Spring Garden

The weather was too wonderful this past weekend not to be working ouside on the garden. Here are a few pics...

Alyssum...smells sooo good:
A cool sprout...Mallow maybe? Sedum!

I planted many new sedum, hot peppers (habernero, jaloro and mariachi), horsetail reed, some salvia, germander, thai basil, greek oregano and cucumbers. Also, my angel trumpets (datura) are both sprouting like mad and returning from the root.

Kit-Kat and Barack and Peas...oh my!

Yep. We love our Kit Kat clock! Doesn't everyone? My wife suprised me with one of these a few years ago...I probably have 500 shots of this since I take a picture of it every time I walk by. Check out these hinges in the kitchen. I'm guessing the kitchen remodel occurred in the late 60's? That's a complete guess. Does anyone have an idea of the time period for these hinges? I'm thinking they were fairly common at one point. They're cozy and rustic. I've heard comments that "it's like the kitchen I grew up in" -- but they must go! I'll post pics of the complete "before" kitchen later.

Barack Obama paid a visit to Austin today -- very cool, indeed. Just a couple of pics then back to the house/garden...yay!

Here's a shot of the crowd looking back towards the old Palmer Auditorium that is being converted into the new Long Center for Performing Arts. I love that they kept the old ring that supported the convention area dome!

The first pea sprout! My favorite veggie every year is the sugar snap pea! Here's the first, sole sprout. I expect more in a day or two. I'll have handfulls of peas in the next month or so!!!

Progress Permitting...

So I had a great 40-minute phone conversation with the city permit office today. The gentleman that I spoke with was incredibly friendly, informative and willing to go out of his way to help out. The greatest thing? He had a sense of humor! NOT what I expected when I placed the call. Anyway, I'm glad to know that I can request to meet with him when I hit the offices next week.

Why the fuss? Well, I'm keen to keep the changes on the up-and-up since I'll be renewing and/or replacing plumbing and electrical systems among other things -- who knows what code details I'll miss without the inspectors keeping me honest! ;-]

Cleanout! is still in progress but on schedule. Now stuff is beginning to pile up in the office:

I got hit with the gardening bug again (darn spring fever!) and spend several hours outside pruning. Now I have several piles of brush for pick-up. Maggie, our rat terrier has been helping...

[that's the shed...I had fun building that when we moved in a few years ago]

This time of the year in Austin is great...plants are just awakening. Like this hydrangea:

I mentioned that Maggie was helping...well, that was until she sacked out:

Spring Fever Strikes!

I was overcome by the urge to garden so I abandoned any plans to work on the house today. I'll always jump on the opportunity to throw on shorts and a t-shirt in February. This gives me the chance to make progress on my restructured beds and lay a few seeds down (veggie beds R.I.P.). Someday I'll post more about the wonders of hand-quarried limestone and the transformation of this backyard.

Yea! The beans and franks look delicious this time of year! I think some people call them "pork and beans" but I'm not in that camp.

BEANS!

FRANKS!

I threw some seeds down in addition to transplanting alyssum, blackfoot daisy and rosemary:

• Dill - Boquet - Anethum graveolens - from Botanical Interests
• Basil - Summerlong - from Burpee Signature
• Lemon Balm - from Ferry-Morse Seed Co.
• Columbine - Dragonfly Hybrid Mixture - from Ferry-Morse Seed Co.