The Lumberjack's Wife

Life has been busy around here!  Let’s play a little guessing game to see if you can figure out all that we have been up to.

I’ll show you some pictures and you can guess what’s been happening in the comments section below, if you’d like.

Come on!  It will be fun!

Event #1:

Event #2

Event #3

Event #4

And Event #4 came to a screeching halt about 3 hours into the whole ordeal.

Let’s see if you can reckon why.

If you’d like to take a guess, you can leave a comment.  I’ll be back soon to fill you all in.

Happy Monday!

The children have decided to go into the wildflower biz.  That, of course, means they are gathering wildflowers around our property for the purpose of selling them to innocent bystanders.  Like grandparents who feel too badly to turn them down.

Are they flowers? Are they weeds?

You be the judge.

We are still working on the installation of the horse fence.  I thought we were going to be working on this fun-filled activity all weekend long when David informed me on Saturday that we must take a break from our mad-fence-building-skills (or skillz, whichever you prefer) and go acquire some hay.

Growing up, my family never had the need for hay, seeing as how our pet was a severely obese cocker spaniel.  So, I was unfamiliar with the hay process.

Oh!  Let me tell you all what I have learned from my brilliant husband!

1)  Hay.  It is just grass.  That is all.

Mind blown.

It is really tall grass that has been cut and dried out a bit.

2)  Straw.  It is the part of hay that animals don’t eat.  You can use it for bedding and such, but it is not for consuming.

There is difference between hay and straw!  Who knew?!

Consider yourselves informed.

Anyways.  I have never had to go to Farmer Bob’s house and load some hay bales.  David informed me that this activity, and I quote, “pretty much sucks.”

There are a lot of things we do around here that David seems to enjoy and I think are downright wretched.  So doing something that David thinks is horrid . . . sign me up!

Turns out I got the easy job.  And I still found that part stressful.

The kids, David, and Farmer Bob were all to load the hay bales onto the truck/trailer and I was to drive the truck/trailer through the field.

The hay bales were too heavy for the kids, so they just started to try to roll them closer to the truck.  Little Dude quit after helping for about 2.8 seconds and joined me in the truck.  He then proceeded to ask me 18 million questions involving the meaning of life.

“What’s a mother?”

“What’s a father?”

“What makes a Grandma ‘great’?”

It was my first experience towing a trailer.  It wasn’t as glamorous as you might imagine.

David and Farmer Bob, whose name isn’t Farmer Bob at all, loaded 3 tons of hay onto the trailer.  Then, being men and all, decided that they should try to get another ton of hay onto the truck.  Because men enjoy seeing how strong their trucks are, didn’t you know?  It’s all very exciting for them.

So, David informs me I must drive the truck towing the trailer with 3 tons of hay up a hill and turn it around so they can load more hay into the truck.

I tried my best to appear cool and collected.

Midway up the hill, David hollers for me to, and I quote, “Hold up!”

Now, I do not know what on earth was so important for me to “hold up” at that particular time, but to even stop the truck mid-hill-climb-whilst-hauling-3 tons was a feat in and of itself.

Then he looks at me, with all the confidence in the world, and says, “Ok, you can keep going.”

Have you, pray tell, ever had to start a truck towing a trailer with 3 tons of hay mid-hill using a stick shift, ALL whiling trying to explain to your five year old why we call Great Grandma, “great?”

It is not for the faint of heart.

The truck started basically screaming and generally throwing a fit and I informed David that he could drive the truck up the hill.  Because trucks should not make such noises.

Here’s what the trailer looked like:

Look at that!  I DROVE THAT!  I am so manly.

Oh!  And guess what!  We are getting 3 MORE tons of hay on this very evening!

YAY!

Why do we need so much hay for one horse?  I don’t know.  Probably because David is going to surprise me or something and tell me we are going to be cattle ranchers instead.

And in case you are wondering, we don’t have the horse yet.  My husband just got a good deal from Farmer Bob and couldn’t pass it up.

So, we arrived at our homestead and had to unload and stack the hay bales.  THAT was work, man.  That’s the kind of chore that will build character.  And I have a new appreciation for my husband and his muscles.

***

Our anniversary was yesterday.  13 years!  Go us!

Happy Tuesday!

I just finished ordering SOME of the curriculum I will be needing for the upcoming school year.  Just for kicks and grins, my pal Melissa and I discussed how much it would cost me to send my four cherubs to private school.

Never mind the fact that I already know I can’t afford it.

Never mind the fact that it is a one hour drive each way to transport said cherubs.

Never mind the fact that Little Dude would be in Kindergarten and would only go half day, making my life all that much more complicated.

Never mind the fact that all of my kids love being homeschooled and, sadly, I am the only one left wondering if there is a better life out there somewhere.

I needed to know if I could possibly make it work.

No.  The answer was no.  A big, fat no, in case you were curious.  It was  basically like adding another house payment to our finances.

NO.  No, no, no.

So, I placed a big, fat curriculum order instead.  It was pretty large-ish in the cost department as well, but nowhere near the cost of private school.

I get all excited-like when it comes to curriculum.  I tend to think we have all the time in the world and then I start to get panicky looking at all the options and trying to figure out what all we can do.  I want to do it all!  And then I feel tired and want to put them in school.

I am sure this is all completely normal, right?  I am sure I am not alone in these thoughts, right?

Right.

So I got all stressed out and made another pie.  Because pie is the answer to all my education problems.  Obviously.

Guess what kind of pie I made . . . I know you can do it!

In other news, we got a gym membership. (Because we eat a lot of pie) It sounded like a good idea at the time . . .

It was a really good deal.  $50 a month for the whole family.  All classes/personal trainers included in that price and no contract.  How could I resist?

The gym is in a town 15 minutes away from us and is actually quite nice.  Sadly, they do not open early enough for me to go by myself before Sir Lumberjack departs for the day and they are not open late enough for me to go in the evenings when Sir Lumberjack returneths.

So take the kids I shall.

Taking four kids to the gym.  Not easy. The packing alone is a workout.

We start out on the basketball court.  The kids “play” basketball and I “run” around the court.

When I say “play,” I of course mean they bicker and argue with each other and ask me when they can go swimming.

When I say “run,” I of course mean I run 2 laps, basically die, then walk 1 lap until a mile has been completed.

Taylor.  The portrait of fitness.  Be envious.

Now, I hate having people watch me and I know like two people in this town and one of them has always been there working out.  It is all so stressful for me.  I am sure the aforementioned person is judging me.  Because I have a healthy self image.

But today!  Today was really strange.  As I was completing one of my walk-because-if-I-run-anymore-I’ll-die-laps, a trainer-man stopped me.

I have never seen this human in my entire existence.

Trainer Man:  Hey!  I have some tips for you.  Can you come and see me when you are done with your workout?

And I am thinking to myself:  Great, Taylor.  You can’t even run/walk correctly.  They have to send the trainers TO you.

Me:  Um, ok.  But I will have my kids with me.

Trainer Man (chuckling at me):  Well, it’s not like I am taking you anywhere!

What does that MEAN?  I had no idea what sort of “tips” he would be offering me.  I merely assumed I was walking incorrectly.  And I probably was.

So he left and came back a few minutes later and apparently he thought I was some other gal and he had me confused with her.

Good news!  Apparently my walking skills are just fine, my friends.  Just fine.

After the fun (and I use the term fun quite loosely) gym portion of the workout, we must go to the family locker rooms to change into swim attire.

I usually only lose my patience once during this portion of the morning.

Then we swim.

The first day, I didn’t get to swim because I was too busy keeping Little Dude alive.  The second day, I put on my big girl panties and asked the lifeguard if they had life jackets available.

They did!  I threw one on each of the boys and now I am able to get in some exercise as well.

Me!  A swimmer AND a person who walks correctly!

Watch out, people.  I am the next Jillian Michaels.

Later, dudes.

So, we are getting two new cats.  Because I looked around and said to myself,

“Taylor.  We need more animals.  Yes!  That is exactly what we need.”

Someone was needing to find a home for a mama cat and one of her babies and I said we could take them.  My boys are extremely excited for this great event to occur.  Upon hearing the joyous news, Little Dude ran up to Mr. Poppers, our current kitty, and asked him,

“Mr. Poppers!  Are you excited to meet your new flam-i-lee?!?”

And flam-i-lee would actually be “family.”  Of course.

The kids have made a “cat house” for the cats to dwell in.  And I am sure the cats will actively participate in enjoying their new house.  Because we all know how deeply cats strive to please humans.

I believe we are collecting our new felines on Friday.  It will be most exciting.

Strawberries!  Let’s talk about strawberries.  For it pleases us so.

We have clearly missed our calling as Strawberry Farmers.

Obviously.

It’s all just so exciting for us country folk, you know?  We ain’t got nothing else to do but pick them berries and get all happy-like.

Oh!  And we made pie!  A real, strawberry pie.  Complete with homemade crust.  And you all know how much I excel at the homemade pie crust.  I got so tickled with myself that I made a blackberry pie the next day.  Yes!  Another pie!  Because apparently I am fond of pie.  Who knew?!

***

Back in May, we bought a Bobcat.  Do not ask me what a Bobcat is.  I know not.  But we own one.  Immediately it had to be driven to a mechanic who lives about two hours away.  6 weeks and many, MANY dollars later, it was finally ready to be picked up.  David went and picked it up on Wednesday night.  He came home, unloaded it from the trailer, and off he went.

Where was he going?  What was his purpose?  Did he miss me?

We may never know.

On Saturday, he was clearing the land for the upcoming “horse fence” when the Bobcat plumb stopped working.  Which was unfortunate, seeing as we had spent the aforementioned MANY MANY dollars to ensure that it would, oh, what’s the word . . . WORK.  He was having trouble loading the not-working-right Bobcat onto the trailer so we had to call our neighbor over to bring his Bobcat to push our Bobcat onto the trailer.  Which is a totally normal favor to ask of your neighbor.

Fact Check:  I have no idea if what our neighbor is driving is actually a “Bobcat.”  The word “skidsteer” also comes to mind, but really.  What do I know?  Not much.  They are all tractors to me.  Even though they are not.  But that’s what I call them all.  Tractors.  I will have to ask David if I used the term “skidsteer” correctly in the post and award myself some meaningless points if I did so.

So, anyways.  We were quite bummed with the whole Bobcat sitch.  We had been hoping to get some work done and didn’t really get anywhere on the fence project this weekend.

***

It is hot today.  Hot, hot, hot my friends.  The kids and I went outside quickly to get the chores done and skeedaddled back inside.

Little Dude was quite proud of his egg gathering skills.  Or skillz, if you prefer.

Usually Little Dude drops an egg or two or lets a hen or two out.  So this trip was quite successful for him.  It’s probably because he is 5 now.

He is a bit of a flirt these days.  I was watching him last Friday night in church.  There is a girl who helps out in our room and she is about 12 or 13 years old.  Methinks Little Dude has a bit of a crush on her.

LD to girl (shouting, because-have you met him?):  HEY!  HEY,YOU!  WHERE YOU SITTING?

So, she kindly let him sit by her.  And he was beaming, oh yes, he was.  Then he had to get up and run around the room a few times during a special song.  As preschoolers are apt to do during their worship service.

LD to girl:  DID YOU SEE ME RUNNING?

Girl:  Yes,  I did.

LD:  YEAH.  I AM REALLY FAST NOW.  DID YOU SEE ME GO ROUND AND ROUND?  I’M FIVE NOW, YOU KNOW.

Girl:  Oh!

And she was so sweet to him and even obliged him when he asked her to walk around the room 87 times pushing a Hot Wheel.  And she did it.  All 87 times.  Bless her heart.

Happy Monday!

A Wednesday Morning List.  Of happenstances.

1)  My mom had a birthday.  She took the day off from work so we could hit the beach.  And darn our luck, it rained.  In fact, it rained so much, it set a new record for our area.

So we went shopping instead.  And, as all 53 year olds do on their birthdays, she saw a Claire’s shop and decided she was ready to get her ears pierced!

You are never too old to give up on your dreams.

2)  After our rainy shopping day, we went back to mom and dad’s house for a lovely dinner.  Little Dude and my mom’s birthdays are one day apart, so they shared the spotlight.

3)  On Saturday, David and I started to prepare the land to build a fence for our future horse.

First, we had to figure out where our property line was.  We had two stakes about 150-200 yards apart and my job was to run a string between the two.

This job was not as easy as it sounds.

Our land is not, oh, what’s the word? . . . tame.  I would think the string was going straight, then David would kindly point out to me that it was snagged a few yards back and was no longer straight and I would tell him I have never had to figure out property lines before and I wasn’t meant to live in the country anyways.

I was very concerned that we would spend all this time and money building a fence, only to accidentally build some of the fence on the neighboring property.  And that would be the end of the world.  Obviously.

So, I put on my Big-Girl-Thinking-Pants and downloaded a compass app on my smart phone and figured that was a solid plan.  David asked me what on earth I was doing and I reminded him that I was never meant to live in the country anyways.

So he helped me.  Teller for the win!

We pulled the string down and he would annihilate any branch or bush that was in our way.

Horse fence: 1

Nature: 0.

It took us three hours to create that perfect line, I kid you not.  This had better be one special horse.  Next we had to set the corner posts in concrete.

Why?  I don’t know.  I wasn’t meant for this life, remember?  And how was David born knowing how to do all of these things?  I ask you?  He is amazing.

Look!  We have something called a “Post Hole Digger!”  Who knew?!

Check out David’s boots.  I was wearing the same, exact ones.  Matchy-Matchy!

At some point in all of this nonsense, David starts talking about right triangles.  I looked at him almost as if he was an insane, crazy person.  And rightfully so.  Then he starts mumbling numbers and scratching his head.  I ask him what’s going on.  Because, and this might come as a shock to you, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON.

David:  A squared plus B squared equals C squared, Taylor.

Me:  Huh?

And then I vaguely remembered sitting in a classroom back in the late 90’s and hearing something eerily similar to this A squared/B squared nonsense.

It’s a formula!  A math formula!

Attention all math students who have ever wondered if they would ever be using any of these formulas in real life:  I would like to announce that on Saturday, the 22nd of June, in the year Two Thousand and Thirteen, my husband, David Maliblahblah, used a math formula.  In real life.

I never knew my lumberjack was so learned.

Anyways.  We worked all day and are nowhere near finished.  Story of our lives.

4)  My birthday was on Sunday.  I turned the big 3-2.  I asked David to help me build window boxes for my birthday, and he obliged.

I even got to “help.”  He had me in charge of the nail gun.  I was feeling particularly proud of myself for being so handy.

I would like everyone to see how good I am at using a nail gun.

Window box.  Nailed it.

We made four of them that look like these for the four windows on our shop:

I had an old window I found for $5 at a yard sale and David made a planter out of old pallet boards.  We made this little beauty for the chicken coop:

Seriously.  Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Yes.  There is a crack in the window.  I care not.

5)  Remember how my house was all peach when we moved in?  Last fall/winter, we painted a good portion of the main floor, but there is still a lot of peach going on in the house.  A lot of peach, my friends.

I found a gallon of “oops” paint at the Home Depot for $7 and figured it would look better than peach.  And I was right!  And I painted two bathrooms gray.  For SEVEN dollars.  As if life could not be any more exciting!

Goodbye, peach.

Hello, gray!

And I did it all by myself!  Ceilings and everything!  I even got tons of paint in my hair!

6)  I ran into a slight snag when it came time to paint behind the toilet.  I was reading an article online and it said the best thing to do was to find a “skilled handyman” to move the toilet.

I pointed to David and congratulated him on being the “skilled handyman” of my dreams.  Apparently, he wasn’t up to the task so I made this little contraption instead:

It is a stir stick hot glued to a paint pad replacement thing.  Worked like a charm!

7)  Our strawberries are on like Donkey Kong.  I sent the boys out with one, small container yesterday.  They were resourceful and went and got some mason jars as well when the container was too full.

That was our third time out in about a week or so!

8)  I have been busy trying to make some sort of yard here.  I don’t know why.  I just feel the need.  It is not going well.  But I will persevere!

I would like to announce that I, yes, I, Taylor Maliblahblah, am a total man now.  Here is a list of my accomplishments:

*I can start AND use a weed whacker

*I can start AND use a rototiller

*I can start AND use a lawn mower AND fill it up with gas.  GAS, people!

*I CAN LIGHT A BBQ (seriously, did this for the first time this month)

*I can (kind of) use a nail gun

Aren’t we so proud of me?  We are.

Happy Wednesday!

Since my first child was born ten and a half years ago, I have been a stay at home mom.  I will admit that the idea of staying at home never appealed to me and I never really thought I would do so.  I was very young and did not really have an opinion on the matter.  Once my daughter was born, the thought of someone else taking care of her every day, instead of myself, made me sad!  So, my husband and I thought it would be best for me to stay home until all of our children were of Kindergarten age.

Staying at home was not easy.

Once my fourth child was born, it certainly seemed I would never reach the day when all four of them were “of kindergarten age.”

Whenever I think of staying at home with kids, I think of the saying, “the days are LONG, but the years are short.”

How many days did I stare at the clock wondering when naptime was coming?

How many diapers have I changed?  Hours spent nursing?  Hours spent reading?  Cleaning?

How often have I tried to reason with a toddler on the necessity of pants?

How many moments did I spend exhausted, discouraged, happy, worried, and blessed?  How often had I been frustrated with a child, maybe even put her in bed for a little time out, and then went to check on her and had my heart overflow with love?

Staying at home was my mission in life and my mission seemed never ending!

But yesterday, my baby turned five.

(Little Dude, age 1, taking his first steps)

Little Dude, yesterday, on his 5th birthday.

I feel like I have crossed some sort of imaginary finish line!  It was a day that I never thought would come.  A day that I had waited for!  And it ended up making me feel sad.  Even with all the frustration and exhaustion, it was worth it.  And I am thankful that I was able to spend all of those moments with my kids.  I am thankful for my husband who worked so many long hours so I could stay home.  And I am thankful to God for blessing me with four, healthy children.

If you are staying at home right now with small children, take heart!  What you are doing really is important!  It does matter!  And someday, you will look around you and realize that no one is in diapers anymore, needs a sippy cup, needs help in the bathroom, needs a nap, nor has spit up all over them . . . and you might even feel a little sad.

Of course, I am still going to be at home with my kids since we homeschool.  But I feel like we are entering a new chapter in our lives . . . and I am going to try and be thankful for all the moments I have with my kids . . . the good and the bad.

***

 Back to Little Dude’s birthday . . .

His cake did not turn out as grand as I had hoped.  Are you surprised?  But he still enjoyed it.

We went camping last weekend and he double loves camping so it was a win all around for him.

(David and Little Dude)

And before I go, I wanted to share with you a funny, albeit horribly embarrassing story involving Little Dude.

The kids and I were out and the husband of someone I know was there and he was saying hello and making some small chitchat.  As he turned to walk away, Little Dude shout/asked:

“MOM!?  IS THAT YOUR BOYFRIEND?”

Yikes!

And I would like the records to show that I do not have a boyfriend.

***

Today is my mom’s birthday!  Happy Birthday, Mom!  In honor of her birthday, I thought I would share with you a hilarious text message she sent to me the morning after she got her new smartphone a few weeks ago.

“Help!  Everytime someone calls me, I cannot figure out how to answer the phone.  I can only text.  Can you find out how to answer my phone for me?”

So, I had to Google it for her and text her back.

What would she do without me?

Happy Thursday!

This week has been really crazy.  The girls participated in a basketball camp, so we drove to town 4 days in a row.  We also spent a lot of time at our rental (also in town) cleaning, painting, and doing general maintenance.  I am exhausted!

Today, I planted some green beans in the garden and some periwinkle and ivy in another area of our “yard.”

And I use the term “yard” quite loosely.  It is more of a weed jungle with farm animals scattered about.

I had to clear out a bunch of brush to make this possible.  I am so manly now.  Seriously.  I operate heavy machinery, such as weed-whackers and rototillers.  Very impressive, I know.  I even attempted to reload the string in the weed-whacker all by myself!  I spent an hour on it.  I don’t think I did it right, though.  My biggest clue was that when I turned the whacker back on, the entire string compartment went flying off.  Which is never good.

I have ivy near the arbor and I am hoping that someday it will cover the arbor.  The plants on the bottom are periwinkle for ground cover.  I really have no idea what I am doing.  I probably should put straw or bark down on the black fabric stuff, but I am fresh out.  Maybe the periwinkle will spread quickly and I won’t have to worry about it?  I don’t know.  I have no plan.  Basically I am just running rototillers and throwing plants in the ground, hoping something nice and aesthetically pleasing happens.  But I live in Ruralville, so know one will really care.

Look at my peony!

It bloomed!  IT BLOOMED!  IT BLOOMED!  I got all giddy-like and went to buy another one.  The nursery was closing for the season and she had a whole bunch of them for $4 each!  So I bought like 7!  BECAUSE IT BLOOMED!  And the deer have not discovered my peony yet.  AND IT BLOOMED!

In case you haven’t heard, Teller is not much of the gardening type.  She gets excited if something lives.  FYI.

We are also getting ready to go camping for Father’s Day and to celebrate Little Dude’s 5th birthday.

FIFTH birthday!?!  Can you believe it?  I can’t.  My baby!  Five!  He wanted a construction type cake for the festivities.  You all know how I excel at the cake decorating, so I was super excited to try another one out.

On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 3.  And that’s just because I am biased.  But the boy fancies it, and that’s all that matters.

Handsome Dude wanted to wrap David’s Father’s Day present and this is what happened:

Here are some steps to achieve the classy wrapping job pictured above:

1.  Get really excited that your mom said you could be in charge of wrapping.

2.  Ask your mom if you get to do this because you are six now.

3.  Go to your dad’s shop.  Find an old box that is missing a top and is taped together on the sides with some sort of electrical tape.  Never mind that your mother has an entire tote full of gift bags in the house.  This plan is much more rock solid.

4.  Carefully place the gift of new socks, M&Ms, and a back scratcher in the box.  Never mind that the box is four sizes to big.  Dads like this sort of thing.

5.  Now you need to make a plan for the top of the box.  Go downstairs and locate the Christmas wrapping paper.  You will find it next to the non-Christmas wrapping paper and the tote of gift bags that would have made your life easier in the first place.

6.  Cut a ginormous piece of Christmas wrapping paper out.  Please be sure to leave the scissors (open of course) on the floor, as well as the roll of paper.  Moms like that.

7.  Now you need tape!  Open the junk drawer and ignore the scotch tape.  The blue painter’s tape is a much better option.

8.  Who needs a card?  Take a black sharpie and write “Dad” on the box.

9.  Step back and admire your work.  You are six now and are able to handle such tasks.  Nice work!

Alright!  Happy Weekend!

We have been very busy working on getting our rental ready for summer renters, but I thought I might share with you how I made the hanging baskets.

First of all, I really wanted to do some landscaping in the backyard of the rental.  I mentioned this to my beloved and he looked at me as if I were an insane, crazy person.  Then he started talking about having to move sprinklers all around and dig ditches and blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada.

So I had myself and idea!  Hanging baskets!  Along the back fence!  Brilliant.

The biggest problem was going to be the fact that renters stay anywhere from 3-7 days, but usually closer to 7 days.  We usually do not go to the house during that time.  So the baskets would not be watered for 3-7 days.  And is it tacky to ask renters to water the baskets for you?  I think it might be?  I don’t know.

Anyways.  My good friend, Pinterest, and I got right to work with figuring out how to make this all happen.  So, without further ado, I would like to present to you how I made my baskets.  I would also like to remind you that is the first time I have ever done so and it might all turn out terribly.  Be warned.

1)  I bought wire baskets frames with coconut liners at the Home Depot.  I think they were 14 inches in diameter and cost around $5 each.

2)  I lined the bottom of the basket with a diaper.  Yes.  A diaper.  I KNOW!  Weird.  But apparently there are some water crystals in diapers that would help the hanging basket hold moisture.  And since I am all about holding onto moisture, I decided to give it a go.

3)  Next, I got plastic water bottles.  I sliced off the bottom and poked holes into the sides of the water bottle.  I found the idea from Pinterest and here is the picture that inspired me so deeply:

(Source)

4)  I put my water bottle in the center of the basket and added Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Mix.  Apparently it is the bomb-diggity in the world of potted soils.

5)  I planted my petunias.  I only planted them in the top, not on the sides as the picture above shows.  I got the petunias that trail so I am hoping that as time goes on, the petunias will be spilling over the side.

So, that’s what I did.  My mother and I actually did them together.  I made six and she made four.  I have four at my rental.  Here are some photos of my baskets.

Look!  The diaper is peeking out a bit.  Classy.

Water bottle in the center.  My hope is that I will keep the baskets moist and then fill that water bottle before a renter comes.  Hopefully it will seep out and keep the baskets moist for a few days.

You can’t even see the water bottle in there!  And they look like they are going to trail over the sides, right?  RIGHT?  RIGHT?

I had my handy-dandy husband hang some delightful brackets on the back fence and voila!  We have four hanging baskets lining the backyard to add some color to the backyard.

The baskets only cost us around $8-$10 to make each and we will be able to use the metal basket part again next year.

So.  This whole idea of mine is either going to be an epic fail or brilliant.  I am voting for “Epic Fail.”  Because that is the story of my life in the gardening department.

What do you think?  Will they live?  Will they die?

Only time will tell.