Spring has sprung!

This weekend I :

• went to Moisture Fest  ( yay yodeling cowgirl! )
• took the climbing 101 class at Stone Gardens ( Holy rope-burn Batman!) 
• prepped my patio garden for Spring

The before was just too horrible, and I forgot to take a picture, so you only get afters...

It doesn't look like much now - but I'll try to put more updates as everything slowly wakes up again. 

last year the hops went so crazy they took over the whole balcony and I had to cut them out bit by bit from the plastic webbing we use to keep the dog from jumping between the bars.

So far this year it looks like the honeywart is trying to take everything over. It grew wild from last year's seed fall. In fact, everything has been from last year. Hopefully I can resist the urge to buy more plants...I think I have an addiction...

These are my indoor plants - 

The Jade was my first houseplant in Seattle. Its weathered many an absence of water without much complaint.

The little creeper I found on the floor at Home Depot. It had broken off a larger spider plant. It refuses to die.

The large plant on the left is some kind of lily...but the flowers are a deep maroon / brown color. 

Try searching "brown flower," or "brown lily" on Google - it's all resources on plant care. So I have no idea what plant this is exactly. It seems happy enough in a deep pot with lots of sun. Its pretty, so I don't myind my nameless stranger. I call her Chocolate. 

Today’s new thing starts with the statement:

    “I love my husband.”

My husband, the guitar playing, laundry rockin', ace cook, cannot drive in downtown. He just can’t. When he does, it's like free scream therapy or the scary part of the roller coaster as you slowly go up cringing as you listen to the sinister click-click of the chain locking you in position. We just keep going around the same block, nerves fraying, knuckles white, face contorted in fear.

 Part of the problem is that we drive a boat. I don’t know many cars longer than our Subaru Outback. We need to get something shorter – but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Normally it’s not a problem, but when you’re downtown, and it’s all mini/fiat/motorcycle spots, I really start to wish we’d gone car shopping shortly after moving to the city.

 The other part of the problem is that my husband is too nice. He lets people get in front of him, waits while they take the spot that just opened up, refuses to stop and wait for another car to back out because there’s a car a block and a half behind him. It's just terrible. 

We did it though, and now we have a resolution that, when we know we're headed downtown - I drive. I'm aggressive, I have good peripheral vision, and I know exactly how big the car is. 

This scary adventure was all for the greater good though - Ferris Wheel pics!!