Life Skills 101 and other ramblings...

Two of my children who were done with school got to do more school.  Life school!  I wanted stakes to hold up my wire off my beds that keep dogs from excavating them and removing all my flowers.   I had them get the stakes and screwdriver and drywall screws.  They knew what I wanted so I backed off and let them try.............and try...........and finally I did one to show them how.

They decided that it was harder then it looked.  

This is what they are making.

 After I took a picture of this I decided to share how my porch is looking.   See all the hanging baskets?  Each one has plants, many flowers and tomatoes. 

 Home for the last 4 tomato plants!  I try to remember to add a few marigolds to help keep tomato worms away.  

 More pictures of life skills.   They are working hard.  I was working hard too.... not helping!

 I don't think I ever shared our new fountain pictures.  Our last one never worked as well as we wanted.  So off we went in search of "ideas".   I found this fountain in town.  I revised it and it worked great.  

What I did was set the new fountain on a big rock inside the water trough that was our old fountain.  I used the pump from the water trough, only pumped the water into the bottom of the new fountain where it would have been if it was freestanding.  Once it filled up it overflowed into the water trough perfect!  The water in the base keeps it from blowing over in our strong winds. 

 I then added a few plants around it just because.   I like the results. 

 Here is our designated play area. It isn't to junky right now as I discovered one child was hogging a large area.  I had them clean all the toys, flatten all the mountains then start over today.  Told them they were erasing their designs and starting fresh.  This will be an every Monday morning thing.  Then I explained to play area hog that if he did it again he wouldn't be playing there, PERIOD! 

Potatoes!  More Potatoes!  At least I hope.  This is my potato bed.  Each time the leaves reach the top of the tire you add a tire and more dirt.  I am amazed at how fast they are growing.  Now I wonder if they are making 'tators or just leaves that I promptly have covered. 

Have you noticed EVERYTHING has wire over it in my yard?   This is the ONLY way I can have a yard!  Right now I even have a piece out in the middle of the yard where dogs/kids decided to dig the other day.   I filled it in added some grass I was pulling up from a flower bed and covered it with a 4x4.  Just to keep it in place I then parked a cart full of dirt on it for a couple of days :)  

Can you see my new table?  Kids are working on the other end of it.  I love it.  I do find the trail is crowded when large white dog sprawls in trail beside picnic table.  But, he can MOVE!

Garden!  About as weeded as you will ever see it.  We are wanting to put chat down which will sit up hard and keep a lot of the weeds out of the walk ways.  It will also look pretty with the white chat between the green plants of the beds.  

That is about all that is happening here.  I am blessed to get to keep grand kids today as son had a long feed trip to make today and since DIL had never been to that part of TX I suggested she grab her camera and go with him.  Maybe she will get pictures of the Marfa lights!  That would be SOOO cool!   If not she will see a totally different type of area of TX.