the hanging garden (weekend update)

so i finished my hanging garden! i'm tickled with it, so let's just hope that everything grows like i have envisioned it will...

i am already craving some homemade salsa!

here are the step-by-step pics of my garden.

i planted the tomato plants out the bottom hole, then drilled 4 holes around the side and planted banana peppers, green bell peppers, cayenne peppers and jalapenos in them. then on top, i planted basil, greek oregano and cilantro. all like full sun, so it was a great combination.

the holes are drilled, and the coffee filters are taped over the holes:

i labeled all of the holes with what i had planted in that particular hole:

hanging and ready to grow!

the herbs on top:

martha moments: hangin' tough (how to plant a hanging tomato garden)

since i didn't have time to plant a garden this year, i am going to try my hand at something one of my clients did last year that was really, really cool. you may have seen these on TV and they do sell a commercial "planter" but these instructions work just the same, and cost less.

it's a hanging tomato planter! it's GENIUS--you have no worries of staking the plant so that it grow up like it should, there are NO WEEDS and fewer critters and bugs to mess it up, and there is no risk of overwatering it either. in other words, pretty easy (so i hope!)

i got a couple of "homer buckets" at the home depot tonight that i'm going to spray paint (they're orrrrrrrange) and am going to start mine either tomorrow or friday. i'll be sure to post pics of the progress.

i just thought i would share with you all the easy steps on how to do this.

you'll need:
large bucket
a coffee filter or piece of old, thin fabric
drill
potting soil
tomato plant(s)
herbs (optional)

1. turn bucket upside down and drill large hole (2"-4") in center.
2. turn bucket back upright and tape a coffee filter or thin piece of old fabric on top of hole. (this
helps keep the soil from falling out of the bottom.)
3. with knife or scissors, cut an "x" in the coffee filter.
4. thread the tomato plant into the hole (thru the X you just made) so that the plant is hanging
out the bottom, root ball is inside at bottom of bucket.
5. fill with soil.
6. you can also plant your herbs on top once all soil is in (i'm going to plant oregano, cilantro and
basil.)
7. hang on large, sturdy hook in a sunny spot and let her grow! make sure to water every day.

once i get mine going, i'll post pics with these steps for you "visual" peeps out there.

side note: i hear you can also drill more holes and plant peppers alongside the tomatoes as well!

happy birthday, beulah!

happy birthday, miss beulah grace crissinger!

beulah was born this morning and is the daughter of two of my dear, dear friends from college, andy and michelle. these are two of the most beautiful people i have ever known, inside and out. this baby girl is such a blessing and they have waited for her patiently and have been such an inspiration throughout the whole process.

michelle is a great blogger--i would encourage you to read her blog. you will, no doubt, be blessed. (and they have a pic up, too!)

so here's to giving thanks to God for precious people like andy and michelle, for sweet baby beulah and for miracles.

yes we can.

yeah, so, the hubs and i have decided to put down hardwood floors. are we crazy, you ask? why yes, yes we are.

we, to this point, have had what came in the house, which were parquet floors. pretty, but we really, really wanted nice, long smooth oak hardwood floors and not the square look that parquet gives.

we got several estimates on the floors and the installation and were flabbergasted by the costs to have someone come out and put them down.

jeff called me one day from work...conversation goes as follows:

J: "we're doing it. we are going to put down the floors."

L: "um, we are not professionals. why do you think we can do this?"

J: "i've been watching videos on youtube of how to install hardwood floors and there's nothing to it. we're doing it ourselves."

L: "so watching youtube makes us experts, huh?"

J: "yes. we can do it."

so, apparently we are in following with our new president's "theme" for 2009 because we decided YES WE CAN.

and we did!

we got a little overwhelmed at first trying to get the first row going because if the first row is not completely 100% straight, it screws up the rest of the room. but now that we've gotten going, it really isn't that bad. the worst part is the toll that it is taking on me physically. i can hardly touch my knees because they're so sore. i have knee pads, but they only help so much. and my poor, poor hands are a wreck. but you know what? as much as i doubted our abilities in the beginning, we have done a dang good job and we'll know that everytime we walk across those floors that we did it all by ourselves.

so today is not a "martha moment" post---it's more like a "bob vila moment." :-)

happy weekend!

here are some pics of the progress:

day 1, about 4:30 p.m. floor is cleared of old floor, subfloor is ready


day 1, about 6:00 p.m., all of the rosin paper is stapled down and we have finally got the boards going.

jeff the handyman on day 1...

end of day 1, about 11:00 p.m.
end of day 2, only worked on it from about 7:30-10 p.m. not bad!

need a light fixture? what about a chair?

I just posted a few things on Craigslist and thought I'd bring out my inner marketing nerd and post to the blog as well, just in case any of my friends out there were interested.

Here are the links:

http://greenville.craigslist.org/hsh/1088324337.html

http://greenville.craigslist.org/fuo/1088287077.html

http://greenville.craigslist.org/hsh/1088338313.html (this one would be great spray painted black.) :)

now, back to more spring cleaning! stay tuned...i may just sell more!

feliz cumpleanos, hubby!

jeff had a birthday last week and i'm a little late in getting a post up! birthdays seem less fun when they're on a weekday, especially wednesdays, but we had a good time, nonetheless!

i had planned to get him a new chainsaw and had researched it and knew exactly what kind i wanted to get him. i was so proud that i knew the technical stuff about chainsaws that i had learned in my googling over the past week. i called the tractor supply store and they were out, but getting in an order that afternoon--too bad i couldn't get over there before they closed! so, there i was, with nothing to give jeff when he got home from work on his birthday. so, here's what i gave him:

an admittedly pitiful rendition, but he knew exactly what it was and it sufficed until we got to go pick up the real thing on Friday!

we did dinner at the mexican restaurant with his family, which was full of laughs and ended with jeff in a very special birthday sombrero.


then, folks, he got it. he FINALLY got his long-awaited mower/grass monster on Friday. i call it a grass monster because it looks like the farthest thing from a lawn mower. it's pretty sweet. here are some pics from before he even got it off the trailer! he is seriously in love with it. it is supposedly going to cut down his mowing time from 4-5 hours to 1-2 hours, tops, which will be great in freeing up some of that precious weekend time! less time on the lawn mower means more time on projects (see last post)!

march madness

this is the view from last monday morning at sunrise. needless to say, i was north face'd out in fleece, down and boots.

today?

flip flops, t-shirt and shorts.

gotta love the south and gotta love this gorgeous day we're having!

as spring approaches, it's got me thinking about so many spring things that i want! kayaks, a new deck, a garden, landscaping...there's so much!
i get the spring bug every year and it usually doesn't start until the END of march. there's so many projects that i want to do and need to just make a list so that i attempt them in a somewhat organized fashion.

i can literally walk into any room in my house and there's SOMETHING i want to do--whether it's a fresh coat of paint, or new artwork, or new furniture. so i'll keep you all posted on the different mini projects going on here as i start them. first up is likely the kitchen. we just added a new faucet and are getting ready to change out the countertops, sink and appliances. just thinking about it makes me exhausted.

confessions

hopefully i don't dash anyone's expectations here, but i didn't enjoy confessions of a shopaholic (the movie) in the least. now keep in mind, this is only my opinion, so if you've been dying to go see it, please do. you may love it! i was just let down because 1) the book was GREAT (all of them in the series were) and 2) the previews made it look so fabulous and funny. boo on that. i think i only laughed out loud once.

what a let down! at least the wings i had before the movie were good!

and more rants...

can i just say that i despise valentine's day? it's my least favorite holiday. i think it is a marketing ploy to get helpless men out into the retail world to buy things that they don't think to buy the other 364 days out of the year. i would rather get a card on a random, out of the blue day than a fru fru one on valentine's day. thankfully, jeff knows this. granted, he may not give me a real card on random days, but he has been known to write notes on papertowels that he gets out of the bathrooms at work. :) either way, if they're from him, they are priceless to me.

so here's to yet another book being better than the movie and to celebrating how much we love people all 365 days of the year, not just one.

friday randomosity

• i am so tickled to have the afternoon today with NOTHING to do. is it sad that i am choosing to spend this free time cleaning (and am looking forward to it?) what has happened to me?!
  
  
• the majority of my morning has been spent researching online how to get the little dog from putting her butt up in the weenie dog's face. i have explained to her that to be beautiful, you must ACT beautiful, but apparently she doesn't get it. If she is how she acts, then she is a dirty, dirty slut.
  
  
• i just bought a driver on eBay. no, not a chauffeur, a golf driver.
  
  
• 2 things have made me happy already today and i've only been awake for an hour: ray lamontagne is coming to town and they have confirmed that they will be coming out with a sequel to sex and the city. the day's lookin' up!
  
  
• i am learning that one way i do NOT want to spend my hard-earned money is on lawyer fees. i also do not CHOOSE to have crappy neighbors, but of course, there's always one in the bunch.
  
  
• if i hear about deck sizes and horsepowers much more, i am going to have a mini-meltdown. jeff has been researching commercial lawn mowers for going on a month now and seems that is the only thing he can talk about.
  
  
• ireland is in the running for our next vacation.
  
  
• i went to get a manicure yesterday and the first color i was drawn to, i absolutely loved. i got it, took it over to the wee man who does my nails, and plopped it down. i always turn it over to see what the name of it is (nail polishes have the coolest names!) and i am choosing to believe that it was mere coincidence that this polish i love soooo much is called "the wicked witch."
  
  
• i am craving a trip to IKEA.
  
  
• i am already ready to paint my office a different color. "snowfall" just isn't gettin' it. it is only a harsh reminder that we STILL haven't gotten any snowfall round these parts.
  
  
• i was shocked to learn this week that kelly ripa only washes her hair every two days. i would look like someone dumped an oil vat on my head if i tried that!
  

happy friday to all!

martha moments: chicken 'n dumplins!

and not just chicken 'n dumplins, chicken 'n dumplins in the crockpot.

crockpot=easy.

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions:

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.