What I’ve Been Up To
Jul 29, 2010 A House is a Home, Quilting
(Note: I just realized that the post was never published. I decided to go ahead and publish it. So forgive me for presenting content out of order. RM)
OK. Some how I missed blogging the whole month of June. I thought about it, but some how my blog and I didn’t connected. Tonight, I’d like to make amends and summarize the last 4-5 weeks of my life.
Much of our time was spent in out garden. Despite neglect, our rose bushes looked beautiful. Ross shot this picture, which I love. He’s willing to take the time to set up the tripod and shoot until he gets what he wants. The rose bushes are no longer neglected. Ross has decided to care for them. It is amazing how good the look now. We’re hoping to get a second bloom.
One day in a work meeting we were talking about using games to teach, which lead me to think about my favorite video game from my youth. I loved playing A-Mazing on out TI-99. The video game inspired this maze quilt. When I get it quilted, I’ll post more information on the development process.
Then Father’s Day arrived. I had a hard time thinking of an appropriate Father’s Day gift for my dad. So to hold him over, I gave him some peanut clusters in these neat shirt boxes. I can’t find the link I used. If I do, I’ll post update.
After Father’s Day, I made a big change with my life. I started a new job. So far the change has been all positive. It was sad leaving my co-workers, but it feels really good to stretch my wings and prove to myself that I can do new things.
The veggie garden continues to grow. I think this picture is about a week old. It has grown a ton even from this picture. Green tomatoes are starting to form. Tonight I noticed baby cucumbers starting to form. I can’t wait to eat fresh food from our garden.
The holiday weekend gave me the opportunity to spend some time with some of my favorite people while we waited for fireworks. Laying in a park and reading a magazine is a perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.
I even snagged this picture of Ross washing our car. It looks all nice and spiffy. It’s ready for a road trip.
I didn’t make Ross work all weekend. We did attempt a bike ride on the Jordan Parkway. Unfortunately, about one mile into our ride, Ross’ back tire popped. While we had a patch kit, we didn’t have a spare tube as we put the spare tube on his front tire before we left. Ross has a bit of bad luck with tire tubes. Even though we didn’t get far, Ross does want to ride more. He’s even thinking about a new bike, which he really could use. I will definitely get a picture of our next bike ride.
To top off the weekend, I basted a quilt and started quilting it. I’m quilting an allover loop pattern. It is going quickly. I hope to be done by the end of the week.
Garden 2010 Week Nine
Jul 23, 2010 A House is a Home
Our garden has made it to week nine. Since we don’t know what we’re doing, I’m fairly happy. So far, the radishes are the only real loss. I didn’t thin them out soon enough. In a couple of weeks, I’ll plant a second batch. Hopefully, I’ll do better the second time.
Today, we reined back the tomatoes. They out grew their cages. Now they lived in a tomato prison which is formed with stakes and twine.
We even have our first red cherry tomatoes.
In a week, we could easily be picking tomatoes on a daily basis, at least cherry tomatoes. The other plants are coming along, but by no means are they as prolific as the cherry tomato plant. I’m glad we only planted one. It also makes we wonder why they are so expensive in the store. Each plant produces a lot of tomatoes.
Also in this box, the leeks are ready for us to start to eat. We have one cucumber that is almost ready and lots of itty bitty cucumbers. The eggplant even has one small eggplant. Next year, I’m planting more than one eggplant. I have too much hope riding on this one.
Over in the second box, it is all about climbing stuff.
The beans are growing tall, but have yet to produce beans. I’m not sure what the hold up is. The butternut squash is taking off. I can even find two small squashes starting to form. On the back side the banana squash it taking over the yard.
When I bought the plant, I had no idea it would get so big. I was looking for a second winter squash plant. All I could find in the nursery was the banana squash. It looked small and innocent in the container. Yesterday, I looked up banana squash on the Internet. Apparently, it is a huge plant that produced huge squash ranging between 10-20 lbs. This is what one looks like:
And it is still growing. I’ve also found several other buds that are forming into squash. By the time December rolls around, we’ll be tired of banana squash. Next year, I’m planting something less prolific.
And it the very back of the yard, we have the potato patch.
As near as we can tell, the plants are doing well. They are growing. They should start to flower soon. We didn’t get these into the ground until the beginning of June. So they are a bit behind the curve.
My next garden update will be about eating all the tasty produce.
Operation: Dirt Donation
May 31, 2010 A House is a Home
If you’ve spent any extended time around me, chances are you’ve heard me complain about the 20-year old compost pile in out backyard. It’s the one part of the backyard excavation experience that we couldn’t resolve on our own. We just didn’t have a place to go with the dirt.
Sunday at dinner with my family, we were explaining our dilemma. The dirt is nice good dirt. We just didn’t want to dump it at the dump. I mean someone somewhere has to need a lot of good dirt. Luckily, my parent’s neighbor’s needed a lot of dirt for a huge flower plot they’ve started. So this morning at 7 am, I picked up my brother, Moses, and the trailer and headed back to our house.
This is what we started with:
Within minutes, Ross and Moses broke ground.
I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of the trailer full of dirt. After filling the trailer the first time, we took the dirt to the lucky recipients. Unfortunately for us, the lucky recipients had a family obligation. So we got to fill up their planter box without their help. Trip #1 was followed by a trip to the dump and a second trip from our house to the lucky recipients.
While we really would have liked a bit more help, we were happy to do it, because we now have level ground. By the way, I should really point out that without my brother’s and my parent’s help, the dirt donation project would be wishful thinking on our part. Thanks!
Now this really should have been enough activity for one weekend, but we decided to tackle one more project. Since we moved into out house, there has been a cast iron table sitting on our patio. We couldn’t move it. It didn’t have wheels, and it was too heavy to move. On Sunday, I almost had Ross talked into getting rid of the table. I wanted the patio back. Well, Ross decided it was just too useful to get rid of. So he found some extra-heavy-duty casters, and we set about to install them.
And here it is with out leaves, dirt, and spider webs.
And even better, it fits nicely into the shed.
And even better than that, we have reclaimed out patio. Now I want to find two adirondack chairs with a cute little side table. Any inexpensive ideas?
Veggie Patch #2
May 31, 2010 A House is a Home, Home Improvement
This weekend turned out to be busy, busy, busy. I think it will be a two-post update. First our veggie garden:
Our weekend started with a blank dirt slate.
After a bit of muscle flexing by Ross, the fence-post cement was excavated.
While it wasn’t easy, it did take less then time than we anticipated. This was the only event that took less time than anticipated.
After a trip to Lowes and Western Gardens, our second veggie plot is ready to grow.
The poles are for the beans. I know it’s a wimpy structure. I was trying to use what I had on hand. Next year, I’ll build something stronger. The plans are already brewing in my head. I just need to write them down in my idea notebook.
Lesson learned: Vermiculite is less expensive at Western Gardens than Lowes. Who would have thought?
We have this odd cement square in the middle of our grass. Ross decide to make it a mint garden with spearmint and chocolate mint.
The cement hole is about two feet deep, which should help control the growth. Otherwise, Ross plans on trimming it with the weed eater. I hope it works out for the mint and Ross.
Also, here a week two picture of veggie plot #1.
The plants are growing. It has been a rough two weeks for these plants. It has rained a lot. The nights have been cold. One day it snowed. Miraculously, the plants have flourished. A few tomato plants got a bit of frost bite. We did lose a few plants, but not to the weather. We think a bird came and pulled out a few plants. Since one plant was an anaheim pepper, we hope the bird learned it’s lesson. If not, our cat, Calypso, is totally willing to put the bird population in its place. She asks to go outside everyday.
And one last photo for this post.
This is our honeysuckle. Last year, we built the trellis. The honeysuckle really didn’t take to it. However, this year looks like a winner. It is growing right up the trellis. I can’t wait to see the blossoms.
So You Think You Can Bake?
Mar 1, 2010 A House is a Home, Life
Every year I host an Oscar party for my family. While I’d love to have a dinner that stays completely in theme, I’m not an event planner. I just don’t have the whole vision.
This year I decided to take a stab at least at planning a themed dessert. Now if I could bake, I’d follow the expert advice from Bakerella. Man that girl can bake! I’m bookmarking the movie popcorn brownies for next year. This year, I’m sticking to a movie themed desserts: licorice, caramel popcorn, and perhaps come cake pops. OK, the cake pops aren’t a traditional movie theme dessert, but I’m intrigued by Bakerella’s cake pops. Bakerella makes baking look so easy that even I think I can bake. Before you know it, I’ll be baking this red velvet cake.
I’ll let you know how it goes. With a bit of luck, my camera will cooperate and I’ll get some good pictures.
Black Friday
Nov 27, 2009 A House is a Home
For me, Black Friday is all about shopping with my mom, grandma, aunt, and cousins, a regular girls day. We avoid all the doorbuster sales and avoid the HUGE crowds by hitting the mall. We let my grandmother buy us a Christmas presents. She’s always willing to indulge our impulsive decisions. I love to watch her and a cousin look at purses. They love large purses that can carry everything including the kitchen sink. I’m all about simply purses. So seeing them select purses is entertaining for me.
I did get one small Black Friday deal, new fleece gloves. We hit Sears. Land’s End fleece was 40% off. Now I have a nice pair of purple fleece gloves. They’ll match the hat and scarf that I’m attempting to make, emphasis on the word attempting.
The real find of the day awaited me at home. Last year for a Christmas present my brother offered to install two outdoor outlets in our front yard specifically for our Christmas lights. Well today was installation day. Living in an old house equals frustration at fishing wire.
So there are a few new holes in the walls that need to be patched. Tomorrow my dad is going to wrap up the loose ends and connect the final wires and help patch the wall. I knew the walls in this area needed to be painted. I guess I know what I’m doing with my time during Christmas break. Before we know it we’ll be able to light our Christmas lights without stringing extension cords from the backyard. Safety is always a good thing.
