Buggin You

I hope this works. A friend sent this to me tonight and it is darling

Tagged

A few days ago the folks at Poor Richard's Almanac tagged me. I finally got around to it today. Bored with myself, I asked the Monkeys to tell six things about me and here is what they came up with.

First the rules.
1. Post the rules.
2. Write six random things about yourself.
3. Tag six people.
4. Let the people know they have been tagged.
5. Let the person who tagged you know you post is up.

Now on with the Monkeys
1. I am crazy. (You would be crazy to if you had to live with three house apes)
2. I am on the computer too much. (No I am not. Now go make me some popcorn).
3. My kids scare me. (I'm not scared just baffled).
4. I do and don't like Teenage Monkey's music. (I cheated and put some music I like on his ipod. He just thinks it is his music)
5. I put rabbits in the dog's kennel. (I have to keep them seperated or we will have more babies).
6. My son's like me too much. (Aw.)

Here are the six I tagged. Notice I put in a few couples so they have to tell on each other. That is how Silence, Richard, and Ourfriendben did it and it was hilarious. I also added my kid, my sister, and a new blog I like.
Double Danger
Our First Garden
My sister at In Stitches
All Kurt All The Time
Weed Wackin Wenches
The Manic Gardener
Have fun. Only play if you feel like it. No tagbacks.

The Incredible Compost Crew

Our Boys have some friends over today. We are going swimming later this afternoon. I asked them, thinking they would laugh at me and run away, if they would like to tear apart my compost pile. The neighbor boys were all into it, so my boys agreed. It took them about ten minutes to deconstruct the pile. This made them happy and saved my middle aged back.

It turns out this was a teaching opportunity. They wanted to know why we did this. Before I had a chance to answer, Middle Monkey spoke up and said, "To recycle." Then one of them asked, "What do you do with it?" Baby Monkey replied, "Dig it into the dirt for the plants to eat." They were very interested in all the bugs that live in a compost pile. Which lead to the question, "How do you get rid of the bugs?" In unison, my boy exclaimed, "You don't get rid of the bugs! The bugs are part of it. The bugs help make compost."

I explained that compost has a lot of uses. It holds moisture and cuts down on the amount of watering we need to do. It also reduces the amount of fertilizer the plants need. It keeps the food scraps and yard waste out of the landfill. Compost is very useful stuff indeed.

I was very proud of my boys and their knowledge of compost and very grateful that the compost pile was turned for me.

New Rain Barrel is Ready for Action

My new rain barrel is ready for rain. I bought the barrel for four dollars at a local feed store. Of course we washed it out very well. The gutter attachment, plumbing parts, and gutter guards cost less than twenty dollars. We were able to put this together for under twenty-five bucks. Considering the rain barrels I have seen for sale were all more than one-hundred dollars, I think we came out pretty good pocket book wise.

I finished up a big project today for one of my customers. It was pulling up and replacing a brick patio and adding on to it. The bricks are called Chicago antique. Apparently, they were hand made. Every brick was slightly different in size. This job was like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle from Hades. It didn't help that the temperature was over 100. We were almost finished and taking a break when the Ozarka delivery man showed up. He was a very cute, well dressed young man and very friendly. Before he left, he walked back over to us and handed each of us an ice cold bottle of water. That was the best water I have ever had in my life. If I have to buy bottled water, I will stick with that brand.

Another Ridiculously Big Plant

It figures I would play my own game first. Middle Monkey here again with Abby and a giant Pampas grass at our neighbors house. I cheated and shamelessly copied Weed Wackin Wenches photo. Their's is way bigger and they didn't pose a ten-year-old boy in front of it. Anyway, do you think the scale may be a little off? Sort of looks like the grass is trying to eat the house.

If You Show Me Yours' , I'll Show You Mine

Here are a few pictures of Middle Monkey, one of his hibiscus blooms, and a couple of bunnies. The other bunny had dirty feet and a squirmy attitude. The brown bunny is fat boy. He has grown too big to hold in the palms of our hands.

No, my child does not have a tiny head. Those flowers are really that big. We thought it would be fun to see other big flowers and plants and pets. Even better, pictures of big plants and pets. To start us off here is Weed Wackin Wenches with Diva Dog and a giant Papas grass. I will be looking for your big blooms, big plants, and cute critters. If you feel like showing me yours instead of making me look for it. Leave me a comment. To repeat, we are looking for big flowers, big plants, and cute critters. Feel free to cheat with photo shop or trick angles.

Player #1 Cinj has what looks like a spider eating something

Player#2 Jack with a dinosaur

Player#3 Jack again as monster baby

Player#4 My Sister with her hydrangeas and daylilies

Player#5 Brenda with Abigail in the garden

Player#6 Tomato Casual showing the everything is not bigger in Texas. But the wenches already proved this.

Player#7 Kathleen with Hollyhock munchers.

Player#8 Silence Dogood has tamed a tiger

Player#9 Sherry love is in the air over at her blog

Player#10 Double Danger has a giant agave

June GBBD Hardy Hibiscus

Just in time for GBBD this month, one of Middle Monkey's hardy hibiscus plants bloomed. This is Malvaceae Hibiscus moscheutos. I think this one is Moy Grande. My hands are pretty little, but even so, that is one big flower. We have four other varieties. Next month maybe the Meme will bloom.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting GBBD each month.