Turning 30 and aphid attack.

I'm 30 y'all. I'm 30. Yikes. BIG yikes.

I remember when I was probably 12 and met some kids who had an older sister who was thirty (married and with children). I thought that was just plain crazy and then as I got older and my youngest brother was born when I was 18 I realized...that is going to be me! And my little brother will be 12 when I turn 30. At the time I thought "well, life will basically be over by then so I guess that'll be ok."

Obviously my viewpoint has changed as now I view those who are 40 and 50 as still "young." A few years ago when I was translating for that medical group in Brazil I remember commenting that my previous patient who was 42 appeared to be more like 30. I asked my good friend Kim "don't you think?" and she said "uh...no, he looks to be in his forties. I think you're just getting older." And I think she was right.

So as awful as I thought it was going to be turning 30, well, it wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of fun. As I left the house yesterday morning I saw this in my yard....

And then at the first stop sign I saw this....

And then at the next stop sign this....

Then this....

Then this....

and finally this....

I couldn't stop smiling and laughing about it throughout the day. If I had not have known that my sister-in-law was thousands of miles away in an Indian village I would have KNOWN it was her. Jonathan wouldn't tell me for several hours as he loved hearing me beg and take guesses. I never did guess who it was (and never would have). It was one of Jonathan's good friends (mine too but the two of them have been friends for years) who came all the way down Grandview mountain (we're talking a 40 minute drive, folks) at MIDNIGHT to put these signs up. Isn't that so thoughtful? I thought so. 

I also had a good friend take our girls and me out for coffee and hot "chwocolate" that morning. It was fun! 

Then that night my in-laws, hubby, daughter and I went to chatty for an awesome supper at Longhorn. I don't know if the stuffed portabella was better or the humogatroud "chwocolate" cake for dessert! Either way it was yuuuuuuuuuuummy. 

And now I'm 30. 

And what activities do I find fun in my old age? 

Gardening. Oh how I LOVE gardening. I've never loved something so much that I've known so little about. It IS a bit overwhelming but I am soaking up as much information as I can and I'm just diving in. You gotta start somewhere so that's what I did. And I'm having a blast in this process.

My new favorite question to ask someone is now "do you have a garden?" and if the answer is "yes" I follow that up with "tell me all about it!" I've gotten some really good tips and ideas and I've realized that a lot of people know just as little as I do about gardening and yet still attain success (success is a relative term, however).

I've even been able to pass on some tidbits of information myself which makes me feel like an expert gardener.

I am 30, you know.

So this is what my herb garden looks like.....

It has only been planted for a few weeks so still looks rather sparse. But I am excited about everything that's in there! There are three tomato plants in the back, basil, dill, oregano, mint, lavender, stevia, aloe and a few more that I don't even remember the names (gotta love Lowe's clearance rack...it's hard to resist an herb that's 99 cents, even if you don't know what it is!)

And here are my vegetable gardens that probably won't get enough sun to produce a ton but....

In there I have 4 more tomato plants, 2 eggplant, several cucumber (2 different varieties), strawberry, banana peppers, bush beans, watermelon, lettuce and zucchini. The last four were all started from seed and seem to be doing well except zucchini. Apparently the soil has been too cold and most people around here aren't having success with zucchini. 

My main desire is to have plenty of tomatoes! Oh how I detest store bought tomatoes. I think I'd rather dye cardboard red, eat that and save the money. So I am trying oh-so-hard to do all I can to help the tomatoes along. 

Because of that I noticed right away when my two heirloom plants had some spots on their bottom leaves! I discovered that the problem was a common one...aphids. 

Ugh, aphids.

But that is where the green bottle comes into play....

Hopefully this concoction of water, garlic, hot sauce and dish soap will take care of my aphid problemo. We shall see.

The only thing that could be nicer about having this garden to work in would be living in the house where it is located. But that will come in time.

Until then, we will enjoy the little things in life. 

Like "chwocolate".....

                  Kelley