Yesterday was a wonderful day. After a bit of cleaning up the house Carie and the boys arrived for our outing.
First order of business was to have snack time. String cheese and crackers were had by all as Carie and I explored my garden in the back, and I made a list of things I hoped to find while we were out an about during the day. After snack was finished we loaded up the kids and ourselves in the car and off we went.
The first stop of the day was the Capitol Nursery. I'd never been to the nursery before and was in awe when we walked in. There were plants galore, as far as the eye could see. We started our visit letting the boys check out the koi pond. They had a lot of fun looking at the fish. Then it was off to the vegetable area. I admit, I've been a bit addicted to gardening this year and I've spent a lot of time on garden box preparation and planting. Walking into the nursery and seeing everything they had to offer I think my jaw literally hit the ground. It took a lot of self control to limit my hunt to those plants on my shopping list to replace the ones that didn't sprout in the peat pots I planted several weeks ago. I was truly surprised to see that the nursery had very competitive pricing. I found plants there that were cheaper than those I'd seen at Home Depot or Walmart. The variety was much better as well.
After finding the veggies we needed we headed over towards the fruit trees. I've been hoping to find a nice apple tree to add to the citrus I have planted in the back yard. I've had trouble finding a dwarf sized tree, and I've been having trouble trying to decide which type of apples I wanted to grow. There were lots of options for me to choose from. I was glad that Carie was with me. The boys ran up and down the isles playing with the rocks and planning sneak attacks on Carie and I. Carie helped me pick out a healthy and well balanced four apple tree. It is amazing what can be done with grafting. I will have granny smith, golden delicious, fuji, and gala in my future. I'm pretty excited. It's a semi-dwarf so I'll have to make sure to keep up with the pruning to make sure it doesn't get too tall.
As Carie and I looked at the trees, and options for what I could put in my front yard on a big cement block I discovered after removing a bush, the boys requested another look at the koi fish. We headed back toward the front, plants, tree, and boys on the cart, and stopped to grab some seeds. I was so excited to find tomatillo seeds. I haven't found them anywhere else, and I enjoy using them in my salsa. The boys got their second look at the koi and found that if they put their fingers in the water and remained still that the koi would come check out their hands. They thought that was pretty cool.
We left the nursery with very happy, and the most interesting part was trying to figure out how we were going to get it all in the car, when we still had a stop to make to pick up another good size item. So we loaded the plants on the floor at the boys feet, and then the only question remaining was what to do with the tree. It was determined that it would ride in the front seat. Very carefully Carie and I guided the branches into the car as I maneuvered the pot onto the floor of the front passenger side. I then played contortionist and wrapped my legs around the pot to squish in the front seat myself. It was rather entertaining to see I'm sure.
We left the nursery and headed toward Costco with a quick detour to Lowe's in search of hot peppers. No hot peppers at Lowe's so we continued on our way. Costco was a blast. The boys enjoyed getting samples of the different foods along our walk through the store. We checked the nursery out there to see what they had. We looked at tents, we shopped for groceries, and then just prior to check out I found the item I was looking for. A rotating compost bin. I am so excited to make my own compost. It should be a new and exciting adventure.
We made a pit stop in the food court where we enjoyed hot dogs, pizza, and a churro. The boys were so excited for the food, mostly the churro, and drinking water out of a food court cup with a straw was great fun for them. It was the most fantastic outing with my good friend and her boys. We drove our carts out to the car, played rearrange the car to make everything fit, and I made my way back in with the tree. We got back to the house and unloaded everything as the kids sat sleeping in the car. I gave Carie a big hug, and waved goodbye as our outing came to an end and they returned home.
Then I planted the squash, cucumber, and tomatoes in the garden beds. I watered the apple tree, pulled weeds, and realized that I should have put a hat on much earlier as the part in my hair was turning quite red. I found a hat and returned outside to put together my new tumbling composter. I was so excited as I opened the box and got all the pieces in order. My excitement came to a screeching halt as I opened to the first page of assembly instructions and found a bold note stating that assembly requires two people. Disappointed. But patience is a lesson I am continuously learning and so I made plans to get some help later in the week for the assembly.
Overall it was a great day, and it wasn't over yet.
I got cleaned up and headed out to Roseville for a midsingles party. It's never a dull evening when the midsingles get together. There were snacks, socializing, pool, darts, a spa. Lots of fun was had by all. The spa felt great after a day of walking, gardening, and weed pulling. I even managed to win a game of darts. On the other hand, I am definitely not any type of pool shark, I think I make all of three shots in two games. Knowing that I was going to have to wake early for a baby blessing for another good friend of mine I made my escape before it was terribly late. Yeah for sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment