Baby Daum expected May 2015

Chris and I are happy to announce we're excepting a little bundle of joy of our own.
We shared the exciting news with our immediate family and friends early on in a number of different funny ways. My Dad got a 'Grandpa burger' from A&W, Chris' family got name tags indicating their new titles (Auntie Lisa, Great grandma Erna) and we also had  friends help us with dinner and they found a bun in the oven ha.

Once we were ready for the rest of our world to know we did a mini photo shoot at our family cabin in the Cariboo. My sister and sister in law were our very professional photographers, helping us with lighting and placement for the props which helped a lot. While taking the photos we thought we had some really good ones then decided on the very last photo that was taken, typical ha. I couldn't be happier with it. The Teddy Bear, rocking chair and Cowichan sweater were all Chris' from when he was a baby! I can't wait to dress our little baby in the sweater to match ours!

 

Here are a few other photos that we took that day

 

 

 

Then of course there were a few silly ones! Don't worry I was just holding the beer and of course the gun wasn't loaded. I think this was Chris' way of preparing for if it's a girl!

 

 

Garden update: 2 weeks of water, sunshine and love

It's pretty amazing what happens after 2 weeks, water, sunshine and Love ha ha.

It seems the lettuce is in the lead, then the snow peas and cucumbers. The Bush beans were added a little later but we're hoping they'll fill the teepee. I added Dahlia's to the front of the plot to add some colour...I can't wait for them to bloom!

DIY Patio Herb Garden with wine cork lables

Having the community garden has been great however when we're cooking dinner and need some fresh parsley I thought it would be handy to have some growing at home. My patio doesn't have much room after the table, chairs, bench and BBQ. After scrolling around on Pintrest I found a  number of ways to use the space you have and I decided on Soup can planters (I decided to use Chick Pea cans instead as their a little bigger).

I used a hammer and nail to make drainage holes at the bottom then I put two holes on the side then used natural Burlap string to tie them to the railing. I couldn't decide on how to lable my herbs as there are so many creative was but then I looked above our cabinents at the giant vase we toss our wine corks into. I wrote the name of each herb and stuck it in the soil using a kebab stick and voila! I don't know why I was surprised but I couldn't believe how many red wine corks I had lying around!!

 

The Herb Garden box was a gift from my Brother Sean and his wife Stacey. I decided to keep the planters in them to have everything separate, also I found when I had it filled with dirt it wasn't getting enough drainage. also you want to keep your mint separate from your other herbs or it will just take over!  

 

 

 

Who doesn't love a white picket fence

Everyone knows once you plant your seeds all you can do is water and wait. Chris and I would come every night to give the garden a good soak and add any items we've picked up from yard sales, thrift stores or in this case behind the shed at my Mom and Dad's house. I don't know what brought me back there but as soon as I saw it I remember it was as used at my brothers wedding and now was collecting cobwebs, I knew the perfect place for it!

 

Adding some personality

Once we put a few rows of seeds into the ground we noticed things took off quickly.

After volunteering for the day at London Farm garden sale we got tips from the veteran gardeners. I also scored a few items that I was very excited would add a little personality to our space (of course only adding to the pink flamingo that went in on day 1). The two square frames were about a dollar each. The wooden one made a great barrier for the strawberries. I originally had flowers as you can see from the photo below however Chris put up a fuss that this was prime real estate and should be used for something edible...strawberries were the perfect compromise of pretty flowers, edible and a must in any garden.

The second frame was the base for my peas. I knew I wanted something fun for them to grow up. We already have the tent with netting for the beans but I love snap peas so why not since we have the room.

I had my mom help me build the teepee trellis. We put the middle bamboo stick in first then one by one added the thinner twigs. I needed the second set of hands, definitely wouldn't have been able to do it myself.

Once we used up all of the sticks we wrapped the top with wire. I also wrapped the wire half way down for the vines to have more area to latch onto .

After removing the flowers and putting the strawberry plants into the planter we added a long stick that we found across the street at the beach. We were on our bikes so it was very funny watching Chris drag it while I was riding alongside him drinking a my wine in a to-go cup ha.

The stick ended up being more functional then we thought, it was nice to rest your arm on it while you were putting seeds in the rows. In other rows found I did a lot of lunging while trying to reach the other end of the row.  

In the photo below we had just planted the lettuce. The ones we started at home didn't take in the hard clay so we also added some new fertilizer
 
I love how every time we go we make changes or add something or see our little plants grow. I can't wait to make a salad ha.