The boys and I started our Saturday early to get our planned yard work finished before the heat of the day. We have someone that mows, trims, and weeds the flower beds. Our planned yard work was adding little touches and planting a herb garden. To my surprise this did not feel like work at all. We all three enjoyed the “work”.
We planted the herb garden in six rectangular pots that each sit in their own row on an iron shelf. Most herbs like plenty of drainage, and the pots did not have holes, so Brainy Bird drilled holes into them. Brainy Bird likes anything that involves power tools.
Little Chirp and I did the planting. Thai basil, sweet basil, an assortment of mint plants, and dill are among the herbs we planted. These are all fresh herbs that we often use for cooking. I hate shelling out around five dollars each time we buy them from HEB. I estimate that we will realize the ROI on the herb garden in less than a year, and we have the aesthetic value of it.
Little Chirp also planted a kumquat tree and a lemon tree in large pots. We will keep them in pots until they are much bigger, so we can bring inside when it gets too cold. Both are just a gallon in size. Fruit trees are hard to find right now because everyone is replacing what they lost in the freeze. I will be both surprised and ecstatic if I ever get kumquats from the tree. I estimate that it should be large enough to produce fruit before Little Chirp leaves for college.
Brainy Bird planted a large rosemary bush in one of the front flower beds. I cannot believe we have lived in this house for more than a year without planting rosemary.
Once the planting was done, the fun began. We hung an assortment of yard art. We hung a painted frog on the fence behind the herb garden. We hung little lady bugs on the bridge that steps over the front drainage ditch. We hung two hanging baskets on and iron hanger. We hung an iron bell out front, and other various little pieces of colorful art through out the yard. My favorite is a little door and windows that sit at the base of the tree to look like a gnome or fairy’s home.
We finished around 11 AM. It was hot, and the mosquitos were having us for brunch. Little Chirp asked the obvious question, “Can we go swimming today?” I responded, “Today? How about right now!”
Our back yard is mostly shaded through out the day, so the water stays cool, especially in the earlier hours of the day. The water was ice cold, like melted ice in an ice chest. It felt amazing.
Brainy Bird did not join us for the swim. He had some work to get done, so he cooled off with a shower instead. At some point, he comes outside, and he says, “Is this frog just going to live in the kitchen? He is a big frog. This is the second day I have seen him.”
My head spun. Brainy Bird seemed quite content with the idea of a frog living in our kitchen. He just needed confirmation that the frog was there to stay. We do love animals. I realize that we have a mini zoo, but an indoor frog? There are the obvious issues that the cats will hurt the frog and the frog would need food, which would lead to frog waste.
My bewilderment continued. There was a frog in our kitchen before and Brainy Bird didn’t think to mention it? Then Little Chirp chimes in with, “Yeah, that is a big frog. The biggest I have seen here.”
So Little Chirp also seems nonchalant about a frog, a large frog living in our kitchen? I wanted a simpler standard of living, but this in my mind hops past the line of simple living to not so clean living.
Finally, I spoke the obvious, “We have to get the frog out of the house. We can’t have a frog running around the house.”
The boys both looked at each other as if I was the one that was confused. Little Chirp did his little headshake that in my mind says, “Bless her heart.”
The word missing from this whole conversation – summer. The frog is in the SUMMER kitchen as in on the back patio in the area that the L-shaped summer kitchen sections off. I realized the boys were having a little fun with me. As of right now, the frog is still there. We are going to need to relocate him before Storme and Trooper wake up from their naps and go outside for their usual evening cat mischief or there will be a dead frog in the kitchen…summer kitchen.
Summer is indeed upon us.