Fall and Halloween decorations

Everyone needs a Halloween tree in their house.



These are Ashley's photographs. Blue hydrangeas on the left, and the pagoda at the Japanese Pavilion at EPCOT on the right. She has become an excellent photographer with her new camera.



There are 12 different fall/Halloween decorations on this piece of furniture. See if you can find them all!












These are postcards that Ashley bought at the Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom and framed. They depict various scenes from the Haunted Mansion ride.



Ashley loved this Jack Skellington jack-o-lantern.



Ashley took this photo of Alligator Point, FL, at sunset.

Michael Jackson passed away. For all his problems and troubles outside of the music business, he was a consumate performer on the stage and screen. He had an incredible combination of talent, showmanship, and, most of all, charisma.

Watch the following video. It encapsulates everything about Michael Jackson's music: strong beats, great hooks, and omigod the dancing.

Check it out:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-WVpQ0ZG8Q

And yes, he could do it all live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MmEMrCRfc&feature=related

Long live the King of Pop.

New Garden Pictures

Garden update

We have had a lot of rain lately, which has really helped the garden grow. I have been fighting a plague of tomato worms, but everything is still prospering. Here are some pictures of the produce:

Fresh basil:



Big cucumbers:




Lemons:



Better Boy tomatoes:




Bell peppers:

Sweet banana peppers:

And my personal favorite, fresh corn:

As you can see, we have been able to grow some really nice-sized veggies:

Tool Time with Matt and Ashley

When we purchased our house last year, it was very basic (no crown moulding, no trim around the windows, etc.). I am slowly adding the niceties that the house needs. Over the last 5 days, Ashley and I installed trim around all the windows in the house. I think it looks great.

Working in the kitchen.

Here's the finished product in the living room. We also installed wooden blinds.

The guest bedroom.

The window in the master bathroom.

The kitchen window overlooking the backyard.

One of the windows in the master bedroom.

Relaxing after a job well done.

We grilled a MONSTER steak.

How does your garden grow?

My vegetable garden has been growing nicely. If all of our plants produce fruit, we should be able to open our own produce section at the local grocery store.

Here is a picture of the "tomato factory":

Here is a long shot of the veggies, so you can see the size of the garden.

Here's the corn, peppers, and cucumbers.

Here's the squash and arugula.

I included a picture of my gardenia, because it is laden with blooms right now. This plant smells spectacular.

We spent the past few weeks landscaping the backyard.

We also replanted an oak tree and added four hydrandeas. Two of them are from north Alabama and two of them are from Florida. I planted roughly 40 caladiums and 6 hostas along the house.

I built a huge vegetable garden. I have 26 tomato plants (3 types of tomatoes), 9 green bell peppers, 2 sweet banana peppers, 2 arugula, strawberries, 9 corn, 9 cucumbers, 9 summer squash, thyme, 2 oregano, 2 types of basil, 3 lemon balm, mint, rosemary, 2 types of sage, 2 cilantro, 2 parsley, and lavender.

I planted a gardenia that I found in Birmingham, Alabama. The blooms smell amazing. I planted it next to the dining room, and if you open the dining room windows, the smell of gardenia comes into the house.

I added two spotlights to the backyard: one lights the gardenia and the other lights a big oak tree next to the back fence.



We built a nice area for the dogs' house and planted flowers around it.

Eventually, I will probably put a picnic table in the middle of the yard.