Pumpkins???

So, sometimes laziness and procrastination pay off.

During the spring, I planted some impatiens in an old sink basin and put it out front (you can sort of see it in the right hand corner of that picture). That sink was such an awesome find in my dad's greenhouse. Its a (slightly rusty) cobalt blue and, because its a sink basin, it has drainage out of the bottom and is perfect for planting. I thought it was perfect and very Baltimore. We put all kinds of crap in our front yards.

Anyhow, when I was planting the flowers, I used some old potting soil that I had never put away from when I used it last year and which had been sitting to the side of the porch all winter and spring. (Not putting the soil away, my first little bit o' Laziness and Procrastination. I procrastinated so long that it was back to planting season.) The soil worked fine, the plants have prospered nicely, and grew all summer long.

Well, towards the end of summer, I noticed a vine growing in the corner of the planter. I watched it grow as I walked by it daily, always saying to myself that I should pull it out the next time I walked by (the "Next Time" see, more Procrastination). Well, I never DID pull that silly vine out, and one day when I walked by I looked closer and saw that there was an orange flower at the end. Now...I think...that the vine...that I didn't pull out because I'm a lazy procrastinator...is a PUMPKIN VINE!!!

This all makes perfect sense, because also last year, right by where I left the potting soil to sit all winter, I also left our fall pumpkins to rot and go back into the soil all Circle of Life like. So....the pumpkin seeds must have migrated towards the bag of soil (which had a huge hole in the bottom), so that when I then used it to plant the flowers...I also planted...PUMPKINS!!!!

(Unless they aren't pumpkin vines...but I think they are...?)



After planting the impatiens, I used the rest of the soil to go around the hostas I have in front, so now I see that I have multiple vines!

So excited! I will give you updates on any actual pumpkin production. How cool would that be?!



So the moral to this story, is that sometimes...Procrastination Works Out. :)



HAPPY FALL!

I don't think its TECHNICALLY fall yet, but maybe it is, what day is the first day of fall? I could Google that right now- hold on...ok, it said the first official day of fall is September 22nd, so I suppose its not officially fall yet. In my world however, the first day of fall is September 1st, so...HAPPY FALL everyone!

I love fall. The crisp air (which unfortunately in Baltimore, can be allusive until November. We might be lucky this year though, its been promisingly cool this week.) The colors, the pumpkins, the leaves, the cider, the seasonal beverages at Starbucks...I love it.

I picked myself up some mums at Giant last week, as well as a sunflower in a pot. (The picture on the left is not the Giant of course. It would be awesome if my neighborhood supermarket looked like that! That's a picture from the pumpkin patch a few years ago). I got a yellow one and a rust colored one and they are out front making me happy. On a side note, I walked to Giant instead of taking the car. I packed the Baboo into the stroller, which is conveniently outfitted with a large basket underneath the seat (and cup holders, it also has cupholders- my favorite feature) and we rolled along to the store. It was nice to not use the car, and it was also nice to have a walk. My neighborhood is pretty cute, so I've been trying to walk more and get my fill of the near by domestic cuteness.

Anyway, I wanted to wish everyone a happy fall! I hope you are enjoying it!  What is your favorite fall activity?

Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Well, yesterday after writing a blog in the morning, it set the tone for a really nice day. Even though I wasn't writing anything exciting, just the act of making time to write something made me feel like I was taking control of my creativity and drove out the feeling that I am being pushed along without having time to do things that nurture me. So even after just a small amount of writing, it made my whole day better- which is sort of weird to me, but I'm not going to argue with it, I'm going to try to learn my lesson and make time for creativity. Even five minutes.


Moving on.


Today is another beautiful day and since I don't really have anything plans, I think I'm going to take the opportunity to play in the dirt (or prepare things for future playing in the dirt.) I am really excited because this week the hostas I planted last year (which I got cheap off of craigslist- LOVE craigslist) are coming up again! My front "yard" is just a small plot of mulch that my landlord put down before we moved in. I wanted to do more with it last year, but because of the fact that for most of the spring/early summer I was either pregnant or recovering from a C-section, it didn't get done, which was disappointing. I did get the hostas thrown into the dirt, but that's about it. So I'm REALLY excited that they took, and I'm really excited to plant more things this year.

My current plan is to use an old blue sink basin that I saw in my dad's greenhouse last week to plant some impatiens or some other annual, and then plant perennials in the rest of the space. I like plants that come back every year. Less work (and money) for me.

I think the sink basin will look cool. Hopefully my neighbors across the street will think so too, they're the sort to call my landlord and complain if anything doesn't jive with their sense of lawn propriety. I think they all need other hobbies besides getting their panties in a wad over what everyone else is doing, but whatever. :)

So, to document my process...here is the "before". You can see the hostas peeking through and some unsightly piles of leaves from when I raked the other day. Flowers forthcoming.

Whee for spring!

Oh...and the porch. The porch will probably be my first project, because....

EW.