I'm still here!

Wow, it’s been awhile.  I can’t believe the Holidays have come and gone and here we are getting ready for Spring.  I haven’t spent much time in the Ugly lately.  Our very wet winter has gave me a very bad excuse to stay indoors.  So, last weekend, in an attempt to beat the winter doldrums, we headed over to the Pacific Orchid Expo in San Francisco.  What a feast for the eyes!  

Above the crowd at the Pacific Orchid Expo

The butterfly wings were animated and Daniel was trying to figure out if they were real or not. 

More award winners

I hope you enjoyed the lovely photos my husband took of these beautiful flowers. 

In other news from the Ugly:  Over the holidays we decided that we would homeschool our children in the fall.  This decision does not come lightly and I have spent the last several months doing my due diligence in preparing for my new career as a grade school teacher.  As a result I am also considering expanding the focus of this blog to include this new aspect of our lives. Exciting changes are ahead and I hope you will join me for the ride!  Have a great weekend.

Lettuce

Ok, not the most artful photograph.  But this is my latest gardening adventure.  The lettuce patch.  Now according to the mounds of research I have done, lettuce is supposed to be the easiest thing to grow.  Well, this is my third attempt in as many years. All past attempts have been epic failures.  So, I'm not quite sure how easy it really is to grow lettuce.  I'm trying out a different spot in the garden this year and also some wildlife and domestic dog deterrent, as you can see below.   

My two youngest garden gnomes helped dig and plant the rows.  It really was a fun project so I hope we are able to harvest a little salad.  We planted Monet's Garden Mesclun mix.  Chosen only for it's name and pretty package.  As you can tell we run a purely scientific garden here.  Hopefully we will see some sprouts within the next couple of weeks.