tuesday. teak-y teak-y.

i saw this really nifty idea in a magazine the other day. a lady bought a really nice teak door mat ... of course, she had a vintage super-cute watering can, and her back deck was all clean and nice and pretty.

in my attempt to copy, i had some cedar deck tiles from IKEA that i bought about six years ago (they got a nice hose-down after sitting in the garage for five years or so), a target plastic watering can that does nothing for the eyes, and a messy back porch, but the idea's the same.

when you come inside from the garden or out in the yard, your feet (and flip-flops) are dirty. the slatted door mat is perfect for water and dirt to fall through, and the watering can provides the perfect shower for your feet and flops. plus, the back porch gets a nice shower every time someone comes in. easy-peasy, keeps my floors clean inside, and free!

tuesday. giant onions.

holy moly, these things got huge (the picture doesn't do them justice ... they are literally, almost four feet tall)! i wish i had a 'before' picture to show you of just how decimate they were, just even a month ago. in a last ditch effort to save them, the husband threw them in one of our raised vegetable beds—apparently, potato onions LOVE compost. as you can see, we are no longer hurting for growth on these babies. we even went back to the lady that sold them to us last year at the farmer's market to find out how to maintain and/or use something like this! if you don't know anything about potato onions, here's some info. they're an interesting breed for sure, and i'm so lucky we were able to find starts now that we know what the heck to do with them! she said we'll probably have 8-10 onions at the root of each one by fall!


in other gardening news ...

carrots have been thinned (both the cute, round market variety and regular).


holy potatoes! (they're at the front of the bed.)


we have teeny tiny cucumbers and the zucchini has blossoms!

apples are little babies, but no wormies this year!


cherries will be gone to the birds, but hopefully i'll get at least a few before they do.

red and white normal size onions are not 5 feet tall, but still doing lovely.



others i don't have pictures of at the moment ...

green beans are going crazy. blueberries are ripening. raspberries are taking forever, but green as ever. blackberries are getting big but still no flowers yet. and strawberries are sooooooooo close!

monday. garden-time.

i weeded this weekend. a lot. mostly, it was just re-weeding the areas i already did earlier this year (garden, flower beds, etc). but, there's one area that i pruned and groomed, pondered and inspired-upon. out in front of our deck in the backyard, just waiting for something spectacular. something we can all enjoy when we're sitting out on the back deck, drinking tea in the morning, eating dinner in the evening, playing with the kids, or just taking a minute out of the day to breathe.

in my plotting and planning, i dragged out my old issues of martha magazine, clippings, and inspirational ripped out pages i've conglomerated over the years. it's so fun to look back at some of the things that i used to think were sooooo cool. that really. are. not. and maybe never were.

one thing i did find, however, was this:


an all-white blooming garden. obviously, it's a bit larger area than what i have to work with ... with a budget much bigger than mine. but, with the space i'm working in, it's mostly shade, and gets a little dark, especially toward the end of the day.

the all-white blooms, mixed with the different shades of greens just popped out at me. i'm envisioning early mornings and early evenings when the sun's not quite full and the whites and greens can brighten up this dark little area. so, i've spent the last two days researching local plants, nursery-hopping, and making my list of what i'm hoping to find.

lilac. the white kind. for the full sun space in the bed, and to take up a large amount of room with something lovely and pretty and good-smelly. plus, we live in the lilac city ... i think it's about time we had one.


hosta. not only is it already in my yard just waiting to be transplanted, and therefore, freeeee—it looks so pretty in the shade, and will carry those white, silver, and green tones and make an excellent filler.


sweet autumn clematis. this is one of my favorites to grow. it vines, and will work perfectly to climb the deck posts up to our awning. this white variety blooms late in August-September, so it will be pretty and green all summer, and burst with these white flowers when everything else is settling down for fall!


annabelle hydrangea. a shade-lover and has beautiful white-turn-almost-green flowers. and perfect for a larger foundation plant.


lily of the valley. i'm picturing this shade-lover right in the front of the garden, almost cascading down the rock wall.

allium. these easy-to-grow bulbs are purple in my front yard, and they might be my favorite late spring bloomer. they look like giant puff balls—and even better, you can plant them in white!


helleborus. this beauty is another shade-lover, and though i don't know much about it yet, i think it's just lovely!


so, now who wants to finance this little garden of mine? loan payments would come in the form of home-cooked meals, baked goods, tea on the back porch, and being surrounded by the scent of lilac and hydrangea all summer long.

wednesday. discovery playground.

i know everyone and their brother knows about discovery playground in the spokane valley, but just in case you don't, or are planning to hit up spokane with your kiddos this summer—this place is awesome.

how cool is discovery playground? so cool. why? there's all kinds of ...

trampoline-jumping ...



tunnel-running ...



rock-climbing ...



telephone-talking ...



drum-playing ...

chair-spinning ...


animal playing ...



big chair-sitting ...


music-playing ...


swing-swinging ...

rock-sliding fun!


and when all is said and done, you're only a five-minute walk from mirabeau park, where there's ...

hill-hiking ...


turtle-bathing ...


wear-the-kids-out, running around!


want a list of everything the kids can do at discovery playground? click here. talk about fun and a great way to spend the day! there's even a splash park and wading pool that open when (if?) the weather gets nicer someday.

monday. backyard camp-out.

usually, memorial day weekend, our family can be found camping far from home. this year, the husband and i were really hoping to not pay for crazy-priced gas, wade through the traffic to get out of town, or take cover waiting for the intermittent rain to stop.

this year, we decided the backyard was the way to go. no packing, soft grass, and all the comforts of a campout—fire, s'mores, hotdogs, tent, (even some sunshine!) all 100 feet from home. it was awesome, the kids had a blast, and we were even able to get some yard-work in.

we were a bit early for the great american backyard campout, but the idea's the same.


no pouting allowed (showing us what NOT to do) ...



run around barefoot ...

get a little crazy ...

eat a hotdog ... or 3 ...

play in the tent ... a lot ...


figure out this whole marshmallow in the fire thing ...

sacrifice at LEAST five marshmallows to the fire in the process ...

rub the belly a little just to make sure he's still there ... yep, not just a food baby anymore ...

most of all, have tons of fun—get outside, goof around, mix it up, and you don't even have to go anywhere! i highly recommend it.

sunday. the red tent.

i'd been searching for something great to read that didn't involve fancy nancy, the rainbow fairies, the big red barn, or goodnight moon. the red tent was exactly what i needed. and then some. i'd seen it at the bookstore, and at the library, but honestly, had never even read the back cover. it was recommended by a few people when i reached out for a list from friends and checked it out at the library a few days ago.

i finished it last night at 2 a.m., and even then, was sad it was over.

let me start by saying that i wasn't sure about this book before i started it. i'm generally not drawn to religious or even loosely religious based fiction. and the back of the book introduces it's main character, dinah, as jacob's only daughter from the book of genesis. it wasn't drawing my attention like i'd hoped. but, as i read, i realized this book is about so much more, and really only uses the character as a way to share intimate and insightful moments throughout women's history. note to self: don't judge a book by it's book jacket.

dinah, the narrator, opens by introducing herself and explaining that she is reciting the memories of her life and her mothers’ lives—because without a daughter to tell the story, a woman’s history does not live on. dinah focuses initially on the stories of her mothers, the four wives of jacob—and how they come to be married to the same man (p.s. i didn't think i could get past the multiple wives part, but it really was easy when you realized that it's not the focus of the book).

what reached me the most throughout this story though, is the journey of several of these women onto the path of midwifery–extremely successful ones at that. it was awe inspiring reading about these women and their relationships. they brought life into the world, helped helpless mothers survive, and created inseparable, yet complicated bonds amongst each other. a lot of the story is unfathomable to today's world—but so much of what was said, still hits home—big-time.

friday. half-way!

20 weeks and so very ready for some sunshine to head our way!