Gardening: My New Attempt at a Hobby

Well hello there!

Spurred on by my friend's blog about her new Australian life (http://australiaswine.blogspot.com/), I decided to give Merp a try again...again.  It seems vet school actually provided me with a lot of inspiration for blogging that I now lack.  Or else blogging provided me with a means to procrastinate in vet school.  Whichever.

So what can we expect from Merp these days?  No clue.  Probably few cartoons  because I'm finding humor hard to come by.  Most likely it will be a random assortment of topics at random intervals.  Although, I guess that's not all that different from what it's been in the past.

But before I bore you too much, today's topic is....Gardening!!!

That's right!  My new attempt at a hobby is gardening.  I don't know how long it will last seeing as how everything I've tried in the past has petered out at some point.  Soccer, softball, piano, flute, arts and crafts, cooking, exercise....you get the point.  I live on the third floor in an apartment building so my gardening space is my balcony.  Therefore, containers are my friends.  So far, I consider it a success.  Especially because I failed to keep a cactus alive once.

Since I didn't start writing about it in the spring, I'll give you some pictures to update you on what I consider some pretty significant gardening accomplishments this season.

I started out in the spring with various annuals in window boxes.  (There was one more but I can't get the picture loaded.)  They made it most of the summer but started dwindling in August.  I may or may not have neglected to water them for a few days...or a week.

I also started some plants from seed.  I was so proud to see my first blossoms!

This is a calendula or pot marigold.

And this is a gaillardia or blanket flower.  I particularly love this one.  It's so pretty and seems pretty bomb proof.

My blanket flower is still going strong even now into October.

My pot marigold, however, is looking pretty puny, so I won't share a picture.  I do think it would still be pretty healthy at this point if not for what I suspect is poor deadheading technique on my part.

So now that it's fall, I decided I'd like to try my hand at bulbs for spring.  I read you can do them in containers, but I think my challenge will be finding a cool enough place to overwinter them without them freezing.  I think I'll be shifting them to the barn on the family farm for winter, and hopefully I'll have some new shoots come springtime!  I already planted some tulips the other day, but I took some pictures of the pot I did today.

This container started with a layer of hyacinths...

followed by a layer of crocuses three inches more shallow.

It should be a pretty mix if they all survive and aren't overcrowded. :/

So now I have two tubs of dirt waiting for spring!!  And it'll only take 5-6 months to find out if it worked!  Get excited!

Oh, and I bought some mums too because everybody and their brother is selling them, and they're very pretty.

Well there you have it!  I hope my flowers have brought some cheer to your day.  I personally have found them to be an uplifting hobby and distraction from hard days in vet med.  I'll do my best not to leave you hanging for another year.

Here's a Halloween picture.

:)

Trying Again

Hello there!  I decided I'm going to try to restart my blog...again.  I realized that it's been almost a year since I've posted anything, and that's just very sad.  This is for several reasons.  Mostly, I'm lazy.  But also, I can't seem to come up with anything funny to make cartoons about.  My creativity has been staunched (which seems to happen a lot).  We'll see how long my blogging lasts this time.  ;)  Oh, and this first post isn't very uplifting. 

For anyone who may not know, here's a quick recap of the last 10 months of my life:
-Finished clinics
-Graduated vet school 
-Found a job near home
-Moved home
-Started job
-Moved to my own apartment
-Suck at job

I had actually written much more, giving you details about my suckiness, but decided to delete it just now after reconsidering the wisdom of posting such worries/complaints on the public internets.  I realize not many people will read this, but still... So instead, I'll sum up my general mood of recent months in one picture. 

Crafting!

So, I love Pinterest.  I've always liked doing arts and crafts, but Pinterest gives me lots and lots and lots of new ideas!  Plus, it's introduced me to all sorts of things that I'd never heard of and often gives you links that have step by step instructions.  So I've tried a few new projects I found through Pinterest, and I wanted to share them with you.  This is the first time I've done these, so the results are pretty rough.  I still have to figure out the nuances of each style. 

The first thing I tried was making my own ornaments.  This is the first batch, minus one that I messed up and threw away.  Sorry the picture is blurry.  After I took it my camera died and I was too impatient to charge it before taking another one.  Some of them lost their swirly pattern and ended up solid colored.

 

Here's a close up of one that I think turned out well.

Next, I tried out making etched glass designs and using alcohol ink to create a stained glass appearance.  For the etched glass, I didn't pick the right type of stencil so the design didn't turn out sharp and distinct like it should have.  I used all four sides to try out different designs and such. 

 And here's the alcohol ink one.

So there you have it!  Whenever I make things I really like, I'll probably add them to my Crafts With Christine page, so keep your eyes open!

Blogging Fail

I doubt anyone will even read this, but sorry I haven't posted anything in 10 years.  I have 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Years, so maybe something new will show up.  If nothing else, I plan on doing lots of crafts so I'll put some pictures up on my craft page.  Last night I made some ornaments.  They were only moderately successful, so tonight I'm going to try again.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Prigge Vs Finals

Until I come up with something new, here's an old cartoon I've decided to put up for your enjoyment.  I drew it for a friend during a late night finals study session at the library.  It was my prediction of how she was going to rock finals week and 3 particular tests.

 

Truth

You know you're a vet student when there's a super hot guy walking down the street and you turn your head to look at his dog.

Zinnia