Almost almost spring

I just started my new seeds in their little peat...cylinders... !!  I started peppermint, creeping thyme, cilantro, basil, oregano, and tomatoes.  When it's warmer I'm going to directly sow zucchini, butternut squash, and some forget-me-nots.  What's that you say?  You recall that my lawn is almost entirely shaded, yet I'm attempting to grow full sun vegetables?  Yesss.  I'm trying to put them towards the sunniest patches, and just crossing my fingers.  I'm delaying any significant landscaping update, so a humorously futile attempt at a vegetable or two will sustain me until then.

In the meantime, these seeds have been sown for about half an hour, yet I just caught myself looking over to see if any have sprouted.

A Peek at my Place

Here is a small look at my new turf here in Peoria.

First off, here's the house just after I've finished shoveling.  I probably won't provide pictures of the front in summer, since the landscaping is ugly and the yard really needs a pick-me-up.  Due to the many mature trees, we're dealing with some extreme shade.  So I'm trying to trouble-shoot how to get the healthiest lawn in shade.  So far what I'm going to do is: aerate, dethatch, overseed with a shade-friendly species, cut at a height of at least 3", leave trimmings on the ground, and water deeply when I do.  I'm not going to dethatch until the fall, though, 'cause I hear it stirs up weed seeds.  There's also a little bare patch of mud from where work was done on some water pipes before we moved in.

Second, here's a view of the back of the house that I took through the kitchen window.  The kitchen window is sort of triptych style and fairly large, so there's a lot of light coming in, in addition to coming in from the sunlights.  We don't really have a backyard, just a narrow patio and then the land extends sharply down into a little gully.  So I have a nice view from the kitchen window, and no neighbors in the backyard.

Third, I made a headboard!  It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted (I wanted deeper pintucks), but I'm satisfied.  In May, I'm hoping we'll get a couch.  Oooooh.

18 Week Ultrasound

This thing is more than a bean!  The ultrasound was taken at 18.5 weeks, and I'm 21 weeks now, so this is a little out of date.  Apparently everything is in good working order. 

Ernesto likes to think that this following image is proof that we're having a boy, and not just its thigh.  He is already an overproud dad. :-P

 It's sitting with its little legs propped up in this position.

 A cute little foot.