Fertilizer Friday

Wow I can't believe it is already JULY 31st!!!!!!! Where does the time go???? It's Friday...and ya'll know what that means!!!!!!!! Click on the Fertilizer Friday Icon above to go directly to Tootsie's page and sign up for Fertilizer Friday or to just look at other great gardens.

It was raining yesterday afternoon, and all night. I wasn't able to get my FF shots yesterday afternoon...so I had to get them this morning.....which means...foggy camera lens....so bare with me!

The lens starts on fine...the longer I am outside...the more it fogs up. You can tell in this picture...it is getting foggier!

I love cosmos....but I didn't realize when I planted them that they were going to get this big, and out of control....I completely hate where they are planted. Had I known this, they would have been planted in the rear of each bed instead of up front...oh well.....live and learn! They totally block out other plants!

The rains have beat down alot of plants....you can see this Cosmo leaning

This Gerbera Daisy has been the A+ plant for the year! It has bloomed about 30 times this summer.....I don't know where I got this one from.....but I need about 50 more of it!!!!!!!

Periwinkle (white) and Vinca (pink)

The rain has done a wonder on the flowers, grass and weeds. The grass is in desperate need of a cut, and the weeds are out of control. Now Cherry said she didn't see any weeds in yesterday pictures....so Cherry......here are a few weeds for you my dear......

I don't know what this is...but I'm sure its a weed. It is hiding behind the Prairie Coneflower...the tall weed....yeh that one....needs to be plucked up!

and here are 3 more of them......well atleast I "think" its a weed...I could be wrong...I have been before. Does that look like a weed to ya'll? You know I planted so many seeds that "didn't" make it, and then I find them 5 months later growing! LOL!!

Here we have some LOVELY crabgrass....it is the weed of choice for my flower beds.

It is supposed to rain all weekend. I hope that I can get outside tomorrow and work in the yard. I will probably pull a truck load of weeds out of the beds! I also need to stake up alot of plants that keep falling over.

I hope ya'll have a great weekend!

TGIK....Thank Goodness Its Kiki

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!

Designing for the Sexes

Being an Interior Designer I have learned that most men don't care about interior design, however some do and can be very picky about what they want. This is the case with The Hunter! When we got married and moved in our house, I quickly learned....he didn't like my decor so much. I spent one summer during college in London and Paris. I bought a gorgeous print in Paris that I later had framed. It was my "theme" for our living room. It was red, black and beige. It hung over the fire place for a while....until The Hunter decided it wasn't manly enough....so that's when I had to change my design style....I like to call it "Hunting Camp Chic" !!!! Being from the South, hunting is a part of our lives. I grew up hunting as did The Hunter. We both enjoy hunting. We bow hunt, & gun hunt deer and we also turkey hunt. Needless to say we have a lot of stuffed animals in our house. One day I plan on building a house with a Trophy Room that I can deck out in camouflage and hang all of our animals....until then...the living room is the trophy room. The Hunter has 6 deer that are mounted...only 4 of them made it into the living room. The mounted animals may offend some of you, if it does then I am sorry....but this is a way of life for us. We eat the deer and turkey meat. I do not buy beef, I will occasionally buy chicken. Deer & turkey meat has no additives or preservatives, no growth hormones and is naturally a fat free meat. Basically it is organic meat. I know what these animals ate, and I know where they came from. Here is our fireplace....and yes that is pee on the rug!!!!! This rug was the last one to come up, and before I got it up Tide managed to pee on it. I didn't notice it until after I took the picture. After yesterdays post I think we can all find the humor in this! LOL! So you notice that the picture over the mantle is not from Paris!!! That's right...it had to go The Hunter hated it. He always wanted a turkey print....after years of looking I finally settled on this one. The lights are mounted onto the brick...they were here when we bought the house. I just changed the globes on them to red.

He isn't fond of my polka dot curtains but oh well...he has 4 deer, 2 turkeys and a turkey print....I can keep my polka dot curtains! You may notice the ceramic turkey on the bottom left by the fireplace screen....this was my Pawpaw's. He was an avid turkey hunter. My aunt painted 2 of these for him. I got them after he passed away and they mean a lot to me.

These old books came from my grandma. I have a miniature Eiffel Tower to remind me of my infamous tail bone breaking experience there!

Ok...the TRACE books really needs to go...it doesn't exactly fit in with the rest. I have been meaning to change it out....but keep forgetting. I also have another ceramic turkey here...it was also my Pawpaw's.

I bought a TON of books while I was in England & France. I purchased a book everywhere I went. I actually came home with one huge suitcase full of books that weighed 250lbs! The airport wasn't thrilled about that! But they let me on...and I got my books home! When I picked out end table for the house I knew I needed storage underneath to store my books. These are just some of the few.

Here is an up close view of my polka dot curtains.....I happen to love them!

I wanted a huge couch for us, one big enough we could both lay on. So I got this sectional, and I love it! You can see one of The Hunters deer here. I got those plaques at Hobby Lobby for $1.50 EACH a few years back. The 2 pictures on the left are from Paris.

We have a really large living room. This is on the opposite side of the couch, and close to the fireplace. Again....another deer....there are 4 total! One hangs over the tv with some nice candelabras!!! I didn't get a picture of that. I mixed and matched the ottoman. The red ottoman is actually for the sofa...but I put a coffee table there instead. These cream chairs have a matching ottoman that goes with them....but I like the red one! I did have 2 really pretty rugs in both theses areas....but if you read yesterdays post...then you know why those rugs aren't there!

Ok....how HIDEOUS is the light fixture...ugh!!! Terrible I know!!! One day I will replace it! I miss my rugs....they made the space look so much better. When Tide gets bigger and can stay outside then I will put the rugs back down.

Now I can proudly say that the turkey on the bottom is mine...yes that's right...MINE!!! The Dirt Princess loves to turkey hunt. I like to deer hunt too....but turkey hunting is tied with gardening in my book. The Hunter says I should change me name to the Pine Plantation Princess during hunting season....LOL!! The top turkey is The Hunters!

I love architectural elements, I absolutely love these plaques!

and yes...these pictures are crooked. They stay crooked no matter how much I straighten them...oh well. The 2 framed prints are some of the prints I got in Paris....for $1!!!!!!!!

And that's it for the living room....lets head back into the kitchen

I bought these cute little birds to put on the old rusty cart!

I think they are cute!

I also bought this old wooden platter at my fave consignment shop as well.

So there you have my Hunting Camp Chic style!!! What d'ya think? He gets what he wants and I get what I want....I just have to make it work. I think it works fine. Matter of fact...I have been summoned by others ladies to help them blend the two styles at their own homes. Alot of people that visit us get a kick out of the deer/turkey & polka dots...but hey....its us...and I love it!

So do you have to design for the sexes at your home too?

One Big Hot Mess!

Meet my new best friends.....Swiffer......and Hoover....................

I recently became best friends with them thanks to Kiki.......

and Tide....................................

Yes, they are cute, and they look sweet and innocent. But every afternoon Swiffer, Hoover and myself get to spend quality time together cleaning up after those two! I need an animal therapist! Oh lawd help me!!!!!!!!! They are driving me NUTS!!!!!!!!

Where to start......Kiki hates Tide....which is understandable...she was the baby first. But there is no need for her to go around peeing on things.....that's not scoring you points with mommy Kiki! Don't' bite the hand that feeds you. I love her and play with her, and yet everyday I find somewhere that she has peed just to piss me off. Is she doing this to infuriate me, or because of Tide....and maybe she is marking her territory?

My entire house is wood floors or tile. I currently have ZERO rugs in my house....NONE, NADA! Why....because of those 2! No rugs at the doors to wipe you feet on, none in the bathrooms, none is the living room, none in the laundry. Because it never fails that if Tide has to do #1 or #2....he WILL do it on the rug. WHY? Pee or poop and the hard surface flooring where I can spray Clorox and clean it up! Geez give me a break! So no rugs......

I am aware that cats shed. But NO ONE told me the dogs shed 10 million times more than cats! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

This is where I owe the WONDERFUL people at Hoover my sanity! The Hoover Floormate is the best invention man every thought of. It is for hard surface floors. It will vacuum, it will mop, and best of all....it will vacuum and mop ALL AT ONCE!!!!!!!!!!! It has 2 tanks, one for clean water, and one for dirty water. You put hot water and cleaner in the clean tank, turn her on....and BAM! Your floors are clean. You don't have to sweep before you mop because it does it for you! I cannot say enough about this thing!!! What I can tell you is that it sucks up about 2lbs of dog hair in a weeks time! The Swiffer has become the "quickie" of choice! I use it to clean the are around the back door....since WE HAVE NO RUG! As soon as I get home...I start cleaning poop and pee! Nice huh! We keep Tide in the laundry room for now until he is old enough to go out....which better be soon! So I get the joy of coming home and cleaning up his mess after work. I am OVER it! I don't want my house to smell like poop or pee........so if it does....someone let me know! I can't stand dirty floors. It makes me want to vomit when I walk across the floor and get hair and dirt stuck to my bare feet! Yes, maybe this is some kind of OCD problem....but I don't like to have "grocery" store feet in my own house!

Now...moving on to more important things....WEEDS!!! If I have time this weekend in between cleaning up dog/cat hair and poop and pee....I plan on weeding! The weeds are out of control! I have to make time to do it!

Ahhhh.....now....that calmed me down.....deep breaths............

I also have to get busy on wedding stuff. My brother is getting married August 29th in Montgomery, AL. I am in charge of the decor for the rehearsal dinner. I have picked out some AWESOME stuff. I will share that with ya'll after the wedding. But I have to get started on the arrangements and the other small things.

The great news is that I get this barb wire (aka braces) off my teeth August 25th!!! WHOO HOO!!! I hate them almost as bad as dog poo! I have had them on for 18 months. I had to get them because I had TMJ really bad. It has totally fixed that! So now they can come off! My orthodontist promised me they would be off by the wedding....and they will :-). So I don't have to look like Ugly Betty in the wedding pics!!! LOL!!!

Sorry ya'll had to listen to me vent about Tide and Kiki. I love them both dearly....I just HATE the mess!!!!!!! I am working with him and teaching him to go outside. The problem is that if he doesn't see you, he hasn't learned to bark, then I would come let him out. If he see's you, he will go to the door and bark letting you know he needs to go out. So therefore I have to monitor him like a baby. Kiki....well I don't know what her deal is. My house & my garden are just one big hot mess right now....Oh....and so am I!!

So feel free to give advice here.....