Wonderful Day at Home

We had the most perfect day today. Craig and I both woke up with the thought: We don't have to go anywhere today! No plans set. We can do whatever we want! (Within reason, of course, as we still do have two children who need constant snacks and a bathroom that requires work in order to be functional.)

But, it was fabulous. We watched cartoons and drank coffee. This was after I did my meditation practice while the boys watched the Busytown Mysteries. (Yesterday I had a monster truck video in the background. Whatever it takes, right? Begin where you're at... or some such...) Then, Craig worked in the bathroom for a bit and the boys and I played outside. This meant that they rode their bikes and I worked in the garden. Yummy.

Though I am not quite as excited about my garden this year as I was last year, it is still amazing to see how the plants develop. I inspected the growth on all the plants and then weeded, trimmed, cut back the raspberries, and contemplated what I'd like to do both in the Fall and next year. Lots of projects stewing...

After that I spent some time proofreading a application essay for a friend. I must say that I love editing and proofing papers. For whatever reason, I find it extremely fun - my mom does too, so maybe I get it from her. Then, we had our friends over so the kids could play and we could work on her paper a bit. Wonderful. Let's hope the time spent results in an acceptance!

Overall, the day could have been improved only by maybe a massage or getting surprise money in the mail. And the weather was great too, even though it was forecast to rain.

Long Lost Friend

If any of you read Better Homes & Gardens, you probably saw this web address. But, since it feels like I've found a long lost friend, I had to repost it: http://penelopeloveslists.com/

I've only read a couple posts, and I LOVE this lady already. Though I can't say that my household is completely organized at all times, I so aspire to that level of compulsion. With my two little gems constantly mixing things up and tracking in dirt, my brain gets a little overwhelmed with constant clutter of toys, trucks, magazines, and whatever else. If my surroundings are clean and organized, then I feel a little more at peace with life. The clean visual landscape gives my brain a break and allows me to breath a little more deeply.

Thought you might feel like that too. Or at least enjoy the possibility of what could be...

Happy Bee!

This morning as I was watering the garden, I saw this bee buzzing happily along covered - and I mean completely covered - in pollen. He was so heavy that he was flying like a drunk bee would fly. Too funny. Completely yellow. Apparently he'd just had some fun in a squash flower.

The tiniest of tiny

Just a quick note to say that I'm excited about my little garden. There are a few new developments in particular.

1) I've got tiny little buds on most of my pepper plants. Even though they are tiny plants, they have even tinier buds. They are cute, I have to say it. And, they are supposed to be mini peppers (chocolate and orange, I believe), so hopefully they'll actually survive and produce fruit we cat eat! They are plants I started from seed, so it is especially fun.

2) The tomatoes are ripening. Even the bigger ones. Yum!

3) The Mexican sour gherkin seeds that I planted are growing nicely, but they are SO delicate and small. And, alas, there aren't any flowers on them yet. So, I'm waiting...

4) The beans are growing. Purple and green, although the purple ones turn green when you cook them. Bummer, but maybe that will be good for the kids. Not sure they'd eat purple beans.

Anyway, I'm hoping to have lots to harvest when we get back from houseboating.

Garden update

So, now that I'm done shopping online, I figured it would be the best bet to update you all on my garden. (Since I'm sure you've been wasting away hours wondering what's going on in my backyard.) The garden looks pretty good, even more now that I cleaned it up a bit today. Bolting broccoli, who needs it?

I am excited to say that, though I have more bugs that last year, things still look good. Tonight at dinner we had all of the vegetables from our garden... well, ok, not quite all. But we had broccoli, beans, carrots, lettuce, and peas from our garden. The cucumber and tomatoes aren't quite ready yet. I did spray some soap water on the black bug infestation, so we'll see if that helps business. Luckily, the bugs have gravitated toward the flowers and not the vegetables. I can deal with dead nasturtiums... not so with anything else.

Ground cherry husks, sort of blurry, but cool.

We'll see what they turn out to be.

Gavin after he "puck" some lettuce and a carrot. It is fun to see the boys so excited about vegetables. He swears that he loves squash, now that it is growing in our garden, yet I can't get him to eat it at the table.

Some Strawberry speckled lettuce that was the hit of the garden this year. So fun to grow (since I don't have any hungry rabbits around), and looked very cool. Plus, it was tasty too.

I have to say that I am most proud of my little tomatoes that I started from seed. I have no idea what kinds they are now, but there are three and they are starting to bud (tiny as they are). What's also cool is something I bought called a ground cherry. It is supposed to be treated like a tomato, growing style, but it is a sweet fruit with a husk like a tomatillo. I have two growing really well, and today I just found three more that survived my neglect. So, I've moved those into sunnier location sto see ho they do. They are a very pretty plant and, though I have no idea what they'll produce and what I'll use them for, I'd recommend the plant just for fun.

Ground cherry: Very pretty foliage as far as I'm concerned.

Even if the fruit turns out to be weird.

There are tiny cucumbers growing, so hopefully there are enough to pickle... as pickles demand high esteem in the Maclean household. (Helen's are always better than mine, but she's been doing it longer.) And a few of my tiny, tiny pepper plants have developed blossoms. We'll see how they last between the boys pronouncing them "weeds" and the summer sun. (Thank God for Deb, our neighbor, who waters our plants when we are away... usually for the hottest months of the summer.)

There are also lots of beans growing and blossoming, so hopefully they will survive and we'll have lots to freeze like last year. I enjoy just watching everything grow and develop. The zinnias that I planted are starting to blossom, not as many survived as I had hoped, but I always forget how things hang on and grow quite quickly (being neglected all the while).

Camping on Whidbey

This last weekend we went camping in South Whidbey Island with our friend Kevin and his two boys Eric and Owen (their mom Robin was home studying... or at the spa... which would be my choice). Here are some pictures of our quick trip. It rained all Saturday and then Sunday morning we did a great little hike down to the beach. I love the ocean. Just that little breath of salty air... love it!

We found lots of star fish and little crabs. Very cool. It made me excited to find more tide pool areas.

Graeme's new found stride on his bike was the best part of the weekend. I'd taken he and Gavin to the bike park/playground last week and Graeme seems to be getting the hang of the bike. But, he won't sit down. I try to explain to him that he'll go faster if he sits and glides, but my explanations and suggestions are met with a resounding "No!" So, he'll get that part when he decides. He was doing "wheelies" and going over bumps... more to come, I'm sure.