Pickles Post!

Pickles has been a bit under the weather lately, but it's nothing that a little TLC, 10 rounds of antibiotics, and a $90 vet visit can't fix. So, to help her feel better faster, I agreed to her demands, and I let her eat her very favorite food: expensive ornamental grasses.

For five minutes today, she was in heaven. As a bonus, we kept the dog inside. (There's been a recent influx of chipmunks anyway, and we've already had one "incident" that I'd rather soon forget.) And for the record, those grasses are as fuzzy and delicious and curative as they look.

Amanda and Matt's Wedding

My cousin Amanda recently married her college sweetheart Matt, and we took a trip back to Aberdeen, South Dakota to celebrate.

Christopher and Amanda (also recently married, but not to be confused with the recently married Amanda) were still in walking-down-the-aisle practice mode, followed shortly by my folks (who are not recently married, but who have been to enough weddings to know how to work the aisle).

Tyler and Courtney arrived in style in Tyler's shiny new gangsta' car, complete with heavily tinted windows that I'm fairly certain are quite illegal in most states. Perfect for any "deals" that need to be "done".

Adam got the party started after he discovered a jug of Zinfandel that needed his attention.

Alex, my cousin Andrea's youngest kiddo, was so excited for the garter toss that he just barely kept his pants on.

Beautiful wedding, with a great family reunion tossed in. We'll be back next April for my cousin Jill's turn.

Thanks for all the garden fencing suggestions - except you, Jake. I don't think peeing around the perimeter is in our plans, but maybe as a last resort. We'll see...

We decided to go with the Liquid Fence. It looked fairly harmless in the store, and the price was right. However, the smell of it was so strong that I could barely breathe. I am certain that we will have no visitors - mailman included - until the next big rain. I stumbled around spraying the important stuff as fast as I could and rushed to get back inside the house. TJ had been awfully quiet this whole time. I turned around to bring him inside, and there he was, happy as could be, delicately licking the sweet taste of rotten eggs and garlic off the coneflowers.

Anatomy of a Yawn

TJ can sometimes get a little bored when he's helping us with the yard work.  At least he tries hard to hide his true feelings.

Success!

Sad Day for Nicole's Summer Gardening Project

I take back everything kind I ever said about rabbits.  

One crazy day at the salad bar, and the rabbits destroyed all my weekends of hard work.  

It's for the best.  I need another hobby anyway.  I'm thinking about building a fenced-in garden complete with a trellis for the beans.  Maybe some nice stones, and a pathway, and a little garden gate?  I'll work on the plans.

The Never Ending (Landscaping) Story: Part 2

We're going to wrap up this landscaping project with the third and final step:

Step Three: Mulch, or 22 Bags is Not Enough

One would think that a few bags of cedar mulch would be the perfect topper to the final project.  And one would think that filling the entire trunk and back seat of a '98 Lumina with said few bags of cedar mulch would be plenty.  However, one would be wrong.  

To fully appreciate the effects of cedar mulch, you will need at least 22 bags and two car trips, enough to leave your car smelling nostalgically of the Black Hills for approximately a week to 10 days.  

Right now, our plantings are very small and dwarfed by shredded cedar chips.  In a few months, or possibly years, we will reap the benefits of our labor.  Until then, here is what we planted:

The next project may be to paint the window trim and/or watch the grasses grow.

I believe we're done with major landscaping now.  Time to chill out and enjoy the summer!