The Zereps

if you’re wondering why i’ve been the one posting lately, it’s because eric has been out in the yard all the time. why has he been out in the yard? it’s not because he’s constantly on poo patrol. he’s the one planting the garden this year! since arthur is too small to romp around the yard i’ve been staying inside with him, instead of doing the gardening like i did last year. so eric has been elbow deep in mud and fertilizer.

here are the plants that we got from the boulder county water conservation group (or something along those lines), they are supposedly tailored to our climate. and they will grow to fill the space more, btw.

this is the center of our herb bed. some things that are growing in this picture and on the sides that aren’t shown are: tyme, basil, lemon mint, rosemary, dill and some others i can’t remember. i also have some herbs potted on the gazebo ledges.

the main garden is up top, by the far fence. it looks a little sparse now, but that’s just because the tomatoes haven’t gotten their big growth spurt and things like squash, pumpkin and watermelon haven’t gotten big yet. the plants with the big round leaves are brussel sprouts, there’s some strawberries in the picture, onions, garlic, tomatoes, squash, etc.

next year we are definitely going to build a series of boxes up there and fill them with real dirt. the soil we have here is so alkali that eric was surprised that i got anything to grow last year. it’s really crummy. and we’d really like to start composting, but we have a large sneaking suspicion that our hoa would not approve, so i’m trying to talk eric into one of the small, indoor compost units (i’m not up for a bucket and worms).

oh, and here is the longmont farmer’s market. it’s not nearly as big as the boulder one, but it’s a whole lot closer, thus saving us a ton on gas. and it’s less crowded, the boulder one can be a little crazy.

and what post would be complete without a picture of arthur? here he is in the ‘bumbo’ chair i got him. it supports him using his own body weight and is supposed to help strengthen his tummy, back, and neck muscles. he’s still getting used to it. (and notice the cute mr. roboto shirt i embroidered for him…hehe)

what of the pups? well, they’ve been getting a lot of outdoor time helping eric garden, and lazing around the house. they don’t have another pug meetup until next month. eric and i are seriously considering starting up a longmont meetup so we don’t have to drive to boulder. we’ll see! 😀

ok, well we forgot the camera in the car when we were at the pug meetup last weekend. we were a hurried and late because there were monster slow-downs on the way to boulder, thanks to some weekend road paving. 🙁 but a great time was had by all! there were lots of puggies for jabba and leia to play with, and lots of black puggies, too, which were super cute. jabba got into the games by barking with his signature high-pitched yelp, and leia was trotting around following everybody. little missy also got an attitude when we wanted to put her leash back on and she kept dodging us…thankfully i was stocked with some tweats in my pocket and we lured her back. arthur was a good little fellow for the meetup, too. i had him in the bjorn and he slept most of the time. he got to meet another little baby who was a month older than him, too.

anyhoo….here are a few pictures i’ve taken over the last few weeks.

on our way to the ‘boulder creek festival’

some chill time in the crib

with his new lambie that makes soothing sounds for him to sleep with

looking very sweet

he has also mastered the art of sucking on his fingers and fist. sometimes he gags himself, but he’s getting better!

his bib has turned into an after dinner mint

looking quite pensive

the little fellow is all swaddled and asleep in his swing right now, but he’s turning into quite an active little guy. he is starting to play with his toys more and he loves the kissing game i play with him where i smooch him all over.

we’re looking forward to a nice father’s day weekend, too. i made eric some cuppers to take to work (vegan dark chocolate stout, to be exact) and i think we’re going to have a bbq on our new grill (our charcoal one i got last year gave up the ghost…too much wind). well, ‘grill’….it’s the george foreman outdoor patio grill….hey..it’s the same price as those cheapie charcoal grills, plus it won’t spill hot coals on arthur or the pups if it tips over. and there’s no cleanup! i hated dealing with ash. bleh. and i’m not enough of a red-blooded american, apparently, to want a 5,000 sq. inch propane monstrosity to cook our veggie burgers and corn on. 😉

and let’s hope they get that fire in paradise under control! my family made an escape last night to a hotel in oroville.

have a super father’s day weekend everybody!