Since my sister moved in downstairs, she and I have been on a quest to fill her patio with growing things. She's in the basement, which, in this house-on-a-hill, means a story up from street level, and she has a little attached patio space all her own. Not only have we been buying dirt, plants, planters etc. for her space, but it's inspired me to do something with my own teeny tiny back balcony. I've always sort of thought "oh, it's too small" but I've now managed to cram an herb garden, some lettuce and a bunch of flowers back there.

(I experimented with letting Zanzi join me while I worked on the balcony, but after I shooed him away from the stairs, he tried to jump off the other side into the (not very sturdy) branches of a neighboring tree, so he is now officially banned. And very, very interested in the outdoors now. Sigh.)

I'm really excited about all the edibles, as the back balcony is right outside the kitchen, so fresh herbs (and greens) in the cooking will soon be a snap! I'm also hoping this will make it easier for me to be enthusiastic about healthy cooking, since I'll have my own home-grown herbs to use. I'm also growing a yellow gold cherry tomato plant out on Holly's patio, which will be fun come August.

I bought a thing of ladybugs, too, even though they almost always fly away once you release them. I enlisted Aleister's help, as there's nothing better than hearing him squeal with glee as the bugs crawled over his hands. He was very helpful, finding the ladybugs a new home, and we only stepped on a very few of them as we scattered.

If any of you want to see a dozen pictures of my garden (with more than half of them of the lady bugs), I put up a Flickr April Garden set here.

I can't believe I've waited this long to garden again. Such a great feeling, having my hands in the dirt again. Sure, I didn't write all weekend, but I gardened, and I feel much calmer for it.