Keeping Busy Again

Rough day so what better than blogging to take your mind off unpleasant things right?  So where the heck did I disappear to the past week or so?  Well we've had a special guest over and have been doing the whole sight seeing thing we do for any out of town-ers who come by for a visit.  It's fun for them, it's fun for us, etc... Did I mention we managed to catch some kind of stomach virus that had us laid up for a few days...ALL of us managed to get it...fun, fun.  Besides that, we have been busy working on a bunch of house stuff!  I can't wait to share everything we've done, but seeing as how it is currently 1:08 am, I am just gonna give you a small peek into what we've been doing:

My MIL had been sending me a variety of small plants perfect for creating a butterfly garden.  Only one problem...I planted them in pots and killed them...ooops!  Apparently they needed to go straight in the ground.  Plants 1, Vero 0, or vice versa.  Since I accidentally offed the small plants, I went to my nearest nursery and purchased a bunch of different flowers that would attract butterflies.  Here's a look at the halfway done garden:

(one of our doggy guests was enamored with it :))

It has jasmine, butterfly bush, butterfly vine, hibiscus, esperanza, roses, angel trumpets, and a whole bunch of other ones that I can't remember right now.  

 We also bought and put together some raised beds from Home Depot.  We will be planting a bunch of vegetable seeds this week, including: tomatoes, zucchini, squash, jalapenos, etc...

While at the nursery, I snagged some pintas and sweet potato vine, and my MIL added them to the hanging baskets I had on the deck (they only had vincas before).

The next day, at the Walmart garden center, I noticed 

that they had a ton of plants on clearance, so I picked up a bunch of stuff, including yellow and pink hibiscus and a tangerine-colored double hibiscus.  Can you tell I love hibiscus? :)  I put the yellow one in my front yard bed next to the reddish-orange hibiscus I've had since last Fall.

I also bought a bunch of cutesy garden decor elements during a sale at Hobby Lobby and Joann's.  70% off at Joann's woohoo!!

Eva painted a bird house for the garden:

The sale at Hobby Lobby included 50% off glassware, so I took advantage and purchased containers for my pantry items.  I will be making labels for them soon!

During a trip to Home Depot, I found this shower head.  I used it to replace the old guest bath shower head, which was spraying water in all directions. 

Perhaps the most exciting thing that happened this past week was that I purchased a sewing machine!  I've always wanted to learn how to use one to make curtains, pillow covers, clothing, etc...  My MIL helped me filter my search on CL and we came across a Janome that can also do quilting for only $100!!!  She estimated that I had probably found a $1300 machine, so I was super excited about the asking price! 

 My first project is a whimsical rumba skirt for Eva and lets just say my stitches don't exactly go in a straight line.  :)  It's okay though, practice makes perfect.  

We've done so much more, but that's enough for now.  I hope to get a chance to get back on here soon to go into detail about some of these projects!