Thank you, Doug and Rochelle Kramer, for providing me with a ray of sunshine on an overcast day.

Photo Gallery of Cliff May Homes on RanchoStyle.com

People, if you have not yet visited this website (or if you have had an overcast or otherwise bleak and dreary afternoon), I suggest that you high tail it on over to RanchoStyle.com post haste and have a gander at their photo gallery.  Don’t forget to take a tissue to wipe the drool from your chin, my friend, you don’t want to look too craven.

How do I love Texas?  Let me count the ways.

Used to be I hated this state.  Too hot.  Too much traffic.  Too many bugs, especially mosquitos.  Too expensive.

Now my life is here.  My house, my kids, my amazing neighbors, my favorite stores and products, my lake, my breezy spring evenings, my barbeque…  I have planted my roots and I am watching them grow.

No really, I mean it.  We really did plant some roots!

Building the Erwin House Victory Garden, October 2008

Erwin House Victory Garden, March 2009

Last October, we smelled a nasty economic downturn on the horizon, so we planted ourselves a little Victory Garden.  It was late in the season, but I took a chance on some tomatoes and basil (no luck).  The kids picked out some pretty fall annuals.  We had a very successful turn with the collards, broccoli, bok choy, and oregano.  I caught the gardening bug, and I caught it bad.  Our house is full of cups with various seedlings waiting for the last frost (tonight perhaps?).

Seedlings for the Erwin House Victory Garden

Today we had a grand time swapping seeds, seedlings, and various plants with neighbors.  We gave away some trumpet vine, watermelon seeds, and bell pepper seedlings.  We brought home stonecrop sedum, inland sea oats seeds, heirloom tomato starts and garlic chives.  This we will add to the already bustling beds out back as well as to (we hope) some border in front of the fence.  Once we get the fenced fixed, that is.  And painted.  Dang, where is that to-do list?

Ah yes, it is on Facebook.  We’re dorks like that, so do be sure to check us out there if you would like to keep up with our daily tweets and whatnot!

Dear World,

How are you?  It has been a long time since we’ve caught up and there is so much to tell you that I don’t know where to begin.

If you hadn’t heard through the grapevine, I am pregnant with Baby Erwin #4, and I have caught the nesting bug, so it is about dang time I started blogging again, don’t you think?  You wouldn’t want to miss out on a second of my victory-gardening-slash-gourmet-cooking-slash-picture-hanging-slash-closet-organizing-slash–pillow-fluffing-slash-punch-listing tom foolery, now would you?

And when I’m not here being all Mrs. Pert and Perky, you might want to check for me and my busy self over at Crestview Doors where I spend the remainder of my time when I am not micromanaging my three adorable rug rats, two dogs, cat and lovable other half.

In the meantime, here is a sneak preview of the Golden Showers rose bushes I planted along the fence next to the driveway today:

Wish me luck because Maude knows how I can kill perfectly viable plant life.

Ciao, World!  Have a Flirtini for me!

Christiane