An Ode to Clumping Cat Litter

No, I didn't really write one. But I should. It deserves way more credit than it gets. We tried to go the thrifty route and got TidyCats litter in a bag for about $5, thinking we were being so smart, until we realized that the critical words "clumping" and "scoopable" were missing from the packaging. Eek!

Anyway, we went to the hunting camp this past "weekend," and had a blast! The weather was perfect!

Dan's rifle blind, which he made himself, is the biggest and (though I'm biased) the best on the property!

It has a chimney...

... because there's a stove inside for warmth!

Someone's old desk chair provides seating, though it's a little squeaky. I guess if you're hunting in earnest you have to be absolutely still.

Two corners have these little shelves, which both have a notch cut in them to rest your rifle in.

He's so proud.

He did some work on his apple trees, which are behind chicken wire so that the deer and elk don't harvest them prematurely.

Dan showing off the remnants of a Monster can, which was exploded by guess who...

Yours truly!! I did some target shooting with a .22. This can was full of water when I made my first shot, which is why it exploded.

On Day 1 it was a Bud Light can.

That baby never stood a chance.

And now onto the more mundane...

Here's what I consider to be an artsy picture. Isn't it beautiful? A brandy glass filled with chocolate milk. Mmmm.

And of course we have the Lazy.

Pitiful!

And out in the yard, my plants are coming up like crazy!! I have determined that this is indeed my Lysimachia. It's funny how it's so red-tinged when it's coming up. It's wearing off as it gets bigger. It really looked like a red sedum a few days ago!

I forgot what all that grass was until today, when I noticed the little flowers! It's my grape hyacinth!

My little tulips are budding! This fact inspired a little jig that I hope the neighbors didn't see, and subsequently an excited call to my mom. :)

That's last year's poor Dusty Miller in the background. I think it's time to tear it out.

My bleeding heart is making a comeback!

And finally, SOMEONE keeps nibbling on my hibiscus!! Can you guess who it might be?

This flower actually lasted longer than most. (Do you like my Aquaglobe? I heartily recommend them, but if you have them in a tropical plant, they definitely don't last the advertized week.)

Those April Showers...

Well, at least they should bring flowers, right?

I love Dan's face in this. And how Ginger is completely uninterested in playing.

My first hibiscus bloom of the season. Sorry it's so blurry -- stupid camera!

Dan put a new door on the shed he bought last fall. And we wasted no time in filling it up with stuff!

You can still see the remnants of a temporary tattoo DC gave him on his inner right forearm.

All of my gardening things! He also took out a shelf that divided the entire thing into upper and lower. There were two doors (top and bottom) when we got it, too. Thank goodness for my own personal handyman!

Tulips pushing up through the Dusty Miller, which actually still looks pretty good.

Next time I'll know to bring in my ceramic garden markers for the winter. :( My "Keep Off the Dirigible Plums" HP allusion is ruined! Anna, would you like to make me a replacement? I have a birthday coming up, you know. ;)

Irises and sedum peeking through!

I think this is the lysimachia, but it looks like sedum coming up! I'll have to keep an eye on this.

Two other things coming back up that are looking very interesting. I especially love the second one, which looks almost like a red sedum!

So hilarious!

My third baby blanket!

Cornholing?

No, really! It's not as bad as it sounds!!


Cornhole is actually just a bean bag toss game. And it's totally fun. But you can imagine my surprise when I came into the library and opened up the computer and PlayCornhole.org was up in Firefox. Um, what?

But all cornholing aside, our barbecue was a blast. The shish kabobs were delicious! And the rain didn't even last all night.

My lisianthus is falling over, but it doesn't seem to bother it any.

These Exotic Impatiens are just so pretty!

Grape Crush New Guinea impatiens and nemesia.

Salvia and Dusty Miller are making themselves perfectly at home.

These, I think, are dahlias coming up from the tubers I planted a few months ago in the petunia garden.

And speaking of dahlias, my highlighter dahlias are making a comeback!

The Indestructible Thyme is blooming! (Keep off it.)

There are still a few flowers on my columbine.

But most importantly, yesterday my first lily opened! Say hello to my newest addition, Happy Returns.

Dusty Miller and Salvia

Annual flats are on sale right now at my local nursery for $10 each, which is pretty good considering the size. So I went and CONTROLLED MYSELF and only got two. And a hibiscus. And yes, Mom, I planted them all in the same day. ;)

This "hibiscuit" is called Cool Wind. Isn't it pretty? A woman working at the nursery saw it in my basket and commented on how pretty it was.

The whole thing. It was just a 6" pot, so it's a good container one. Especially since I learned my lesson and I'm not planting it in the ground like I did with my pretty one last year -- they're only hardy to 55 degrees!

The clearest picture yet of my nemesia.

The portulaca has multiple flowers now! So pretty. Margarita Peppermint. :)

The Outback Paper Flower. Its buds kind of look like little beetles with all the overlapping shiny stuff, don't they?

The Indestructible Wisteria is growing like crazy since it's started getting watered regularly.

Look at the shoots my coleus are sending up! I think they're going to flower. Interestingly, the Red Velvet coleus (like the one in front) that I kept inside is not doing this.

The far patch of Las Vegas irises is still going strong.

The petunias seem to have appreciated the torrential rain we've had for the past day-and-a-half or so. Yay!

Here are the Dusty Miller and the Red Vista salvia put in on one side of the porch steps. The bad news is, Dan and I finally caved and admitted that what we thought was Jim's moss rose was, in fact, a weed. *tear* So I tore it all out, and I had all this empty space. The annual sale just happened to coincide perfectly.

The other side isn't as uniform, and I can't decide which side I like better.

I just love these violas. They're so happy.

Dan's peach tree had 38 baby peaches on it at last count. That was before Dan took all but 18 off to make sure the poor little tree doesn't die under its own weight. Here are the biggest ones. As usual, sorry about the focus.

In completely unrelated news, I went upstairs when I was finished planting, and found Ginger and Elphie lounging in Elphie's room in the sun. I went downstairs to get my camera, and when I came back up, Ginger was giving Elphie a bath!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!

It was so sweet! Elph was purring like crazy. I'm so glad they're getting along so well now.

And then Elph had her photo shoot.

She's just so darn tiny!