so busy

I was reading an article on stress earlier today; and I think we are creating our own stress with what we do, expect or neglect each and every day. I like to think that stress is relatively under control in my life, but occasionally it creeps back in. Most often it is caused by people and events around me though rather than by me. I like my life simple, somewhat predictable and I need routine. So when things happen out of my control I go with the flow rather than panic.. to a certain extend. I just hate when obstacles are thrown in my path, especially when not necessary. That is when I stress. I get frustrated or upset. So I remember to take a breath... and try to work out what is bothering me. ...sometimes it even works.

We got lucky last night. The storms that were predicted did not reach the intensity or level of destruction here. I have not checked the news to see what happened elsewhere, so If you had the more severe storms out there, I am sorry and hope you are all right. Here in our part of Texas we had the pea size hail and winds for a while it got pretty gusty and scary, but nothing happened as far as damage goes on our property. We had a lot of rain, heavy rain, the lightening and thunder were non stop so I am pretty sure we had a good cell right above us. But , again we got lucky. Thank God.

Well, in any case it saves me from having to water the yard for a few more days. What's happening in my yard?

The tomato plants are going to bloom, at least the plants I bought, the ones I grew from seed have a long way to go. The zucchini have blossoms, The summer squash has buds, the spaghetti squash is going nuts grow wise and the pumpkins love their spot and are taking off with long tendrils that are attaching themselves to my makeshift trellis. The watermelon probably need to be moved, they don't seem to like their spot and the sweet pepper have attracted a bug/slug/caterpillar... whatever it is. I need to find the bugger and make it stop eating my plants. The beans on my window sill need to go in the ground and I will have to push on my hubby a bit to get him moving on the raised garden bed for them. It's half done... but he got distracted with another project and I need to give him a little shove so I can get the beans in the ground. I could finish the box myself, but I have a bit of a phobia of power tools and it takes so much longer to do it all by hand. I am a hammer and hand saw kind of gal.... he hates that and always tells me: take the nailer or the reciprocating saw or the whatever... Not safe if I am scared to use it... so he gets to build and I get to tell him what I want build. It works for us this way.

In my front yard I have two more projects going and the rain kind of interrupted that. I found a picture on pinterest with a planter barrel and path of pansies coming out of it , like a waterfall. I loved that and want to recreate a version of it in my front yard. I got the whiskey barrel in place and got the garden soil nearby, I just need to prepare the ground for it and place it all the way I want it to work. I didn't find any good pansies at the garden center yesterday, so I bought seeds and I'll put them in the ground to get started. Then I will keep a lookout for good pansy plants and add them in whenever I find some. I also bought spinach seeds and rhubarb to go into my vegetable garden.

My second project is a flower pot tower. I got some big pots and I stacked them to plant rather than place them side by side in the garden. I want to create garden rooms and I have a few areas in mind that I like to connect to each other by plantings and flower beds. I use a lot of rocks and boulders in my garden. They hold the planting bed, prop up shrubs or are used as decorating landscape focal points. Over the years I have carted around my rocks from front to back yard and often back to front yard as my ideas or designs change. It is time go rock hunting again and I have a few more projects in mind for them. I think I take my grand daughter tomorrow (she is spending the day) and show her how to go rock hunting.