Backyard Garden Re-Do

From the Mom

Before: My garden needs help!

During: Edging to keep weeds out and bricks for beauty. Fill it up: lots of (free) city compost, sand, composted chicken manure, peat, and good old Red River clay soil.

After: A couple of trips to various nurseries in town and now to sit down and enjoy it.

Bananas

From the Youngest Daughter :)

I like making boring things interesting. Want an example??

*Announcer voice* I bring forward, for your consideration, the banana.

We have with us today a daring individual who will forsake the normal peeling method. She will face dire consequences for your entertainment. Please welcome the Youngest Daughter!! *Applause*

A hush comes over the audience as the YD (Youngest Daughter) comes forward and chooses her banana.
She grasps the banana with both hands, the curved back facing her, the two ends facing away. The audience holds it's breath. If this fails the YD will be faced with a mushy mass of moosh (I dare you to say that three times as fast as you can) to eat.
The YD bends her elbows experimentally. With a quick flick of her wrists she snaps the banana outwards!

There is a sickening pop. The audience groans. It. Has. Failed.

The audience gulps uncomfortably as the YD bravely chokes down the mush. She will try one more time.
Again the audience hushes. If this fails, will the YD be able to survive eating another mushy mass of moosh? She grabs her banana. She holds tight. Breathes deep. And then ...

SNAP!!

It has worked!! The crowd goes wild!! The banana has snapped cleanly in half! The crowd streams onto the field. The YD is lifted onto shoulders as the people continue cheering!

And that my friends, is how you open a banana with style. With danger. And with excitement. Dun-da-dunnnnn!!

And that is also how I make myself look dumb for your entertainment. You're welcome.

Big Babies!!

From the Youngest Daughter :)

The baby robins are growing like bananas! This picture was from two days ago:

And this picture was from today, just TWO days later!!!

I think these guys have two choices: a) Leave the nest of their own accord or b) get squeezed out. Either way there's going to be an empty nester living in the neighborhood real soon!

Pen Drawing

From the Youngest Daughter :)

Sometimes I like using a pen to draw random people I see. The thing with using a pen is if you make a mistake you can't erase it! It kind of makes the drawings look more playful and cartoon-like to leave the mistakes, so I kinda like it.

The guy below was sitting one row in front of me in church yesterday!

Baby Robins

From the Youngest Daughter :)

The baby robins are growing into rather demanding little dudes!

(There are four of them, you just can't see the other one from this angle.)

Mimosa Pudica

From the Youngest Daughter :)

In Indonesia they have a weed called Mimosa Pudica. It's also called Sensitive plant, Touch Me Not, Shy Girl and lots of other names! The cool thing is, when you touch the leaves they fold up! It's really amazing to watch. You can see it here on this video I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkUjpHykpkM&feature=related

Are you in love with this plant yet?? I sure am! :) And guess what!? I found seeds for it at a plant nursery! So of course I bought some. And guess what again!? They are growing and are now big enough to move when I touch them!
My seedlings before touching:

After touching:

It's very strange, because we have an Indonesian friend and he says that in Indonesia these are really annoying weeds! But here people think they are amazing.

When our Indonesian friend visits us, he likes to go to thrift stores and buy lots of knick-knacks (that we think are cheap and boring.) To him they are amazing. He loves our junk. We love his weeds.

Culture is so weird. :)

Torn Tights

From the Youngest Daughter :)

Last week I had my last ballet classes for the school year. And on the last day of class it's a tradition to rip our tights! We all wore our oldest tights, mine already had three runs in them. And then we went crazy ripping holes in them, cutting smiley faces in them, tearing at our runs to make them bigger! It was great. :)

So I had this pair of pretty much useless torn up tights. Wanna know what I did with them?

1. I cut strips out of them and braided this simple ankle bracelet. :)

2. I used the waist band to make a head band! I sewed this little flower thing out of a seperate piece.
I love making cool stuff out of junk. :)

Two Dollars

From the Youngest Daughter :)

Funny story; today Mom bought some gas and they gave her change. No biggie, right? Wrong! Mom didn't think anything of it either, until she went to a store and dug in her purse. Wanna know what she found?

A two dollar bill!!! Weird, huh? Who knew some people (or gas stations) still use them?!

Spirograph!

From the Youngest Daughter :)

I love spirographs!! They're a kind of art "tool" that make really cool shapes. Today I made a bunch in my sketchbook and colored them in. So prettyful. :)

Close-ups of the same page:

Robin

From the Youngest Daughter :)

My woodworking brother built a robin nesting box for me to put in my garden. (Yay brothers!!) And just recently some robins moved in! I wonder how many young whippersnappers they'll have? Any guesses?

P.S. Those vines on the trellis? It's honeysuckle. Can't wait for it to turn green and to bloom!