Is that ... wheat?

It sure looks like it! JL discovered about 4 stalks of this stuff this past weekend. It is just hanging out behind the mini barn! Best we can figure, it got her via June Bug's hay? We're not quite sure. But we're very interested to watch it over the next few weeks to see what becomes of it.

We did it

March 24th - We actually got a strawberry from our garden!

About a week before we picked it
Just seconds before we snapped it from the plant
There it is!
It was a tad tart, but we ate it down anyway! Cutting it into 4 super tiny little pieces so me and the kids could each have a sample!
Not only that, but there are several more getting ready to be picked! The first one, we decided we'd jumped the gun a bit, so these next few, we are leaving on the plant just a little bit longer to see if we can get more sweetness to them.



The kids absolutely LOVE having strawberries growing on the ranch! They check them probably twice as often as I do! Especially Isabel! She's always had a love for strawberries, but I think she's even more into the ones that come from our own dirt! It's fun to watch the kids get so excited about nature. :)

Updated Fig Pictures

As promised, here are a few updated pictures of JL's excellent pruning job to our fig tree. I am beyond pleased that we did this - it actually looks like a tree now! It's a beautiful edition to the yard, rather than a source of "what exactly is that weird bush thing?"

See before pictures of our fig here.



Also, notice the excellent mowing job!

Peak

The Bluebonnets seem to have peaked. It is amazing to us how fast things can change outside. Literally - overnight! JL and I didn't see a single purple flower on the place on Saturday, but by Sunday - they were everywhere! Slowly creeping in on the bluebonnets. The mix right now is really pretty. Everywhere - blue and purple!




I'm so glad we had such a wonderful showing of bluebonnets this year! And they really did last for a long time. I'm sad to see them go - but it's fun to see the ranch change and evolve with the seasons. Spring has just been beautiful so far! Color everywhere! And super green. We are so grateful for all the rain we've gotten recently! It's amazing what a difference a little water can make!

In the spots where the purple flowers haven't quite reached - Indian Paintbrush is starting to join the mix! This is my favorite complimentary flower/color for the bluebonnets!

Buffalo Clovers!

They are really taking off around here!






I love having our own crop of these beauties!

Planting Time

Last week was Spring break. JL was able to take some time off work, so we decided to have a staycation and do a few chores around the ranch.

We'd been talking about putting up a screen on plants along our back fence. Something to help drown out the neighbors and what little light peeks through the fence. So, we purchased 6 Wax Myrtle bushes. We also picked up a few Leland Cypress Trees. They look like little mini Christmas tress - and they have to be my favorite find of the season. (I am seeing decorations going up on them right around December time... hehe) Plus, they make an excellent screen and are suppose to grow fast!

In addition to the screen, I wanted a bit of color added to the front of the house. I chose 2 Red Buds to flank the front gate. I can't wait until they grow a bit so the entrance can be showered in pink color! JL also picked him up a Pecan tree. Never can have too many of those.

Our project. Seems like an easy task, but have you ever dug in TX soil?
It is mostly ROCK! Solid limestone! There is about 2 inches of dirt and then plates of rock. JL was out there doing his best to bust up the rocks (see them piled to the right of the plant? Those are the SMALL ones!)
While I supervised, I took the opportunity to take this lovely picture of our grass! I told you we had some. :)
I wasn't the only one that noticed this lush patch...
Buffy, back on her feet and taking advantage of the green food.
The beautiful part of the week was having James home from school. What an amazing help he was! He was outside with JL EVERY day! With his shovel and his work gloves. Ready and willing to help with every plant!
Here they are putting in my sage. Did I forget to mention we had 2 of those also?
By day 2, the boys were putting in planting soil and applying root stimulator. This was probably one of James' favorite parts. He loved the pile of dirt!
I'm so pleased with what we got done. Now we just need the rain to continue and hopefully things will start to take off!
Me and Big Wy helped out by delivering dirt and shovels! :)

The New Toy

We have been so grateful around here lately. Since January, we haven't gone more than about 2 weeks without a rain storm. Quite a contrast from the summer! And it's been amazing. Just in a short 3 months, the needed water has brought about a major change to our ranch. We've gone from a dust bowl, to having green stuff growing all around! Some of it is grass, but most of it is weeds! And when I say weeds ... I mean WEEDS!

Do you think your weeds are out of control? Ours were starting to swallow up the children!

James enjoyed plowing tracks down through it, but Wyatt was too short for this kind of thing. He could nearly disappear completely!
JL with a thistle of typical size!
At first, we were just so glad to see green stuff growing, that we didn't really mind the weeds. Besides, some of them were pretty! We had some with white flowers, some with yellow, and some with purple. It was a regular garden of color around here!

But, after a while, the weeds started to take over and bury my flower beds, my sidewalks, and my house in general! From the road, there was a huge sweeping pasture of weeds that made it impossible to see the lower half of our house. Not that this is a problem for me, necessarily, but after a while, it became a problem for walking around and trying to spend time outside with the kids. So, we bumped up a previously talked about purchase:

Behold! Our Green Machine!
Moments after it was delivered, each kid had to have a ride!


Then it was time to see what could be done about our lawn...
Even I took a turn plowing through the hood-high brush. The tractor went through it, no problem!
Afterwards, there was grass and weeds all over our new toy!
By day two, we had a dump bucket which naturally meant more rides!
That night, we celebrated with a cook out! Complete with smores!

Boys' Room Makeover

With Izzy's room looking so cute, the boys were really getting anxious for paint to go up on their walls. So, last week, I enlisted the help of my visiting family and we got the room done! I think it turned out great - and even better, the boys both love it!

I didn't snap that many BEFORE shots.



And AFTER:

I debated painting above this shelf, but I'm so glad I did! It turned out really cute and totally ties in both blue walls!

Those two big kaki colored walls are waiting for wall stickers. I plan to be a baseball one above James' bed, and a football one above Wyatt's bed.



We absolutely love our new house. JL and I talk all the time about how comfortable it is living here. As time goes on and we personalize it like this, it just becomes more so.