Will he or won't he?

Mauser has been a part of our family for 16 months and I have a few a lot of moments in those first 6 months okay maybe it has been for all 16 months I wondered if he was going to make it.  We have made it through potty training, have mostly gotten him over the chewing of anything that stands still phase, of course the monthly cash outlay of $40 for chewies helps, the shedding, well, that part is still something I come to terms with on an hourly basis.

This weekend he "endeared" himself to us in new and inventive ways.  William and I were standing in the kitchen talking and looked out the kitchen window to see Mauser, standing up with both front paws on our barely two year old peach tree just devouring the plump pink blooms right off the branches.  Later the same day, I found brussels sprout transplants proudly displayed on the picnic table........oh I had to walk away and take some deep deep breaths.  That dog!

Those that know me know that I say this all in jest, he is our dog and will be as long as he is one this earth, barring the chewing of my children of course but boy, he has no qualms about testing my dedication I tell ya!

Gardens and Guns

Spring is finally raising its little head and boy have we been enjoying the nicer days.

A few weeks ago we went on a shooting adventure to Tennessee.  Matthew is getting quite proficient with his 22 on his own.  Just a few months ago he needed help steadying it but is getting the strength and agility to do it all alone now.

We pulled up some gorgeous but overgrown sunlight hogging forsythia bushes in the fall and added another big bed to our garden area. 

 Before....

After


I will miss their bright yellow giant display in the spring.



This past weekend we did a final till, layed down newspaper (for weed control) and  planted broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, carrots and radishes.   If I can just keep Mauser out of it I will be a happy camper.

 We also tried something new this year in lieu of the seed starting trays.  We always had a hard time hardening our seed starts off outside so I read that a milk carton, left outside from initial seeding until transplant time is the perfect little greenhouse so over the past few months we saved all our milk cartons and have a nice little collection of mini-greenhouses happily protecting our seeds. 

Gardening...Riggle Style-2011

Some lessons from last year were incorporated into the current garden plan:

Corn, just not worth the effort, especially when fresh local corn to SO CHEAP.

More potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes this year, we didn't quite grow enough to get us through that long winter.

Give the beans some support this year, no matter how redneck it looks.

I also randomly incorporated potatoes, onions, shallots, strawberries and garlic in our overall landscape plan.  We started our tomatoes, banana peppers and parsley from seed again.  Bought seed potatoes and onion sets from the feed store...and almost some chickens..but that is a whole other post.