SELF PORTRAIT: My daughter who looks identical to me at the same age. She’s gorgeous, and it makes me feel good about myself in a twisted way.

HOT: Pickled peppers, okra, carrots, and cucumbers—Texas fixin’s

I SEE FIRE

BLUE: Lovely skies over Crystal Beach

WHITE: Pretty shell pillow at the beach

I apologize for the very late post. I tried and tried to find time to participate. Alas I had to get on “beach” time to find some. Ironically, it’s really hard to sit still while I am here. I stink at down time. Everyone’s photos have been very helpful to fill the time. RED: Swan Lake with my daughters and mom

Beach dust (a very loose interpretation of today’s prompt)

CHORE...are they ever done? My next chore today. Boxed up four boxes of books for donation. Still have a pile to shelve.

PART 2 Kids’ part of this chore in progress.

CHORE My part of this chore is complete. *See above photo

LEGO—Heaven and Hell

Yep. I, too, am buried in tomatoes this season. I planted nine plants, but only half are producing because they are too crowded and shading each other. So far...450 tomatoes, 5 varieties. YIKES! I LOVE GARDEN TOMATOES, but I have had my fill. ? DH made salsa (with store-bought peppers since we never finished our veggies beds this year) and now have 20+ jars of salsa (8-16oz) in the fridge. I already have 40 more tomatoes in the last two days. SMH You know it's nutters when you spend hours pinning recipes highlighting tomatoes. ? I also inexplicably ordered 45 daylilies in March for delivery in May. I ran out of place to plant them! DH just stood in the garage shaking his head at me. Seriously. I have a plant problem. But can I tell you how absolutely stunning my spring perennial garden was this year?! For the past two months I have been surrounded by blooms of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Passers-by are lobbing compliments from the road. I'm very proud...even if my veggie garden is out of control and lacking all at the same time. ? Your garden sounds exciting!!!

From the current press release from the officials (happening now): --Shooter used shotgun and .38 revolver that was legally owned by dad. Do not know how weapons obtained, etc. --From preliminary review of personal "journal", shooter intended to commit suicide during this event. He says has did not have the nerve when it came down to it and surrendered. --There were 3 IEDs planted: 1 in school, 1 in shooter vehicle, 1 in home (not clear exactly which home). Some kids that were "interviewed" that knew this kid said he was bullied by students and coaches, but he was quiet and somewhat a loner. That is from the students in this aftermath so take that for what it's worth. At least our state officials are talking about thinking out of the box to harden the schools against this particular violence. I for one am sick of the "solution" getting bogged down in gun-control, mental health, and other big-picture (important but long-term) discussions. I want a solution for schools in particular right now in the current culture and under current laws. ?

DH bought a shirt that says "I walked across the dam bridge". :) The kids were mortified when he wore it. :)

This is what we want to do next! We can't wait to get back!

Just FYI...The glass bridge is closer to the west rim, Sky Walk?, and costs close to $100 per person to do. You can't just buy a ticket for the bridge. You have to buy a package ticket. Also, we were told by many that you can't wear shoes and or take any possessions on the bridge with you. NO pics or anything.

Just got back from the GC a couple of weeks ago. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! We stayed in Flagstaff at the Hampton Inn. Great, free breakfast. Super nice staff. In addition to the GC, we spent a couple of hours at the Sunset Crater Volcano. You get to see the lava flows from a 1000yo eruption and can hike to the base of the volcano (1 mi round trip). It was magical! We hiked to Ooh Aah Point on the South Kaibab trail at the south rim. Took a little under 2 hours, and I am very, very out of shape. :) Kids (age 8-12) LOVED it! This trail is a little wider than most because the mules use this trail, which was cool when they passed. We did take trekking sticks and water backpacks. I can not imagine having skipped the hike now (which we almost did because we were scared it would be too intense). People of all ages and abilities were on the trail. We also drove the Desert View drive that has lots of lookouts along the way. We followed this on our way out of the GC. My only complaint was that crowding made it challenging to park at the lookouts, but it was not impossible. We saw everything along the drive. We only had one full day for the GC so that is how we spent it. It was the one place on our vacation that we really wanted to stay, to hike and explore more. Pictures just did not do it justice. I recommend making sure to have snacks with you if you are going when it's crowded. All the facilities were just super packed over early spring break. We tend to get hangry easily so I'm glad we had plenty of snacks in the truck and in our backpacks. Only wildlife we saw were birds, mules, and squirrels.

Lol, reading everyone's responses reminded me that I ordered 50 daylilies for the front beds a couple of weeks ago, They'll be here in May. I had completely forgotten. Man, I have a problem...

Already have 7 varieties of tomatoes planted in the 36sqft raised bed. Planted those first week of March. We are finishing up the third new raised bed (18sqft ea) for this year. Have lots planned for those (beans, peanuts, pumpkins, watermelons, tons of peppers, carrots, and onions). After we finish building the boxes, we still have to dig out the grass in and around them, put down pebble, and fill them. Our goal is to be finished this weekend because we need to get the plants in the boxes ASAP, BUT we also have a baseball game and practice and TKD testing this weekend. :( Not sure how much we will accomplish. THEN, I need to prune, clean up, and fertilize the bamboo ASAP. That is a 2-3 day job minimum. I already pulled out the plants that were freeze damaged this year, and spring has definitely sprung in the landscape beds. Around the end of April, I'll call in my favorite landscape dude to replace mulch everywhere. We decided last year to hire this part out when possible because it is such back-breaking work. It takes 8-9 yards of mulch with at least 6 yards hauled to the back yard area, far-far-away from the street. Oh, and I need to mow. Grrrr. But everything is blooming, and the tomatoes are already growing so all is well. I LOVE spring!

I plant veggies in our raised beds. I do not rotate each year, mostly, because I do not have the luxury of space to rotate and grow what I want. We have the equivalent of 5 3x6 beds so not crazy big. We love fresh salsa and make tons of it for family and friends every year. Therefore, we plant at minimum lots of tomatoes and peppers. The 2017 crop netted over 500 tomatoes and peppers. We had salsa coming out our ears. All that to say that I dedicate 2 beds to just tomatoes and 2/3 of another bed to peppers. This year I'm adding onions for the salsa, too. After that, I plant 1.5 beds with things we will actually eat. In a house full of picky eaters, that list is very short. This year that includes snow peas, pole beans, zucchini, and carrots. The last 1.5 beds are just fun stuff. This year that is pumpkin, watermelon, and peanuts. I try to plant each bed with things that have the same soil requirements. It just makes life so much easier. I highly recommend buying the original Square Foot Garden book as a reference. The first year I followed it religiously and had a great time veggie gardening. Through the years, I have found the things that work a little better for me, like spacing things out a little more. you could even use a checker-board pattern using veggies and annuals/perennials. That way you can just pull out annuals and change them up year to year, but keep the perennials as staples. Perennials here tolerate being cut back severely each year to keep under control as needed. We have a small fruit trees in those half-whiskey barrel planters at the end of each bed. We keep the trees in the planters for two reasons. It restricts the size AND enables moving them to the garage in our "freak" freezes. Grrrrr... I have tried the recommended companion plantings such as marigolds to deter critters from damaging the veggies, but I have never had success with that approach. The best thing for me has been to give the plants space so everything can breathe and stay extremely healthy. I also make ample use of the local ag-extension online information and local, popular nursery knowledge. In my regular landscaping beds, roses and day lilies are my anchors because they tolerate heat and freak freezes beautifully. I try to keep evergreen plants that flower in the warmer months around the perimeters of the yard with flowering trees (deciduous) in the corners. Roses usually go in front of those. Here and there I plant flowering perennials. In front of it all I have day lily beds that have 10-12 plants grouped here and there (different sizes and colors and bloom times). Then as the budget, time, and my energy permit, I plant annuals in the spring that last through fall. The annuals range in size and color but are usually low height plants. We have lots of landscaping beds around our house so we have to "spring-clean" them 3-4 times a year rather than just twice. I have a green bamboo hedge that keeps me hopping big time. We mulch everything twice a year with old mulch-removal required at least every other time or every three times. Have fun gardening!

We do this also. everything that can possible be paid with Amex gets charged. I would LOVE to be able to include the mortgage, but the bank does not allow that. The strangest thing we were able to charge was a down payment on a vehicle. I was giddy with all the extra points. :) We exclusively use our points to purchase Home Depot gift cards. We "pay" for all major home improvements and tool purchases with them. There is nothing better than remodeling/repairing/improving your house for free...free equity!

Oh boy, I can can so commiserate. Except I want a cat. DH hates cats. Our last cat died several years ago. Our last dog dies several years ago. DH loved the dogs, hated the cats. We've been raising babies and have really deeply mourned for all these years the loss of the pets (6 total-4 dogs, 2 cats, I brought 5 into marriage). But now I'm ready for a cat. The kids want a cat and dog but would be thrilled with a cat first. No one is allergic except me. I always care for the animals anyhow. Etc etc. But he hates cats. All that said, for now when I go through pretty serious, mind-consuming, desire for a cat, and he pops off with some ugly comment and "forbids" it, all I can do is pout...for now. I'm can be pretty pissy for several days about it. No arguments. Just resentment. When I get darn ready, REALLY ready to just have a cat, he can jump in lake because I'm getting a stinkin' cat. I'm just too busy and not up for the put-my-foot-down battle that will ensue. Plus, a dog may show up, too. That wouldn't be so bad because I loved having the dogs, but they are alot more work than a cat. Therefore, I want to be ready. I would suggest that you consider the fall out and push the issue if you are ready to accept the relationship consequences. In my case, DH will be mad for a while and possible get a dog "to show me", but hard feelings will pass eventually. I'm sorry for your tough time without an elixir for the pain.

I definitely want to see it, too. So do the children. I was just trying to gauge if we should see it on this trip. I'm trying really hard to have "something of interest for everyone" on these trips. We have many other trips planned in the future. I will make sure that we see if when we are closer than we will be this time. I think it would be cool to be in four states at once! :) But, then, I am the person who would drive 4 hours to see a giant ball of yarn or something. In my teens, I had a particularly memorable trip to Big Ben National Park where we threw a rock from the United States "all the way'" to Mexico. :) And a bat flew into our suburban where we were sleeping! It was so memorable that we are going to try to throw a rock to Mexico near El Paso on our way home this trip. :lol:

Great information! Four Corners is out. :) The 3 extra hours on the road in a 60h road trip plus grumbles to see the "spot" doesn't sound worth it. Option 2 does give more time for Wupatki and the observatory which I think the kids will LOVE. I have no idea why DH has decided that sounds boring. He loves pointing out constellations all the time year round. Go figure. There is no way I'm getting him on a tour bus with other people. Stick in the mud. :) Thank you for weighing in! I just needed some external validation!

Well, we have planned the second leg of our Quest to 50, this time going west aptly named Holes, Hoover, Hollywood, and Hogwarts. Our plans for the Grand Canyon are changing after the helicopter crash there this past week. We saw the headline as I was logging on to book a helicopter tour. No amount of rational thought will convince my already-didn't-want-to-do-it husband to go ahead and book the tour. So we will be sticking to the ground options only. This leaves us a couple of options on places to visit. The kids and I wanted to see the Four Corners just because for the novelty (kids have seem in in some of the Disney shows, too). DH is not interested. But then again, he doesn't seem to be interested in the Grand Canyon either because "it's just a hole." So I will just override him if Four Corners is worth it from an adventurer perspective. Plus we get in 4 states at once for our quest. :) Important points to consider: DH is not good about admiring Mother Nature's beauty for longer than 30 minutes. It will be quite cold (to us) mid-March. We are not equipped or in best shape/experience for hiking up and down. I had originally planned about 4 hours to spend along the Desert Rim Drive with walking along the paved paths and 4 hours for helicopter tour (travel/tour/etc). Option 1: Day 1--Four Corners (see on way from Albuquerque to Flagstaff, aware of extra mileage) , Day 2--Sunset Volcano, South Rim-Desert Rim Drive Option 2: Day 1--Sunset Volcano, Day 2--more time South Rim-Desert Rim Drive-???, Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff (which DH said sounded boring, kids have never been to any) basically this day would be less pressed for time but if travelers get "bored" with same scenery that would not be good What say the traveling experts? Is Four Corners the way to go? I'm leaning this way. But reviews for the observatory are awesome too! Thank you! DH won't help think this through because this is the leg of the trip is his least interested in. Grrrrrrr.... I'm going to give the kids a vote after school today, too. :)