Time flies by

Five days to go and I will be fully vaccinated!  I got my second shot a week ago Friday, felt like garbage on Saturday, and it's all been great since then.  Other than my normal spring allergies, they can go away please.  Among other things, I noticed the Scotch Broom along the freeway is blooming now, yippee.

When Michael sweeps the porch this time of year the pollen creates quite a pile.  No wonder I have issues. 

It's worth it though.  Our yard looks great right now!

I spent some time in the garden today, cleaning up the bed next to the house on the north side.  It was great to be outside again after a few days of rain.  Rowland loves hanging out with me while I work.  I was weeding along the edge of the trailer and heard him fussing around.  I thought he had gotten into the trailer but no - he was under it!

I have a ridiculously busy week ahead at work.  I'm just going to have to power through.

There are things I want to write about but it's getting late and I had better be well rested tomorrow to start the hell week.  Waaaaaaay too much of my time will be spent on Zoom.  I don't know about you, but I'm really bloody sick of Zoom.  It's not done with us yet by any means though.

Mary Jo Salter has written some sonnets about life with Zoom.  Here's a sample.

Zoom Rooms

Nose-scratches broadcast, thoughts shrunk to an icon
or two (Clap, Thumbs Up), and if you leave your mic on
while others talk, your faintest sighing framed
in gold light like a vanity mirror? Named
on your little tile, you can’t slip out unseen.
Self-surveilled, your eye contact onscreen
seems off. Don’t look at people! Focus where
the tiny camera is that proves you’re there.

I'm not much into poetry, but these really hit home.  Via On the Commons.

Don't stop until you're finished

There are some things that must not be left half finished, such as removal of pampas grass.

Burn it if you like.

But after you burn it, you must finish the job.

If not, it WILL return to mock your feeble efforts.

Garden progress...

Oh hello!  I haven't been here in a while.  I've just not been in the mood to blog, but lately I've been more in the mood.  I was looking at Weebly as a possibility, but in the long run I think sticking with this is best.  I think it's best to put everything in one spot, since I'm not a big famous blogger with time to figure out a complex website system!  Haha.

I've been working a lot in the garden.  Now that we are without pets, I find that I have so much more time to get things done.  No dog walks, and no hours spend building the hateful cat fences!  Anyhow, here's what I've done the last couple of days...

Before

After

Not too shabby!  Lots of hard work though.  I've been spending a lot of time sifting compost and dirt this year.  The bed to the right had a double sifting.  I'll be building a new cucumber trellis there next, and planting them in a couple of weeks.

Today's bed did not get the second sifting.  I sifted the compost (necessary), but not the soil as I mixed it in.  NEXT YEAR!  It looks pretty damn good as is!  I planted corn, pumpkins, and zucchini. The side bit closest to the patio is where the borage has grown the last few years.  I need to extend it a bit, and maybe even toss in a few new seeds.  Borage reseeds incredibly well, but it does have a shelf life.

You can barely see the potatoes poking through in the back bed.  The oregano in the corner is taking over.  I've started to clear along the fence, so we WILL have sunflowers back there this year!  The long range forecast is for warm and dry - which bodes well for the garden!  WARM.

WARM.

WARM.

WARMMMMMMMM...

Productive day!

Today was another beautiful sunny day here.  It was almost easy to forget it's only January and pretend it was spring instead!

I took two very long walks with Syd.  Both were nearly an hour.  The morning walk took us on a nice route down to the water, and back up through downtown.  I like walking there on Sunday mornings, because it's pretty quiet.  Syd gets a little goofy if there are a lot of cars and people around.  Our afternoon walk was kind of a silly route, but I really enjoyed it.  This time we walked just over two miles, looping around the northeast neighborhoods.  It was pretty uneventful, which is exactly how I like it!  I did spy a couple of old trailers at parked on a street we haven't been down before.  One was a Terry, and the other was a... crap.  My mind has drawn a blank.  It starts with an S, but is not a Shasta or a Siesta (which we saw yesterday).  It will come back to me - or I will go back to it.  Heh.

After I got home from the first walk, it was so nice out I just had to head to the garden and I'm really glad I did.  Just with the work I did today, I already feel like I'm way ahead of last year!

Behold...





There is an oregano plant buried under that mess, and some hollyhocks.  Things were pretty sloppy around the blueberries as well.

A bit of trimming and pulling, then voilà!  The oregano and hollyhocks can be seen, and the weeds are no longer encroaching the blueberries.  The corner is ready to be forked when it comes time to plant flower seeds.  Also, I'll be able to see if any flowers sprout on their own and keep the weeds down around them.  I usually plant cosmos and sunflowers along the fence.




I wasn't done with just that, so I kept working my way down the fence.  Last year, due to a long wet spring I never really did what I did today - and never got around to clearing this strip at all.  We didn't have any sunflowers!  It was a sad state of affairs, during what was kind of a bummer of a year what with Michael's broken leg.  I am determined not to let that happen again.  We MUST have sunflowers!




By the end of it, I'd cleared quite a bit!  I didn't pull out every last clump of grass, but I'll be able to make a pass through with the pitchfork and it won't feel like I'm clearing a prairie.




In case you're wondering why I bother - here's a picture of the garden from 2011!  The sunflowers look great, and the bees love them.  It's totally worth the work.





I'm really happy to be thinking about the garden again.

One more day!

My vacation is drawing to an end, dammit!  One more day to relax.  It will be a day of shopping for the week, and reading a bit, and maybe doing a little in the garden.

THE GARDEN!  I've started thinking about the garden in earnest now.  I hate the fact the backyard is in shadow so early in the day.





Here is my winter garden!  The rabbits are making sure nothing weird happens out there.

I got a catalog in the mail today from Raintree Nursery, whom we bought our apple trees (and grape) from last year.  It just makes me want to buy 45 more trees!  No room for that many though.

We could put a few things in the front yard.  Our rosemary plant, which we brought inside during the coldest weather, is doing quite well.  We should really plant it outside.  They do quite well in these parts, and grow to ginormous size.  I'd like to add a few more blueberry plants, or maybe a plum tree.  I think this is the year to start planting in front!

WHO NEEDS LAWN?

Stop!

Do not pass go into physical therapy.  Yes, that's right.  It's pointless for Michael to go, despite his doctor suggesting it.  I'm beginning to think that his doctor is feeling really bad about Michael's situation, and letting him try things to help him feel better.  There is no way in hell that he's ready for physical therapy.  The lady he saw today was a bit weird, but nice and honest.  It boiled down to the fact it would be ludicrous for Michael to use up some of his 25 alloted sessions to have this woman move his foot around, not to mention that we'll be paying a portion of them.  I'm really glad she was honest about things, and it was good to have the visit and get a baseline for where he stands (or doesn't, as the case may be).  Michael sees his doctor again on the 13th, and will have more x-rays and we'll see how things go...

In other news, it's starting to feel slightly vaguely almost like spring out there.  In fact, some of the plants are getting a little overzealous and sprouting and blooming early.  There are daffodils starting to open up!  That may not seem strange to some people, but it is REALLY EARLY for them here.  I'm happy to see all of the trees with their little green proto-buds just waiting to burst forth.  I love autumn, but I really love spring because the rebirth of greenery always makes me feel so good.
I'm really looking forward to getting back into the garden, but the ground is just so wet and the weather isn't quite right yet.  But seeds are on sale this weekend so I'll be getting some of those!  My poor garden has been sort of neglected - it's going to be a lot of work!  This is my goal for this year - giant cauliflower and broccoli leaves!

Frankenzuke!

This is the 4th year for our backyard garden - it gets bigger and better every year.  I have half a mind to rent a tiller and dig up a big chunk so we can really go big next year.

Might have to anyways, what with rising food prices and all.  But I digress, sort of.

What I really wanted to talk about are the volunteer plants coming up this year, all over the garden!  I have a very unruly garden this year.

Plants of all sorts coming up randomly here and there!  Sunflowers, borage, snapdragons, feverfew, cosmos, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins (I think), and squash!  IT'S A FREE FOR ALL!

Ahem.  Sorry, got a bit carried away for a minute.  These things happen when you have a sloppy compost pile.  I've threatened to leave a bit of the garden open next year just to see what comes up.  But back to the here and now, especially the squash plants.

Earlier in the season, I noticed several zucchiniesque plants coming up here and there in the garden.  I decided to let them go and see what kind of trouble they got up to.  Turns out, there's two kinds of trouble.  A couple of the plants have very distinct pumpkin characteristics - long snaking vines, tendrils wrapping around anything nearby... and one of the plants now has a small round yellowish fruit.  We'll see where that one goes.  Unfortunately, the other plant gets stepped on and bumped almost daily because of its location - if it can produce even one fruiting body I'll be thrilled.

But the others... they looked just like zucchini plants!  Just like them!  Until they didn't.

FRANKENZUKES!

And guess what - they tasted just like zucchinis.  We've eaten them twice, and they were just wonderful.  Michael made stuffed zucchini the other day, and tonight we had zucchini parmigiana.  NOM NOM NOM

In other news... Syd!

The weather has been decent, I'm ready for summer reading to be over, and I only work 10 days in September.  

I suppose I can't complain too much.

Google+, giant veggies, and an amazing kid...

So. Google+ is live and it seems that everyone is stampeding over there to give it a try. That includes me. The jury hasn't rested yet, but I am leaning in a pretty positive direction. With a few more improvements, I can see moving most of my social network operations in that direction. If only they'd allow html in posts and comments! PLEASE!!!!!!! I'm begging you, great Google gurus!

A couple of things I've noticed already:

• You can edit your posts! (hey now, there's a concept!)
• There doesn't seem to be a limit on how long your post is (hey now, there's a concept!)

That's a couple, right? What's missing - the ability to use html in posts and comments. That's the biggest thing missing from most of the social sites. What if I want to embed a video or photo as part of my comment? Oh sorry, you can only post a link... the visual impact is lost because people have to visit another page to see it. There is definitely potential...

And on to giant veggies... and giant teen boys. I look at this picture, and Nolan looks even more grown up than ever - is that possible?!!! Look at that face - he's not a little kid anymore! When did this happen? He'll be 17 in a couple of weeks, and a senior next year in school. It's been a damn fine ride with this kid - I couldn't have asked for a better parenting experience with him. I'm so proud of the young man he's become, despite the constant motherly worry when he's out there in the wilds (like tonight... camping at Mount Baker and split boarding tomorrow). It's good that he has healthy interests!

What a cute little guy he was!

Oh yeah - back to the veggies. They're growing like mad this year! I took a few risks and put starts out when the weather seemed a bit dodgy - cold and rainy. It seems to have really worked out! We're getting tonnes of broccoli, and the first head of cauliflower was perfect. PERFECT.

That's no keychain swiss army knife, nosiree! This first lovely head of cauliflower was turned into the most scrumptious cauli-cheese-sausage soup ever.

Time to go digest.

Peek-a-boo

I see you - or maybe it's you see me. Haven't been around much, haven't been in the mood to blog. It seems like I'm starting to get the bug again though.

This is a good thing.

On the bright side, I've been very busy in the garden, and working. Summer has been a crazy time at the library - summer reading is always a bit insane. I'm very pleased to say that I have only one more work day until VACATION!

Whew.

I need it. Everybody asks, "where are you going?"

"NOWHERE!!!!!!"

And so glad for it. So glad. Not that it wouldn't be nice to take a trip somewhere, but traveling can be very stressful and tiring. This vacation is for relaxing - working in the gardening, doing some crafty projects, reading... things like that. My family will be visiting for a few days, but that's something to look forward to!


The garden will take up a lot of my time - it has been hugely successful so far. We've been eating veggies for weeks now! Zucchini, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes... such good stuff!



Michael has done an amazing job of keeping up with whatever is harvested. And the dishes he has cooked have been absolutely scrumptious! There will be more interesting things to come well into the fall and winter. Our parsley (with edible roots), parsnips, and turnips are just coming up now. And brussel sprouts. So much good stuff!

Well, bye now!


Pomegranates

Mark E. gardens too...

Bowling Ball

The garden

I have been a gardening fiend lately. Planting. Digging. Planting. Watering. Planting.

Watching. Waiting.

Will the seeds sprout?

YES!!!!

Things have been really successful so far. We've even eaten a bit of lettuce on a sandwich already! Yum.

I'm ready to make the garden twice the size!

Oh yeah...

Ooops! I almost forgot the GREAT MUSIC for you listening pleasure! Just getting used to this new blog...