My Herb Garden

I love this time of year when the trees start to show buds of new growth, red buds and crab apple trees start to color the drive home from work, and the dirt is just begging to be turned over for spring planting.  This past weekend we broke 80 degrees here in Texas and I couldn't wait to my hands dirty!

My poor neglected herb garden needed some serious TLC.

 

First I had to get all the leaves out.

 

 

 

 Merlin thought this was great fun!

 

 

Then off to the store for new annuals, potting soil and mulch.

 

 

Yumm!  I couldn't resist!  Warning! keep mint in its own container or it will take over your garden!

 

 

Pruning really should be done in the fall but these perennials are hardy and will come back this early in the spring.

 

 

I don't seem to ever have enough fresh basil so I bought 4 plants this year.

 

 

 

Leaves gone, herbs pruned and replanted and garden mulched!  Ahh I can almost taste the delicious fresh dishes I'll be using these herbs in this summer!

 

Even Merlin agrees!

 

 

 

 

Boo Boo Kitty Baby Quilt

If this is not the cutest Halloween fabric I don't know what is!  I found the fabric this past summer but just finished binding the quilt today so I could get it in my Etsy Shop before Halloween comes and goes!

Catching Mr Opossum

This story will break your heart. (beware last photo is sad)  The other day I was coming home and saw an injured opossum cross my driveway and crawl under our shed.  So I called animal control and they sent over a humane animal trap.

 

 

That first night we caught a cat.  The next night the trap stayed empty and then animal control took the cage.

This morning I found the little fella laying in our yard still alive but barely.  I've called animal control and they are sending someone out.  I hope they come soon.  I hate to see him laying out there in such misery.

A Trick to Remember Aperture

I finished another quilt for my Etsy Shop!  And so I decided to take it outside to take photographs of it.  Spring is such a nice time to take pictures. The green in all the plants is so vibrant and you usually can find a little color in the blooms around.  Irises are my favorite flower and here in Texas they are blooming everywhere!  So I stuck my quilt up on the fence and took a few pictures.

 As I was going in I noticed my cat lounging among the flowers and thought how nice of him to pose for me for me like that.  I’m just learning the art of photography and the more I experiment with the functions on my camera the more fun it gets.  At the present I keep my camera setting on P (program mode) I’m learning about aperture (F-stop) because it’s what makes that one item in focus and all the rest blurry giving the subject that “popped-high definition” look.  The way I remember it is; the lower the F-stop number the fewer things in focus.  So I set my F-stop at 4.4 and got Merlin in focus and St. Francis blurred.

Meet Merlin

I've been told that if I use a telephoto lens, I'll get an even more dramatic effect. Can't wait to try that.