The soon-to-be wedded couple!

JUNE 6th baby!!

Isabella took this picture Saturday night. Rick and I were invited to a crawfish boil/birthday celebration at a neighbor couple's home (aka... Fiona's parents). We brought them a tomato, artichoke, and oregano plant... you don't come to a party empty-handed, right? It was a nice jaunt around the corner... a great mini-date after a day of slaving in our soil.

Horse Show

It has only been sixteen days since my last break in posting. Much better than the previous reprieve.

Isabella participated in her 1st Horse Show this last Saturday at Rustic Trail Stables. Her instructors agreed to let her show in her Western gear for this show; she was so cute with her braids, buckle, and boots. Rick and I now have to invest in English Riding Boots and some new Cowgirl boots, for she has finally outgrown these.

We had many cheerleaders at this momentous occasion: Me, Rick, my little sister April, my mother and her fiancee David, Rick's father, Rick's little sister Cali, our family friend Paula, and both sets of Rick's grandparents! (We hope we weren't too loud and obnoxious :)

Isabella won 3rd place in her first event: Horse in Hand.

This Saturday was extra special because Isabella won her 1st EVER of many blue ribbons she will receive over the course of her lifetime. FIRST PLACE in Equitation (she tied for first with one other girl... and there were only the two of them... but they both did great). Woohoo! We are proud parents! She did AWESOME! We all had a good time.

The below pictures, of course, loaded opposite the order I intended for viewers to see them. So I share with you the end of the show to the beginning of the show. And of course I picked the one family picture that does not show off her blue ribbon. Oh well. Enjoy.

The Hardy Gardens

Welcome to our Yard.


What we see when we open our front door.




Our bird bath serves more as a kitty drinking bowl than a bird hang-out. See our newly-acquired rain barrel in the corner?!




The first of our rose bushes to bloom.




Our Iris & Gardenia Garden. Rick dug up the Irises out of our neighbors yard on Saturday afternoon. My honey planted Irises for us!




Our front yard. The Adirondack chairs were made by Rick's grandfather, Shep Hardy. He also made the UF butterfly box hanging by the garage.

Square Foot Gardening. We currently have the following planted here: tomatoes, pole beans (at the trellis), artichoke, carrots, bush beans, onions, volunteer lettuce (in the pots), marigolds, and collards. See Lucky the kitten at the far left. And our OWL at the trellis on the left - Special Thanks to my Grandma Fran!!

One view of our back yard/patio. The square garden contains herbs: basil, oregano, chives, rosemary, dill, and yarrow. The circular garden on the right has a citrus tree (that practically froze this winter... but we found some green leaf buds yesterday... as I went to cut it down) and more of the Irises from the neighbor; Isabella, her friend Fiona, and Rick planted these Irises. The Tiki Hut and Banana Trees were provided by Rick's maternal grandparents: Don & Esther.

Check out the Snap Dragons; what a wondferul pink color. And the purply-blue Salvia!

Our Red Maple was a house-warming/birthday gift from Don & Esther. We are still working on our stone pathway.

Where Isabella checks the mail. My Gran Fran gave us the mailbox cover (it is a plastic coated paper with magnets on the underside... it has lasted a good while now... love it!). There are day lilies, chives, mexican daisies (the purple and white flower), and a little purple flower that Isabella picked out for me. All of the bricks are from a pile that was in our yard when we bought the house; we still have more to figure out what to do with.

Hope you enjoyed this tour. More to come as things really start blooming!

A wonder-full weekend!!

The Agapanthus are getting ready for their blue-toned "firework" display.


Our little firecracker!



Friday night we drove over to the parking lot of the Gulfarium in Ft. Walton Beach to meet up with Rick's little sister, Cali. Isabella hopped in her car and they drove off to Panama City Beach... and Rick and I headed home. Aaahhh. (Cali and Isabella were very excited, for Jason was out of town... thus it was going to be a girl's night complete with fashion shows and fun! Isabella then got to spend some time with her Noni on Saturday and Sunday).


My little sister, April, came in town from Panama City on Friday. She helped me get motivated for a Saturday YARD SALE. Upon cleaning out the garage the previous weekend... and with Isabella in Panama City (for she does NOT want us to get rid of ANYTHING belonging to her)... and the glorious weather... it turned out to be the ideal weekend to get rid of some stuff.


I probably got four hours of sleep Friday night, but it was worth the depravation. We got up at 530am on Saturday. April made signs indicating we'd be operating from 7am to 1pm. Rick helped me move all the tables outside and went and put up the signs. Rick sold a BUNCH of tomato plants at the sale. And a bunch of items that have been unsold in a number of yard sales FINALLY sold. (We even had boxes of stuff from previous yard sales in the attic... but no longer). By 1:30pm I had four boxes packed for Goodwill, the tables broken down, and the garage door back down. We made a little over $140! Within an hour we were at Home Depot and had spent every penny of the Yard Sale money and then some... but we came home with a plethora of goodies for the garden!


Rick's 'Aunt D' and cousin, Avery, came by yesterday afternoon and saw our home and gardens for the 1st time. Always fun to share our home with Family!


This morning I awoke to the lawnmover making rounds; Rick had gotten up earlier than I and gone straight to work. He and I both THRIVE off yard work! It is supposed to rain today. As soon as it starts to pour... he and I are going to head into the greenhouse and start some seeds: herbs galore and more.


So happy to have been able to hang with my little sister this weekend!

Wednesday = Back to Work Day

Hello All-

The meds seem to be doing their job. Now I need to get back to mine.

The only downside is that my ability to sleep last night was curbed to approximately four hours if I add up all the ups and downs on the evening... this is after lying down around 915p. I am beat. But I will simply try to get a cat nap on my lunch hour.

Bella did well getting up for her 1st day back at school; however, apparently she has a new teacher for the rest of the year, Ms. Casper. Hoping to get something home in her backpack today filling us in on the change.

It is still raining! Our yard is thankful though. Now I must shower. Enjoy your day!