From Jumbled Mess to Kitchen Herb Garden

The small flower bed in front of our house had become a jumbled mess of cactus, Spanish Daggers, ruellia, and assorted weeds. My son suggested we pull everything out, replace the dirt with garden soil and plant an herb garden. Since the kitchen window is right above this space, it seemed to make perfect sense. Now to tackle the removal of those pesky plants.

The first thing we had to do was to cut the daggers off the Spanish Daggers. Those things are lethal! Here's what it looked like when we'd finished that little chore:

Once we had them cut down to size, we had to dig everything up. I don't know if you are familiar with Spanish Daggers, but they send out runners which will produce new plants. The jungle I had growing in my small space started out as just one tiny little plant. Once we dug everything out, we covered the space with black plastic sheeting which would help kill any runners left behind. I certainly did not want another crop of daggers growing in my herb garden! I decided that the border would again be made out of Topo Chico bottles, of which we have an abundant supply, thanks to my husband's voracious Topo Chico habit.

Once I had the border finished and the new soil installed, it was off to the nursery to purchase some herbs for the garden. We got three types of basil, chive, dill, sage, mint, oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, and a small pepper plant.

The plants are all thriving, and now I can just clip fresh herbs whenever I need them. This is way better than dodging those sharp daggers!

From Dead Grass to Cactus Garden

Well, it's been a while since I last posted in this blog. As promised, I've been working on my front yard landscaping project. The summer of 2011 was blisteringly hot and dry, and a good-sized portion of the grass in my front yard died. I created a border around the dead area using glass Topo Chico bottles.

I thought the grass in the enclosed area was dead, but when the spring rains came, all kinds of weed grasses filled in where the St. Augustine had died. Since I was planning to plant cactus and agave, I didn't want to use any herbicides in this area, so I covered it with black plastic.

Once this was done, I left the area covered for several months to ensure that the underlying vegetation was killed. I then laid out the design for my plants, and went to a landscaping company for crushed gravel. The landscaper recommended leaving as much of the plastic in place to discourage weeds from coming back, so I cut large holes in the plastic and dug holes for planting my cactus and agave, then filled in with the granite.

I have been very pleased with the result. It was hard work, but well worth it. The agaves and cactus are thriving, and the maintenance is minimal. I don't have to water at all, which is great considering how dry we've been this summer. My next post will be all about digging up the Spanish Daggers in the front bed and turning that space into a kitchen herb garden.

Bottle Borders

Those who know me, know I like to drink wine...a lot of wine! A few years ago, a friend told me about using empty wine bottles as landscape edging. I've got several flowerbeds edged with wine bottles, and now I'm starting a new project using empty Topo Chico bottles. For those of you who don't know, Topo Chico is a mineral water from Mexico, very fizzy. The bottles are pale green, with the Topo Chico label painted on. My husband drinks lots and lots of Topo Chico, and as a result, we have lots and lots of empty bottles on recycling day. As a result of this year's drought, I have a large section of grass in my front yard that has died. I've decided to edge this space with the bottles and plant cactus and agave, and fill in with pea gravel. If you do a search on the web for borders using bottles, you will find many results, all of which will tell you to dig a hole and bury the bottle neck down, with the top half of the bottle underground. In the beginning, I used this technique, but after hours of backbreaking labor, I figured there must be an easier way, and there was! Simply soak the ground where you want to put the bottles, set the bottle upside down, and pound it into the ground using a rubber mallet. You'll be amazed at how many bottles you can set using this method. I've set wine bottles, coke bottles, beer bottles, and Topo Chico bottles quickly and easily. Just make sure you use a rubber mallet!

Reunion Time!

Once again it is time for the annual reunion of my college dorm mates. We met at Texas Tech University in the fall of 1971 and became very good friends. When we graduated from college, some of us went our separate ways, but managed to stay in contact with each other. In the summer of 1982 we decided to have a reunion at Possum Kingdom Lake. We had so much fun we decided to meet again the next summer. Husbands and children were not allowed with nursing babies being the exception. We continued to meet every year, always on the weekend after July 4. My kids grew up knowing that mommy went away for one weekend every summer. It's what kept me sane through those years of child-rearing and professional volunteerism.

The really great thing about our group is the fact that we have remained close friends for over 40 years. And by close, I don't mean proximity. We don't all live in the same city; some of us don't even live in the same state. We have a bond, an emotional and spiritual tie that keeps us together through good times and bad. We've been there for each other through marriages and divorces; through sickness and health; through the deaths of parents and of children. We've lost one member to breast cancer. But each and every summer, regardless of what has gone on in our personal lives during the year, we gather the weekend after the 4th of July to rekindle and renew our friendship. This year was extra special. Not only was it our 30th reunion, but one of our members found out the weekend before the reunion that she had a half-sister she knew nothing about. It is an amazing story, and too long to go into here, but believe me, it is a beautiful and wonderful thing for everyone concerned. I guess the point I am trying to make is that our experiences, shared with each other, have helped us to navigate through this thing called life. I am truly blessed to be a part of this group of amazing women, and I thank God that I lived on the 5th floor of Clement Hall at Texas Tech in 1971.

Ireland, Part Three

A few weeks before our visit to Ireland, President Obama visited Moneygall, Ireland to reconnect with his Irish roots. As it turned out, Moneygall was only a few miles from Portumna, so naturally we had to visit and have a pint (or two) in Ollie Hayes' pub, the pub President and Mrs. Obama stopped in when they went to Moneygall. My husband Drew collects political memorabilia, so he gave me some posters and buttons to give the owners of the pub. The pub was quite charming, freshly cleaned and painted (as was the whole town, thanks to a donation of paint from Ireland's largest paint distributor). There was a tour bus parked outside, but the tourists were mostly Irish folk. We were regaled with stories of the event by two brothers who had been drinking in that pub for the past 50 years (so they said). We met the owner, Ollie Hayes, his lovely wife, and Henry Healy, who is President Obama's eighth cousin. The locals have dubbed him "Henry the Eighth." We presented them with the Obama poster from a campaign event held in Austin, and also handed out buttons to all the patrons in the pub. The town of Moneygall may not have been on the tour maps before, but it sure is now!

Ireland, Part Two

Portumna is only about 40 miles from Galway, so we made it a point to visit the gHotel in Galway City. The interiors were designed by Phillip Treacy, the same designer responsible for those fantastic hats worn by many women at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. We were not disappointed....the place was gorgeous. We had a drink in what I called "The Blue Lounge". The walls were blue, but the furnishings were a mix of deep purple and burnt orange. There was also a bright pink lounge with gold and white accents and a black and white op art carpet on the floor. It was a lovely place to have a nice cocktail. They also serve high tea there in the afternoons. Tres chic!

Ireland, Part One

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Ireland. I am more in love with that country than ever. We booked a cottage in the tiny hamlet of Ballycrissane, just outside of Portumna, County Galway. The cottage used to be the post office, and the building is 500 years old, located on a working sheep farm. It is so quiet there, you can hear the bees buzzing in the garden! The town of Portumna is so very quaint and charming...a real Irish town. This is my second visit to Portumna, and we've made friends there who look forward to our visits. One great friend in particular is Seamus Hayes, owner of Hayes Pub. Every evening, you can find Seamus pouring the perfect Guinness pint and holding court with the local gentry in the pub.
Some evenings, a rousing card game will go on into the wee hours. But the main attraction is the conversation going on around you. The rhythm of the voices, the Irish accents, the sounds of the glasses clinking...you get transported back in time. The pub has been in business since the early 1900's (it was a pharmacy prior to that), and aside from a few modern conveniences, nothing much has changed. It's a lovely place to drink a pint and pass the time.