4 No Alvins Allowed

One of the serious perks of my job is that I am able to spend a good chunk of my time working from right here…



You can even make out where my caboose has made a clearly identifiable indention in the couch cushion…lovely.

Other than when I’m out and about running around showing houses, as long as I have my laptop close by and my cell phone even closer by, I can work from just about anywhere. Pretty great right? Absolutely, but don’t go getting the idea that working from home means lounging in PJs until noon with the TV blaring. Work still has to get done and I’m not the only one with business on the brain. My little June bug works her little tail off from sun up to sun down.

You see, while I’m typing away from my perch, June’s on a mission of her own. A mission to kill.

Notice anything particularly schnauzer intriguing in this photo? (Pardon the gutter-cleaning debris, friends.)…



Oh yeah, baby. We have a chipmunk living underneath the back patio. A chipmunk who June has had her eye on for the past two years and who I may or may not refer to as Chip-y Munk-y.



I’m fairly positive June’s sole purpose for existing is to protect our house from Chip-y Munk-y. The second the sun rises? She’s looking for Chip-y Munk-y. Before she takes care of business (you know what I mean here)? She’s sniffing around Chip-y Munk-y’s front door/hole in the ground to see if he’s home. She’s even gone so far as to rip a section of guttering off the side of the house when she saw Chip-y Munk-y scurry up it. That was a fun experience.

It may seem like a fruitless task, but for June, a tiny chipmunk head on a silver platter is the stuff dreams are made of. And for me, Chip-y Munky is one hell of a puppy sitter.

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0 Herb Today, Grown Tomorrow

From time to time I do head out into the yard and attempt to exercise my brown thumb. Especially when it’s a sunny 72 degrees and I just can’t stand the thought of being inside. Last spring I was pretty stinkin’ proud of myself for my novice attempt at an herb garden, but of course, as the weeks went by, my around-the-house-ADD left this patch of dirt more than slightly neglected.

Sadly, there weren’t many survivors. Dill, parsley, basil and cilantro just couldn’t handle my here’s a little dirt, a smidge of sunshine and water when-I-remember-you’re-still-out-there mentality towards gardening.

But not my rosemary…

 
Oh, no. This trooper held on tight during the winter months and seemed to triple in size with all of the rain we’ve had thrown upon us in the last few weeks. Out of nowhere—and with zero help from yours truly—BAM! This friend turned into serious shrubbery…

 
My poor little kitty friend is suffocating underneath all the herb goodness. He’ll learn to love it. Heaven knows I’m not planting another bush for him to keep company.

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5 True Confession: Mow Problems

Ready for a Monday morning true confession? This one is tough for me to admit, especially since I pride myself on being the best do-it-yourselfer that I can be, but not once in my entire DIY life have I ever learned how to use a lawnmower. I know. Disgrace.

After reflecting on my childhood, I blame my mother (sorry, ma). Every time she headed out to mow the lawn, it was ordered that we kiddos stay huddled inside for fear the lawnmower would kick up every pebble in the yard and rocket them directly into our corneas.

Further enabling my lack luster yard-work skills, I always had wonderfully helpful family and friends offering to do the job for me, but this weekend with my yard reaching the terrifyingly disgraceful point where I found myself flying into my carport and quickly running inside for fear disapproving neighbors would start throwing stones at the sight of me, my dependency was to be put to an end. I was going to mow that stinkin’ yard myself.

Maybe I’m exaggerating the extent of the overgrowth? Let’s snoop a bit closer…


There were no more excuses. Donated by my parents a couple of years back, this fella was about to get in on the action.


…but with no owners manual and a plethora of scary all-caps danger signs, I felt the need for assistance. It is important that our fingers stay attached to our body after all.

 
Lawnmower go-to guru numero uno, Dad of course…but no answer. Mom? Straight to voicemail. Brother-in-law? At work, no response…Last resort: sister who I love dearly but is possibly hanging out in the shallow end of the DIY gene pool.


Jessica: Heeeeeeey! Whatcha doin?

Cara: Oh my goodness! You answered! I have a question and it’s starting to rain so I don’t have much time.

Jessica: Oh gosh, what is it?

Cara: Do you know how to start a lawnmower?

Jessica: silence

Cara: Jessica?


Needless to stay, I was not giving up on this one. For goodness sake, if I can perform full fledged open heart surgery on my hot water heater with great success, I could get this outdoor vacuum to cooperate.

All you have to do is pull that little cord right?…

…15 minutes later…

…push down the funny little bar, then pull the cord…

…10 minutes and a return phone call from Mom later…

…push the red button on the side 3 times, hold down bar, pull the cord with all your might…

…and away we go!

Note to self #1: The pit in your stomach after you get a haircut and realize how truly horrendous you looked before. Exact same feeling here.



Note to self #2: Enormous backyards are great for slip-n-slides and terrier mixes. Lawn maintenance is a completely different story.

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4 This & That #6

Caterpillars like dill. True story…

My fingers are crossed that these guys creep you out as much as they do me, especially when they stick their orange feelers in the air and look at you like they are going to pounce on your face…

 

Lucky for these Black Swallowtail caterpillars (fancy Google skills helped me out with that one) they eventually grow out of their ugly duckling stage…

 

…So squish them, I did not, and these backyard friends lived to see another day—after being catapulted across the yard.

-Cara

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3 How to Trick a Wilkerson

While being a good citizen and attempting to request a new recycle bin online, the city of Little Rock marketing department pulled a fast one on me.

Can’t quite make out what that says? Allow me to zoom in and break your heart…


Of course, I wanted to find a new best friend!—preferably with four paws (or three, we don’t discriminate against the handy capable), big brown eyes and a handsome smile.

You betcha I found a new canine companion…or ten.

(Click on their glamour shots for more info.)

And let’s not forget our feline friends…

Oh, I want them all! Every last stinkin’ fur ball.

According to Tooty, there are already too many rats in the cage at Casa Wilkerson, but we’ll see.

-Cara

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5 Feeling Herb-y

Last year I killed our herbs. Destroyed. Neglected. Demolished. However, I can’t take all of the credit. June’s dirty little paw prints were also found at the scene of this crime. 

Nonetheless, this year I have turned over a new leaf. New year. New house. New chance with herb cultivating AND this (flowerbed?) was hanging out in the backyard just waiting to house a whole family of herbs…

 
 
We are going to be good this year, right June? I’ll make sure our new friends have plenty of water if you agree to find a new place to bury your bone.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress. We need the accountability.

-Cara

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5 We’re Diggin’ It

In the midst of such wondrous weekend weather, we had no choice but to spend a little time outside in the backyard.

With the back flower beds lined and mulched and the crape myrtles not quite ready to strut their stuff,

we were in need of a little color.

(Our best Googling tells us those handsome fellows lining the fence are crape myrtles, can anyone tell?)…

 
So Eric got down to some serious Saturday gardening business. Ralph & June helped too…

Thanks, E-Dub! Now grow little ones, grow!

 

-Cara

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4 Tales from the Backyard

Yesterday was such a lovely day that we decided to let Tooty taste a little freedom with a trip to the backyard. Boy was she in heaven, until Ralph tried to get a little too friendly. Be sure and check out the saucy pose Tooty throws out there at the end…

-Cara

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