Ok, ok. He wins.

We had another weekend filled with great weather. Since next weekend is Miss Sunshine's garden birthday party, we've been capitalizing on the weather by working extra hard to make the yard look good again. So, there we were. Mr. Strong and I working in the yard. It could be said we don't always agree on things. In fact, I'm sure it has been said before. It is probably carved in a stone somewhere.

That is what happens when two stubborn strong willed people join forces.

I volunteered to put out the mulch since Mr. Strong never looks behind him and "accidentally" stomps the crap out of the plants out of the goodness of my heart. Of course, while I spread the mulch, Mr. Strong likes to give me advice on how to correctly do it. If I'm not mistaken, people without high school diplomas can do this. So, I tuned out the advice.

Mr. Strong has a love-hate relationship with Home Depot. He loves to go to Home Depot and I'd rather poke my eye with a stick because then I have to hear about how much he hates Home Depot to Lowes.

He found a Passion Vine which made me wonder who the heck was on duty when they named this plant as there is nothing seemingly passionate about it this weekend. The flowers aren't opened all the way, but they look like dragon faces to me. Nice dragon faces. Maybe it should have been called a Mythical Dragon Vine. Obviously, people without high school diplomas have been naming the plants.

Whatever it is called. We both agreed on where to plant it. Amazing!



Yard work is exhausting and one must keep their body nourished. So I took a two hour break to slave in the kitchen to make my ravioli recipe.

These ravioli are seriously good! Just boil frozen ravioli for a couple of minutes, then drain (duh!). Spread the ravioli on a baking sheet and drizzle melted butter over them. Sprinkle freshly grated asiago and Parmesan cheese on the top. Broil until browned on top. Delish!

Mr. Strong is a lucky man to have someone who can gourmet up ravioli so well. Even if he just wanted a sandwich. But, alas, he suffered through the ravioli instead of taking a chance and hurting my feelings.

So back to the yard we went to finish planting plants. And replanting plants. And changing our mind and digging up the plants again to move to a different location. And holy schnike! Could we just put the plants in the ground and leave them alone?!

We found this plant at Lowes. The tag says it is from Texas. I didn't know Texas had plants. Having never been there, I visualize hell a big, vast desert with cacti and roadrunners. I wonder if this plant will need desert sand. And no water. We'll see how it does in Georgia. I'll keep you posted.



The trees all over the yard are in bloom. I love the tiny blooms on the Japanese Maple. They are so understated and call no attention to themselves. On this plant, the leaves are the attention whores.

This is one tree Mr. Strong and I agreed upon. We like this tree and we like where he is planted. Sometimes the gods smile down on us.





Then we come to this. A hardened mass that sits upon our front steps leading to the door no one except the pizza delivery guy uses.

And all I'm going to say is I told Mr. Strong NOT to put the jack-o-lantern on the steps because I knew the heat would make it rot and decay. And he said that he'd throw it away after Halloween.

I give up. He wins. I'll put the pumpkin into the trash today. March is a good month to get rid of jack-o-lanterns, yes?