Mom, Watch Me Jump Rope

This is Claudia's new skill. We practice A LOT.


It is supposed to rain today, so perhaps I will do inside things. Like nap...

Happy Manure Dance

The duck eggs seem to be doing fine. You can see little dark dots moving around when you "candle" them, so I assume that they will hatch. Misty said that they will always have a home at her place, so this is good!
It is a Saturday...I don't like them. My kids seem to think that they should be doing really exciting, fun things with all their friends. I think that they should clean their room. In any case, we both want to go to Charlie's and see the baby goats, or kids, I should say. We used to have the females, but Charlie took them and bred them. Maddie's goat, Carol, had some kind of sickness while pregnant, and consequently her babies didn't make it. But the other goat, Ketchup, had 2 (3?) that are doing great. PLUS Charlie has horses, which means MANURE!!!! Yay, do the happy manure dance.

On the garden front, I erected 4 teepees made of the prunings from some over-grown shrubs. I have planted shelling peas around 2, and am going to plant snow peas around the other two. I also planted somemore spinach (the first batch didn't do anything), and planted onion sets. I amended the soil somewhat by adding sand from the creek banks. In my mind there should be lots of good organic matter in the sand,right?

I am going to take pics of the goats, so keep posted. I may even take some manure pictures!!

Last night was family game night in the household. Unfortunately, we played Monopoly. JP always wins. I guess I just don't understand this game. I always feel like a complete idiot by the end of it. I just went to bed, after he took all my money, but Maddie stayed up until 11 playing. We need some new games....We also played "Guess Who?" and that was fun. Before games we took a hike to the BIG ROCK and the kids found some grapevine to climb and swing from. I sometimes forget that there is more to explore and do...I seem to hole-up in the house and surrounding garden so much. But it is really cool out there. EXCEPT for the LITTER. I just don't understand why fisherpeople would throw junk and garbage out in nature. Aren't they trying to enjoy the beauty of the earth? For the beauty of the earth....lalalala. We found cigarette butts and nightcrawler containers, and some daffodils that they picked and just threw on the ground. WHY? It gets me so wound up. I want to print out flyers and put them all around, but I wonder if that would make it worse.

Anyway, I am taking a deep breath and doing my Happy Manure Dance once again.

Quack quack

My newest venture is hatching two duck eggs that were found at my friend Misty's house. They are in a styrofoam incubator that regulates the temperature, although I don't think it does a good job. I tried candling them last night to see if anything was happening, but I couldn't tell much. If this works it will be a miracle! And then of course I will have 2 ducks to deal with. I haven't thought that far ahead, but Misty LOVES ducks....

My dear friend Heather let me dig up tons of strawberries at her house, so I transplanted them 2 days ago. I have read that the first year you should pinch off all the flowers so that the root systems can really get going. I don't know if I can do this. I have enough trouble thinning out seedlings. I feel like a murderer. And the thought of juicy strawberries ... yummmmmmm.

I have added some photos, just to see if it works. In one of them, it is my shed that I want to put a greenhouse coming off the front. It will be fabulous!

Today it will be sunny but on the cool side, 40's and 50's, so I think I will plant out my onion sets ( I know - I am late doing this!!) I also want to seed more spinach. My last attempt did nothing. The "soil" in my raised beds is really poor. It was free stuff from my husband's store when they were excavating. Very clay and poorly drained. So I hauled some sand from the creek edge and mixed it in one area, just to see what would happen. It at least LOOKS better. But I have lots of soil improvements ahead of me.

My kids are bugging me for french toast, so I must go be a slave to the masses. That's okay, I like it too!!

Blew a Fuse, or something.....

It is late, for me at least. That would be 10:51 pm. I am such a baby. Geez..but I was trying to watch this movie I got from Netflix called "La Vie en Rose", but it just skipped like crazy. So I came here to complain to Netflix so they can send me a new one. I was really getting into it, too...
Well, I was trying to plug in another grow-light and I blew the whole operation. Must be too much wattage, or a bad light, according to JP. I am really bummed. I may have to move everything to a new locale where it won't blow a breaker, which entails me moving 10 thousand other things..Deep breathe in, blow it out...

Plants are coming along nicely, though. I seeded some lettuce and I'm going to plant it in the garden in really obsessive-compulsive ways. Very neat, orderly rows.

Spring break is almost over - I thought it would never end!! I love my girls like crazy, but keeping them entertained has worn me out. On the plus side, we have a 3 foot volcano that looks like a pile of "poo" (Maddie said that). But I think it will be really cool when it is painted more colors than just brown. PLUS we are putting actual "ash" on it. PLUS some moss. I should take a picture of this artwork.

Proof of my Ineptness???

I'm having one of those days. Everything gets on my nerves, and I can't stand to be with myself. Sometimes I just need total silence, and even that does not please me.



I've been reading Ekhart Tollie's book recently about finding your purpose in life. So far we have discussed the ego endlessly, and I still have trouble comprehending it completely. Sometimes I have a glimmer of understanding, and then it goes away. But I am trying to be conscious of what life is trying to tell me. I am constantly trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing, and if I am already doing it. Or am I missing some divine sign about life's meaning, and I'm just too dense to get it? I feel tons of guilt about staying home, and why do I get to do this and other people have to work 10 hours a day and have long commutes and complicated lives. My life is really simple compared to all that. These are the things on my mind now-a-days. I will be 40 next year and I feel like I have not much to show for it. MIDLIFE CRISIS.



So, on the seed front, my basil peeped through, as did one little parsley. I sowed some Johnny-jump-ups and some coleus. It is pretty obsessive. Everytime I go to the loo I have to check the progress of my seeds, and I go to the loo a lot. I drink a glass of water every 1/2 hour!! We had a few days of warm nice springy weather, but now it is cold and rainy. I try not to get to excited, it is the middle of March for peep's sake!! I predict a snow storm for Easter. I won't be dissappointed if it does. I say that now......



I am going to up load some photos now. also, I might change over my blog to wordpress, because you can get your stuff bound into a book. I know this because I read Rebecca's blog about it. It sounds really cool.



On a funny note, while I was trying to organize some photos on the computer, I was finding all these photos that my daughter took of her Calico Critters in different scenarios. It was really cute.

Okay, I really tried to upload my photos, but they did not want to right now. Maybe tomorrow. Later!!!!

Birdy, birdy in the sky, Why'd you do that on my.....

The leeks are up!! At least some of them are. I can't figure it out. I believe I planted them all the same, but some haven't sprouted. Hmmm. I also started basil (sweet and spicy globe), cilantro and flat parsley. I want to start some curly parsley also, I think it looks so pretty in flower boxes mixed with other things. I also am trying to root a rose bush. Should be a learning experience. "Fair Bianca" is the name of the rose, and I am not sure if it is grafted onto another species or not. Who knows what I could be growing.

The grow area I have set up is 36" wide by 24" deep and I am not sure how tall. taller than me, at least. I positioned it in front of the bathroom window, so there is a blue-ish glow coming from the room. JP is concerned that people will think we are propagating illegal substances. I am not worried. If they come knocking, I will show my goods.

We had a busy weekend. Maddie is involved in a group called "Destination Imagination", and she had a competition on Saturday. Sunday we skipped church - my bad - and slept in. My sister Paula was visiting, so maybe that is a good-enough excuse. We joined up with the Gibson's and went to the MHS production of "High School Musical". I was impressed! It was enjoyable and the kids liked it. We then invaded the Gibson's to watch "Extreme Home Makeover". It is so strange to see local stuff on a national tv show. Then home and to bed. Today is a quiet day for me, so far, as everyone is back to school and work. I did work out, which felt good, but now I have "rubber leg syndrome". And then I ate cookies. Hey - the sooner they are gone, the sooner I can proceed to my healthy eating plan!!

There is a bird that flogs itself ALL DAY LONG against my mud room window. Maybe it is mating season? Maybe it is fighting with itself? Maybe it just wants to poop all over the windows, I do not know. But it does bring back memories of a certain song and all the creative verses that can be made...(Birdy, birdy in the tree, Why'd you do that on my Knee? On the line, in my wine? In the bush, on my tush? Do you remember that HILARIOUS song???!!!)

Another thing I've been looking at online is bathing suit patterns. I can never find a suit that I feel totally comfortable in. What I want is a 50's style 2-piece, boy-short bottoms with a halter top that extends down over the torso. It would be so cute in a gingham pattern. I am not that good a seamstress, though, and can see myself struggling with the fitting part. I will have to get my loverly sister Rachel to help me!! Hint hint, come visit soon.

I need to download some more pics of the garden. Maybe tomorrow.....

Poetic musings on a holly tree

I have officially begun my seed starting madness. I only have one flat of leeks so far, but have oh-so-many plans. The weekend and Monday was really beautiful, so I took advantage and pruned everything in my path. Hopefully the hydrangeas will still flower!! I just couldn't stop myself, all the while thinking, "is this the kind you prune in spring or fall?". I have many battle scars to prove the roses are done. All the brush is in a pile waiting to be burned. I saved a bit of a rose to try and propagate. I have never done roses, and the name of this one is alluding me right now. It was lovely to be outside, though. But while I'm working I am making a long mental list of things to do. Move this plant there, build a greenhouse there, expand the veg garden this way, dig holes for apple trees, get straw, plant grass, rake debris, edge beds, divide plants, on and on. And then I think "Why do I do this to myself? Why does ANYONE do this? It is tortureous, yet I cannot stop!!". Isn't that the way addictions work?

So this is a photo of the garden in the winter. I'm not sure the exact date, but it was in January. I took some photos last week that I will post later. The fenced in area in the background is the veg garden that I want to expand. I would LOVE to have a fruit patch. Now I have a corner inside the fence with raspberries (which I also pruned yesterday - ouch!), but they tend to grow into everything else.

I am keeping watch on the Lenten Roses, they have huge buds. I have lots of self-seeded tiny babies that I will pot up and perhaps plant under the dreaded holly tree. UGGGHH-- now that I mentioned it :

MY HATRED OF THE HOLLY TREE - Oh, how I hate you, horrendous holly tree. You are a confused freak of nature, the rock in my shoe. Your twisted, knarled branches drop spikey, sharp leaves that litter my lawn like so many yellow-colored spinefish. Poison spews forth from the suckers sent up that try to live!! HA! HA! I cut them down to the ground and spit on the remains.

So poetic, don't you think? Obviously, I have a problem with this tree. Just when I am ready to work in the perennial bed and do fun relaxing spring things, it drops its leaves everywhere,over weeks and weeks. And who rakes all these leaves so that we can have a nice green lawn?? ME of course, me. Husband likes this stupid tree because it is BIG. Big deal, I say. Then you rake. He won't, of course. enough for now. I will keep you posted on the comings and goings of this wart of a tree.

Weather: rainy, cloudy

Temp: 52 F