The Mystery of the Disappearing Bench

MISSING: 

Red House Garden Bench

It stands about 3 feet high, is made out of Tennessee sandstone blocks, and weighs approximately eleventy gazillion pounds.

It was last seen in the backyard last fall.

Sometime in the last few months it has gone missing.

Search parties have been sent out, combing the backyard and nearby areas for the vanished bench, but to no avail.

Here at the Red House Garden we are following every possible lead, determined to track down how this bench disappeared and what malevolent forces could have carried out such a deed.  Garden authorities are currently in the process of rounding up and questioning the usual suspects.

photo source - Wikipedia

If anyone has any information pertaining to the whereabouts of this garden bench or would like to report possible suspicious Garden Gnome behavior in connection to this case (or in general), please contact your local garden authorities.

We certainly hope that this garden bench will be found in time for the spring gardening.  

What Kids Want in a Garden

I have fond memories of the little tire planter garden I had as a kid, and it is very important to me that our kids have their own little patch of dirt.  We'll be building our daughters' gardens this spring here at our new house, once all the snow finally clears. Until then, we are eagerly making plans!

So what do kids want in a garden?  To answer this question, I enlisted two experts on the subject - my 4-year-old and 6-year-old. These are their expert opinions:

1.  Flowers - Lots and lots of flowers were requested, of course.  (Good, they know what a garden is, check!)

kids' garden at the old Red House

2.  Fruits and Vegetables - Surprised, parents?  Picking and eating veggies in the garden apparently has much more appeal than prepared veggies on a plate. This year, the kids are requesting to have two gardens each, one for flowers and one for edibles!

3.  Bugs - My kids requested 'lots and lots' of butterflies and ladybugs!  Children are naturally inclined to be wildlife gardeners, I think!

(Sorry bees, you didn't get quite the same amount of love.  And mosquitos, you were specifically asked to stay away from the party.)

4.  Water - Actually the specific requests from my daughters included the terms 'water fountain' and 'heated pool'.  (Where do they learn these things?)  Thankfully, they also mentioned a 'giant mud puddle.'  I think we can all guess which one has a better chance of being in the kids' garden..

5.  A place to run around - I guess I'm keeping a patch of lawn, after all!  My husband will be happy.  (Seriously, what is it with guys and grass?)

6.  Play structure - Okay, the term my daughters actually used was 'castle'.  Well, I did tell them to imagine their dream garden, after all.  I have a feeling that they are imagining something like this:

Cinderella's castle
source - Wikipedia

Do you think they'll settle for a big rock?

Happy gardening (or at least garden planning), everyone!

And here's to inspiring the next generation of gardeners!
Anyone have anything else to add to the list from their own little 'experts'? 

Valentine's Day is Coming - No Pressure

When it comes to Valentine's Day, I must admit, I side with all those clueless husbands who are wondering, what, oh what, did they do to the greeting card companies to deserve this holiday.

You see, in our relationship, Mr. Red House is actually the romantic one.  For our first Valentine's Day together, he put together a scavenger hunt for me through a part of town.  My friend gave me instructions with the first clue, which led me to a florist who gave me a bunch of roses and a card with a clue for where to go next.  The trail led to half a dozen stores, all of which gave me a little something and a card with a clue in it, and then finally led, of course, to Mr. Red House, who took me out to dinner.  Yeah, he's a keeper.

We both agreed that he could never top that, so we should keep expectations low from then on.  So of course, for our second Valentine's Day together, the only thing Mr. Red House did was build me a little crate made of handmade chocolate planks with homemade chocolate raspberry truffles nestled inside.  And also give me a couple hard to find books that he had scoured the internet for to add to my book collection of old girl detective novels.

Yeah, how am I supposed to live up to that?  I have no idea what I gave Mr. Red House for our first couple of Valentine's Days - it was probably socks or something equally practical.  (Who doesn't love a good pair of socks?)  I'm usually the one who is still wracking their brain right before Valentine's Day, wondering what in the world can I get that proves I still love this guy (just in case he doesn't know) and that I can afford and that doesn't require shipping because it's by now it's too late for that.  

Last year I stumbled upon an idea that was pure genius - Mr. Red House loves to get packages, so on Valentine's Day I told him I was going to send him one package for each year we were married throughout the month of February.  Thus I didn't have to pick what to get him right then (though I had the vague notion that he needed some more black socks), and it was the gift that keeps on giving all through the month!  (I was very thankful we had Amazon prime with all those shipping costs.)

Mr. Red House isn't just romantic at Valentine's Day.  These are all pictures of the birdhouse he built for me for Christmas that I had to show off.  He painted it red, because he knows how much I miss our red house.  (I won't tell you what I gave him, as it would look sad and pathetic in comparison.  Unless you really enjoy homemade salsa.)

Isn't the birdhouse gorgeous?  As beautiful as it looks out in the snow, this is one birdhouse I'm keeping indoors.

Does anyone else have the same problem as me?  Or are you the romantic one in the relationship?  Or have you decided to rebel against the greeting card companies and just not celebrate Valentine's Day at all?

And if you are romantic, do you by chance have any good ideas for what to get a guy for Valentine's Day?  Preferably something that doesn't require shipping at this late date...

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! 

(And to all you fellow non-romantics, good luck!)