Chicago- Day 105: Starting Anew

As I am sure you have all noticed, I haven't been very good about updating lately. The truth is with the construction on our deck (that lasted way too long), finals, a week in Seattle, and the beginning of clinical rotations, I haven't done much thinking about my garden...or tending to it. Yes, the honest truth is that I basically killed everything that I had. It has gotten really hot here so my spinach and lettuce bolted, my herbs sort of shriveled up, and I never did thin those carrots....oops. I had begun to give up on the idea that I could garden and that I should even attempt to restart. However, Joe in his unending optimism thought that it was a horrible idea to give up. So after a few days we decided that this weekend we would go back to Home Depot, get some new flowers and veggies and really get our garden going.

Now the thing about going to Home Depot is that it is really difficult to get there. The traffic is usually horrible which was another reason I just hadn't gotten around to adding anything to the garden. It was just too much of a hassle. In order to combat this problem, we decided it was best to get there early in the morning (see I do listen to my mom). Obviously, I had no problem getting out of bed at 7am on a Saturday...make that 8am on a Saturday. Well, lo and behold we got to Home Depot in about 5 minutes (minus the time it took us to get some Starbucks into us), a trip that usually takes at least half of an hour.I was a bit nervous that the selection wouldn't very good since the season started quite a while ago. However, there were still some vegetables that looked pretty good and a lot of flowers on sale (hello! geraniums for 79 cents!). In the end, I ended up getting zucchini, japanese eggplant, a cherry tomato plant, red bell pepper plant, lots of geraniums, day lilies, pansies, daisies, and these little pink flowers that I don't really know the name of. All in all, we hit the jackpot. But the adventure doesn't stop there.
Joe also needed to run an errand at GameStop which is located pretty close to the Home Depot. However, we reached the store about 10 minutes before it opened. In order to optimize our shopping time, we decided to head over to the Sports Authority across the street to find a table and chairs for our deck. "To Sports Authority?" you may ask. Why yes, apparently Sports Authority has seasonal outdoor items including outdoor furniture. Who knew! Luckily, we found a nice glass table with 4 chairs and an umbrella that is just perfect. A great addition to the garden!

Now we have a beautiful deck with a place to relax and sit out in the sun! Though it was a lot of work today, it has already begun paying off as I am writing this outdoors right now. A great relaxation spot. Enjoy all the photos.