This past weekend Bernard and I had a blast. We packed a picnic and headed over to Stone Mountain Park with Chloe Mae. We weren't interested in all the tourist-y stuff but decided to purchase an annual pass parking pass for $35 instead of $10 per visit and start walking. The weather was quite nice and in the low 60s...what a delightful break for the chilly temperatures we have been experiencing. This weekend was a quick glimpse of spring weather and we took full advantage of it.
We walked around, took some pictures, and enjoyed some submarine sandwiches that I made. We both love Jersey Mike's but since we started the Spending Freeze in January we haven't been eating out so I whipped up a turkey sub on a wheat french loaf with provolone cheese, thinly sliced red onion and tomato, spinach, garlic pickle, oregano, and a quick vinaigrette of red wine vinegar and olive oil.
We had to get a couple shots with Chloe who was having the best time of all of us. She even got to wear her purple polka dot bandanna, which is always a hit.
This is the view of Stone Mountain Lake from the quarry area of the park.
With our hit of Spring Fever in full swing we decided to hit up Lowe's on Sunday. I have always wanted to have a space where I could garden and luckily for me the boyfriend has a big yard and loves fresh food. We ended up getting seeds for me to start planting to transplant later, veggies to sow once I get the raised bed together, and flower seed to plant in the front yard and pots on the back patio. We plan to mulch, weed, and re-landscape the front yard to improve the curb appeal of his house. I also have some pots from my house that I will be bringing to his place so we can create a backyard sanctuary.
I planted my tomato and pepper seeds in egg carton containers and a recycled spinach container. The seedlings will only be in them for a little while before they get planted in the raised bed I plan to make out of some cinder blocks.
The finished product looked like this and I have to say I am so pleased with how they turned out. I let them hang out outside for a few hours because the weather was in the high 60s but of course they get to germinate in the house with my care.
I am very excited about the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with my honey, garden, and then can and preserve all the harvest. We are talking about putting a fire pit in the backyard to get more use out of the back yard. Even though we are on a Spending Freeze, we plan to enjoy our summer and should be able to DIY one for about $35. In Georgia our winter is incredibly short so a fire pit will allow us to be outdoors for March through late October/November. After all, we could go on a date night to a chain steakhouse for $35 or we could put in a fire pit...I will take the fire pit for maximum fun.
I will let ya'll know how the fire pit turns out when we do it!
Happy Spring!
