I have a patch of sob's that are 20 feet wide and 50 feet long. The new bed area I have digging in this spring is about 8' wide by about 100' long, so you can understand the magnitude of my spring project just for that one new bed. The bad thing is that I already have more than enough plants and shrubs to fill it once it is completed. They are here and there right now, but mostly taking up space in the veggie garden in rows. When my house was built 18 years ago that spot in the yard needed to be filled in with some dirt so my contractor, who lives about a mile away, used a front end loader and brought several scoops of dirt for that spot. Same thing happened here. When the house was built 20 years ago, the builder ran into slate when he was digging the basement. Because of that the house was built sitting up higher above the ground than it normally would have been. He then got 65 dump truck loads of sob infested soil out of the adjoining field to fix the yard and slope away from the house just right. It all ended up good as I have good drainage and all, just have the resulting sob. We got rain yesterday so that will cause any bulbs I have missed to maybe sprout some green so I can better find them in the loose soils I have all dug up so far. I 'know' there will be some that will be missed, but will do light digs for them in the springs to come. Last spring I dug them out from in front of the front porch and a small triangle on one side. I never planted it though as I wanted to wait and check for more this spring. Yes, there were a few that had been missed but surprisingly there weren't many at all. I now feel pretty confident that those new areas are sob free, so later I can and will amend the soil and plant some things in those areas. For having lived here for 20 years, this place is sure a diamond in the rough. It has only been in the last 5 years or so though that I have been what you might say 'obsessed' with acquiring and growing so many things. Here is the proposed new bed I have been working on. There are some shrubs in it already and since there is sob in the root areas of them they will need lifted and reset. You can see the field at the left and where I have dumped all my buckets of sob infested soil. At least I don't have to go far to dispose of it. The field is green with the sob foliage each spring. Here are some bulbs that are exposed at the edge of an existing bed...that I would like to expand if time permits. This is an iris I planted last year in another sob area I am working on this spring. I planted the iris on top of the soil, knowing there was a good chance there was sob in the soil. Several irises will need lifted and reset as they look like this one, or worse....sigh...but I had to go somewhere with them. End of rant. It looks like it is going to be a perfect s.o.b. digging day today. 63 with just a light breeze and the soil is good and moist. Sue

We are pushing the limits of good sense here in north Texas planting out our tomato transplants last Sunday. (Surely these plants will be 'blessed' because we put them in on Sunday????) They certainly enjoyed the multi-inch rain on Tuesday and the mild temps since. One of our first projects was to re-do the small water feature near the back porch. The old one developed a leak and had to be replaced. The new container is in and the fountain is splashing merrily. It needs the rocks fussed with and fresh mulch, but it sounds and looks good. We've scraped up the old mulch path in the white garden....ummmmmmm good mulch. And replaced with fresh pine bark nuggets. The swing in that garden got stripped and repainted as well. Today I put in a few white petunias and the area looks so good. We sprayed our home-made bunny-be-gone on some potential munchies....now the new growth on the daylilies will last longer than a day. Every time I go outside I want to take photos of the red tulips in the front yard. I've already taken photos, but the flowers are so bright and fresh, I want to take more. LOL See the tulips on my blog, linked below. Happy spring everyone! Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Way to go Rachel! I don't always post but ALWAYS read & enjoy your posts. I haven't had any takers at my Oriole feeder but have seen both the Baltimore & Orchard this season. Yesterday I saw my FOS Indigo bunting-they are such beauties! Another first was the sighting of the Blue-grey gnatcatcher nest. I was so excited but when I returned the very next day to show someone I couldn't find it-the leaves had come out just enough & plus it was very high up. Very few warblers for me yet this season but I'm still hopeful. Keep up the lovely photos & stories. I look forward to each & every one. Susan

First, Shicksal, great news. You're coming along really fast. Today is an odd day. At 6:30 this morning I went to Wal-Mart to put money on my debit card and buy a little hotdog roller for this job. My friend who is an electrician is here. I've got my two pendants over the peninsula hung, but learned somehow, the switch to them isn't powered, but the outlets next to them is. He's replaced two dimmers with regular switches. One of the benefits of doing this alone is the onus being off changing my mind. These dimmers just kinda made me crazy, so regular switches they're becoming. I gotta tell you. I'm a walking posterboard for Lutron. Now 15 dimmers, 12 motion sensors, and other fun stuff. Love 'em. He's also going to put in some outlets. Sad. I'll have to find other places to hang my laundry. He and another friend put a kitchen cabinet on the wall for me. I can hang 'em, but lifting these two onto cleats is way beyond my balance. Remember, I have to stand on the counter, press my head against the ceiling and screw things in. Lifting over a cleat and not falling off the counter backwards is something I don't want to attempt. But, getting this on the wall frees up a bunch of space. I can load it full of crap, then make doors. While he's working, I've put 4 handles on cabinets in my MBR. Got about 30 to go. I primed the two shelves for the cleat cabinets. They're an odd shape, W3624s. Custom, of course, from H4H and S.O.L.I.D. 3/4" maple. Minus shelves, so I cut those out of 3/4" MDF and will probably paint them a coral BM color I love. I've remudded the chewed up MBR wall. I've sanded and mudded yet again. I've gotten rid of 4 medium sized boxes of lighting materials, and a box of thrift store drawers I bought for their hardware and Blum release switches still attached. $2.00 a drawer box. Yeah man! I emptied the DW. Like to load it, hate to unload it. This was probably the greatest accomplishment of the day. Did a load of laundry/uniforms and got them into the dryer. Changed the cat litter. They're all happy with me. Arranged the MBR furniture and will bring the cabinets still in the kitchen back, since to paint I took a bunch down. I'm making room all over the place. I'll tell you. Lethargy, thy name is Christine. I hate this heat and incessant sun. This is more than I've accomplished all darned week, and it's only to kill time while someone else is working! Keep up the great work, all! You encourage me. Greenhaven, have a FUN time! Happy 4th, all!