Our DIY Vegetable Garden - Update

We have added a second level to our raised vegetable garden.  We have also put in stairs along the side.. and most of our veggies are now planted and happily growing... Some I grew from seeds and others we purchased and planted from our local nursery.

Last year a gopher completely demolished our vegetables (the little stinker ate pretty much all of them, row by row they all disappeared).  So this year we not only added a second level to our garden, but we (my hubby while I supervised... lol) completely dug out the first level of the raised garden and installed a wire mesh fully across the bottom to keep the gophers out.  I hope it works!  I can't wait to have my own fresh organic veggies :)

This is a picture of the wire mesh as he was installing it.

My poor husband spent days shoveling and digging out dirt, sifting all of the dirt, then mixing it with good planting soil and mulch and then reloading the planters with all of the good stuff.

I planted cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro and green onions from organic seeds and grew them in my kitchen window while the planters were being built.

Below are my seedlings as they started growing.  Eventually they all came up.  And they have now been planted into the garden.

Here is the garden area before the steps were started.

We planted Verbena and a few other plants along the top ridge and on the hill.

Below shows the first two steps as they were installed.

I have added some rocks down the side.  It is not done yet, but eventually it will look like a dry riverbed, stream, waterfall coming down the hill.

The steps now go almost to the top.  At the top we have planted a blueberry bush/vine.  Eventually I would like to get a large trellis on the block wall that they can grow on.  


The garden is now 70% planted.  We have tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, strawberries, zucchini, rosemary, basil, cilantro,  pumpkin and watermelon.  In the past I've only managed to grow tomatoes and rosemary, so I am hoping that this year I can actually grow all of these.  We have also planted four fruit trees; plum, nectarine, tangelo and avocado.  

We are currently putting up a two foot bunny fence along the rear wrought iron fence in an attempt to keep unwanted critters out of our yard.  Also, I have ordered bird netting to put up over the veggies.  We will put it up as soon as it gets here, hopefully before any animals come destroy our hard work!


We've been gradually planting things across the rear of the yard... but the rest of the yard is still dirt.  Except a 6' x 8' piece of astroturf where the barbecue sits.  Eventually we will do a large patio in pavers.  Since my husband is doing all of the work on weekends or at night, it will still be a long time before we have a complete backyard.  It is fun watching the progress as we make it!

Until next time...
Happy decorating!

STAYCATION... and a Flea Market Find

I was so out of it this past week since getting home from our vacation.  It was like I needed a staycation to recover from my vacation!!!  I got a few things done, like unpacking (dumping my suitcase onto the floor)... washing laundry (like two loads), loading vacation photos to my computer (which took a few minutes), I managed to post on my blog (only once) and then I pretty much rested (became a couch potato)!  Seriously, I was exhausted and I totally struggled to get back to feeling like myself.  But, I feel like I am finally back to being me.  


Today was sunny and beautiful and we went to our local nursery for some veggie plants, then we came home and planted our vegetable garden.  I took pictures of it which I will share with you soon...


Yesterday we hit our local flea market and although I didn't find much this time, I did find a cool old wood Pepsi crate, for only $5, that inspired me for my theme for our Glamping (glamorous camping) trip we are going on in a few weeks.  Since we are going in late June I am going to go with a red, white and blue patriotic theme (since it is a little before July 4th, Independence Day).  I didn't take a picture of my Pepsi crate yet, but it looks very much like the one pictured below that I found earlier today on ETSY (for $35)... I so love that I only paid $5 for mine!!!

Although the crate by itself doesn't look like much, it will be really cute in the center of our picnic table holding a few decorative pieces and maybe some flowers.


I've been looking at pictures for ideas of things I can make and or paint for use in decorating our campsite.  I figure after we get back from camping/glamping, then I can use the decor around our house for the 4th of July holiday!


Over the next few weeks I will share a few of my items as I make them with their DIY tutorials...  Although I will be doing a patriotic theme, it won't be literal flags.  It will have a bit of a vintage and shabby distressed feel, with patriotic USA colors.  I'm still working on the details and finding creating the items I will use to decorate.  I'm excited about it and am hopeful that I can come up with some fun and inspirational (inexpensive) decor.   


If you have any simple 4th of July decor ideas I'd love to hear about them!


Blessings,

Our Vacation - Mexican Riviera Cruise

We are finally home after having a 10 day vacation.  We spent the first two days a a hotel in Orange County for our daughters college graduation and then we went on a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise, plus took Memorial Day off of course :)  We had an amazing time.  I must admit I am seriously missing having someone make my bed and clean my room every single day!  And I definitely wish I could just walk up to a salad and fruit bar buffet, eat whatever looks good and not have to do any dishes ever!!!  We were so spoiled all week long, that it makes being home feel somewhat difficult... lol.  Don't get me wrong, I love our home.  I just wish it came with a maid and a cook!  Lol...  :) 

Pictured below on the bottom row is me (Diana), and the top row is my daughters good friend Taylor, my youngest daughter Britney  and my husband Jim.  Britney and Taylor had just graduated from college (CSUF) the day prior to our cruise.

Cabo San Lucas was stunning and the weather was absolutely perfect!  We actually got to visit Cabo for two full days which was really nice!

I was pretty much camera happy every day taking pictures of the girls having fun and of the different scenery!  My husband and I occasionally got into a picture, but most of the pictures are of the graduates!  Here are some fun pics posted in no particular order...

Trying on sombreros was a must!  Although we didn't buy any, they were cute :)

 

All of us girls got henna tattoos on the beach.

Sunset as we were about to leave Cabo and head to Puerto Vallarta.

We boarded a boat from the dock in Puerto Vallarta for a scenic ocean cruise across Banderas Bay to the isolated cove of Las Caletas.  It is a private beach, where the only way in or out is via boat.  It is about an hour from Puerto Vallarta.  It felt like we went to a private island.  We went for the Rythyms of the Night dinner and stage show.  It was similar to a luau, but in Mexico.

This excursion was five hours long all together and we had a great time.  I would definitely recommend it!


We had an amazing time on our entire trip.  Now I just feel like I need a vacation to recover from our vacation!!!

Vacation Time - Cruise Anyone?

My baby girl is graduating from college this weekend... and for her graduation present we are taking a vacation :)  Woohoo... I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!!  Here are a few preview pictures of where we are going... Can you guess where it is?

We will not be staying in a hotel, we will be on that ship you see out in the ocean.

I've never seen clear ocean water and am looking forward to it!

This rock formation is pretty famous and has been filmed in a bunch of movies... I've never been here in person so I hope it really is this pretty!

I won't be blogging while I'm away since the cruise company charges 79 cents a minute (highway robbery) for Wi-Fi internet... but I will bring back plenty of pictures to share.

To Post or Not to Post

Things have been crazy lately.  I feel like I've been soooo so busy, but I have yet to accomplish finishing any projects this month.  There has been family health issues (which took us out of state for a bit), my daughter is about to graduate from college...  (which we are preparing for and I'm doing a few projects for), today is my birthday (so I got to play and get a much needed hour long massage)... and we are getting ready to go on a cruise (so shopping for clothes, cute shoes, sunscreen and fun stuff has pretty much been a priority lately)... Plus doing tons of laundry and packing has kept me busy busy busy!  On top of all that; housework, company visiting, cooking meals, working on our veggie garden and back yard and just life in general has kept me from blogging much as of recent.  I promise I will get back to my tons of projects in the near future, after graduation this weekend and our week long Mexican Riviera cruise this next week!


We will be cruising on that ship that broke down a few years ago on it's maiden voyage.... The one that had no electricity and no running water or flushing toilets for days and they were stuck at sea.  I assume that can only happen once... hehe, praying!!!  Anyways, we got a great deal because of recent negative publicity with the cruiselines.   Hopefully we will have a great time and won't have anything negative happen to us!

I will not be posting from the cruise ship as I have a lame phone and I won't have any service when I'm out of the country, but when I get back I will post lots of fun pictures and probably a few stories of all of the festivities!  Hopefully the stories will all be fun ones!!!


Wish us luck :)