Instead of focusing on the negative when it snows, I like to look at the positive. Here are a few shots from my yard.

For the past 4 years Jesse and I have planted a large vegetable garden. We have really grown to love caring for our crops. This year we were a bit disappointed at the lack of quality vegetables that were produced. We planted early this year–April 24–with the expectation that if we got a head start we would get more bang for our buck. The local wildlife benefited more from this idea than we did.

The early girl tomatoes came to fruition in June. The green and red peppers are still ripening. We also planted jalapenos, squash and pumpkins. We have several pumpkins in the garden. We are hoping the bugs and other wildlife don’t eat them before October. We also planted herbs in pots on our porch–basil, oregano, cilantro, mint and chives. The cilantro died early but the mint, chives and basil are still thriving.

This year we branched out and planted red onions. I had no idea when we bought the bunch of onions that each 1 (of the approximately 60 that we had) has to be planted separately. That was mind numbing! I also neglected pulling weeds in the onion patch for months and it turned into a jungle! Yesterday I waded into the jungle to dig up onions. I dug up 3. Two did not grow bigger than a nickel. The third grew slightly larger and you can tell that it is actually a red onion, but it was too tiny to even cut up! I had NO idea it would take this long to grow an onion! Is this normal? How long do you need to keep onions in the ground before you extract them?

My experience yesterday generated these lessons we’ve learned from vegetable gardening:

1. We will never, ever plant onions again!

2. Cantaloupe cannot grow and flourish in the soil in our back yard.

3. Plant early so that the vegetables have enough time to produce before the fall frost arrives.

4. Plant items far enough apart to prevent overcrowding.

5. Pull weeds regularly! I wonder if the ground coverings that you can lay down on the soil when you plant the items prevents much weed growth?

6. Cover strawberry plants with a mesh net before the wildlife eat them.

7. Stagger planting. Stagger the planting of the same kinds of plants over the course of a few weeks so that when they ripen you don’t end up with 50 ripe tomatoes all at the same time.

Jesse and I have had a lot of fun watching “our baby rabbit” grow in the last month. We see him or her every evening when we water plants and do other yard work. He or she was always alone … until tonight.

This evening I saw two rabbits roaming about our vegetable garden. I watched to see if they ate any of our vegetables; they did not. They hopped over to our neighbor’s yard, then a few minutes later came back and stopped by our rose garden. I captured these photographs. I love how they are both relaxing in the second picture.

I read an article in a newspaper a few weeks ago that said the Washington, D.C. area is experiencing a rabbit boom this year. This is the first year since we’ve lived here that we’ve seen any in our yard. I have a feeling that now that I’ve seen two, more may be inhabiting our yard in a few months …

Our week was jam-packed with fun! We started with a picnic dinner on the banks of White Rock Lake. We ate delicious Texas barbecue and listened to the sounds of Celtic rock from the band playing an outdoor concert next door at the arboretum. Look at that sunset!

Dallas has some fantastic museums! The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University holds the largest collection of Spanish art in the United States. It was interesting to see such a huge museum on a college campus.

We visited Forth Worth one day where we strolled through the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and ate a delicious lunch at the Kimbell Art Museum. It was the best museum food we’ve ever eaten, probably because the museum does not contract their food services with an outside vendor. The chef has been at the Kimbell for 30 years, and has published her own cookbook, The Kimbell Cookbook. We had a chance to chat with her while she bused our table!

We also stopped by the Fort Worth Botanical Garden. The highlight of our visit was a walk through the spacious and lush Japanese garden. There we saw a huge zen garden, and had a fun time feeding the koi.

John surprised us Wednesday night with tickets to see the musical “Rock of Ages.” We absolutely loved it!! The performers and the musicians in the band were first-rate! I (the ’80s music aficionado) knew every song that was performed. If you have not yet seen it, we recommend it! Any child of the ’80s will love it!

On Friday we visited Southfork Ranch of “Dallas” TV fame! OK, that was my pick, but Rebecca and Jesse said they both enjoyed it too.  We took a tour of the house and learned a few tricks of the trade that the TV producers used when filming the outdoor scenes. Actually, the owner at the time would allow the TV producers to only film on the outside of the house, and they could only shoot during summer months. It was a bit of a cheesy tour, but fun.

We ate delicious Mexican food Friday night (including cactus) at a restaurant in Oak Cliff. That was followed by another surprise–tickets to see three Texas blues/rock bands at the Kessler Theater! The headliner, Carolyn Wonderland, was outstanding! She is a musician from Austin who reminded us of Janis Joplin.

Before we departed on Saturday we took in more awesome museums in Dallas–the Dallas Museum of Art and the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.  The Crow Museum is a bit on the small side, but it has some outstanding modern and ancient Asian art and artifacts. The atmosphere is very serene, and Rebecca has even taken a few tai chi classes in the upstairs art gallery.

Jesse and I have been busy building our nest. Spring is in full gear so we are now busy with yard work. We planted a vegetable garden the last week of April, and watched with amazement as our gorgeous rose garden bloomed for the first time this season. We promise to share some wedding photos with you soon!

Our plans have changed for the better!

We are expecting beautiful weather on Sunday afternoon with a high temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The original plan was to have our ceremony in the glass pavilion at the Antrim. We are now planning to have an outdoor ceremony in the rose garden. If it does rain (and it is supposed to  rain Sunday evening) everything will be moved inside to the glass pavilion. It is too early in the season for roses to be in bloom. Daffodils have appeared at my house, so I’m hoping there will at least be a few daffodils peeping through the ground on Sunday in Taneytown.

The beautiful weather we’ve been having is amazing! I always wanted to have an outdoor wedding, but we never expected we’d be able to do that in March. You never know what Mother Nature will hand you in March in the Mid-Atlantic–high winds, snow, rain, cold weather, warm weather–it’s a gamble. We were hoping for an unseasonably warm day on March 21st, and it looks like that what we will get. We are so excited!

Here are a few pics of the fun and shock of the beauty of the snowstorm!
 
Snow in the front!

Snow on the side!

This is a question people have asked me over and over for many years. Today I finally have an answer:

March 21, 2010!

Jesse and I will be entering spring of 2010 as a married couple! We will be married at 3 p.m. at the Antrim 1844 Country House and Hotel in Taneytown, MD. Built in 1844, the Antrim is a former plantation located on 24 acres near the Catoctin Mountains in Maryland. It has gorgeous gardens in the back yard, with 2 bronze fountains and a gazebo. It also has a very cool-looking black bottomed pool, tennis court and croquet court. I always wanted to have my wedding at a place that had either a gazebo or fountain (for photo opportunities), and this place has both!

Here are a few photos from our visit.

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Our ceremony will take place on one side of the glass pavilion, located a few feet away from the main house. After the ceremony our guests will head up to the main house for drinks and hors d’oevres. Dinner will be served an hour later back inside of the glass pavilion.

I did so much research on possible ceremony venues. We are happy that we’ve finally selected a place! Now I can get rid of all the information I collected on the venues that we didn’t select. We are looking forward to our complimentary dinner and menu consultation with the Antrim’s award-winning chef.

I had been caring for this plant for 3 years and was so used to not seeing any blooms that I initially overlooked the first flower that opened. I was so excited that I ran inside to tell Jesse. He came outside and took some photos of it in the dark. They look really cool.

I waited until a few more blooms opened up before I took my own pictures.  The flowers smell sweet, and they remind me of paradise.

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This special plant’s ancestors date back to 1977 when my Great Aunt Margaret and Uncle Dick visited Hawaii. They returned with a plumeria plant. My aunt re-rooted the plant many times over the last 32 years. She gave offspring to me and my mom years ago. My mom’s plant bloomed a few years ago, but hasn’t since. I really love mine!