berries & butterflies

today i planted 2 blueberry bushes, and a cherry tree that Mike's parents got for us as a Christmas gift. (don't worry, the tree hasn't been sitting around un-planted since December. it was just delivered to us on Thursday). we're also planning to plant raspberries and blackberries in large containers (to prevent spreading & taking over the yard)... and probably some strawberries. i'm totally excited about all of the berries. our blueberry bushes don't look anything like this one yet, but give it a couple of years, and it'll get there. i've been reading up on it - and it turns out it needs acidic soil (which i doubt we have, so we'll be looking for the right fertilizer), and you're supposed to pick off flowers the first year to prevent berries from forming - it encourages the bush to fill out better, and in the long run will allow it to produce more berries. so no blueberries this year, but hopefully enough to share next year! the cherry tree is a semi-dwarf rainier cherry tree. it only gets to be about 10 feet tall, so we'll be able to pick them pretty easily. sounds like a happy situation to me. i love rainier cherries, and they're always SO expensive - it'll be nice to get some for free! :)

we also have a neat herb container garden planned for the back deck, and a butterfly garden planned for the front yard - where all of the ugly rhododendrons are currently blocking the only front window we have on the ground floor. i'm so anxious to get those out of there, and transform that area into a major butterfly magnet! we even have a butterfly bush in the back yard that i want to hack back to a reasonable size and move to the front yard. i've read that they're actually classified as a noxious weed in WA state, so i'm lead to believe that it'll take a good hacking and survive any transplant trauma that might occur.

TGIF!!!!!!

after a long and annoying week, it was NICE to go share a drink with Mike! i wish every night was friday night.

Best Picture

i love that Sean Penn won Best Actor for his role in Milk. i think the movie should have gotten Best Picture, too. I didn't even see the other movies that were nominated for that award, but i can tell you that Milk was one of the best movies i've seen in ages. i suspect i would still think so, even if i had seen the other nominees. very few movies make me cry, but the end of this one did. it was moving. if you haven't seen it yet, go find a place still showing it or get it on dvd the second it comes out... it's worth it.

in the mean time - here's a trailer to tide you over:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3658547225/

Masaaki

want a theme for the photos i've posted this weekend so far? they all contain elusive, rarely seen individuals. this one is my oldest cat, Masaaki. he's known mainly for his timid nature (that's the nice way of saying he's a total weenie, and scared of everything)... he also howls really REALLY loud every morning at about 4am. those things aside, Masaaki is a total sweetie, and has loads of cute personality quirks that make him incredibly loveable.... if you can find and befriend him. he turns 5 later this year.

My sis-in-law April

THIS, folks, is my sister-in-law, April. She is Mike's brother's wife. Let me explain to you why this photo is special (and therefore plastered all over the web as of now): April has been very warm and welcoming since we announced our engagement (she sent a "welcome to the family" card, even!)... but she's never offered up a photo of herself. Not once. When I've brought it up, or Mike's brought it up... we're met with dead silence on the topic. Weird, right? considering the fact that I'll undoubtedly eventually meet this woman... what's she got to hide? it's not like you can hide when i finally track ya down in person... so what's up in the photo department?... SO... when Mike left for Georgia (April lives in Georgia), I told him that I expected him to take a photo with his camera phone the SECOND he saw her, and to send it to my phone.... and swore to god (and anybody who would listen) that it would be plastered all over the inter-web by morning. so here we all have it --> the elusive sister-in-law!

mobile valentine

how fun... i can send mobile photos to this blog! :)

these are flowers Mike gave me for Valentine's Day!

mirror maybe?

are you ready? this is one of those moments i'm going to admit to something that will probably turn out funny. sometimes i'm a total follower. my friends are all doing it, so i've got to try it. probably not so funny in practice, but funny when somebody admits to it right? :)

what i'm talking about is this blog. my first blog was on Yahoo 360... which migrated over to Myspace when i discovered half of my friends were living over there... and now i'm finding more and more people sneaking over to Blog Spot. (plus i'm at home sick and delirious with nothing better to do).... so here i am.

i'll mirror the MySpace blog for a while and see how that goes. we'll see where i wind up next.