as you know, my parents are in town. well, my mom knows a thing or two about gardening and i know negative information. yes, negative information. it goes beyond nothing to a dangerous place where you threaten to kill your plants just by walking by them. there was one particularly unfortunate looking bush that steve hacked to death at the wrong time of the season, i presume taking too much of it to the point of no return, and it’s been dying a slow death right in front of our house ever since. a few weeks ago via text my sweet mother suggested that she and my dad come up to help us with some spring cleaning of sorts. i suspect she feels guilty that she’s able to be around two of my other sisters fairly often, so i really honed in on her guilty conscience and rode it all the way to the nursery (and, if i’m being honest, the paint store as well! my dad painted our living room while he was in town! he’s an ex-painter by trade, among other things, and loves to paint and was thrilled to do it? um, ok dad? be my guest? so, my living room is gray now!!). we bought a lime hydrangea that is, ready, LOW MAINTENANCE and will flower late june until the first frost. now THAT i can do. the man did say that i should water it pretty often in its first season soooo still wish me luck. that poor hydrangea is not fully aware of whose dirt its been planted in. bridget the brown thumb’s dirt, that’s who. anyway, my mom keeps at it while i swat mosquitoes, weed, and ensure that parker is not running into the road. oh, and make suggestions every few minutes that we pack it in and head to the beach. she’s more motivated than i to make my house look presentable. bless her. and my dad, oh my dad, he painted that living room in one day. what would’ve taken me ages took him a day.
parents! the best kind! i’ll rent them out to you if you’re interested.
and i will also take any tried and true kill-all-the-mosquitoes-forever tips you’ve got for someone who those buggers happen to love.
He hee, that's exactly what happens when my parents comes to visit us! They just do all the work! As for now I live in another country, and bit too fast away for them to visit more often than once a year or less, I won't let them do any work in my house 🙂 I had to learn how to paint by myself 😉
steve and i have painted most of the rooms in this house so we're okay handing over the reigns to him this time 🙂
Yes Yes Yes!! Parents are the best. We have some major landscaping to do this year and unfortunately I won't have time to kill I mean grow anything this year.
ha! exactly.
i hear ya, i'm a serious poop thumb myself. every spring i grab a couple of hanging baskets, and every july they die.
that's why i stick to pothos and boston ferns and not much else!! but i even have the potential to kill those too…
my mom is super good at gardening too. she will probably do the gardening in my house too…except stephen is also super good at it. what isnt he good at? lets be honest.
is stephen trying to win some awards? he wins all the awards.
No mention of my myrtle??? Some sister-transplanted-myrtle-love!!!! Those parents sure are pretty great. Glad they're mine too:)
i'm pretty sure it's in the ground now!
I have negative experience, too. I give my mom my near dead plants and she brings them back to life. Everything I've planted in front of my house has died a slow, painful death and it's not pretty. I'm on the lookout for something low maintenance that can stay in my window box all summer.. that I'll probably kill.
YES. i gave my mom a spider plant years ago that was soooo near death and ugly and i'm pretty sure it has proliferated and made ten new spider plants at this point.
I have the worst brown thumb, and what's worse is that my mother-in-law is a super gardener, president of a garden club, and LOVES to give us plants (which I always happen to kill and must hide before she visits next). The nice thing is they live close and since we just bought a house with a backyard that needs a makeover, they are helping A LOT. I hope they have a Low Maintenance section at the nursery.
hide those plants fast!! the dead ones i mean.
my mom became super mom as soon as we married—painting, bringing us soup, picking up things at the store for us, fixing our clothes!! we kinda just sit there, jaws ajar, at all the ways she continues to give to us. it's sorta magnificent.
james thinks she's the best…asking if we can stop by to have a glass of wine with her and bring over yogurtland (to which i never decline). although, lucky man he is, never experienced the 'hey mama i'm pretty sure my ankle's broken, what should i—GETOVERITWALKITOFF' phase of things 🙂 nice how it all comes full circle!
THE BEST KIND OF MOM.
i am looking for a painter if your dad can make it out to iowa??? 🙂
I LOVE HYDRANGEAS. Best option for everyone, and they smell so lovely. Such hands-on parents.
I was just given this Mosquito Spray recipe. Have not tried it but it is on my list of things to do.
15 drops lavender oil
4TB Vanilla
10 drops citronella oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
Fill bottle up with water.
In typing this out it doesn't give the amount of water. ut my source says either a 12 or 16 oz spray bottle.
thank you for this virginia! i'm going to give it a try – funny, my mom just said she heard about vanilla for mosquito repellent!
How wonderful! Your sweet parents sure love you a lot!
Perhaps your mom wouldn't mind a trip out to Salt Lake City to pot some flowers for me. And come to think of it, my bathroom needs a fresh coat of paint as well 😉
Oh the rents in town 😉 Seeing mine this weekend! Can't wait!
xx
Michaela of H&H
http://hemingwayandhandbags.blogspot.com
hey i recently planted those pinky flower grassy things, too! also i killed hydrangeas once so i need your kind! 😉
My parents have one of these and really feel that it works well. And this is coming from people who have a swamp on a large portion of their property! http://www.amazon.com/Flowtron-BK-80D-80-Watt-Electronic-Coverage/dp/B00004R9VV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310409970&sr=8-1 It does not bug their dog at all but I do remember reading in the reviews that it's something to be aware of. It's fly season here. We've all got bites all up the backs of our necks. Ugh.
AVON SKIN SO SOFT WORKS WONDERS!!!
http://shop.avon.com/product.aspx?
level2_id=303&pdept_id=344&dept_id=416&cat_type=B&pf_id=45290
http://shop.avon.com/product.aspx?level2_id=303&pdept_id=344&dept_id=416&cat_type=B&pf_id=45388
Get it sister! You won't regret it! I use it on me and E. E is super sweet so they really like him. Particularly his forehead. Odd.
Hooray for landscaping and painting. Send them my way. I have enough landscaping that needs to be done to last them a few weeks! Come with! We could have a big ole time! Y'all have fun! Enjoy having them to yourself!!!
Try a mosquito plant in a pot:
http://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-mosquito-plants/
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Thanks EMILIANO BABARAH_USA