Very Hungry Caterpillars

The eggs have hatched. Do you see it?? It is so tiny. That is dill, so imagine a branch of dill and then imagine how small it really is!


I have multiple teeny tiny baby caterpillars. I suspect I won't have dill much longer. I should probably go buy some more.

Black Swallowtail

I went outside today to stake my sugar snap peas which are going wild all over my other plants. My attention was instead captured by a black swallowtail laying eggs all over my dill. It worked! Yeah for host plants.










See the tiny yellow egg on the dill in the center of the picture? I'm hoping to raise another caterpillar into a butterfly!

Now that the excitement is over. I have to go stake the peas.

Take me out to the ballgame

Today was the first day for baseball. Well, J has been playing in a spring ball in another league, but today was the first day for Y baseball.

Due to some strange circumstances, DH ended up coaching B's team this year. He had just handed the reins of J's team over to another dad and thought he was done. Oh well, B is excited and, without DH, there wouldn't have been a team for B to play on. I'm glad he stepped up.

First grade machine pitch baseball is much more fun than coach pitch.

Pledge of Allegiance


Playing short


First at bat






His buddy T (I just liked this action shot!)


Trying to ignore the crazy lady with the camera

Oh, my, he looks so old to me there! And we're overdue for a haircut. And what's up with the sleeves tucked into the sweat band. B definitely has his own sense of style.

J's team had their first day today, the first game of kid pitch. J was first up.  I stayed for part of the first inning to watch him pitch. Oh, kid pitch is nerve wracking for the mother of the pitcher.




Unfortunately, nerves and heat got the best of him and he didn't make it out of the first inning. He did have a couple of good pitches and he struck one kid out. It was good practice and I'm sure it will go better next time.

May, so far

Lots going on. Cold spells & tornado sirens, but the tomatoes (& the rest of the garden) seem to have survived. Lots of birthday celebrations. Bad photos of the band concert. And I lost the video of them playing too! Some knitting going on. Finally, that ice cream man is very happy that I went back to work. He's there all the time again!

Thirteen

I've been juggling everything lately. The full time job takes up most of my time. DH is doing double duty with all of the after school kid stuff and working around their schedules. When I get home it is time to make dinner, check homework, and pick up from practice. It seems like we're always running around to get stuff done. There is no down time until 9 or 10 at night.

Today was Pinterest Challenge day. Since I  have no time in general, I  had no time for Pinterest Challenge. I thought about it for a half of a second and immediately dropped the thought.

However busy I am, tomorrow is A's thirteenth birthday and I had to make time to make her a cake. Yes, she's have a birthday party with her twin cousin tomorrow and they will have a cake at that party, but I've always made her a cake for her birthday and I couldn't skip this one. Especially thirteen. It seems like such an important number.

I sat down at my computer and started looking for ideas for decorating the cake, and voila, I had a Pinterest Challenge project and a birthday cake all in one.



I found this pin from This Little Life of Mine.


And this pin from Cupcake Diaries.

Easy simple decorations. Just what I needed for my busy life.


Birthday cake and Pinterest Challenge done.

Check out the other hosts of the Pinterest Challenge.

Young House Love, RedBirdBlue, Sparkle Meets Pop, Bower Power. Here's to having more time for the next one.

Saroyan

B's teacher this year is wonderful. We really like her. She almost makes me want to have another child so I can have her for a teacher again. Almost, but no, no more children.

I did want to thank her for the great year that B has had. I did what I do, I knit her a scarf. She loves pink, hot pink.


Pre-blocking


Post-Blocking

It turned out nice. Sure hope, Mrs F thinks so too. Saroyan

And on a knitting note, my mother gave me this.

It is a baby head stuck on a ceramic yarn guide. She thought I definitely needed it because I knit and the curlique is used in spinning yarn (I think.)

I decided that I probably wouldn't wear it on a necklace, as much as my mother thinks I will. I hung it on the cube at work. My only decoration besides a magnetic Rangers schedule.

Garden 2013

I haven't done any garden posts this year. It didn't start off very well.

My tiny baby tomato plants didn't make it through the very rainy cold first weekend of Spring Break. I came home to find a couple of shriveled up plants. I went to the store and bought more, only to lose them in a late freeze a few weeks later. I quickly replaced them and they seem to be doing well. I hope I'll get some tomatoes this year.


I planted some herbs behind the tomato box. They took a hard hit with the freeze too. The dill made a major come back (I don't like dill, it is caterpillar bait.)

 

The lone jalepeno is looking better but something is eating it, I suspect that plant eating dog of ours.


The basil is looking bad. I'm thinking it might be time to go buy another one before it gets too hot.


J planted corn again this year. B planted carrots but nothing came up. The seeds were old. I think this might be my last year for corn. I'd much rather use that box for something else.


The garlic I planted last winter is surviving the dog, I hope. He keeps running back there and walking all over it.  Again, I think he is eating the clover that I haven't bothered to weed out yet.


The strawberry plants already have fruit on them. Maybe this is the year we get something out of our strawberries.


We planted some squash, zucchini and spaghetti. There are sunflowers growing behind. I think I'm going to have to move them around. B planted them quite close together. I wonder if you can transplant sunflowers. Will they survive?


In addition to vegetables, I planted a heuchera.


It is looking spindly, but I'm hoping it will grow into a pretty plant like this one I planted two year ago.


Speaking of plants I put years ago, this gerbera daisy bloomed for the first time since I planted it for DH's 40th birthday party 2.5 year ago.


The bloom is fading and the picture's out of focus but I had to include it because I was so excited about the flower. I was surprised by the yellow-orange color too. It should have been red like this one.


The red gerberas are growing like gang busters.  I guess it is a good year for gerbers!