Where have I been?

Well, you may well wonder where have I been for the last week? Lots happening to keep me busy and away from the computer.

First of all, we decided (with a LOT of help from Megan) that we needed to have a vegetable garden this year. We decided to wait until all of the foundation work was done on the house, thinking that we could put most of the veggies in the flower beds on the back side of the house. Well, the foundation guys screwed THAT up for us when they left us with "new dirt" that contained sludge and cow manure! Not quite what you want to grow edibles in, ya know? So we then decided to build a raised bed on the side of the house.

Megan and I went out to purchase the building materials and then Megan and Brian built the 4' X 8' planting box. We took it out of the garage to the side yard and dug the holes for the 4 corner posts and planted the box in the ground. Then we used some of the disgusting clay soil that we are so well know for out here and put a 3" layer in the bottom. Yesterday, Brain and I went out and bought 16 cubic feet of planting mix and Megan and spent the evening after bocce mixing it in with the clay soil already in the bed. It really looks good!

This evening we will plant the seedlings that we started as seeds in Dixie cups a couple of weeks ago. I bought a Patio tomato plant, too. If all goes well, we will be eating home grown corn, zucchini, Anaheim chile, pole beans, lettuce, beets and carrots along with tiny tomatoes.

The other item that has taken a lot of my time is the arrival of the new Stampin' Up! catalog. I have not received my copies yet, but a demonstrator is Southern California received her copy on Friday. I have been glued to some of the demonstrator bulletin boards - reading, salivating, and planning my first purchases. It sounds like there will be some awesome stamp sets and accessories this coming year. Highlights include textured 12 X 12 cardstock and a Crop-a-dile! If you have never seen or used a Crop-a-dile, I can tell you that it is a great tool for effortlessly making holes and setting eyelets. It punches holes easily in chipboard and coasters! It will be one of my first purchases.

OK, off to the Post Office to see if my demonstrator catalog arrived from Stampin' Up!.......