out everything else that I’ve worked so hard to grow.

Pretty fly on a pretty marigoldI was really discouraged about bringing any of the plants I’ve grown from seed out from around back, but I really have no where else to put them and what’s the point of having two new raised garden beds if I can’t use them?  I’m trying to not let the plantnappers keep me down, so I’ve done some rearranging in the garden beds since then, and I’ll do a picture post tomorrow to show you the updates! :)

Leon & Damara want me to post about their holiday as well, so stay tuned for that!

We hope your holidays are going smashingly well! 

Christmas trees and cats don’t mix

I know I probably sound like Captain Obvious, but it’s been a few years since Ben and I put up a Christmas tree and I’d totally forgotten what it was like to have kittens and decorations.

Usually it’s just too hot for me to think it’s actually Christmas (because Christmas should be cold, don’tchaknow), and Ben usually doesn’t care one way or another.

christmas treeThis year, since we’re in a new house, I thought it would be neat to put up the tree.

Damara and Leon love it. 

So much so that I wake up to find its lower branches almost touching the floor because they like to pull them down.  They also like to fall asleep under it, which is adorable, so I can overlook the fact that I’m adjusting branches daily.

I haven’t been able to get any clear shots of them under it because it’s so darn dark under there and they’re black, so yeah.  You get the picture!

The older kitties must really take after Ben, since they really haven’t paid the tree any mind.

We weren’t really going to do Christmas this year, since we’re saving for things, but now that the tree up, Ben thinks we should (so not what I had in mind by decorating).  Not sure what to do there!  I wasn’t planning on that happening.  I’m quite alright with having no presents, since we got my new (to me) phone, and Ben got some new hiking shoes that he’s wanted for a while.

first strawberriesIn the garden, there’s not much to report!  Things are still doing the ‘growing’ thing! :)  I did harvest my first strawberries a couple of days ago, though!  Next time I think I’ll let them get as red as the one in the middle before I pick them — that one was a lot sweeter than the other two.

They actually look pretty festive! :)

Do you celebrate Christmas or Yule?  What gets you in the holiday spirit?

 

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