ATTENTION NEW ORLEANS....

Remember this?


Seriously, go on and pack a bag. Call your Mom and nem and see if you can go stay at their house. Don't be dumb. Pack up.

Look Who Has A Green Thumb!

I'm usually not one to go around tooting my own horn (and of course now that I'm about to it will all come back to bite me in the you know what) but....I'll have to admit, my Summer flora is just outstanding! As a novice (and very much the beginner) gardener, I'm very proud of how my plants are coming along. Since my life is pretty boring, I thought I'd bore everyone else with a photomontage. Here's the progress at Bellingrath East aka 11429 River Birch......

First, the Caladiums came back in full force this year....I was surprised to see how many actually survived the cold weather this winter. I'm not one to dig up bulbs and save so if you are a Caladium at 11429 you best hold what cha' got through the winter because your tail is in there to stay.

Next we have my wonderful roses. They are all doing really well, thanks to some advice from my friend Summer and a little bit of Miracle Grow rose food.

Up next is my current fav, and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it at the moment. It starts with a "P".......anyway, I saw it all over Disney World last September and it was gorgeous. Since there is no Master Mickey Gardener working at 11429, mine isn't up to the quality found at Disney World but I do like to think I have a little bit of Main Street USA in Daphne. :) (Especially for you JuJu)

The ol' stand-by....Lantana. Lantana made a huge come back this year. My next project includes filling in more lantana in some bare spots. Lantana is a good choice for the beginner. Doesn't require much water or upkeep, usually comes back every year. Just a good choice for the novice (or in my case, the lazy).

East Pot

West Pot

Now for one of my larger "Showcase" areas. My porch pots. These are 2 years in the making, covered in the winter to guard against the freeze. The back is either ornamental grass or a lily, I can't remember which one I ended up putting back there. There's some purple ornamental grass, which I've used through out the yard because.....yep you guess it, it comes back and it's real easy, sweet potato vine (which is the bright green), red begonias, 2 pink Vincas given to be from the girls at Mother's Day, and some left over Creeping Jenny that has seen it's better day but I'm trying to fertilize and improve it's quality.

As most of you know, we have Delta, and now a few puppies (which we'll discuss at a later date exactly how many we have because it changes daily) and for the 2 years we have lived here, we haven't been able to have a backyard. Dogs and nice backyards just don't mix....OK, let me rephrase that, Dogs and PO' FOLKS backyard's don't mix. I'm sure the rich peeps send their dogs off to some "How to Behave in the Manicured Backyard" school but at 11429, where we live in the real world, dogs are just dogs and they dig and mess up your yard. Well, Delta has now been reduced to a smaller area in the backyard, thanks to a picket fence and electric collar. I've spent the past month or so trying to reclaim what 2 years of unruly dog has done.

So far we've worked on 2 beds extending out from each side of our back patio. It's definitely been S L O W progress. All of the plants are coming along but there weren't too many worthy of the photomontage yet so here's a small glimpse of the backyard:

Making use of the never used Chimania? Chiminary? .....Fish made out of stone.... A little sweet potato vine coming out of the mouth.

Marigolds finally made an appearance. Not really my favorite flower but hey, they were cheap and I got a whole flat of them so they actually are making a BIG appearance around back.

Last but not least, a little purple Salvia surrounded by some Dusty Miller. It looked better before we went to the beach for the weekend and they went with out water. I'm thinking this Salvia might be a little too much maintenance for my taste but since it's right outside the backdoor and easy for me to water, we'll give it one summer to prove it's worth.

So, that about wraps up the Tour de River Birch. Maybe my next blog won't be so boring.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, if there's a chance a Master Gardener from Disney World happens to read this, I'd like my P plant to look like the ones there....could you hook me up with some tips to make that happen?

my teacher

my mother, also known as the school teacher that NEVER quits, has informed me there are 2 t's in MUTT. Mentally change all the Muts in the previous post to MUTTS.

101 Dal--um Labradors--err MUTS!

I would like to start this blog by stressing the importance of responsible dog ownership. If you can not care for a dog, keep a dog confined to your OWN YARD, etc...you should not be a dog owner. Yesterday, Delta (our full blooded beautiful black lab), gave birth to what appears today to be 10 (yes T E N) MUTS!

To add a little big of history to the story......
About 2 months ago a black dog kept digging under our fence and coming into our backyard. We would chase him out daily, fill the hole, block it up with bricks etc. Unfortunately for Delta, we are responsible dog owners who not only have her confined to a fenced backyard, but also have her on an electric shock collar with an invisible fence that surrounds our entire front and back yard. It's unfortunate for her since she could not escape the advances of this nasty mix-breed mut that has violated my sweet dog!

Fast forward 2 months, yesterday we have the birth of what I thought was 8-9 puppies (they are all up in her dog house with her) but have been told by my MIL and FIL which investigated today, that there are actually 10 puppies!

I have mixed emotions about all of these little muts. As a dog lover, I would like to do what I can to help Delta out with the puppies. As a realist with 2 kids, a full time job, and LOTS of other activities, I've decided not to interfere with them at all. Of course since they are muts, they will all thrive for 15 years with no shots or special treatment!

Mark your calendars for JUNE 30th!

On this day, 10 muts will need a good new loving home to go to!

PS- If anyone in Bay Branch Estates knows the owner of a black german shepard mix male dog, please email me at mandied@aol.com I have 10 reasons to slap them in the face!

My Kids Would Live Outside

If given the choice, I'm certain my children would choose to live outside. They stayed outside for 3 hours today after we got home from the office. They took their supper outside to "eat with Delta". (I'm sure Delta loved the smell of pizza just 3 inches from her nose only on the other side of a fence....and an electric shock collar) I showed them a few weeks ago how to catch a jack and now they are obsessed and have small sticks and pine straw stuck in every hole in our backyard. Oh, you don't know what a jack is? well...it's a small little worm that lives in a hole. They have a pincher type thingy on their head and if you stick pine straw down in their hole they will push it out, when you see the pine straw moving, you snatch it out real quick and they'll be hanging on to the end of it. I tried to search the internet for a picture of one but apparently in places other than south Alabama, they are called something else other than a "jack". Oh PS- if you want to search for "jacks" and you also search "hole" (since that's where they live) make sure to have your filter on google or you'll get some pictures you might not want to see!

So after eating pizza, taunting Delta, running around for 3 hours sticking all the straw they could find in every hole, this is what the nasty pigs looked like:

I got a new toy!

Gaze your eyes upon the newest addition to the Kinsey household:

The Canon EOS Rebel XTi

Yes, a new camera in all it's 10.1 million resolution pixels glory! And you just *thought* I sent out a lot of Shutterfly albums! I'm still playing around with it and learning the features. I've had a lot of help from Kiri ARRGGG!

We're thinking about taking a photography class....you know, in all of our spare time!

Come Join us Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night is Relay for Life of the Eastern Shore. I hope everyone would come join us! Corner of Co. Rd. 13 and Whispering Pines....Opening Ceremony is at 6:30!