Vacation, Obsessions, Gardens

The hubs and I have been at my parents' place in Orlando since Monday. If you know my husband, you know that's a minor miracle. He does not take vacations. He says he does, he'll even come home early during the week, but really, if he can access a computer, he can work.

This is a picture from the first party where Tom and I hung out - this was the last time I ever saw him that far away from a computer (2009)

So I have taken the computer hostage for the week, which means I should be posting a lot, but instead, I have been on pinterest. In fact...I've been a little, well, obsessed with pinterest. What, you ask, is pinterest? It's a virtual cork board on which you can "pin" (via a button installed on your toolbar) things you find on the internet - craft ideas, recipes, sewing projects, cute fashion, books to read. You name your boards different things ("gift ideas," "recipes," "garden") and then while you're surfing the web, if you find something cool, you pin it; later, when you return to pinterest and click on a particular board, there is a picture of the thing you found and if you click on it, it takes you to the original website. Genius! (If you're curious, my page link is http://pinterest.com/mjrofl/) Currently, it's by invitation only, but if you want to join, let me know and I'll shoot you an invite.

This is a picture my sister tagged of me on fb. I'm not kidding. Apparently, she thinks I am an mythical aquatic maid, with an internet addiction and a secret wish to die by electrocution. 

Pinterest has helped fuel my longing for my garden. I have been on a gardening binge for the past month or so, ever since the weather became beautiful. As far south as I live, this is the time to do outside work! And now it's all I can think about: I dream in herb patches, raised beds, and vertical planters. I use google search phrases such as "tumbling compost bins", "root hormone", and "variegated ice plant." Today I bought something called "rooting hormone" and I actually know how to use it. 

From the Green Light website...rooting powder is what you use to help grow plants from cuttings - which is far cheaper than buying new plants whenever you need something.

So far nothing exciting has been happening in my yard, but I'm also trying to not over do it since we're getting a new roof and hopefully rebuilding the porches after the first of the year - I don't want to plant something close to the house just to have it die when it's crushed underneath roofing tiles. But even just the little I'm doing - weeding, removing dead trees, trimming palms, putting herbs in pots, preparing the ground, propagating cuttings in mason jars - it feels so very very good. To see my little house grow and change bit by bit, to clear away the neglect the years had done to our place, does my soul great good and gives me great inner peace. So much of today's modern work involves no final product, just a bunch of paper or computer files; I take such comfort in being able to survey a final work. There is such joy in planting to things and tending to them as they grow. 

I hope you all are well, and enjoying your weather, be it frost and chill or heat and humidity!