Mission Accomplished

I actually finished a project! I don't remember the last time I finished anything.

What's blooming now

I don't remember when or where my first poppy arrived in the garden, but I let the seeds sprout as they like so there are always a few new ones.


















The rose came from "the Holway family farm" (Rhonna's great-aunt and -uncle) and is an old-fashioned, very fragrant, once-a-year bloomer. Wicked thorns, though!

Office Obsession

We haven't been posting lately because we've been too busy watching old episodes of "The Office". I started by watching it on the web when it was Kirk's turn to read the boys to sleep. But then we watched the season finale together and discovered our shared obsession. Then we discovered we can watch the old seasons that we missed through my Netflix account. I know we are woefully behind the times. We gave up tv 3 years ago because we just didn't have time to watch. But when there's something this good out there, sacrifices must be made. We have to watch it in the basement because we laugh too loud and might wake up the boys if we're upstairs. If you call and we don't answer, you'll know why.

Ikers

I just felt it was time for an Isaac picture.

Armchair gardening

I recently finished two books by the late Henry Mitchell: "Essential Earthman" and "On Gardening" He had a weekly column for The Washington Post and expounded on his thoughts of his, and others', gardens. If you're not a gardener it will likely put you to sleep. Well, actually, I read it in bed and while it did help me go to sleep I also found the writing to be quite humorous. Yes, there's humor in gardening, but you have to be willing to accept it. This quote isn't one of the funny ones, but is one worth repeating.

"Your garden will reveal your self. Do not be terrified of that. You have as much right to live as, -- well, at least one may always say, 'nevertheless, here I am.'

"Gardening is not some sort of game by which one proves his superiority over others, nor is it a marketplace for the display of elegant things that others cannot afford. It is, on the contrary, a growing work of creation, endless in its changing elements. It is not a monument or an achievement, but a sort of traveling, a kind of pilgrimage you might say, often a bit grubby and sweaty though true pilgrims do not mind that. A garden is not a picture, but a language, which is of course the major art of life."

Just when I thought I'd have a lawn for the boys to play in, I find out that not only do I have time for a small garden, but Joe wants his own as well! So much for plans.

More gardening

The plants are in, the seeds are sprouting and now I just have to water, weed and wait. I may have to replant my squash as Joe's seeds have sprouted and he planted his a few days after I did mine.

This is just half of the planned garden. I'll need to dig up the rest and plant a cover crop of the nitrogen-fixing hairy vetch. After letting it grow through fall and winter the ground should be nicely fertilized and ready for spring planting. I may just have to bring my greenhouse back home - it's on loan in a friend's backyard. That or build a new one.

Just in time

Let the chaos begin! Today we signed the contracts for the work on our home. The contractor's supposed to start by June 2, but could start earlier. Two weeks later than planned is perfect timing for our temporary residents. I've only ever seen two, but they appear to be ready to fly. We have a pair of finches hanging around as well, but I haven't seen their nest.

Joe's first garden

Joe insisted that he wanted his own garden this year. He's growing beans, carrots, and squash. He has been very diligent about watering and is excited to see some bean sprouts coming up.

For the birds

With the delay in the remodeling, there might be a chance for the Robins to fly the coop before the gutters are removed.

Can't just leave it alone...

Now that I finally have the grass growing in what used to be a garden, I've decided to dig it up and start again. I actually have a plan.













I'll start with half of it and expand later - maybe next year, maybe in a few months. First, I have to get the strawberries, asparagus, and tomatoes in the ground and then go from there.

Here's my trusty helper and earthworm chaser.














Now I just need to add the compost and lay out the beds

I'm not quite a computer geek....

but I managed to hook up a wireless home network. It wasn't quite a "rout", as I only succeeded on the fourth try. Now Rhonna will be able to use her new laptop to log in to her classes in the reasonable calm of the basement while I'll be putting the boys to bed. I have yet to figure out how to let our two computers "talk" with each other, but it's not really necessary so I'm not in any hurry to tackle that right now. I did notice at the store that for another $100 I can get our printer to be part of the wireless set up (WLAN in geekspeak) so Rhonna can print directly from her computer.

Hair

I hate to shock you but I have the least fashion sense of anyone I know. So when I recently was having coffee with the girls and the subject of my hair came up, I wasn't really surprised to hear that there were many ideas for something better I could do with my hair. So, now I ask for your assistance, gentle (please be gentle) reader: what should I do with my hair? Here are the requirements:

must be able to pull it back off my face

must allow me to wash it, comb it, and go

must not be crushable by a bike helmet

must be able to go at least 3 months between haircuts

So I found the Dana Delaney pic online and kind of liked it. And I fully expect that if I get my hair cut this way, that I will look like her. I need your feedback. Please don't force me to flounder on my own. Just remember the shaved head incident and acknowledge that I can't be trusted.

Loafing around

I've been passing around the no-knead bread recipe lately and Mark Bittman has an update with links to more easy recipes.