Spring Has Sprung!

Today was a beautiful day in Lubbock! It wasn't too cold or too hot. It rained lightly off and on which was a really nice change... the last few rains we've had have flooded the streets within a matter of minutes (seriously, I saw fish on the side of one street that swam in from the nearest playa lake... they were getting washed up onto the sidewalks by passing cars... sadly several didn't make it back to their lake). Back to my point... I decided it was time to get my flower bed done. I usually wait until Memorial Day Weekend, but since I have the holiday off we are going to leave town (for those of you who don't know, I changed jobs the first of March and we are open 365 days so we all have to take turns working holidays - so, we are going to take advantage of the ones I get off). Again, back to my point... Roy usually does my tilling for me but since he is away for a few days (I'll talk about that in a minute... don't get me off track!) I had to do the tilling myself. So yesterday I bought a hand tiller and this morning I bounded out of bed to head outdoors to start the garden. I soon realized why Roy usually does my tilling; Lubbock ground is HARD! So, I headed back to Home Depot to rent a tiller. Yes, a motorized power tool (grunt, grunt, grunt). It was surprisingly easy to use once Austin and I got it out of the car (don't even ask about loading it back into the car - I'm grateful that I have strong boys). I managed it very well once I figured out how to keep it from dragging me through the flower bed. I did realize about half way through that it probably wasn't the best idea to be wearing flip flops... however, all of my toes are still intact - no harm done.



My favorite part of putting in the flower bed every year is picking out the flowers (aside from the fact that boys are running all over the nursery holding up everything they see and yelling at the top of their lungs "this one would look pretty, can we get it?" Seriously, they are very helpful. Here are the results of our day of work...

Notice the window baskets are empty, the store was out of liners... still looking.

This is the first year I've done roses... they're a bit thorny. I have gloves, but much prefer to be able to feel the dirt (quirky, I know)... therefore I also felt a few thorns - but they're pretty!

I think these are my favorite; I have three of them. They are tall - no idea what they're called though :-).

Notice how well the yellow blooms compliment Jeepers in the background :-). I think that is definitely going to be his assigned parking spot for the summer!

Now about Roy - he is in Alabama with LCU's softball team as they are vying for the NAIA National Title. So far they have won all of their games. Obviously, the kids and I are staying busy while he is gone - we've even been roller blading; not to worry, the kids know how to call an ambulance if necessary :-).