Monday, March 28, 2011

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has definitely sprung in Texas and I have the fever, for sure.  I know some of you don't care for the time change that comes with spring, but I don't mind it a bit!  We've been enjoying the extra light in our evenings.  For some reason, it makes the evenings feel longer and I definitely need that.  Mr.P and Sabrina are back to wearing one of Daddy's t-shirts when they can't locate any jammies, or if they're just too lazy to go find some, and that always means summer is on the way.  I've always loved seeing the kids run around in a cool, cotton t-shirt with their little legs and feet sticking out of the bottoms.  It's a sure sign of warmer weather, in this house.  With spring comes our garden.  I CAN'T WAIT to dig my hands in the dirt and plant.  We do the usual -- tomato, peppers, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, lots of different herbs and this year we are trying our hand at.......strawberries!  I've read that they spread, so to keep them under control, we plan on putting them in a planter.  I hope they thrive.  It will be nice to bite into a plump, juicy homegrown strawberry in a few months.

Last year, Jeremy drove us to a cotton field that he passes every day on the way to work.  At that time, the cotton was perfectly fluffy and ready to be picked.  I'd never seen a cotton field before and the kids and I were just bubbling over with excitement.  He was just planning on driving us by the field, but I just couldn't help myself.  I "politely" ordered him to pull to the side of the road so the kids and I could get a closer look.  I couldn't get out of the car fast enough.  It was just so cool to see a whole field of cotton puffs.  It was in the afternoon, but Jeremy said in the morning when the sun is shining on the field, it's very pretty.  I hopped out of the car and as I was studying this plant, I just couldn't help myself and plucked a fluff of raw cotton right off.  Jeremy, still in the driver's seat and already paranoid about being stopped in the middle of the road, was horrified at what I'd done. lol  And if that weren't enough, I told the kids that each of them could also pull off one fluff and then we had to go.  Jeremy, wild-eyed, was expecting Farmer Brown to pull up any minute in his cotton picking station wagon and haul us in to the local police station....or that's how he looked anyway.  His eyes kept darting around, looking for any sign of the fuzz, while he kept instructing (more like pleading with) us to hurry up. lol  I kept giggling and telling him to calm down...it was only 5 cotton balls and one plant makes around 4.  Each ball of cotton that we picked had seeds enbedded in it.  I carefully picked out each of the seeds and I think we'll plant them in the garden as well.  It would be cool if they produce even a mini cotton ball for us!

This year we got smart and instead of spending lots of money on plants, we spent a little money on seeds.  We planted them at the end of January and now they're ready to go into the ground.  My friend's dad, Popo, also gave us some nice hearty tomato plants that he grew from seeds.  His are much stronger and prettier than ours, so hopefully some, if not all, of our plants will take off.

I'm also looking forward to filling my hummingbird feeder and putting it out.  Last year, I saw no hummingbirds : (  The year before, I loved watching them, but for some reason, they didn't make a visit last year.  My daddy had the same thing happen, so maybe there was something going on.  Whatever it was, hopefully it won't keep them from making an appearance this year.  I also received a new finch feeder for Christmas!  I've had one on my birthday and Christmas lists for a couple of years now and I was finally good enough to receive one!  I can't wait to hang that one up also.  Maybe I'll get to work on that tomorrow...

Lastly, I received a package in the mail yesterday from my daddy.  It had these strange little woodchips inside and a note from him telling me to call when I received the package and he'd explain what they were.  I'm just sure it has something to do with spring!

Longer evenings, lighter clothing, birdies chirping, mowers buzzing, gardens to plant.....yes, spring has definitely sprung.

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