Botanical Gardens

 

Clay and I went to Atlanta to meet up with Lindsey to go to the botanical gardens.  It was a perfect day for being outside.

 

 The giant plant sculptures throughout the gardens were amazing.  They were in the process of making a huge cobra that will eventually coil over the walkway but it was only partially finished.

 

 The tulips were still in bloom and gorgeous!

 

The fishes fountain rotated on a platform.

 

There were several environments inside.  The plant above has its roots dangling in the air and somehow absorbs its nutrients from the air.

 

 

 

 

 

Clay and Lindsey took the time to smell the flowers.  

We were all watching a big bullfrog in the pond and Lindsey asked me if I thought it was moving toward us.  It started ribbiting and she jumped behind me all scared.  I tried to get the frog all blown up and making noise on video but he wouldn't perform for the camera.

 

 
After a beautiful day at the Gardens we all went to eat at R Thomas.  Delicious food!  We made a pit stop and got another sit on top kayak on the way home.  Woohoo, can't wait to get out on the water!

Yard Work

 

 

 

We planted 2 new apple trees today in our "orchard".

 

 

Our 1st Christmas tree that we planted the first year in our new home is doing great!  It has grown a lot, just not quite quickly enough for us to hide the neighbor's tree removal equipment.

 

We got tree number 5 planted.  

 

 

I planted some marigolds at the front of the entryway.  I had gotten them to put in the garden to keep rabbits away but there wasn't room for them so I planted them at the house instead.

 

 

I planted all the herbs I got the other day and I found a carrot that I had planted last year in one of the containers on the back porch, just one, but I was excited about it and I had it for supper = ).  Clay and I are going to meet my friend Lindsey tomorrow to go the botanical gardens in Atlanta. 

 

 I am much more excited about this carrot than I should be.

Farmers Market

 

 I picked Sarah up after work today and went to the Mulberry Farmers Market downtown to pick up some groceries.  I had planned on cooking fried rice, stir fry (zucchini/mushrooms/steak) tonight but I needed to pick up some beef so this was perfect.  It was my first time getting to go to the market (one of the perks of now being on dayshift).  I also got some eggs, cabbage, onions, carrots, free-range hangar steak, sourdough bread, and a cranberry bar snack.  It is so nice to be able to plan dinners and come home and cook for us.  

The meat was frozen so I sliced it really thin, I heated pineapple juice and tidbits with Dale's seasoning and cooked the meat to medium well.  Super tasty!  We had finished off the eggs muffins and English muffins this morning so I need to prepare some more eggs tonight.  I also sliced the sourdough bread for our breakfast the next couple of days.   

I had a good day at work, things flowed a little better and are making more sense.  I started doing patient rounds today and it was enjoyable to be back at the bedside more!  I plan on learning peritoneal dialysis later this week and next so that will be exciting.  I am also adjusting to days much better than I thought I would. 

 

 

These eggs are beautiful!  Next week I will get some duck eggs, Clay wants to try them, I have no idea what to expect but we shall see. 

Day Shift Day One

 

Today was the first day on my new job.  After going to bed at a very reasonable time of 9:30pm I woke up easily at 6am.  I had made egg muffins last night from a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I just heated one up in the toaster oven for both me and Clay and had that an an English muffin for breakfast.  I have been on a kick of adding orange extract to my coffee which is delicious!

 

The bees seem to have acclimated well to their new hive, they were busy coming and going this evening when I got home.  The azaleas and wisteria are in full bloom.  The sun was beautiful and Lily and I immediately went for a walk/jog when I got home.  Then I made an interesting sweet and garlicky slaw with figs/prunes/garlic.  It was somewhat too pungent so I think I will roast the garlic first next time and I didn't have any dates so I used prunes instead.

New Bees

I didn't manage to get any pictures and just took one video while we were getting the bees settled to their new home.  The bees were pissed off to say the least.  Clay got stung twice through his shirt, I managed to avoid any stings.  

I pulled out some pictures from our previous bee adventures.

 

 

I have been attempting to switch over to a dayshift schedule since Thursday morning when I got off work, it must be working pretty well because I crashed at 9:30 last night and woke up promptly at 5 this morning.  Lily and I went for a jog early this morning and as usual we were confronted with the guinea hens down the road and Lily tucked tail and tried to pretend she didn't notice them.  We went to Byron today to pick up bees.  We came home on Hwy 42 to see what the drive was like.  There is pretty countryside between here and there.  It is a dreary day and we took our time and drove by some interesting buildings in Roberta and Musella.  Now we are waiting for the weather to clear up a little before we move the bees into their hive.  They are currently buzzing away on the table.

 

Very productive day today in attempt to stay awake all day and try to encourage by internal clock to switch to a day shift schedule.   I picked up a bunch of plants after planning out my garden. 

 

 

I have a 12x12 plot in the back of this area.  The fence will keep the deer out, will have to see if rabbits decide to brave the electric fence and hop in for a snack.

 

First, I set out all the plants in arrangement to make sure my plans on paper worked out, which for the most part, it did.

 

 

Clay and I had to go back later to set up the watering system with hose, sprinkler, and timer.  Today was an absolutely gorgeous day for being outside!