Thoze Amazing Crazy Dayz

Git 'er done in '12: A Blanket for Noah

2012-02-18T22:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm just cruisin' right along now, aren't I?:)

When Sam was pregnant, I came across a very simple pattern for a crocheted baby blanket. I made one in yellow because we didn't know if she was having a boy or girl yet. When Sam moved out for a month or so, she took the blanket with her, and unfortunately, left it behind when she came back home. Since then, I always knew I'd try to make another one, only this time in blue.
Not that long ago, I was working on Mollie's blanket (that's another project I intend to finish this year) and Noah was sitting next to me. He said he'd like me to make HIM a blanket. I decided to start one for him, but it's been so hard for him to wait. He doesn't understand that these kinds of things can take Grandma a VERY LONG TIME to finish.
I really did want to get his done in a timely manner because he is too little to understand the wait.
He's been watching me work on his blanky for the past few weeks and about a week ago, he hugged the unfinished project and told it he "loved" it. And gave it a kiss. Super sweet.

So....I worked harder to get it done....and I did. I finished it this evening and I have a happy boy that is snuggled up in the room next to me with his new blanky. (I don't think it will replace the blanky he's been sleeping with since he was little, but I know he thinks it's pretty special 'cause grandma made it for him.)

Git 'er done in '12: Chair Covers

2012-02-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

I'm really not a great fan of Larry the Cable Guy, but his saying really applies to this year for me.

I'll begin by explaining that somehow, we overspent int 2011. I say "somehow", but I know how. Some of our spending was justified and necessary, but some was definitely not. As a result, it looks like this year will be spent trying to pay for last year. It's not a really big deal, but it changes how we do things around the house.

Primarily, what that means is "No new projects" and "no vacations". Believe it or not, that doesn't bother me all that much. Let's face it...this is an older home. The list of things that need to be done around here is endless and probably always will be. As far as vacations go, they too are a lot of work. I don't mind planning them, but when I already feel so busy with day to day stuff, I'd rather not plan anything.

Thus, I have decided to call this year my "Git 'er done" year. You know, all those half started projects lying around? I have cabinets and closets and a garage full of them! The wonderful thing about all THESE projects is, that in most cases, I ALREADY bought what I need to complete them, I just have never gotten around to actually getting them done. (or "gittin 'im done").

There's some old furniture needing paint, and some aprons to me made, and another rag rug to be crocheted. There are supplies for Christmas gifts that were supposed to be finished years ago. And poor, poor, Mollie...I started a blanket for her back in 2006 and it's still unfinished in the same basket as a half finished blanket for Noah.
There are paperwork files that have been piling up since we lived in the trailer.

Since I shouldn't spend money this year, I've made it a goal to finish many - maybe all - of these projects. Let's face it...truth be told...I have to be "doing" something in order to feel 'productive'.
I've started with a list of projects to make and do. As I cross projects off the list, I will post here, under my "Git 'er done in "12" category.

To start it off right...Today, I finished making some chair covers for Tom's chairs. They are leather...and I have cats! Boy, do I HAVE CATS! The problem with these chairs is that they are over sized and 2 have arm rests and 1 doesn't and I really needed something unique (and inexpensive) to cover them. I've been using old blankets and comforters that I had acquired. Then, one evening last November, I realized that one of the old blankets could be cut into 2 and reshaped to cover the end chairs. So I cut and finished one, and cut the other and tossed it over the 2nd chair. The middle chair, I used an old gray blanket on.
During 'black friday' sales, I was able to purchase some fabric for the middle chair. And so I did....and so it sat....in my cabinet all this time. While I continued to use the old gray blanket and the other two half-finished covers.
This weekend (my weekend free of babysitting duties), I decided to git 'er done and this is how they turned out!

Of course, the cat helped out. When one has 6 cats, there is always one that wants to help out. This one is particularly what we call a 'busy body' so I imagine she'll make it on here more than just this once.:)

Tomatoes are my Friends

2012-01-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

I've been canning again. I am beginning to feel much more comfortable with it. The first time I canned tomatoes, I was so unsure of myself but now, it feels simple and natural, and I enjoy it. I don't preserve anything I don't use a lot of. And the beauty of canning here is that the temps over the past few days have cooled and my kitchen is warm, but it's not so cold outside that the garden isn't producing, and it's not hot like the summer canning season.

My own tomatoes have been growing slowly. I definitely wish I had put a little more thought in to which seeds to plant instead of growing seeds that I got for "free". Aside from the tomato plants being ridiculously tall, my tomatoes are very small on those plants. The romas on the few plants leftover from last year are all very large. But there are only a few. The "free" seeds have produced abundant romas, but many can hardly be distinguished from the grape tomatoes that I am growing next to them. I've been picking them as they ripen and washing them and then freezing them in baggies until I get enough to make a batch of sauce with.

Last night, I weighed about 12 lbs and I canned 3 pints of sauce. I have quite a few more tomatoes outside, but I don't think I will get as many for sauce as I had hoped.
So, I found a farm 20 minutes north of here where I can pick my own. They are not sauce tomatoes, they are the big round globes. They are not organic, but they are fresh and local and I think they practice farming with as little impact on the environment as they can get away with.
Mollie and I picked 25 pounds last week. I did the math, and at 99 cents a pound, I really am not saving any money on making my own ketchup.

But, it sure tastes better! I got 7 pints out of the tomatoes we got. It's a little thinner than the bottled stuff, but it is very tasty.

The coolest thing about canning my own sauce this time was this....

It's a tomato mill. And, it is AMAZING! I swear, every time I put tomatoes through it, I hear angels singing in the distance....:)
Seriously, the last time I made sauce, I used a hand sieve and the back of a spoon to mash through all those tomatoes. I found this miracle machine, and I was able to sauce the whole batch in less than 5 minutes! There are some kitchen gadgets that are well worth investing in. This little item was all of $37 bucks! Now, tell me that's not worth it!

I am going to try to get back to that farm over the next week or two and get another 50 pounds. I should be able to do a batch of sauce, maybe a little more, and a batch of diced tomatoes. That should last me a while. I will grow a few tomatoes again this spring. I've already started the plants inside.
I remember last spring, my tomatoes did very well. But, with a little more experience now and knowing what to look for, I'm trying only a few, and will decide which season is best for future tomato crops.

Tropical Delights

2012-01-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

We have had a bit of a cold spell this past week. Temps actually reaching into the high 30's at night. Until then, it had been exceptionally warm for this time of year.
Noah is with his other grandma for a whole week in New Orleans, so I am fiddling around, catching up with things around the house.
Yesterday, I planned my spring garden. Seed starts begin this month. Planting takes place in February.
I ordered sweet potato slips but those won't be shipped until April because that's when most of the country needs them. I hear they do well here nonetheless.
I did convert one of my raised beds to an herb garden. I do love my herbs and even though I don't use a bunch of them, they are pretty and they smell good.:)

While outside making my garden rounds, I happened to notice the first blooms on my pineapple plants! I counted a total of 5 blooms yesterday. I could not believe my eyes! Here is one of them.

Tracy, this is mostly for you, as you asked last year about how a pineapple grows. I'll try to get pictures along the way this year.

Here is a picture of a bunch of bananas I harvested this week. I only have 3 banana plants left. We took out all the others and now I'm rethinking that. We had not gotten a decent tasting banana from the bunch. Then, my neighbor let me try some from his trees and I was like, "yum". So, maybe I need to put some more plants in.

The interesting thing about bananas is, that once they produce a batch of bananas, the tree dies. But another plant has already begun near the mother plant. That plant will grow enough in one season to produce a bunch of bananas and a baby shoot and then it will die. So the circle goes. Pretty cool, huh?

Finally, I have a new butterfly growing in my yard. I believe it is a Citrus Swallowtail. It is by far, the ugliest caterpillar I've seen so far. They are on my lemon tree. I thought they were bird dropping when I first saw them. Then I touched one and it moved! Anyway, I've decided to leave it to munch on my little tree.

So, the cats are climbing the walls - literally - waiting for breakfast....time to go.

Hornworm

2011-12-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

I think I've had just about every garden pest under the sun decide to hang out in my garden. I've written about my tomato hornworms before, I know it. This evening, I was out in my garden trying to find the ones responsible for eating the top half of several of my tomato plants. I found a few and chopped them up. Then, I came across this....

I'm not sure if it's a tomato or tobacco hornworm, but I hit the jackpot with the garden visitor that decided to lay it's eggs this time. The braconid wasp. It is a parasitic wasp that lays it's eggs under the skin of the hornworm. The white rice looking things on this hornworm are actually cocoons that the larvae have built after emerging from under the skin. Within a few days they will become wasps.

There were actually three infected hornworms that I saw this evening. The beauty of this tiny wasp is that it feasts on hornworms as well as aphids and other garden destroyers.

By not using pesticides, I get to see nature perform how it was designed to, without interruption.

Christmas

2011-12-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

I got to spend the past week with my mom. She came for a visit from Colorado. I always feel very fortunate to spend time with her. To me, it is a special holiday gift just to have her in my life.
We had a low key Christmas. We're not big "spenders" at this time, anyway. We get so much throughout the year as we need it. The girls ordered clothes and misc. I got a much needed larger food processor, and I can't remember what Tom got because he got it back in November and opened it...whatever IT was.
We got Noah a Wii, but he has so little focus, I'm not sure it was the best idea. Not to mention, I am Wii challenged and don't even know how to turn the thing on for him. Should have probably gotten him a few figurines of his favorite characters from TV and he would have been thrilled. My mom bought him a book called, "Pete the cat" and I think it's his favorite gift.
We did get him a tricycle, but apparently he has the same one at his other house, so he didn't give it a second look. Though, I think he will enjoy having it to ride around here.
We celebrated with a fondue dinner last night with my mom. She flew out this morning. My father-in-law came over for Christmas brunch this afternoon. Cooking was easy so I've had time to relax.
Our weather has been around 80 degrees this week. I am hoping that one day it will really FEEL like Christmas here. I grew up in the desert, and I always felt Christmas there. I don't know why it is so difficult here.
I keep thinking that the key to having a meaningful Christmas, is to possibly come up with some new tradition that fits into who we are now that the kids are grown. But, there is a grandson now, and so it's mish-mash at best. Not really grown up, but not really little kid stuff. I'm still hoping to figure out a way to make the season beautiful and memorable.
We had planned our first holiday vacation this year and were supposed to spend this week at Disney, but I cancelled. (with blessing from each family member). The thought of a filled to capacity amusement park did little to amuse this family of mine. We're much more the "off season" kind of family.
My garden has suffered due to holiday busyness, and I'm looking forward to this coming week before the new year to focus a little on what I'd like to accomplish in the coming months. Not just in the garden, though that is part of it, but looking around the house and within my own personal life and taking inventory of what needs some forward motion in the coming year.
Wishing everyone peace today and throughout the new year.

Lasagna Garden

2011-12-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Below is a photo of the "dirt" we have in my yard. It's not really dirt at all. As a matter of fact, it's sand. This is a nicely torn up area of my yard, compliments of the local power company.

Needless to say, if one wishes to grow anything here (except for weeds), soil must be created. I happen to have a large yard of weeds, so I have my work cut out for me. Recently, on my gardening forum, the concept of lasagna gardening was discussed. The idea is to build layers of different materials to eventually have fertile ground.

So I took the plunge. I've actually done my raised beds in a similar way so it wasn't a big deal except I had to cover a very large area. My first layer was cardboard. Wet down. For the next layer, I used coastal hay. I don't have leaves, grass clippings, etc. so this was the best I could do and I do it often.

The next layer I decided to use my unfinished compost. It was a tough decision because I've been hoping to get enough of it by next fall for my raised beds, but I decided that this portion of the yard needed all the help it could get. Again, I used what I had.

I covered the partially finished compost with a thin layer of finished compost that I had to purchase. I figured it would help keep the smell down and bugs away from the layer below it.

I finished off with some eco mulch I had leftover from finishing other beds in my yard. My mom's coming down tomorrow. I just couldn't bare having this unsightly pile of compost in the middle of my yard.

Now, I just sit back and wait for 6 months and hopefully, there will be something there to grow plants in.:)

Here's a picture of what came out of my compost bin. Some people say they never see worms down here. While it's true, I don't either, they ARE in my compost pile and they ARE in my garden beds. They are so big, I always think they are baby snakes. They kind of freak me out.

Holiday Full Swing

2011-11-27T09:02:00.000-05:00

The house is a mess, bills need to be paid, the lawn is in great need of mowing, and Florida Power and Light dug up significant parts of my yard in the past few weeks to replace some rotten cable. Noah left for Grandma number two's house this morning and I've got a busy week ahead of me. There are Christmas decorations to be put up and gingerbread houses to make. Forget about the new fabric I bought on black friday to make jammy bottoms and aprons, or the blankets I've been crocheting for years that I had hoped to finish by Christmas! I think those things may still have to wait.
How did I ever use to get it all done when my kids were little? On second thought...I don't think I did! I think I just got a little spoiled as my children got older and more independent, as I was able to have a little more free time. Ah, I know. Quit complaining, right? Free time will be there once again when Noah gets a little older. Besides, he's actually pretty helpful these days. When he and I work in the yard together, he is GREAT about taking weeds, etc to the compost pile for me. He loves being helpful, so I employ him whenever I can. He will grab my scissors for me, bring me needed items from the shed, and help me hold up plants while I stake them. He still hasn't quite discovered the joy in pulling weeds, but I'm working on that!

I did do most Christmas shopping online this year. Isn't that great! Kohl's let me buy doorbusters online on Thursday and gave me free shipping. Amazon has had some great prices on things, and Tom is the Best Buy champion in the household. I think we are set. With all the re-usable gift bags I made the past two years, I should be able to do a little gift bag stuffing over this week, too, and maybe be done with all my holiday "need to's".

Thanksgiving was warm and wonderful. My father-in-law, who now resides a few miles away from us, spent the day with us. So did a friend of Sam's. I cooked and it actually tasted pretty good. That's always a bonus. Food that actually turns out!

My mom will be here the week before Christmas. I want some things to look nice when she gets here. I've worked on my house and yard over the year and I'm hoping they can be somewhat impressive when she sees them.

Over New Year's, we head to Orlando for family vacation number two. We are taking Noah to Disney this time and hitting Sea World as well.

The month will be full. I'll post along the way, but I'm wishing you all a joyous month ahead. Please share pictures along the way, too. I love seeing the holidays through the eyes of my dear friends.

Very Tall Tomato Plants

2011-11-26T21:35:00.000-05:00

These are insane. We have had a lot of wind lately, so these don't look as tall as they truly are, but here is a picture of me holding up the top of my tomato plants that are sagging over.
I feel a little bit like "jack and the beanstalk", as when I ran out of my regular tomato seeds, I planted some generic organic Roma seeds that I had gotten when I bought something from the garden shop last year. They are growing like crazy and producing fairly well, too. I just had to share a picture. I figure they are at least 8 feet tall and maybe taller.
PS: the picture sucks, but Tom gets annoyed when I disturb him to photo me so I take what I can get. Even if the final shot does show me with my eyes closed.:)

Fall Happenings

2011-11-19T08:23:00.000-05:00

Today, I will be taking one of my foster kittens, Ana, to her forever home. It is a good feeling. I am keeping one of the kittens, Gamon. That leaves two to find homes for. I feel good about that and I'm confident that I will find a home for at least the remaining male quite easily. He is beautiful with long hair. The little girl on the other hand, is absolutely the sweetest little kitten in the world, but not "remarkable" in the way that the others are. She will be harder to find a home for only because there are many cats like her that need homes. I will continue to love her and keep her here, no matter how long it takes.

My garden is growing well, and I have learned so many things about it this season. I have also read from fellow gardeners here that warm season crops are best in spring and that might explain the difficulties I've had this fall and last as well as the success I had in the spring. I miss my cucumber plants and wish they had done better. My green beans are producing but I do not like them. They are stringy.
My tomato plants are very full and the tomatoes are delicious! Noah loves them! He will spend all his time outside looking for ripe ones to pop in his mouth! This brings me joy to see.

I finally have sweet peas! They are tiny now, but I'm excited. This is my second try at them and they started off very slowly but are now springing to life. I imagine it's because the weather cooled some for a while. My Pak Choi, lettuces, spinach, beets, radishes, herbs, etc....they are all doing so well now! I don't know if I will have fresh lettuces for Thanksgiving, but I certainly will have some for Christmas dinner.

Today is my first pick up for this year's CSA! I am so excited! I will take a picture and post. This CSA is organic and has a much shorter season than the CSA I enrolled in last year. I imagine the vegetables will be more unique as well. Growing organically in south Florida is a big challenge.

Christmas has snuck up on me this year. I can hardly believe it is the end of November. Noah will be at his other grandparents house leading up to Christmas day this year, so the bulk of his Christmas will be with them, which makes it an easy holiday for me. We will bake cookies and make gingerbread houses. As for decorating....I'm terrified! I thought the days of toddlers and kittens were long past! Not so. My kittens will surely climb the tree! I have a sense of frustration at the thought, but honestly, an overwhelming giggle comes over me at the thought of Christmases past and those same challenges! Most memories of Christmas come from those that were filled with little hands and little paws and the busy chaos they create. Maybe it IS nice to have that back in my life!

We will be taking our first ever "holiday" vacation. We are going to spend almost a week in Orlando with Noah AFTER Christmas. We will visit Disney World, Sea World, and the new Legoland they just opened!

Reaching My Limit

2011-11-01T21:14:00.000-04:00

I have always been amazed by friends and family that seem to have so many things going on at once and they seem to handle every bit of it and actually ENJOY all that is going on around them.
I'm so opposite. Sometimes, I think there must be something wrong with me. I spent the girls lives having to say, "Hey, pick one thing you really want to do" and sometimes I would even drag my feet on helping them make THAT happen.
The past week or so has been rough on me. With sick kittens(that, by the way, have fully recovered), and with my garden, and the house, and Noah and, and, and..I am at my limit.
I have 3 groups of cats to visit during the days. Two are in my bathroom, two are in the girls' bathroom, and the 3 older ones run the rest of the house. I don't like them to be alone, so I drag my computer or newspaper or paperwork or something, and sit on the bathroom floors and spend time with them.
I do this a few times a day.
Noah has been at his other Grandma's house this past week which has made it easier to be busy with the cats.
Then, there's my garden. I love being in that. Today, I staked my ever growing tomato plants yet again, and pulled off so many hornworms I lost count. The rains have been somewhat torrential over the past few weeks, and the garden spends a lot of time just growing and not being tended. The rain and wind wreak havoc on the heavy tomato plants and on the littlest seedlings as well.
The garden is growing well, though. The weather has cooled and the winter plants are benefiting from the drop in temps.
Sometimes, I just feel overwhelmed with stupid stuff. Laundry piled high, dishes that never seem to be finished, bills that need to be paid.
I was supposed to go to Orlando with Tom today, but skipped the trip so I could just stay home and relax. And that is what I think I will do.
I rented a few chick flicks and made myself a margarita. Funny, though, it's 9pm and I'm actually thinking of just going to bed because I'm so darn tired.:)

Miracles DO Happen

2011-10-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday and Sunday, I took my four kittens to an adoption event with many other cats from the rescue group I volunteer with as well as a few others.
On Monday, one of my kittens got very sick. By Tuesday, another fell ill.
I spent the past 5 days taking care of these kittens round the clock. IV fluids, force feeding, antibiotics, TLC all day long, every day.
They made it.
It is believed by the vet that was advising the care of the kittens while they were sick, that they contracted feline distemper. I guess because we caught it soon, and treated properly and quickly, they beat the odds. They had their first set of shots, but obviously did not build up enough immunity and must have been exposed to the virus.
I guess it really doesn't matter at this point how they got sick, what matters is that they survived, and for that, I am so very grateful.

Just Thinking

2011-10-09T19:27:00.000-04:00

With a few days off from babysitting, and mostly rain outside, aside from cleaning the floors and catching up on laundry, I decided to indulge myself in a book. I bought "The mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd at the thrift store for 75 cents a few weeks ago, and it gave me a vacation from life for the past few days.
It was one of those books I both liked and disliked. I liked it because it stirred in me some thoughts that I wanted/needed to think, but at the same time I disliked it for the same reasons. It was one of those books that made me think of the life I live, and the life I should live. Not that I even know what my life would or should look like. It's just that internal gnawing that says something isn't fulfilling but not really knowing what would make it fulfilling. It stirred up that suppressed need to lay claim to my own life....whatever that laying claim is.... Actually, I think I may know deep down, but it's not one of those things put to words, lest it might actually come true and then might be regretted. But, there's always this feeling that whatever it is that I need to be, I'm going to die without ever being that. And I hate that feeling that I'm going to die one day without being.

One of my favorite passages of all time comes from Henry David Thoreau's "Walden". I may have quoted it on here before, but that's because every time I read a book that touches me in some deep sort of way, I think of it. He says, "Not all books are as dull as their readers. There are probably words addressed to our condition exactly, which, if we could really hear and understand, would be more salutary than the morning or the spring to our lives, and possibly put a new aspect on the face of things for us. How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book. The book exists for us perchance which will explain our miracles and reveal new ones. The at present unutterable things we may find somewhere uttered. These same questions that disturb and puzzle and confound us have in their turn occurred to all the wise men; not one has been omitted; and each has answered them, according to his ability, by his words and his life.

I Fought the Aphids (and the caterpillars)...

2011-10-06T21:01:00.000-04:00

and the Aphids won.

These are my cucumber plants. All of them. I have spent countless hours spraying these down, and the aphids were just all over them. I was afraid they would spread to the rest of my garden. I could have brought out the big guns and maybe sprayed w/ neem or something, but I really didn't want to. Even though I don't have lots of bees or beneficial insects, the thought of something that might harm what is there bothered me this year.

I learned an important lesson, though. That is, it's important to stay a step ahead of garden pests. It takes time, and I just gave up on the cucumbers.

I did get one cucumber. Remember the one I pollinated myself? Here it is, and it was the tastiest little pickling cucumber I have ever eaten. I wish I had many more. Oh well. Next year.

The Best Gardening Advice (that I was stupid enough not to take)

2011-09-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

When I started my raised beds last year, the lady I bought all my organic seeds from advised me that the best way to garden organically is to avoid planting in rows. Rather, she said, plant sporadically. A tomato plant here, and a little ways away, plant another one.

This year, I didn't do that. For two reasons. Simplicity sake mostly.

I would know what I planted and where (especially since I'm new to this and can hardly identify what plant is what). And because I am planting tall growing plants and I was trying to work with the sun's angle in my yard over the winter months. I didn't want to cast shade on smaller plants.

Let me tell you, next year, I will figure out a way to plant differently. This year, I did spread out tomato plants into three beds and I've already found that to be beneficial. I had a few caterpillars on one plant that worked their way to one more, but the other two beds with a total of about 18 more tomato plants are untouched.

My cucumbers are divided into two beds. One bed is so heavily laden with caterpillars, I spend gads of time picking and squishing the buggers and they are just tearing up my plants. The other bed looks pretty darn healthy, though I have noticed aphids in the past few days.

The bottom line, planting in random groupings is so much better than in rows. What begins on one plant stays contained much more easily than if you've got a bunch of that pest or fungus' favorite plants next to one another. Next year, there will be cucumbers in several spots around the yard, as well as in the beds.

Speaking of aphids, they have just about killed off my watermelon plants. Pests in hot humid weather are a handful. Organic gardening is a challenge. But, I'd rather lose a plant than mess with pesticides.

Today, I am going to make an aphid spray of steeped tomato leaves. It supposedly works. I have been using a spray of water and peppermint castile soap, and I think it works a little, but not enough. Garlic is also helpful, I hear, but it can also harm beneficial insects. I can bring in some ladybugs, and I may, but I'm not sure if they'll stay. With all my aphids, they just might. It's an idea.

I found some tomato plants growing where last years compost pile was. They are small but I will make as much spray as I can out of those leaves.

We had a very wet week, and yesterday was the first dry day. While out in the garden, I had a sweet little bee making it's way around my cucumber flowers. What a wonderful treat.
These are why I won't use pesticides. And even natural stuff like neem, I've read can harm bees.

We also have had tons of dragonflies this year. You know what their favorite food is? MOSQUITOES! Bring on the dragonflies!!!

Finally, I leave you with pictures of my favorite little garden helper of all.

Kittens (again) and a Painted Laundry Room (hooray)

2011-09-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

I got another room in this old house painted. The laundry room. Normally, I would not spend time painting a room that people don't spend time in (or it would not have been a priority), but this room is a little different.
You can actually see this room from the front door. I can't close the room off because the cat box is in there. Also, it has a window which helps bring light into a dark hallway so I like it open. Even though it was really ugly. The door to the garage from the laundry room had been busted off and put back together, there was an old alarm system and wires dangling all over the place. The window on the door to the outside had been replaced, and the door had never been painted. The floor is still very ugly, but that's another weekend project. I used the light green paint I had leftover from my bedroom. I looks nice and clean now and thanks to Ikea, I've got a few storage spaces now.

Another time guzzler for the week...kittens. 4 of them. But what a wonderful time guzzler they are. Sam found them at a gas station nearby. There are no houses near it, so I have no idea how they got there. They must have had a mother with them at least up until we got them because they were fairly healthy looking. We searched for the mother cat, but to no avail. We are thinking someone dropped them off. The kittens were very friendly and did not act feral. They are darling. We are still working on getting them flea free and they can not mingle with my clan yet. So they are being fostered in my bathroom for a few weeks until they are old enough for their shots. Animal Aid will then take them from me and adopt them out, though it will be tough for me if they do not get adopted right away because it will be hard for me to see them stuck in a cage. Mollie and I are spending as much time as we can with them, petting them and playing with them so that they develop a love for human interaction. I have found that kittens that are very loving toward people tend to get adopted more easily because people who are looking at them fall in love with their personalities and feel like the cat has "chosen" them by it's affection toward them. Call me sneaky, but I am a woman with a mission. And my mission is to have these kitties find homes quickly.

It's a Girl!

2011-09-21T08:09:00.000-04:00

Before anyone gets too excited, you should know we're talking cucumbers here! Cucumber plants, as I'm finding out, seem to be a bit 'high maintenance". Aside from the caterpillars I pick off daily, these plants are not self pollinating. They produce male and female flowers. The female flower has a small fruit at the base of it. Up until now, I've had lots of male flowers, but no female. Yesterday, I saw a few females. Below is a picture.

Of course, now the pollinators must do their job or there will still not be any cucumbers. I haven't seen any pollinators around, so last night, I went out with my little paint brush and attempted to transfer some pollen myself. I'm certainly no bee, but I'm hoping it worked. I really want cukes!
The same is true for the melons and squash I planted. Though I haven't been able to identify any females as of yet. Not only that, I read somewhere that with a melon, you've got exactly one day to pollinate the thing. I'm beginning to think this gardener may have to stick with self pollinating type plants like tomatoes and......

BEANS!!!!!

My pole beans have little flowers. I'm so excited! (Doesn't take much these days:-))

Orange is Such a Wonderful Color

2011-09-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

I got a pressure canner for my birthday in July, but haven't been able to use it yet. I don't imagine I will use it that much anyway, because most things I will can will be done by hot water bath. I did however, have the opportunity to put my new canner to work this past weekend.
Costco had a 10 lb bag of organic carrots for a really great price per pound so I picked some up.

Sadly, two of the cans didn't seal, plus I ran out of canning lids so I already had an abundance of cooked carrots to eat up that I couldn't preserve. Now, I've got them coming out my ears. But, at least I'll have good eye sight.:)

Of course, I had to keep busy in the kitchen while the carrots processed, so a mixing a batch of apple-carrot-walnut muffins was the thing to do! (Mother Earth News recipe- absolute YUM~!!)

I guess I CAN sew.....a little

2011-09-18T09:15:00.002-04:00

I was up late last night making this.

Willow helped.

It's longer than I thought it would be, but I like it. The pattern had two lengths to choose from and I was having a difficult time deciding anyway. It looks like I got one halfway between.

I did the cutting for this during the week, after I put Noah to bed each night. He was at his Grandma's last night, so I got to finish it.

I also have another apron that I'd like to work on, but for now there are other things pressing. I've added it to my "sewing project" pile. Let's just hope I get to it before I forget what I intended to make.

As Seasons Go in South Florida

2011-09-17T21:10:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure I'll be called a "locavore" any time soon.
I do try to buy the fruits and veggies in season and grown locally. Not only does that jive with my efforts to live a little more sustainably, it is often a more economical way to buy foods. Plus, they just taste a whole lot better!
But, I do also buy those things that sometimes come from afar. And one of those favorite "afar" items is apples. They are coming into season now and I just love this time of year. Of course, I miss Autumn and the real tell tale signs of the season like leaves turning colors and a slight chill in the air in the mornings.
The temps are cooling ever so slightly here. We have been below 90 for our high temps and the difference is noticeable. This week brought a little drier weather as well. The nights drop into mid to high 70's and if I'm out early enough in the mornings, it feels quite nice.
Even though the weather changes are ever so slight, I find myself keeping to the rhythms and traditions of this time of year. Baking a little more, cooking meats, and canning what I can. And now, it is apples.
I can't go to an orchard to pick them fresh, but they are still very tasty and every year I look forward to homemade applesauce, frozen apples for pies, and this year, I am looking forward to trying some in the dehydrator.

So, while my warm season vegetables are setting blooms in my garden and the arugula is sprouting along with the peas, inside my kitchen still holds the sweet smell of Fall and my absolute most favorite season of the year.

Cucumber Pests and other Issues

2011-09-16T09:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I joined a gardening forum and I'm going to be using my blog to put up pictures of issues I might be having so I can link to them for reference when necessary - at least until I can figure out how to upload photos to the forum directly.

I've been having trouble with a few "pests" on my cucumbers as well as some other gardening issues. Here are some photos of what I've been picking off and squishing every morning.

If you click on this picture, you can see the small yellow worm/caterpillar to the left of the hole in the leaf.

The following picture is what is happening to some of the leaves on my pole beans. Any ideas?

Finally, I think this is collateral damage effect, but this is my passion flower vine. Two days ago, it was in going into full bloom with tons of buds and very healthy. This is it today. DEAD. I think the neighbor behind my fence sprayed weed killer or something. I noticed that a vine he had crawling up a nearby tree is completely brown, too. I'm so sad by this. Anything else it could be?

I Really DO LOVE Aprons

2011-09-12T09:54:00.000-04:00

For much of my adult life, I have loved aprons. I began wearing them for practical reasons. I can not work around the house or in the kitchen without ruining the clothes that I have on. I have a terrible habit of wiping my hands on my pants or shirt. I've already ruined some of my favorite t-shirts because of it.

I also love aprons because they are pretty. Feminine, I guess. I don't think of them in a negative way. I don't associate them with the domestic duties that many women despised in the 60's and 70's. Work in the home is pleasant to me. I really like working in the garden or kitchen. I have always loved being a mom in the home. I have never felt like I missed out on "better" things outside the home. Guess that's just the way I am.

Finally, I love aprons because they remind me of my grandmother. The one I grew up with. As far back as I can remember, she wore aprons. Not the kind that tied around the waist or neck. She preferred wearing smock-type aprons. She made them for herself, without a pattern, out of any leftover material she could find. Sometimes, she would splurge and buy a pretty material to make a new one from. If she was around the house, she had one on. And she said she was always ready to go if someone came calling for her because all she had to do was slip off the apron and comb her hair!

I have several apron patterns that I have purchased over the past few years since my interest has peaked. But, I never get to them. Sewing is one of those things that, no matter how simple the pattern, it still takes me a while to do any sort of project.

I did however, make myself a simple - and I do mean, VERY simple, apron of old rag towels to wear in the garden. They work, though I did not put pockets on them which is a real problem for me because I ALWAYS need a place for chapstick and a hanky.:)

I also bought a vintage (50's) apron from a seller on Etsy.com.

This was my big splurge. A pinafore style apron I also purchased from a seller on Etsy.com. She has a small farm and supplements her income making these. This is my favorite. I bought it to wear in the yard, but it's so pretty I'm almost afraid to get it dirty. I will, though. But, this is one that I'd like to find a pattern for or perhaps I can attempt to copy the one I have.

Last, but not least, I had to have something to hang my work aprons from so I made this.

I Have Just Two Things to Say

2011-09-08T16:39:00.000-04:00

NUMBER ONE: "I'M SOOOOOO DONE!"

I love working in the yard, don't get me wrong. But I have spent the past year doing so much yard work and landscaping, I think I'm calling it quits until the weather cools down. I'm tired of sweat pouring off my brow to the point of not being able to see. I'm tired of sand and dirt sticking to my sweaty body like a second layer of skin. My bones are tired.
I have hauled probably over 100 bags of mulch and at least 50 bags of compost, big trees, small trees, and potted plants. I've run hundreds of feet of irrigation and installed hose connectors until my fingers bled. I've got enough scratches on my arms to make one believe I was locked in a small box with 20 cats for an entire day.

Here are pictures of the progress I made. I'm pleased.

This was the beginning of my butterfly garden last spring. And below, are two pictures from this morning at different angles and a picture of an area of palms we planted to one side of that area.

This was my garden area as it looked in the spring, and below is a picture of it today.

NUMBER TWO: I NEED TO SLOW DOWN!

Last Friday, before the holiday weekend, I talked with my mom on the phone. She was telling me all about what she was doing over labor day. In Colorado, where she lives, the temps begin to fall this time of year, so it's her big weekend to start preparing the yard and her pool for the winter months. It seemed to me as if it was just yesterday that she was finishing school for the summer and getting the pool ready to swim in.
It really brought home the reality to me that time is just slipping away. And, while I like accomplishing things in my life, I don't spend nearly enough time actually appreciating the moments and time in my life.
I know that I can not slow the hands of time, but I can slow down my self and my mind, and savor those moments as they pass.
Today, as an effort to get out of "doing" for a while, we went to Butterfly World. Below are two passing moments in time.

Garden Colors

2011-09-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

Let's face it, I'm a gardening junkie.
Here's some new colors added to my garden.

This is called a butterfly plant. Not because it attracts butterflies, but because it's flowers look like small butterflies. I fell in love with this plant a few weeks ago and bought one this weekend.

I can't remember the name of these, but I need MORE!!!!

Cosmos. Absolutely the brightest flower in my garden. I need more of these, too!

I think this is called "blue daze" but I'm not sure.

Purple heather. I got some white heather, too. The bees seemed to like it at the nursery.

Aaaahhh. A rose. Isn't it just beautiful.

Can't remember the names of these but they are darling.

Here's the garden progress. Beans, cucs, squash and melons with a few marigolds mixed in. The squash has flowers. I planted the squash to attract pollinators. I don't really need squash, as my CSA generally provides way more than I can eat.

Blue Jays and a dove at the feeder.

I can't remember what this is either but Tom picked it out to be planted amongst our palm trees.

Liebster Award

2011-09-05T09:44:00.000-04:00

When Tom's son was little, we used to have a saying when we saw a little nose pickin' action going on. We used to tell him, "You know...you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose. But, you can't wipe your friends under the seat."
Kind of weird.

Ah.. but, truly...there are a few people in this world I'd like to be able to wipe under the seat, but the few friends I have.....NEVER.

A week or so ago, my friend Tracy, nominated me for the...drum roll, please.........

award.

So, what can I say.....I LOVE THIS! Wanna know why? Because what a big frickin' honor to be called "friend" by this girl! I met Tracy when I lived in Kansas. Tracy's life is nothing short of impressive. She is a writer (and very good at it, I might add), the ultimate organizer for anything she has time for (like club year books, 4H stuff for her kids and her local farmer's markets to name a few), and an amazing unschooling mom!

A funny thing that both of us have in common is that we both really dislike talking on the phone. (I had to add that because she's one of the few that agrees with me on this). She is probably one of the most supportive friends I have. When I blog about something difficult in my life, Tracy almost always sends me emails privately or posts on my blog how much she cares about what I might be going through. I miss her and wish that she and I could have gotten together in real life more that the 90 miles that separated our homes had allowed.

Tracy, as well as the rest of the nominees in this blog post, are all as well balanced, intelligent, functional, thought out and just down right as awesome as you can get! Which, for the most part, are things that I must work towards and often fall short of....really. They inspire me to be BETTER....a better mother, a better friend....better in life all the way around.

Now back to the award.

My understanding is that this award is to help bring attention to the small treasures of the blogging world. Blogs with less than 200 readers. After this high honor is bestowed upon you, you pay it forward to 5 other bloggers. I will do 3 because....well......I just don't have THAT many friends. So, cut me some slack, will ya?:)

Don't forget to link back to the person who nominated you. (That's where I come in). And most importantly, don't forget to post the award to your blog. (I copied and pasted it from another blog.)

And my first nominee is Annette. Annette and I became friends in Las Vegas. She is originally from Australia. Annette is like me, in that she finds peace in simple living. While I was living in the trailer here, Annette and her family where living in a camper in Australia. She and I were downsizing and simplifying at the same time, and I found comfort and inspiration as she and I made similar steps in life. She once gave me a very special gift from her heart, a book by Anne Morrow Lindbergh called, "Gifts From the Sea". It is special to me and inside still holds a small hand written note from Annette where she wrote her favorite pages for me to see. I quote from one of her favorite pages, "I shall ask into my shell only those friends with whom I can be completely honest. I find I am shedding hypocrisy in human relationships. What a rest that will be! The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere." (from, "Gifts from the Sea" page 32). Thank you Annette, for being an honest friend.

My next "Liebster Blog" nominee is "Stephanie".

I met Stephanie in Las Vegas also. She still lives there, but wishes at times she did not.:) Stephanie is another unschooling mom I admire. She has 4 children. Her oldest is great friends with my daughter, Mollie. She also has a little boy who is the same age as my grandson and as she posts about him in her blog, I giggle thinking of my own grandson's antics. Stephanie, at least to me, is a woman of many thoughts but few words. When she does add to a conversation, I give her my full attention because she is very wise. Above all, she has an amazing sense of humor! Most of her posts, at the very least, bring a smile to my face but many times I find myself laughing out loud to her comedic take on her life. Thank you Stephanie for adding humor to my life.

My final nominee is Miranda.

I met Miranda in Las Vegas. She was my introduction to unschooling. The first book she handed me was Valerie Fitzenreiter's book, "The Unprocessed Child." Talk about a shock to my system coming from the such a brain washed background! Thank you, Miranda, for having no problem "shocking my system". ( Lord knows I need it!)
I would have to write an entire page (or several) to sum up Miranda's influences in my life. She is currently living in Australia with her husband and family for a few years. I wish she was in my life every day because she is the one that makes me "think". I forget to do that sometimes, you see. Though she is physically 1000's of miles away, she 'pops' up in my life on a daily basis. Whether it's in the macaroni and cheese recipe of hers that I use, or the the crockpot she gave me, or in my efforts to be more self sufficient by gardening, creating, etc...thoughts of her are always there. Sometimes, I think Miranda knows something about everything.

A final note: There's no obligation to pass this along, girls. If you wish to, that is wonderful. If not, that's wonderful, too. Most importantly, I enjoyed taking the time to tell the world (or at least the few that do read this blog) about each of you.

Miami Children's Museum

2011-08-30T18:33:00.000-04:00

I took Noah to the Miami Children's Museum today. Sam and Mollie joined us. They played, too, and I enjoyed watching them be silly.

I had some nice photo ops, so I thought I'd share them here:

Remembering My Grandmother

2011-08-26T09:47:00.001-04:00

My mom called me late last night. It was her birthday, and she had a busy day. By the time she called me back, I was in bed. (Yes, mother, there is a time difference here on the East Coast!:)).
Her first words, "Were you in bed?"
"Yes, but I was just laying there thinking of Grandma."

As it was, that is what I was doing. In my room, I have an old 'hope chest'. I was thinking of how I want to get it painted. It's rather - well- not totally attractive but this is how I came by it, and why I always have it out.

My grandma had some friends that spent the summers in Colorado and the winters in Arizona near my grandma's house. Mr and Mrs Jack Teller. They came to love my grandma - as everyone who ever knew her did. Mr Teller loved to build things, and built my grandma this chest.

My grandma valued it highly. It stayed in her living room (which also served as her sewing room and her bedroom during the years that I lived with her). She stored blankets in it for cold winter nights in her barely insulated trailer. She eventually started calling it 'Justine's hope chest'. She bought these plastic cups that I had sold as a fund raiser during my high school years and stored them in there for me. I still have them. I would sit on top of this chest, which was next to her sewing machine, and chat with her about my day as she sewed away. I don't remember when we finally brought the chest home to be with me.

I now store an extra blanket in it, along with yarn, pillow stuffing, etc.
I want to paint it and replace the gold handles with something antique looking.
So, last night, when mom called, I was thinking of that.

But, while I was thinking of the hope chest, I was remembering the smells of her kitchen, the sound of the peddle of her early 1900's sewing machine pounding away in the early morning hours. I was remembering how everyone she ever met loved her dearly.

In her final years, I was unable to see her much. At the time, I was afraid to fly, and she could no longer travel. I hand wrote her a letter every week, or at least I tried to. In the end, someone had to read them to her.

This morning, I was reading an article about how many children are now growing up with there grandparents. Noah is in my home. I was in my grandma's. How lucky I was. How lucky he is.

It's funny, too, because there is an individual in my life that has often said how unfortunate it is that Noah does not have a traditional family unit. Hmmmm....bless this individual's poor, not-very-bright heart.

I believe differently.

Something New, Something Repurposed

2011-08-25T18:18:00.001-04:00

WHAT!!! Two blog posts in one day?! Well, with Hurricane Irene swirling off the coast, we are experiencing a wet and dreary day. No need to be blue, though. I'm getting ready to watch "Jane Eyre" and eat leftover turkey soup w/ wild rice, but before I do, I wanted to show you what I've been doing all day.

I found two really cool boxes at the hobby shop. I had a great coupon and they were already 40% off, so I snagged them for a few dollars each. The hat box was much more perfect for sewing notions than the cigar box I was using, and the square box I bought to store my postcard collection in. (OK, so I have ONE SMALL collection).

Next, I made a nice big chalkboard. I had been wanting to use chalkboard paint since I first saw it. A friend, Miranda, in Vegas had made a nice big one on the wall for her girls. But she had it all framed in and I thought I'd never be able to do that. Well, when I was at the hobby shop the other day, they had chalkboard paint on clearance, so I picked up two jars in the color brown. (Think "starbucks" coffee shop). I figured I'd keep it until I had a chance to do something with it. That night, as luck would have it, I was reading one of my favorite blogs and lo and behold, the gal had blogged about using chalkboard paint on a door - think "ready made frame". Now THAT I could handle! So that's what I did today on the kitchen door. This door was built in the 1970's and it is a "pocket door". Meaning, it slides in and out. It doesn't open and shut like a regular door.

The beauty of a door like this is......
Now you see it..............

.....And now you don't!

Better stated, "What Tom doesn't see, won't hurt him."

Yesterday, I bought the two pictures above from a thrift store for 4 bucks each. No, I don't think $4 was a great deal. I do, however, like them. If you notice they have birds on them. And...who do you know that loves birds?.....The frames were damaged and there was gold paper flaking off. I found some antique white paint and gave the frames a new touch, and Viola! They look m-a-a-a-arvelous!

Found a pretty bowl for a buck and put all my Sanibel Is. shells on display.

Made two grocery sacks out of old t-shirts. Here's a tutorial if you like.

Last, I finished up my very first crocheted 'rag rug'. I have a lot of bare floor in my house. Have you seen the price of a rug these days? Nothing I see appeals to my simple, homey (No, I did not say 'homely':-)) nature, so I decided to make my own. It's a very simple project, but I had a heck of a time finding used sheets. The thrift stores here are either too expensive, or they just had very little variety to choose from. I settled on these three sheets for now. I plan on making more. I only had enough sheets to make about a 3 foot circle. I really wanted a larger one. Total cost: about $7.5o. I got the instruction here, but had to make a few changes (reducing the number of stitches called for) because my ends were curling up. I made a few mistakes, but overall, I think it was worth the effort and I like it very much.

Something Old

2011-08-25T13:40:00.000-04:00

If the thought of someone taking something that is quite possibly 150 years old, and washing it, and using......if that thought makes you a bit nauseous, you might want to skip reading this post. Otherwise, read on.

Let me start by saying that I don't collect or hoard things. Most of the time, if I keep or acquire something, it must be either usable, sentimental, VERY appealing to me for one reason or another, or all of the above.

Over the past few weeks, I've had the fortune of acquiring some really cool old things. For starters, my father-in-law moved here from N. Dakota and with him, he brought me some old dishes and items that belonged to Tom's great great grandmother in the late 1800's. Mind you, Tom and I are not from wealthy families, so really, the greatest value in some of these items, at least to me, is the sentimental value as well as the fact that some of them are useful and if not useful, then very lovely.

This table scarf is thought to be 150 years old. At least that's what Tom's dad told me. He also flipped shit when I told him that it was yellowed and stained, and I washed it! But, isn't it beautiful? I hand washed it and soaked it for a while. It already had a few small patches in it. But, to me, using something like this is splendidly nostalgic.

Some of the dishes that I got. There is no real "set" of anything. These were leftovers from Tom's other relatives that picked through them first. But, I think they are beautiful and would love to have tea and serve cream and sugar in the set to the right.

A few more serving pieces. The flowers on this set are absolutely beautiful.

When my father in law bought his house down here, there were a few items of furniture that remained with the estate and the sellers let him have them. And he gave them to me. I got two chairs like this. They are the coolest chairs...EVER!

This is the table that came with the chairs. It folds up into a sofa table which is how I've chosen to use it because we are pretty rough on kitchen tables in my house.

I did not get this from my father in law. I ordered it off Etsy.com. It is an old glove box, but it was sold filled with old hankies. I use only hankies, not kleenex, so I'm always on the hunt for them. I prefer dainty little ones from days gone by. I seldom see them in thrift stores, and if I can find them, they want an arm and a leg for one. I think I spent 30 bucks (that included shipping) for this little box filled with 15 hankies. The hankies are below.

Some people collect and never would think of using stuff like this. Not me. I don't want to own things to put on display. I love the feel of using something old. It makes that moment a special moment each time I do.

To all Bees and Butterflies....

2011-08-24T08:53:00.001-04:00

please come to my garden....

This past weekend, I added some pollinator attracting plants to my yard. I'm not so sure why every picture I take these days seems to be so washed out, but here's the latest. Hope you can see what I'm talking about.

The butterfly garden....I added some salvia and firebush. The firebush is behind the birdbath. I also added some night blooming jasmine and another jasmine bush in the background. I just love jasmine.

Here is a bloom on the jasmine. It's not only lovely, it's so fragrant.

This is Necklace Pod. A rare and beautiful plant that has pods that look like necklaces and yellow flowers to attract butteflies.

This is blue porter weed. (You can make beer out of this:-) The bees love it! It is planted near my garden and away from my pool because Sam is terrified of bees.

This is my garden area from a different angle. The stone pavers were laying unused in another area in the yard, so I made a nice path. The wood border was also salvaged from around the yard.

This is my very stupid dog. Every morning, he jumps up into my raised bed where I have the catnip. I think the neighbor cats visit during the night.

An update on my veggie and plant starts. I've got them on this rolling tray that my father in law gave me because he didn't need it. It's just a beverage cart but it works well because I can move the plants around the yard to get them out of extreme sun or heavy rains.

Damage done to my squash plant by one little 1/2 inch caterpillar. He's no longer doing damage.:-)

I also planted a rose bush in honor of Sinbad, my best friend cat that died 2 years ago. It is near the vegetable garden and my sitting area. I figure I will smell it's aroma as I work and think of him.

My next project, I think, will be a flower garden. I think I will have Noah work with me on this because he just loves flowers. He is always sniffing my vegetable garden starts and I keep explaining to him that they don't really "smell". He will love the jasmine I planted near his sand box.

Grandma's Cookies

2011-08-23T22:11:00.001-04:00

Normally, I'm whippin' out blogs like there's no tomorrow on alternate weeks, but this week has been a little difficult. On Monday, I had to have my old cat, Yoda, put to sleep. He went completely blind on Friday. He couldn't find his food or water or cat box without help. His blood pressure was up and the doctor feared his kidneys were going. We let him go peacefully.

In addition, I was very worried about hurricane Irene up until late last night. It looks like we will get some rain and wind on Thursday, but at one point, we were thinking that we were going to have to leave south Florida. I am happy she is moving in a different direction now, but pray that she will just go out to sea and miss the coast completely.

Here are a few pictures from the last week.

When Noah comes back home, he always wants grandma's cookies. I didn't have any, so we made some.

I dug out a very old cookbook (almost 40 years old). My mom bought this for me, I believe, when I was in the second grade. We brought home a book order from school. I think this book was the most expensive book in there. When I was growing up, we just didn't get stuff like they do today, so I remember being so super excited that she bought it for me! It still has my old address in it. Noah and I picked sugar cookies to make. He liked them, I thought they tasted more like graham crackers, as they were made with honey instead of sugar.

Noah learning the art of cleaning the mixers the "proper" way. You can see that Truman is trying to give him a hand (or in his case, a tongue) cleaning them.

I love this picture.

And this one.

I Love Sundays

2011-08-14T10:19:00.002-04:00

I usually try to keep my Sundays low key. I always have things to get done, but I don't stress about it. This evening, I will go get Noah for the week. I had a good week. I accomplished most of my garden tasks.
Most of the seeds that went in on Monday are already coming up except for my pepper plants and some of the herbs. If I remember from last year, the peppers did take a little longer to germinate that the others so maybe there is still hope.
I ran the irrigation system to my vegetable beds. I still must dig it up and run it to my trees and my butterfly plants, but I'm thrilled that I will not need to hand water the veggies this year. It still needs some tweaking, as I don't think I've got the angles right on the sprayers, etc, but overall, I'm proud of myself. (Tom was a huge help, too! Why he puts up with all my silly endeavors, I'll never know. Poor guy.:-))
I linked my facebook to my blog this past week, but then ended up deleting my link. I guess I got a little nervous about too many people reading here. For the most part, my blog doesn't get read by many. I share personal bits of my life. I don't even use my real name. Then, once I opened it up on facebook, I realized that anyone migrating here from there would know my name. I guess it's not a big deal, I just freaked out, I guess. Unsure if that is what I really wanted.
I figure, those who read my blog are my friends, and those who bookmarked it, even better. The rest probably aren't interested anyway. Sam read my blog for the first time. She liked it. She made me feel good.
Here are a few pictures from Friday and Saturday I'll share with you. This weeks blogging should take a backseat to Noah so I'm not sure if you'll hear from me.

My strawberry and watermelon bed. I've read these two make good companion plants. The half row of strawberries in the middle is all that remains from last season. I had to move these around, to make this bed and I'm hoping they will survive.

After digging the strawberry bed, I was sweating like nobody's business! I asked Sam to join me in the pool to cool off. Isn't she cute!?

It dawned on me yesterday that apple season is just around the corner. I decided to finish up the last of the apples I had frozen to make room for a new bunch. This is a pecan crusted apple pie. I have to tell you, I made this crust myself. You wanna know how I learned to make such a delicious crust? Mollie and I rented a Martha Steward dessert video from the library years ago. She taught me how. I'm always afraid I'm gonna blow it, but I tell you what. It's so easy, and this crust is the best you'll taste! Can't you just smell it as you look at the picture!

Have a great week!

The Best Part of Waking Up.....

2011-08-12T10:47:00.001-04:00

isn't Folgers in my cup. It's this.........

Home brewed Starbuck's espresso roast in my favorite cup...

growing starfruit on my baby tree.....

A new fall themed garden flag....

3 happy cats eating breakfast.....

a little lizard sunning himself on the pool fence....

looking at what, just yesterday, was buried in knee high weeds and overgrown palms, but this morning is beautiful.....

new rocks and mulch for my butterfly garden....

pots planted with what will, hopefully, become feverfew, chamomile, peppermint, sage and chive (and the chair that I sit in to "dwell in" my garden space and dream big dreams).....

Cucumbers!!!!!! popping up all over........

probably my favorite plant of all, my lavender.

Happy Friday!

2011-08-11T08:25:00.002-04:00

I was thinking last night about how my blog has gone from being focused on my kids to being focused on my interests, with an occasional insert on the kids here or there. It isn't that I'm not involved with the girls, although I must say that having Noah in my life has greatly taken attention from Mollie, it's just that our relationships have changed so much for better and worse and I'm not much for writing about the "worse" times because I find it embarrassing. I feel like a failure.
A few years ago, I believed that by unschooling Mollie, my relationship with her would be one of great respect and love. Not sure where the disconnect happened, but I can tell you that it's not what I had thought it would be.
The past few years have grown increasingly difficult. I can't help but wonder if the introduction of Noah didn't change things between Mollie and I. But, what can I do about that? Is it fair that I'm "saving" Noah and in the meantime "losing" Mollie? Why can't I manage both? Everyone else I know seems to have it all together.
I wonder, too, if living in the trailer, moving away from friends, and all that bullsh-- at this time in her life didn't mess things up for her. She has no one except her online friends anymore. She has told me many times that she is very content with this situation. I keep hoping that within a year, she'll find work and other interests outside the home and maybe connect with people in our area. After all, she certainly doesn't connect with me.
She doesn't even like me to talk because I annoy her so badly. She has asked me not to talk to her. So I've stopped. Yesterday, we went to Costco to pick up a few items. We stopped for a slice of pizza and an ice cream. We literally sat there for probably 20-30 minutes eating, without saying a word to one another. I'm getting more comfortable with this silence now, but those who know me, know I enjoy conversation. I am quiet out of respect to her.
I guess I'm hoping/thinking that this too, will pass.
Samantha and I struggled through several years of relationship woes. She didn't seem to care much for me from about 14 through almost 19. Now, she and I do very well together. At 20, she and I have developed a friendship as two women. We still disagree sometimes. I like being with her. She makes me laugh.
And, most important to me, I know she likes me. I always tell people that if anything ever happened to everyone else around me, I know I could trust Samantha to make sure her Mama was taken care of. It's nice to be loved by your child and to know that deep down.
So, why am I sharing all this on my blog this morning? To be honest, it's been on my mind. It's always on my mind. My girls will always be on my mind. My blog doesn't reflect that these days. I guess I wanted my friends and family to know that.

Making Fertilizer and Starting Seeds....Again

2011-08-10T23:00:00.002-04:00

We need rain, but enough already! I don't get a lot of opportunity for uninterrupted time in the yard, and it's bumming me out that it's been raining for the last 4 days.

I planted more tomatoes and peppers in starter pots. When I emptied the previous ones, (and I think this was a good idea), the dirt smelled so rotten. Not only did I fry the seeds, I let them get too wet. Plus, I think I sowed them way too deep. This time, I was more careful with all of that.

Here are the only surviving plants from batch number one. 3 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, and 1 squash. I moved the tomatoes and cucumber to a larger pot for now and planted the squash in the bed.

I made some homemade fertilizer for the very first time from recipes I found here and here. They are similar, except one is Vegan. My finished recipe ended up looking like this:
4 qt cottonseed meal
2 qt worm castings
1/2 qt (2c) lime (I used dolomite)
1/2 qt (2c) rock phosphate
1 qt sea kelp meal
1/2 qt (2c) greensand

I mixed it all in a bucket and it should be enough for at least my 8 raised beds.

I spread a quart each on 2 beds (that's all I need right now), and mixed it into 1/2 inch of fresh compost.

I planted cantalope, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and pole beans. These seeds should be big enough that they won't (hopefully) get washed away by our torrential rains.

This is my lonely, little, already sprouted squash plant.

That should be all for this month, except that I am going to do some herbs and bee plants in pots and also a small plot in the yard.

My watering system is not installed yet. It has been run around the yard, but I need to connect the tubes to go into each vegetable bed. Tomorrow I will do that and get some photos.

I'm hoping to get an early start. This morning, I got outside for only a few minutes early and it was so beautiful. It wasn't too hot yet, and the birds singing was such a pleasant way to begin my day. I wish I could be more of an early bird all the time but, I end up staying awake too late at night doing things like....writing on my blog.:-) Oh, well.

In the End, a Lesson

2011-08-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

I certainly can't wait for it not to rain to get out and work in the yard because this is my week off from being grandma, and there is a list a mile long of things I want to get done - rain or shine.
It IS the rainy season and we need it, so I'm not complaining. The clouds are nice because they keep the sun from beating down on me while I work. Yesterday, I had to mow a very wet and overgrown lawn. I always have to start with that before I can get on to other things I'd rather be doing, like planting something other than weeds.
Today, I must restart peppers and tomatoes as well as watermelon and a few others that must go in this month. I have only a handful of tomatoes that grew and no peppers. And I planted many. I think I fried the seeds the very first day. I left them in a covered tray in the sun. Dumb. I told you, this gardening project is about 90% learning and 10% actual results, so far. Actually, I do get 100% results, they just aren't the results I desire.
I've been mulching around existing beds and hope to finish up this week. The weeds have been hand pulled so many times, I lost count. Unfortunately, they just come back, only worse. I'm putting several inches of eco mulch on top to stop the weeds. Between my garden beds, I put down several sheets of newspaper under the mulch. My back yard is just a complete mess and drives me nuts to even look at it. I have such a hard time with "work in progress". Especially when I have no clear idea of where I'm going. My friend Tracy shared a quote , "Step into the unknown, stay there, see where it takes you". This is where I am with my yard. I stand in the middle of it and try to imagine it finished so I know where to go next. Instead, I think I need to treat it a little more like google earth. I need to move from the all encompassing view, and zoom in to one single spot, work with it and move out from there. Almost like a ripple from a stone tossed in to a pond. Not knowing how those ripples will take shape as they grow out along the way, but starting from that very perfect, distinct, manageable and workable spot in the center. One small spot. That is what I'm trying to focus on...blur out the rest and focus on one small spot.
Who would have thought that such a good lesson could be learned from such a simple task of working in the garden.

More seed starts

2011-07-26T16:32:00.000-04:00

Have I told you I think I have more failures than successes at this point in my gardening journey? If I haven't, I should.
Yesterday I planted peas, pole beans, cauliflower, broccoli and squash. The book I use told me to start these slightly later in the season, but I thought the lady here that I buy my seeds from told me I could start them now. WRONG. I must have misunderstood her. Anyway, I visited her today and she said that it's too hot for the peas, cauliflower and broccoli in particular. The others MAY do ok. I am still going to try to shade them and nurse them if they come up and maybe they will grow. If not, it looks like I'll be re-starting them in a month or two. Bummer.
The thing is, I'm not really bummed out that bad. You see, when I mess up like this, I see by experience what each plant does and it sticks with me for the next growing season. Next time, I should hopefully get it right.

I spent yesterday hauling bags of eco mulch to put around my garden beds to keep the weeds down.
Today, I bought a few seeds for starting plants for bees (neither my citrus nor my elderberry were pollinated this year), and also for ground cover so that I can get rid of some of these weeds and put something nicer in it's place. I hope to get them in the ground this week. I am going to try both german and roman chamomile in the ground. I had some luck in a pot last year with the Roman, but when I put it in the ground, it died. I guess the German is an annual which I didn't know until today.

Also, my seed lady told me that I can grow my arugula nicely in a planter pot, so that's what I'm gonna do tomorrow.

We have had a dry summer, too, so I'm having to water just to keep things alive. I don't mind not having any big storms come through, but I do like the rain in summer.

Let the Planting Begin

2011-07-23T00:22:00.000-04:00

I know my gardening posts are boring, but I actually am using this blog as a gardening log so I don't have to write things twice. Sorry to those not interested.

I was supposed to start my transplants mid July. I finally got some in soil tonight. I started all my tomato varieties and all my pepper varieties. I also had room in the one tray I prepared to start my cantalope and cucumber varieties. I will make another tray tomorrow (hopefully) and start the remaining warm season veggies.

For the record I started:
24 Roma Paste,5 Komohana Grape tomato, 3 Anahu slicing tomato, 3 red marconi pepper, 3 Hawaiian Chili peppers, 3 Jaloro Hot peppers, 2 Kaala bell peppers, 6 burpless cucumber, 16 fancy pickling cucumber, and 6 Iroquois cantalope.

I had absolutely no luck with any of the peppers last year because I started them in October, not understanding their need for very warm temps. My tomatoes also didn't start to grow until it warmed in the Spring time. Cross your fingers for better results this year.

On another note, some of my star fruit are already an inch long. Very cool.

Learning How to Ride a Bike

2011-07-21T22:31:00.000-04:00

I've been riding my bike the past few days. Today was a little nerve-racking. I had Noah in tow. With him and the trailer and some library books, I was pulling around 50 lbs I think. A thunderstorm moved in more quickly than I had expected and the winds picked up. I get nervous anyway with lightning storms. They strike very close here. So, I had to really work hard to get the 2 miles home from the library quickly and riding against the wind. To top it off, I think I counted about 6 honks at me or around me on my ride today. It wasn't that I was doing anything wrong, people just get irritated mostly at other drivers that might be yielding to me or moving slowly around me. Those darn horns startle me almost every time. After all, I'm only inches away from a steady stream of cars doing 45-50 mph with multiple turn lanes and stops.

When I got home, I was a little discouraged. I won't give up, but I sure wish bicycling was a bit easier here. Noah did well on the ride. He's quite the trooper.
Tom is going to work with me to improve my riding skills. He will be gone this weekend, but next weekend I will try to do his 25 mi ride to the beach and back. Next week, I won't have Noah in tow all week so I'll try to get out and get a good sense of some different routes around here.

Taking My Own Advice

2011-07-18T23:55:00.000-04:00

The transmission in Sam's car blew up a few weeks ago. She's been commuting by bus ever since. I have been encouraging her for a long time to give up the car anyway because of the cost associated with it. She had no payment, but her insurance was high and she was spending a large portion of her paycheck on gas.
I also wanted her to switch to public transportation because this is a tough place to drive. Everyone sues everyone here. The drivers are some of the worst in the country. She had 2 times this past spring where she rear ended someone. She did not get a ticket either time because there was little or no damage and her mistakes were innocent. For example, she was at a stop light when a bee flew in the window. She is absolutely terrified of bees, so she went to put the car in park but failed to do so, before she jumped out of her vehicle. It tapped the car in front of her. No injuries, no damage. The cop didn't want to do a report, but we insisted because I had a bad experience with someone hitting me a few years ago here and I didn't file a report with the police. Anyway, a few months later, we get notified by State Farm that they are being sued by all three people in the car for physical/bodily injuries. Sad. They will, I'm sure, get paid because it will be cheaper than fighting it.
Anyway, I just think driving in a place like this isn't worth it. It scares me.

Mollie turned 15 in April and is eligible to get a permit now. I keep telling her I don't want her to. I know that's not very "unschooly" of me, but this is a big deal. I can't see throwing her to the wolves. I think I am going to insist she wait until 16 at least, to get her permit. Then she must keep it for a minimum one year here before getting her license (that's Florida law). If she has her license at 17, that might be ok but honestly, I keep trying to convince her not to drive at all. We have such a great public transportation system, not to mention, we live directly across the street or within walking distance of a mall and just about any store you could need.
She wants her license because she wants to leave here when she is 18 and doesn't want that to hold her back. So, I will let her do that but I'm dragging my feet.

I keep telling both girls that cars are a thing of the past. That no matter how "green" they start building them, there are much better alternatives.
I drive my truck. Too much. I have been wanting to reduce my driving since we moved into this house. I have a little, but not as much as I can.
But, I've decided to try to set an example to the girls (and to Noah) that biking or walking isn't so bad. The "all or nothing" part of me wants to give the truck up for 30 days. Entirely. But, I won't. Tom discussed with me that sometimes, a vehicle is needed. And, since I will keep my truck (because I need it for pulling the trailer and it has 6 seats so it's good for travel), I will continue to use it when I have to (the vet, Mollie's ortho and Noah's grandma are all 15 miles or more away)

The biggest challenge so far is bike lanes and bike racks. I can never find a place to lock my bike. I also have to ride on sidewalks or narrow roads. The roads here are busy and scary with crazy drivers. It helps to have my child trailer in tow, because I think people are more considerate of me with it. (Even though the last time I used it to haul a 15 lb bag of cat food instead of Noah:-).

Today I got a bike computer that will keep track of the miles I bike. I am hoping to see my bike mileage go up and my auto mileage go down. I filled up my truck yesterday to the tune of $99. That is where the pump cuts me off. Quite frankly, I'm tired of paying those ridiculous amounts. Every time I get on that bike to go somewhere, I feel a sense of power and control over my own life.

Aye, Carambola!

2011-07-17T09:49:00.001-04:00

Look! Look! Baby starfruit!!

My neighbors must think I'm nuts, always out front taking photos my trees and plants. But, I'm very excited that my young tree may give a few fruit this winter. My key lime had blossoms a week or so ago, but to my eyes, it does not look like any were pollinated, so it looks like no limes this time around.

Also, last year, I had to order herbs from my CSA, but this year, I've harvested my own. As a matter of fact, I was getting so lazy about storing the excess, I was composting some. Yesterday, however, I took the time to wash and freeze it for use over the winter.

I read that oregano actually likes cooler weather, so I may not have to worry about it producing into the winter. But, if I remember correctly, the basil really likes the warmer weather so I've been making basil cubes (like Trader Joe's used to sell) and bagging them in the freezer for use in pizza and pasta sauces. This year, I will need quite a bit if my tomatoes produce because I'm planning on canning my sauce as well, since I have a pressure canner now and feel safer varying the ingredients a little.

I'm hoping to pay bills, get to the thrift store and start my seeds today before I pick Noah up at 6. I like this new schedule. I get so much done when he's gone that when he's back, I can take the time to relax and play with him.:-)

Look What I Did Yesterday

2011-07-15T20:47:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to get a lot done this week with Noah not being here. Yesterday, Mollie was gone and Sam was gone, too. Look what I gone done with a whole day to myself..

Four more garden beds for a total of 8!
I have decided to use "square foot" gardening instead of rows. Supposedly, it's a better use of garden space and this part of the yard is all Tom really wants me to mess with. I watched the sun's angles over the past year, so I'm hoping this spot will get enough sun during the winter, but I'm not sure. Oh well, it's all about learning what works.
I had enough "almost" finished compost to make a shallow layer on the bottom of each bed. I was amazed at how good my compost looked.

One thing I have in my compost is white grubs. They look like this.

According to what I read, they can stay in my compost pile, but I can't have them in my garden. So I had to be careful to sift through the compost as best I could and pick out the ones I found. Blue jays love them, so I tossed them over by the compost while the jays watched, but I think the grubs found their way into my new pile before they got eaten.

After my incomplete compost layer, I put a good layer of finished organic compost that I had purchased.

The black hoses sticking out will eventually be my watering system that Tom is running for me.
Finally, I decided to cover each bed with a thick layer of hay mulch in the hopes that weeds wouldn't come through. I won't be using these beds until about October.
At that time, I plan on pulling back the hay mulch, mixing another layer of finished compost with my organic fertilizer mix and worm castings and then topping the beds off with that before adding seeds and transplants.

I have a total of 128 sq ft of garden (not including my strawberry bed -which needs to be redone). I've done so much research on how many plants of each I can put in a square foot. All total, I am hoping to plant:
24 lettuce,
24 spinach,
42 beets,
4 zucchini,
2 squash,
16 radishes,
4 watermelon,
3 cantalope,
20 pea plants,
16 bean plants,
12 pickling cucumber,
4 regular cucumber,
3 cilantro,
46 carrots,
96 green onion,
8 arugula,
1 oregano,
1 feverfew,
2 basil,
1 sage,
2 hot pepper,
2 green chiles,
2 cherry tomato,
2 slicing tomato,
18 roma tomato plants,
8 celery,
4 cabbage,
8 broccoli,
8 cauliflower,
some parsley, catnip, lavender, rosemary, chamomile and thyme.
Whew!!!
It's ALL an experiment. I would be happy to get even half of what I have planned. I have never grown the vast majority of what I've listed and even though I've bought seeds that should do well in this area, I'm still learning about soil structure and water and I'm sure some will not make it.

Free Time

2011-07-14T08:42:00.001-04:00

We've recently changed our schedule with Noah. He now spends one week with us, and then one week with his other grandparents. It seems to work well this way, giving me time to catch up with projects and work around the house when he's not here.
Mollie left this morning to visit Saren in Las Vegas. She will spend nearly a week there. It's always hard to send her off on a plane. I just miss having her around, even though she generally prefers not to have anything to do with me these days anyway.
My nephew is flying in from Seattle this evening to spend the weekend here.
I have been working on my garden plans. I thought I would have the summer off but gardening in S Florida doesn't take a break. I'm not harvesting anything right now.
My mangos are all gone. I froze some and dried the rest. I still have one bucket of dried mangos hidden in the closet to share with visitors over the holiday season.
I think I've got about 2 pineapples left outside. I probably had 30 to start. I lost 2 to ants. They literally dug ant trails throughout the pineapples. I froze some of the pineapples but dehydrated most of them and they are all gone!!! They are my favorite and I ate them like candy.
I have built two more 4x4 raised beds and I have 4 more to build today. This increases my beds to 8. I have ordered stuff to make my organic fertilizer, and I have a half composted pile of scraps and yard stuff that I will bury in the bottom of the beds. I won't actually sow any seeds or plant any transplants until probably October so hopefully the compost will finish up by then.
I will be starting my seeds in small pots next week (tomatoes, peppers, and a few others) as soon as some worm castings arrive that I ordered.
I have a bunch of buds on my star fruit tree and am praying that they get pollinated. My key lime flowered again, but I don't see any fruit started on them. My elderberry flowers died with no fruit. I just have no pollinators or something. So my goal this year is to get some pollinator attracting plants in the yard.
I decided to do square foot gardening instead of row type gardening. I am trying to use companion plant methods and pollinator attractors in each bed. It's all an experiment right now, but the nice thing is that I learned quite a bit last year and will at least have that knowledge when I begin this year.

Sharing the Harvest

2011-06-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

I have some pineapple and mango slices in the dehydrator tonight. I threw a few cherries in there, too, that I had laying around, just to try them out.

I made pineapple mango ice cream last night and had a bowl tonight with homemade raspberry sauce and almonds and toasted coconut. Very yummy.

I am truly enjoying my harvest. This evening, while I was outside picking a ripe pineapple, a neighbor that I had never met came over to me to start chatting about the pineapples and mangoes in the yard. I ended up giving her the pineapple that I had in my hand.

A week or so ago (maybe I already told you this story) the UPS guy brought a package up to the front porch and asked if he could take a mango. I told him to take a few.

I read a book (not cover to cover, but glanced over a portion of it) called "Edible Estates". The book talks about transforming front lawns into edible gardens and the people you meet and the opportunities that you have to share. I was impressed by this idea and will, in the future, be converting my front yard into edibles to be shared. I just like the idea of sharing. It feels good.

I still feel like there is so much to learn about gardening. Especially for me because I have no real background in it. It is all very new to me. I have big dreams for my yard one day. Gosh, I hope I can achieve them.

Another First

2011-06-12T10:38:00.001-04:00

The first pineapple of many. There are many this size. Yum!

End of One Season, Beginning of Another

2011-06-04T08:30:00.001-04:00

This past Tuesday was my final CSA delivery for the season. Wednesday marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
As we move into the summer months, my attention will be focused on doing less and relaxing more.

I still have two rooms that I wish to paint, the laundry room and Noah's room. Not to mention, my high efficiency washer and dryer set is still sitting in the garage. I've been using the ones that were here when we moved in and I'd really like to swap them out. I find that the HE washer cleans clothes so much better with the all natural detergents that I use, though I've found that adding baking soda to my wash is nature's own simple little miracle.

I recently added a food dehydrator to my self sufficient kitchen ensemble. My mangos have begun ripening. I get maybe one or two from the tree each day. Many of these have just ripened and fallen from up high on the tree with a good wind. My mangos are of the variety that turns yellow when ripe, not red, like you often see in the stores. The top of very ripe ones will turn reddish. Some green ones are even ripe enough, but I prefer them at their ripest when the flavor is oh so sweet and the smell is heavenly.

Yesterday, I attempted to make fruit leather but it did not turn out. The trick is to get it spread evenly and apparently thicker than what I had done. Unfortunately, mine was way too thin and "leather" is a mild word for the way it came out.
I am currently drying two trays of sliced mangos, though, and they look absolutely beautiful. I'm so excited! I froze a bag of cubes for smoothies, etc. This year's harvest is smaller than I imagine one day it will be. The two trees I have are still young. I did speak with a lady that owns a local farm and market, and she said that if I ended up with an abundance, she would allow me to bring them there to sell. I think that's a long way off, but definitely good to know.

I have about 30 pineapples that are ripening, but taking forever. I am really looking forward to drying them. MMMmmmm I love dried pineapple!

I am not growing anything new for the summer this year. I am watching the yard and the sun and weather closely before I invest in anything further. I am also planning for at least two new garden beds/areas for the winter season. My compost pile smells truly amazing! It is becoming this rich, dark miracle. The compost in the tumbler is still not really working as well. It just seems to stay so wet and smelly. I add dry to it, and then it's too dry. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to work like the pile in my yard does. My pile is too small, though. I think I will soon have to build a bin of some sort for another pile if I'm to hope for enough compost for my gardens. What I have now, I built out of concrete bricks that I found lying around the yard after moving in. But, the compost I think I'll end up with will probably be only enough to put a nice layer on top of my existing 2 beds and possibly a third.
I will have to purchase soil and compost for the remaining beds this fall because the sandy soil here has so little to support the plants I hope to grow.

I pulled up my cherry tomato plants but left the Romas. They almost seem to be doing better now than they did this winter. They started to grow later than the cherries, so I wonder if that's why they are lasting longer.
I am getting a second round of hot peppers on a plant I bought last fall, and I have a few peppers on another plant that I bought this spring.
Strawberries are done for the season. I think I may have lost two plants. I had to mulch to about 3 inches around them. It has been so hot and dry, I'm finding mulch is the only way I'm saving my garden.

I now have black swallowtail caterpillars in my butterfly garden along with the others. I have 4 small dill plants but they are so proficient at cleaning those bare, they've moved on to the parsley. That's ok, though, that's what it's there for. I will say that my butterfly garden looks like it's not doing so great because the little critters have darn near cleaned most of the plants off. But I am finding such joy in providing the garden for them and having them visit. This is a worthwhile part to my yard. Next on my list of wishes.....plants to attract bees. I've had no shortage of wasps around, but only a few bees. You should hear how stupid I must sound out there every time I see one on a flower. I start talking to it, telling it how happy I am that it's here and asking it to bring friends!:-)
My lime tree has produced flowers (again?) and I'm not sure if it will be pollinated or not. I have a lemon tree, so maybe. I am learning about these damn trees. There's so much to learn. Period.

I'll leave you with a few photos just for fun.

Noah (AKA Superman). Got most of those trains, table, etc off craigslist...60 bucks!

That big black box on the counter...my 9 shelf, Excalibur dehydrator. I get excited just thinkin' about it!:-)

Black Swallowtail caterpillar chowing down on the flower of a dill plant.

Monarch chrysalis.

My Mexican Trip

2011-05-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

Noah is at the other Grandma's for Memorial Day weekend, and I am spending this weekend catching up on household chores after 2 weeks of vacationing here and there. I spent last night until 2 am in the pet emergency clinic so I'm not quite getting off to the productive start that I'd hoped for this morning because I'm tired. My cat started throwing up a lot, blood included, last evening. 500 dollars later, and we still have no explanation. He probably got into some old food or something left in the sink. We thought maybe he'd eaten a rubber lizard that I had on my desk because it went missing and he was the last one seen playing with it. But, xray did not reveal the lizard, so....

I wanted to tell about my Mexico trip. I posted pics on my facebook but will post just a few here too.

Most of you know I really don't care much for flying. I did surprisingly well this time. Some time ago, my doctor gave me a very low, low dose prescription med for the anxiety that I get in rare situations, flying being one of those. I take her low dose and split it in 1/4 so I take so little, you'd hardly think it was worth it. But, it takes the edge off my fear and I am able to function and enjoy myself. So, to me, it IS worth it.

Flying to Mexico was a short hour and a half trip for me. It was beautiful because I sat on the side of the airplane that faced south and was able to see the whole string of the Florida keys as we flew for quite a while over them. Then, though there was some haze, I believe I was able to see Cuba off to the distance. Arriving in Mexico, the water off shore was just brilliant blue! I did notice as I looked out over the peninsula, it was quite jungle looking. The city of Cancun was fairly isolated and there were only about 2 main roads running to and from. Most of the roads appeared to be dirt. It was interesting.
It is strange to be in a place where the primary language is something other than English, although because Cancun is so touristy, most people around do speak at least a little English. Me being such a chatty girl, I wished I knew Spanish.

The resort we stayed at was lovely. My mom and I had a wonderful time together, staying up late into the night having cocktails, getting up early for her to teach yoga (no, I didn't participate), and then spending the days lounging by the pool or at the beach. The resort was all inclusive, so all food and drinks were included. The food at the restaurants at the resort was not good. I'm not sure why. My mom says most resorts are so much better. But the buffet was good and I certainly didn't starve to death while I was there!

We made a few friends - some women that were traveling together,a young guy that was there alone, and a young couple that got engaged while there. My mom is more chatty than me if you can imagine that. So, she meets EVERYONE!

We took a 2 1/2 mile walk to Puerto Moreles one evening. We did not stay, as we got a bit nervous being two obvious female tourists alone. There are a lot of tourists around, I'm sure, but being unable to speak the local language, we weren't very comfortable.

We saw some beautiful birds and you would have thought that I would have done my research and gathered birding books before going so that I would be able to identify them. Nope. I didn't do that and now I'm saying that I must go back so I can make a note of the birds I saw.

I did not get to the Mayan Ruins like I had so wanted to do. I put it off until just before I was supposed to leave. Then, there was miscommunication between the guy who arranged the tour and me, and the whole thing got screwed up and I didn't get to go. That was probably the biggest bummer.

I think I would like to return to Mexico. The all inclusive resorts are such a great value and really quite relaxing. If the next time I go I can add the visit to Tulum or Chichen Itza, I would be in heaven for sure.

Here's a few photos to enjoy.

The view from the lobby.

The Beach.

Mom and me.

The view from our room.

Small Talk

2011-05-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

When Mollie and I encounter people that try to make small talk with her about school, I usually let her respond first, then jump in and clarify (ie: talk "school speak") until the conversation changes. I do this for two reasons. One, Mollie really doesn't like small talk and likes being asked about school even less. She's always very kind when asked but I know she really wants to fire back something sarcastic. The second reason I add to her answer is that for some reason, I feel like I have to end any question in peoples minds that perhaps we might not be traditionally educating Mollie. People just seem happier knowing that every kid experiences school the same. I aim to please.

Well, today, Mollie and I had to go to the dentist. She had her teeth cleaned and then came in to my room where I was having an old filling replaced. Of course, my mouth was stuffed full of cotton and metal so when the dentist turned to Mollie and asked her what her favorite subject in school was, she replied after hesitating..."um, I don't know." I contemplated spitting out the cotton so I could make some sort of joke or something but refrained. Then, he asked her what grade she was in. (Are these the only two questions people know how to ask kids?). Mollie was very cool and said, "I think 9th but I'm home schooled and we really don't pay attention to grades."
Well, that was the end of that. The questions stopped there. My guess is that the dentist really didn't care and it was apparent that Mollie didn't either.
Too bad my mouth isn't stuffed full all the time.

Disney Adventures

2011-05-21T09:42:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting here in the hotel room waiting for everyone to get up for the day. It's already 9 am and everyone is sleeping soundly, though, I think that will change soon because housekeeping is coming around to clean. We have a two room suite that I got an excellent deal on through AAA, so the bedroom is closed off and I can sit here in the front living area to have coffee and get on the computer without disturbing them.
I have enjoyed myself the past two days here. I bought the annual passes for the four of us, so we could come back several times this year and would not have to feel rushed to see everything in one trip. Trust me, the passes are a great deal for Florida residents, and we only live about 3-4 hours away. We've already booked two more trips for later this year. i figure in one year, we'll get Disney out of our system completely and probably won't need to come back until Noah is a lot older.-)
As I predicted, my family has already had just about enough already! We went to Magic Kingdom on Thursday afternoon/evening and stayed till 11 pm. It was so empty, the longest we waited for rides was about 15 minutes! We hit all the rides and attractions that we thought were important to us, had a few very expensive snacks, and got to see the late night parade and fireworks. The castle is the prettiest part of the park, in my opinion. I have just enjoyed watching all the little girls in all their excitement, dressed in princess clothes and in awe of all the characters around. If Sam had come when she was little, she would have been all dressed up just like them. And Mollie...well, I would have had to buy every stuffed animal in the park!
I loved the ferry ride over from the parking lot probably the best.:-)
Yesterday, we did Epcot. Definitely more my style. There are a few rides and attractions that we hit, but mostly, we walked. And walked. And walked. :-)
And we ate. We wanted to try treats from so many places that we split everything between us all because food is SUPER EXPENSIVE.:-) For example, we got fish and chips. Tom ate a piece of fish, I had a half piece with 2 french fries, Sam ate the other half piece of fish, and Moll ate the fries. We shared a funnel cake and Italian ice later in the day. There's shops and shows in every "country". Disney is, without question, incredibly cool. The employees in each "country" are really from that country and speak the language. That is super neato! A young girl who rang us up in a store in "France" was named Justine Marie....just like me!
Today, if I can get everyone out of bed, we are going to spend some time checking out animal kingdom. You all know that this will probably be a favorite of Mollie and me.
I've gotten some great photos and will post them when I get home along with my pictures from Mexico which I also will have to tell you all about.

Garden Update for May

2011-05-08T19:19:00.001-04:00

I really need to be paying bills, as I'm leaving town in less than 2 days, but I've been wanting to do another garden post because I want to remember what's going on as a reference for next year.
I've taken a few pictures for reference.

Monarch chrysalis. I've been finding them on a few trees near the milkweed plants. This one is under a banana plant leaf.

This is a new visitor. It is the caterpillar of the gulf fritillary butterfly. Another name is the Passion Butterfly. The are living and eating my passion flower vine. There are a lot of them and I am finding their chrysallis' on the fence and the same plants as the monarchs.

The first flowers on my elderberry bush. They dried up pretty quickly. I'm not sure if this is where the berries will come from or if there will even be berries. It does not appear to have any now.

Pineapples! And, surprisingly, some of them are very large!

The mangos (especially on the east side of the tree) are beginning to turn red. I only lost a dozen or so at the beginning of the fruiting of the tree. I read that the tree will drop what it cannot sustain. I am going to invest in a dehydrator so that I can dry the mangos and pineapples that we can't eat or freeze.

This is another bunch of bananas. Now, a week or so after this picture, they aren't looking like they will make it. I think the bugs and/or birds get to them.

Noah eating the cherry tomatoes. He loves them. I don't like this variety that much. I think the skin is too rough or something, and the tomatoes are very tiny. The plants are beginning to look like they are at the end of their season. I have one more Roma hanging on but I didn't get that many this year.
The cat nip is growing great. A neighborhood feline visitor got a hold of it not that long ago and I was certain it would be lost, but it has rebounded, much to the joy of my own cats.
The oregano, thyme, basil, dill, curly leaf parsley are just growing like crazy. The flat leaf parsley is limping along but not doing too bad. The lavender and cilantro are not really doing anything. I have the lavender in the shade of some large tomato plants, so maybe that's the problem.
I put in a pepper plant, but it's not growing fast. May be the soil? May be the end of season.
I lost a blueberry bush, I think. Just went out this week and it's looking pretty dead. I need to replace it in order for pollination of the other one.
The strawberries are looking like they are done producing for now. No flowers remain at this time.
My carambola tree is looking so great with a lot of new growth.
The key lime tree is flowering again, but not the lemon tree. I still have 3 lemons on it from long ago. I don't know if they are going to eventually turn yellow or just hang on the tree until whenever.
My compost is looking amazing and smelling so wonderful! It's such a small pile for as much as I've put in it! I have to batches going. One is outside and exposed to the rain, the other is in the turner. The one in the turning bin actually stays too wet which was my problem before. I'm constantly having to add brown matter to keep it from smelling.

The rains have begun and I'm watering less often. Currently once to twice a week.

On the home front...I'm in love with the kitty Mollie adopted. She's so different than the boys. She has a sweeter purr and chirp. And she likes to lay on me like my old best friend, Sinbad did. I like her!

I'm off to Cancun on Tuesday. I actually got a manicure and pedicure today. I was a little embarrassed to have someone fuss with my feet. You should see them - I wear sandals or bare foot all the time and they are just getting so old looking! But, they look good now!

Got to go to my favorite pizza place for Mother's day. My favorite part....they have the world's best canolli's!!!

Time keeps on Slippin'

2011-04-28T14:35:00.002-04:00

I am going to give a quick life update because I have a million things to say, but i also have a million things to do and I am procrastinating.

House update: Painted my master bedroom...it's absolutely beautiful. I bought some thrift store sheets and am going to work on a rag rug. Will post pics when/if I get it done.

Garden: More cherry tomatoes than I can keep up with from just 3 plants! Tomato Hornworms ate about a third of two of my plants. Big ugly things.
Had something lay eggs on my night blooming jasmine. Those caterpillars ate about half of my plant until I pulled them all off one by one.
Gotta be honest....not crazy about bugs.
Mangos and pineapples are looking amazing. The smaller mango tree has only a handful of mangos. Hopefully I will get to taste them this year. Remember, I wasn't sure if we needed another tree like it to produce fruit. Well, it doesn't need one. (Gotta love those independent trees - or something like that:-) There is a name for them but I can't think of it right now.)
One of my elderberry bushes has flowers. Hooray!
More bananas. Hopefully I can get them before the birds do.
Super dry weather conditions here. Can hardly keep up with the watering. Rainy season should begin in a few weeks.
A pair of mockingbirds built a nest in the largest mango tree. Yipppee!

Family updates:
Mollie got braces for the 2nd time. Full set this time. 6 months and she'll be done.
Mollie adopted a new cat. Her name is willow. Found out she has gingivastomatitis (gotta love those "itis's). Prognosis....can go either way. We're praying that we can keep it under control and she can live a long life. She's ours now, and we're committed to her.

Spent Easter Sunday at Everglades National Park. Added the Roseatte Spoonbill and the Osprey to my life list!

Me: I'm traveling to Cancun w/ my mom in less than 2 weeks. Haven't been out of the country in over 20 years. Wish I was 15 pounds lighter or could find a more flattering swim suit! Ah well.

Bought passes and made reservations for Disney World end of May!! Gotta have the oldest kids that have never been to Disney!

Ask the Magic Eight Ball if...

2011-04-06T01:29:00.000-04:00

I will do this again

and it will say, "My sources say 'No'."

This is Noah's birthday cake. His birthday is today. (Yes, it is TODAY) already because it is 1:30 am and I just finished making it.

Now I am having a cup of tea because my stomach is a little upset because of all the icing I ate.

I have no idea what made me think this would be easy to make, but I was so completely wrong.
Anyway, I'm glad it's done. At least Noah has a cake. And to a two year old, all he'll know is that it looks like Buzz Lightyear and that's all he'll care about. Well, that and eating it!

15 (Almost)

2011-03-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

Mollie will be 15 on Friday. Weird, huh?
Well, it seems that way to me anyway.
Today, she got the balance of her b'day present. Two piercings in the top of her ear. The other day, she got a 3rd hole pierced in both earlobes. I once met a girl with 18 piercings in one ear. I hope Moll's not going for that.
She also got 3 music cd's she's been wanting. She feels that music ordered through Itunes just isn't the same. She wanted the album covers.
We are going out to dinner on the beach tonight. Noah is at his other grandma's for the evening. That's why we chose tonight instead of her actual birth-day.
I think we all agree in this household that 2 year olds don't make for a relaxing dinner.
I'm having a glass of wine. I think I might have another. I think I might be very relaxed after that. (Though, at my age, I just might fall asleep if I relax too much.)

Veggie Garden Compost Cocktail

2011-03-13T00:02:00.001-05:00

Those of you that gave me suggestions for how not to have 'crispy' laundry would be happy to hear that I put your advice into practice and washed and hung 2 out of 3 (it just got too late to hang the 3rd load outside) loads. Tossed in the dryer heat for a few minutes and un-crispified! And it all still smelled like outside freshened wash!

I worked in the yard most of the day today. I amended the soil in my raised beds. I should have done this a few weeks ago, before I planted some of my spring plants, but I didn't know to do that. What I did was mix 2 bags organic (forest derived) compost with one bag composted cow manure. I put about an inch of this on top of the existing soil and around the established plants. I sprinkled on some worm castings and some organic cottonseed meal and then used my garden spade to mix it all in about 2-3 inches deep. I worked around the plants and had to be careful not to accidentally dig up any roots. I pulled out a few plants that weren't growing and replaced them with some transplants from some pots that I had around the patio. I put about 2 inches of hay back on top. I use coastal hay (dried Bermuda grass)because it grows so well here and is easy to find.

I am hoping that I did not raise the acid level of the garden by adding the cottonseed meal. It only has about 7 percent nitrogen, and I felt like my plants were low in this. I know that cow manure can be acidic, but composted manure is supposed to be ok. I guess I'll find out.

I put some compost and mulch around the mango trees and other fruit trees.

I had some aloe vera growing in a pot and decided to try planting it in the ground. I also have been trying to grow some German Chamomile in a pot but it wasn't doing so well so I put it in the ground. I did notice that some of the feverfew I had planted was starting to sprout. I dug up what was there, but I am going to put some in a pot. I guess it prefers warm weather, that's why it's growing now even though I planted it forever ago. The same must be true for parsley because that is also starting to take off.

My large Monarch caterpillars have moved on. I read that they can go into their chrysalis stage up to 30 feet away from their host plant. I can't see any hanging anywhere. Sure wish I could. I've got a few more 'babies' but I've also been trying to get in control of an insect problem - the milkweed bug. It's not really a problem except that it competes for the same food that the Monarch caterpillars need and one milkweed bug can produce hundreds of eggs. So I've been plucking off these bugs and squashing them and the eggs they have left behind. I always knew that my least favorite thing about gardening would be the bugs. I'm really not a bug person. But, without pesticides, you gotta do what you gotta do.

First Fruits

2011-03-09T22:14:00.001-05:00

Today, I harvested the very first fruits of my labor. Now, as insignificant one small cherry tomato may seem to the majority, this is like climbing Mount Everest to me! I don't know if I've ever had a plant that I didn't kill on accident up until now...and I don't remember ever getting any veggies from one - even one I bought with veggies already on it.
This tomato plant, however, I grew from a very tiny seed. All the way from seed to fruit. And this little tomato means to me that, yes, I can do this. And I LOVE it!

I'm Trying

2011-03-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

At the end of every year, I set goals for myself for the upcoming 12 months. I guess you could call them resolutions, though, I like "goals" better. I think it feels like a more "flexible" word to me.

Over the past three years, while living in the trailer, goals for me became centered around scaling back and living more simply and more sustainably. I think that my life just mandated such living because of my situation. I had a serious lack of physical space to do anything and we were extremely unsettled as well. I think that focusing on a simple, sustainable, and environmentally conscientious way of life helped me feel like I was able to accomplish something when, for the most part, I felt so absolutely out of control of my own life.

So I developed goals that fit in 2 different categories: reduce waste and reduce carbon footprint.

In each category, I list things that I can do to work toward those goals. As the year passes, I cross off what I am able to do consistently or, if it was a one time deal like replacing bulbs with florescent bulbs, I cross it off when completed.

My list gets smaller every year but my goals get harder. This year, under "reduce carbon footprint" are these goals:
1) buy/eat less animal products and those should be humanely raised.
2) hang wash out to dry
3) buy biodiesel for truck
4) Use truck minimally - walk or bike whenever possible.

Here's my progress so far:
1) Everyone in my house is starving because no one likes a totally vegetarian diet, and the humanely raised meats are soooooo expensive. And the only vendor I can find with such meats actually has them shipped in from the middle of the country. So, I took one step forward and two steps back with this one and am re-evaluating my ability to do this at all. What was happening was that we were eating out way more than we ever did because there was never anything around the house that sounded appetizing.

2) I hang towels and linens out to dry 50% of the time. Clothes get pretty crunchy and wrinkled so that doesn't work for my family. I am working toward towels and linens 100% of the time.

3) I found a place in Miami that I believe sells B100 (100 percent biodiesel) but it is 40 miles from me. Not exactly what I want to do to reduce carbon footprint. So, I did find a place 7 miles away (and near a store I like to go to sometimes) that sells B20 and I've settled on that for now but would like to reduce my driving so that I fill up infrequently.

4)I live within 2 miles of a mall and just about any store I could possibly need - even a whole foods. The library, parks, etc, etc, are all not much further. I'm working on finding all things close by including doctors, dentist, hairdresser, etc. There are a few cases where I won't change an existing Dr or Mollie's orthodontist, but not many. I have walked to the grocery store but I have struggled with doing more because, well, I have Noah. And it's not very easy to take long walks without him getting tired. I've been wanting to bicycle places, but the thought of me toting a 30 pound toddler and additional bike seating wasn't exactly exciting. Finally, we invested in an inexpensive bike carrier. Tom attached it to my bike two days ago, and while I haven't actually gone shopping with it yet, I did try it out and it's not as heavy as I thought.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Noah's new ride.:-)

PS I just noticed that in the top picture you can see how nice and green my neighbor's grass is, and just how brown mine is getting...now that is funny to me!:-)

Garden Visitors

2011-03-05T15:58:00.005-05:00

Ok. I'm supposed to be writing a grocery list while Noah is taking a nap, but instead I just have to post a quickie!

As some of you may remember, I love bird watching and had spent a lot of time establishing a back yard bird habitat when I lived in Kansas.

In Florida, my home is sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, so many of the birds we see are shore birds. There are a few backyard birds. Mostly doves, blue jays, an occasional cardinal and some finches and warblers. I still have one active bird feeder that I keep a blend of nuts and seeds in. I think the squirrels love it most!

Anyway, because I have this need for wildlife in my yard, I decided this year to begin a small butterfly garden. I read that there are over 100 species of butterflies in South Florida.

Here is a picture of my small butterfly garden. Remember these are just new plantings. Hopefully it will fill in this year and next. I'll add to it as I go. For now, I have a few Butterfly milkweed, some Pentas, Lantana, Dill, Parsley, and in the background next to the fence, I've planted a Passionflower vine.

I do get occasional visitors to my garden. However, this morning when I was out watering the garden I saw these on my milkweed...

Monarch Caterpillars! I think they might be too big to have been laid since I planted them at home here. I suspect that they were on the plant when I bought it. I am so excited! There were several of them on one plant! I'll keep you posted as they move along in their life cycle.

Cake Decorating

2011-03-03T22:32:00.006-05:00

I think I shared at the end of last year that Mollie and I were taking some cake decorating classes. We finished up today and I thought I'd share some pictures of our final project with you.

Mollie's is the green cake and mine is the blue.

Working with fondant was fun, but I think I like working with butter cream best of all. I have been in search of good cake recipes over the past few months. The cake I made for this class was supposed to be white, but ended up yellow. But, it was delicious. I like a very moist, dense cake, and this was it.

Mollie's chocolate cake was also one of my favorites so far. Again, moist and dense. Not real sweet, though. I got it from King Arthur Flour
. We didn't use the chocolate frosting that comes with the recipe, but I definitely think it would have been better with it than the butter cream layer underneath the fondant.

All in all, I do enjoy cake making. I don't think it's something that I'd want to do all the time, but it's fun now and then. It's especially useful for making family birthday cakes. Both Noah and Mollie have birthdays coming up. I'm going to make Noah's and Mollie wants to make her own. I can't wait to see what she decides to do.

Pictures and Fertilizer (part 1)

2011-03-01T22:23:00.007-05:00

Here are some pics of what's finally starting to grow. This is a roma tomato plant.

Here's my raised beds. Still not doing as good as I think they should be. I am pretty sure that they are severely deficient in nitrogen and am going to try to amend that within the next week or so. I've been reading about fertilizers and I think I'm going to order some to start until I can start making better compost. You can see my compost tumbler in the background as well as some compost I'm trying in a bin I made with cement bricks I found around the yard.

Here's my little Meyer Lemon tree. I bought it with some blooms on it and most of the little lemons on it have dried up except these. I've read you can force a bloom on plants and my guess is that the nurseries do that so that they will sell more plants. (?)

Here is my strawberry bed. It seems to be happy now that I've put some hay around it to keep it from being scorched by the sun. I'm sure there is a better way, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Noah gets a few strawberries a day. He's happy.

This is the beginning of a pineapple. The pineapples we get are smaller than the ones you can buy in the store. They are also sweeter. When I bought the house last fall, the previous owner gave me one to try, that's how I know.

Can you find the mangos on the tree? They really are all over it, but my pictures aren't so great. I have 2 different mango trees. One doesn't have any mangos yet. Guess I'll have to watch and see what gives.

I did a little research on soil and fertilizers. There's so much to know. For beginners, I'll give a quick run down of my understanding. Most fertilizers offer your garden nitrogen (which helps the plant grow and makes the leaves nice and green and the flowers bloom), phosphorus (which builds good roots), and potassium (which aids in the health of the plant - helping it resist disease or survive extreme temps). Of course, there's much more to it than that. That's just my simple version to help me remember.
Since Florida soil is mostly sand, I have my job cut out for me to create a more fertile ground to grow things in. Chemical versions of fertilizer are potent and from what I've read, unnecessary. I found a recipe online for a homemade fertilizer, and I understand the basic ingredients. My preference, however, is to create what I need in my compost or get it from simple sources (like manure, etc).
I'll share with you as I learn. Please feel free to add anything you know. I need all the help I can get."-)

Gardening 101: Food Needs Food

2011-02-22T22:05:00.003-05:00

Living things need food. Duh. It would seem like such a simple thing to know, right? Never underestimate me.

For starters, let me apologize to those that have absolutely no interest in gardening. I realize that my blog is beginning to turn into something of a gardening journal and rightfully so. I'm using it as such. But mainly, I blog about what I am passionate about at the time, and I'm totally diggin' (no pun intended) my garden.

Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, let's get down to business.

I knew that Florida would be a great place to grow things. Obviously, the weather here is warm year round. Of course, I have learned that some things grow in the cooler winter and only some will grow in the extreme heat of summer. I don't know exactly what those things are yet, but I'm learning.

My idea of gardening has always just been to buy a plant at the nursery, dig a hole and stick it in the ground. Water occasionally, of course.
Unfortunately, that doesn't quite work. I have found out that, even though we have lovely weather here in South Florida, we have TERRIBLE soil. If you could even call it soil. Mostly, it's sand. And it lacks nutrients.
When I built my raised garden beds, I purchased a soil blend to fill them. The soil consisted of dirt, sand, manure, and various other elements that I don't recall. All I know is that I was certain I bought pure gardening gold.

I started my seeds in October (if I recall correctly). I should have had a harvest about 2 months ago. Last month, I finally visited my seed supplier and said, "What gives?" I had plants that were still like 2 inches tall. (Don't laugh). She said, "Are you feeding them?". What?
I ended up admitting to her that my compost wasn't exactly working out either. I had created these wet, baseball size lumps that made an awesome banging sound when I spun the composter, but they hardly looked fit for using in the garden.
She recommended an organic fertilizer she carries. It's called "Sea Grow Plus". My dog loves to roll in this stuff. It's pretty smelly.
I'm using it monthly now, and my plants are growing so much better. I have little baby tomatoes and peppers now. (I will post some pictures soon.)
I think I still need to figure out what grows and when. For example, my cilantro grew like crazy when it was cold. Now, I can't find it in the garden. But then again, now that I'm thinking about it, I planted the first batch in different soil. Maybe that's the problem. Hmmmm..........

I am also learning that without mulch, the hot sun kills everything...FAST!

I am having trouble with my strawberries. Many of them are rotting before I can get to them. I read that they are often covered with plastic because they are prone to this, but I don't know how I'd water them if I put plastic around them. I spread some straw for mulch around them, but removed it, thinking that it was the cause for the rotting. Then the plants got sun baked and started to die. I put the mulch back and am trying to save the ones that baked. I am thinking that maybe I should dig some trenches between the rows, but what I've decided to do first, is visit a U-pick strawberry farm here and ask THEM for advise. Winner idea, I think.

Finally, I am determined that I need to generate the best damn compost I can make. Considering my success so far (or lack thereof), this is by far my biggest and most important challenge. I emptied the compost balls out of the composter and broke them up the best I could with a shovel. I built a small bin with some large cinder blocks that I found buried underneath a forest of vines behind the shed. A google search instructed me how to build a bin. My compost balls made the first layer and I've since added lots of leaves (from my neighbor's....very large, sun blocked from my garden, leaves clogging my pool filter...trees.) I'm also beginning another batch in the tumbler. One yahoo search revealed that I might have been "tumbling" it too much and that is why I got compost balls. I will not tumble...I will not tumble....please, please, just make me some good compost.

My Mother Earth News had an excellent article in it on an urban homestead in California. I'm so inspired. If you're even remotely interested in the idea, take time to read about this family. They live off their 1/5 acre lot. Amazing.

2011-02-20T22:49:00.002-05:00

Wow. When I read the news, it's hard to believe that people are experiencing such cold winter weather elsewhere in the US, when it's been so warm here. I'm not rubbing it in, friends, it really is hard to believe. I must say, I am glad not to have the snow and cold. I like the warmth. I do worry about the rainy/hurricane season here. I guess there are trade offs.

I've been working in the yard for weeks and I think I'm just about done all that I am going to do this spring. I would still like to plant a few trees for privacy near our rear fence and I would like a small flower bed up front (mostly to replace a patch of dirt near the front door). The back yard is so dry. When I mow the lawn, a big cloud of dirt and dust spreads everywhere. Eventually, I want to replace what is left of the "lawn" with rocks and pavers.

My strawberry plants are producing 1-3 strawberries a day. Just enough for Noah. First thing he does when he goes outside is look for them. "Dwaw, dwaw". (His word for strawberry).

Aside from working in the yard, Mollie and I recently began volunteering once a week with a local animal adoption agency. We clean cages and take care of the cats at a local store where they are kept. I think that both of us are really loving this. The only problem is that we both would like to adopt all the cats!

We are also taking our third and final cake decorating class. I am struggling to really get into it but I had promised that we would resume classes after the holidays and February came around so quickly. I would have been happy putting it off another few months, but Moll was ready.

Sam started a new job waiting tables. She is making so much money! I have no idea why I didn't do that when I was younger!
She had an appointment with her school counselor and will be taking 4 classes in the fall. She's done well so far, but a full schedule is going to be a lot to take on.

Noah will be 2 in less than 2 months. He has to be the most "chatty" boy I've ever been around! Sam was exactly the same. She honestly never stopped talking the entire time I was around her (and even when she was by herself in her room!). Noah does the same thing. He speaks like he's saying entire sentences but sometimes, I can't understand what he's saying.
He adores Mollie. She loves him, but acts like she is only "tolerating" him! Today in the car, she randomly said, "Peach". Noah went into hysterics! When she wouldn't say it again he kept saying, "peach,peach" (only it sounded more like, "be, be"). Then she'd say, "Peach" again and he would laugh so heartily, it was contagious! This went on for a a good 15 minutes. I love stuff like that.

South Florida Garden Adventure

2011-02-07T23:38:00.004-05:00

This Spring is kind of an exciting time for me in our home. I have really been enjoying being outside and working in the yard. When we moved in a few months ago, the yard had been overtaken by vines and weeds. There isn't much of a lawn and as time goes, there will be even less with us as owners. I don't believe in using good water to water a lawn and there is no other system set up here to water it another way.
Our goal for at least the backyard, is to replace all "grass" with plantings and rock, etc. We haven't decided what to do with the front yard.
My personal goal for the entire yard is to have as much edible landscape as possible. We have many pineapple plants left behind from the previous owners. These are prickly and look a bit like a desert type plant and originally I wasn't sure if they would be staying around. But, I had a hard time just getting rid of plants that are useful as food. I ended up planting many of them in the ground (there were several in pots). I think we salvaged all but a handful. To my delight, we have flowers (and eventually a pineapple) coming up on several of them!
We have several banana trees, but only two have shot out a bunch of bananas so far this spring.
The mango trees have what appears to be flowers of some sort, and I expect them to yield plenty this summer.
Today, I purchased a key lime tree and a meyer lemon tree for the yard. I also picked up 4 strawberry plants at the nursery, but I want to go back this weekend and buy more as well as a star fruit tree that I saw there, but it was too big to lug home all by myself.
My garden is finally growing. I've had to put cages up for the tomatoes. Everything for this spring goes in by the end of February in order to give it time to produce before the wet season.
I planted some peas and some carrots and green onions. They are all starting to come up.
I really need to turn my attention to the inside of the house. We need to paint most of the rooms and I haven't even started yet.
The yard is so much easier to work on while watching Noah. He and I can spend several hours just playing in the yard. He likes to jump on the dirt piles, dig in the garden and play with the hose. He entertains himself so well outside. When we are in the house, he tends to get bored easy.
All in all, I'm finding myself comfortable here.I have a long way to go to make this home what I hope it will one day be, but with each little "touch", I feel like it becomes more "mine". It's a work in progress and I need to resist the urge (and sometimes, the frustration that comes along with it) to get everything done NOW.

Is Anyone Else Afraid?

2011-01-28T00:13:00.004-05:00

What is happening to our food supply? I'm so saddened by this news.

USDA approves GMO alfalfa.

Our food situation gets more and more frightening each day. I play around with my garden but I do it with good reason. To learn. One day, what I learn might save me or my family. Maybe not. But I'm going to know how to grow my own food, regardless.

Today, I went to my seed provider for a few more seeds to start as well as some natural fertilizer and lots more advice on how to make my garden grow. It isn't doing very good, but I am far from giving up.

I then stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items. Not everything I buy is local and organic, yet, because it's just soooo expensive. But I am moving as much in that direction as I can afford. Every time we purchase something, we support the farming and industry practices of the one that provided that item. If we buy something made without conscience, we place a demand on those individuals to continue to provide that for us.

It's tough, but these days, we have got to get tough on ourselves and make decisions that are good for us now and for our future.

Any little step helps. I believe that. Even one change is better than none at all.

So much to do, Never enough time!

2011-01-26T22:41:00.002-05:00

In Florida, we are in the peak of our produce season now. I joined a CSA in September and I really like it.

I am learning to like new vegetables. I have also been learning tips and techniques for preparing or storing a variety of produce.

We also have the opportunity to order "extras" each delivery. This week, I decided to order a box of tomatoes and some herbs and peppers for canning and freezing.

Today, I spent 12 hours in the kitchen. I made and canned my first batch of tomato sauce. I didn't get a lot of sauce for all the effort, but I really don't do it for that reason. Mostly, I am trying to teach myself how to can and preserve. This is my third time canning and I am definitely getting better at it. I am learning more with each time I try. I have only been water bath canning but I have added a pressure canner to my wish list so I can do more.

I still do a lot of freezing. I don't store up a year's worth of food, or anything like that. Just little bits here and there for the experience. That way I know that if I ever needed to store up quantities of food, I could do it.

I have to limit how much I freeze. Fortunately, we really have fresh produce accessible year round here so I don't have to preserve much of anything. I like to have a fairly empty freezer during hurricane season, in case we lose power for any length of time. I'd hate to lose lots of food.

Today, this is my list of what I accomplished:
I made and canned tomato sauce, roasted and froze green chili peppers, froze jalapenos, cleaned and froze rosemary, thyme and basil, blanched and froze fresh spinach, zested and juiced and froze a bag of lemons, made a large pot of fresh vegetable barley soup (with my own crushed fresh tomatoes), made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, and finally - a batch of oatmeal blueberry muffins which, unfortunately, I had to throw away because I forgot to add sugar to the recipe like I was supposed to and they ended up not being very tasty!

Noah is at his other grandma's house and when he visits her, I get time to do all my projects - like cooking or sewing or crocheting, etc.
I keep thinking that I probably should start on this year's Christmas gifts now. After all, some of them have been 3 years in the making and still aren't done!

Inspiration

2011-01-19T23:27:00.003-05:00

I know. I said I was inspired to blog and that was 18 days ago and I haven't blogged since. I guess I got 'uninspired' all over again. :-)

I did get inspired to rip out the shower door in my bathroom last weekend. I did it all by myself! God bless Utube for "how to remove your shower door" instructions! Originally, I was just going to recaulk the shower but I just hate shower doors. They get so moldy and icky. At least mine do because I probably don't clean them as often as I should. Now I have a shower curtain. So much better.

I also got inspired to try another attempt at sourdough bread. The last time, I tried from scratch but that didn't work. This time, I ordered some sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. It arrived by mail last week. On Monday, I made two delicious loaves of fresh sourdough bread! I made the mistake of telling Mollie that the sourdough was a descendant of a 250 year old batch. She won't eat it now.

I did get inspired to replace this really ugly rug in my living room with a different rug I had in the house. It looks much better. The last rug had started to look funky..like it needed a shave.

Tom got inspired to fix the electrical issues I was having in the kitchen and now I can actually turn all the lights on without them flickering and turning off.

Now, I am feeling inspired to go to bed.

Thoughts for the New Year

2011-01-02T14:38:00.003-05:00

Yes. I'm writing. I've been inspired again. Not because I really want to write, so much as I realize that writing gives me a record for remembering things later on.

If things had gone the way they were supposed to go, I would be lounging on the beach at Eldorado Seaside resort south of Cancun Mexico at this very moment. I had my passport, ticket, hotel and shuttle reservations. Ready to go. Fate would not have it be so. On Friday night, 10pm, my mom called to tell me that the hotel overbooked and they didn't have a room for us. You see, my mom teaches fitness at these resorts every year. She has been begging me to go along for years now and I finally was going to take the plunge. As most of you who know me know, I'm not much of a world traveler. I really don't care much for flying and I really miss my family and routine too much to go. I figured it would be a good step for me to take to go on this trip with mom. I can't say I'm all that disappointed that it didn't work out. I'm a firm believer that things do happen for a reason. I was proud of myself, however, that I was at least going to go.

I did, however get some good "New Year's" reading to take with me when I went to Mexico and it even arrived in time for the trip that didn't happen. Obviously, I won't be sitting around for a week doing nothing but reading on the beach, but I do plan to read these books through. I was feeling in great need of some direction in my personal life. A little more move toward greater simplicity and greater meaning and deeper spirituality. Some, no, most days I dredge through as though most everything I do is a chore and a bother. I'm not even sure what percent of the day I'm actually present, but it's not much. I seemed to have lost a lot of the day to day joy and wonder. I do think I've got a little physiological (depression type stuff) that I deal with, but I really am trying to handle this in a non medicinal way. And I'm doing just that.
I figured a few good books for meditation and thought might be just what the doctor ordered.

While perusing the Life is Good Conference web site (which, by the way, I think we are going to go to because Mollie has been begging this of me), I came across Patti Digh's information (she will be a speaker there). I found her book on Amazon, "Life is a Verb", and it sounded like what I might need for a jump start in my personal walk. I started reading it yesterday and I'll probably be working my way through it for months, but I'm writing today because the first few pages of her book inspired me to begin blogging again. So, thanks, Patti.

Another book I stumbled upon was, "Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity".
A Quote from page 94:
"Be like that bird
Who, pausing in flight,
Feels the bough give way
Beneath her feet
And yet sings,
Knowing she hath wings...
(John Yungblut, 1990)

I must admit, I have always been a bit intrigued by the Amish and the Quakers. I guess we'll see if this book's any good. I haven't read it yet, but I figure if it made my way into my hands, there must be something in it for me.

Halloween

2010-11-01T22:58:00.005-04:00

Noah and his "I have no idea why everyone is giggling" face.

Moll was a punk rocker fairy, Sam was a cowgirl.

Halloween was a little different this year than in the past. For starters, we probably only got about 10 trick or treat-ers. Tom had me buy TONS of candy because in years past, in other neighborhoods, we've run out. Definitely didn't have that problem this year. Well, on the bright side, I have a collection of candy to use on our gingerbread houses this year.

Mollie's Halloween was a bit of a bummer for her, I think. She doesn't have any friends here, so she was hoping to just take Noah around with her. Unfortunately, Noah had plans for Halloween and they had nothing to do with wearing a costume and getting candy. They had to do with waking up from his nap cranky and whining for 4 hours instead.

Mollie and I ended up putting him in his Elmo pj's and using eyeliner to draw whiskers and a nose. We pushed him in his toy car down the street and back stopping at a few houses.
He did end up getting the hang of things and enjoyed getting candy. I think the fresh air did him a bit of good as well. It was raining, so we didn't stay out long.

Making a Home MY Home

2010-10-23T13:40:00.011-04:00

I have contemplated whether or not to continue this blog. After all, one has to wonder sometimes..."who really cares?" Right? But I know there are a few, and that's all that matters. Besides, I enjoy writing. I just wish I had more time. So, a post from time to time might be the best it gets for now, but it still remains fun when I do.

I have decided to try to be as brief as possible, but to fill in some of the day to day that has taken place over the past....well....long time.

We moved into the house, for the most part, on Labor Day weekend. Since then, we have taken on CLONLARA school for Moll, which is going about like I had expected considering Moll is truly an unschooler and having any kind of planned out program is really not welcomed, even though it was her idea. I'm trying to ask her to remain committed since the money was spent, but so far, it's frustrating. And quite frankly, I'm not so sure any amount of frustration with each other is worth it. She is still learning so much every day but the pressure of a program does it's job of destroying a fair share spur of the moment stuff.

But, in the process of "school", we have joined a gym and attempted yoga classes...for about 2 weeks...ha. I am the one that dropped the ball on this. Really, I don't like exercise classes of any kind. But maybe if I didn't feel like we "have" to do this, it might be more fun. See what I mean?

We also are taking cake decorating classes and having lots of fun with that. Lots.
We (Tom and I) have been working on clearing vines and non-wanted stuff from the yard, but Mollie and I (mostly "I") have been putting together an organic gardening system as part of a credit she wanted.
I am learning how to compost in a bin, and have put together two raised beds. (with lots of help from Tom. Ok, he pretty much built the second one. But I did BUY the supplies and I did buy a kit and put the first one together myself.)

The raised beds have no soil yet. They will soon.

I bought some organic seeds from a local lady and am posting a picture of some of my young plants...heirloom and local varieties of cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and romas, cilantro, various peppers (hot and mild), german chamomile and more.

So far, the only thing that I have nothing happening with is the Everglades Cherry tomatoes. Still waiting...

I am creating a life for myself here. Much different than the one I would have imagined I would be living only a few short years ago. That is OK. Really.

My garden is in two boxes on 1/4 acre instead of the sprawling acres of produce I had imagined for one day.
The growing season is now - not summer.
I have a yard full of mango trees, pineapple plants and banana trees, instead of oak and pine and nuts and squirrels to eat them.
There are 3 squirrels nearby. I feed them bird seed. (Someone has to eat it!)
There is a lonesome dove that has been coming around and a nice size group of blue jays.
We have mocking birds, one cardinal and I even saw an oriole the other day.
The rest of the wildlife pretty much consists of lizards, toads and snakes.
We do see lots of water fowl around the area but I would be lying if I said I don't miss all my little birds.

I am finding local foodies. They are here and that brings me lots of hope.
I joined a CSA this year and got my first delivery last week. Small but absolutely beautiful. Fresh eggs from Okeechobee. Not too far from here.
Found a hydroponic farm in the middle of Fort Lauderdale. Went there today and picked up some organic (but mostly not local) produce. I did get some local bell peppers and oregano. I was so inspired and impressed by what dedicated people do with the resources they have. Land does not come in large plots around here. Not without a huge price tag. So, it is wonderful to see small farms within city limits producing food for themselves as well as reaching out to others. There are several laws being discussed within our region because the outcry has become great for the option of having small family farms within suburban areas. All hail to the movers and shakers - the ground breakers, the brave and tireless. I salute you. I'm not sure I'll ever legally be able to keep chickens on the 1/4 acre I have, but I'll at least be able to have more options for obtaining fresh eggs. That works for me.

Moll and I did some canning for the very first time. We canned pickled green beans. It wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. Strawberry season is in December and I plan on trying my hand at jelly or jam.

The unpacking is mostly finished. There are still many little things to do, and some major projects as well. We are having solar heating installed for our pool this Wednesday. It should extend our swimming season a few months and keep it toasty warm for the likes of me.

Doors have been replaced with hurricane ones. Most windows were already done. The garage door will be upgraded in November and we should be good to 140 miles per hour all the way around. Above that, I'm gettin' the hell out of here. That's what the trailer is sitting around for, though we are planning on trading it in on a small one again since we no longer need the mammoth one we bought to live in and it's a pain in the ass to tow.

Have I bored you to death? Hope not.

Jack in the bidet. We are thinking of a book titled, "Where's Jack?" because we almost certainly find him in the strangest places.

My first attempt at canning.

Moll's cake displaying a few decorating tricks. She got her icing much smoother than mine. She's pretty good at it.

The main living room. Sewing machine, favorite books (I gave most away when I left KS), my computer, tv and a dog off to the side. We pretty much live in this room and the kitchen.

Kitchen. Smallish but great layout with lots of storage. It works for me. In the rear right of the picture, you can see a glimpse of my new "Christmas" present - a Viking stand mixer. It's been on my wish list for several years. Now it has a home to go in. Me likes it very much and has formed quite an attachment already to it!

Ok, so is it normal to begin to think of these as "babies"? I usually kill anything green but these haven't given up on me and I refuse to give up on them.

My secluded gardening spot in the yard. Tom considers it an eye sore, I consider it a work of art - in progress. See composter, two beds (minus soil and plants) and some pots with lemon balm, chives, cilantro, chamomile, and maybe (in about 8 months) some orange jasmine.

The home from the front. Two mango trees (I'm told two different kinds), and in the planter along the entire front are pineapple plants.

I gotta get out of this place.....

2010-08-03T21:10:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we found a house! The appraisal is tomorrow, and the inspections are set for Thursday. Please keep your fingers crossed!
I can't begin to say how excited I am at the idea of moving out of this trailer and actually having a home again!
We are set to close on August 31st. There's some work to be done on it. It was built in 1977. It will take time and money. But nothing more than cosmetic stuff. I don't plan on moving again. I haven't one more move left in me.
I've been busy trying to find some second hand furniture, as we sold all our new furniture when we left Kansas. Ah, well.
It is a large enough lot that we can park the trailer next to the house instead of in storage. That wasn't easy to find down here. Most yards, you can spit on your neighbor's house from your kitchen window. I can say, it will be a while before I care to go anywhere in the trailer. Maybe a little PTSD from living in it so long.

2010-06-20T23:22:00.005-04:00

As I posted in the previous entry, my camera broke when it fell three feet out of the truck on our trip home from Kansas. We had stopped to visit Superman in Metropolis, IL, and as I opened the door, the dog spazzed out and the camera hit the ground. Well, now that I've finally gotten it back from the shop, I can add a picture or two to my blog.

The first two pictures are "classic" Noah. In Noah's world, all things are meant to be taken apart or turned upside down. There is more than one use for any object and it is Noah's job to discover just what that is.

Here, he is squatting to dump his pool, and in picture number two, he has achieved success. I just think the first picture is so cute with his little diapered tushy right in front!

The third picture was taken yesterday of Tom and me. I got my haircut "boy" short, and really like it, except that my hairdresser gave me bangs, and I just can't do bangs. They have to be pull-back-able, or they just drive me nuts. So I'm working on growing them out, but I think I'll keep the rest nice and short.

We did dinner at Outback Steakhouse for Father's Day, only we went yesterday instead of today to avoid any crowds. Outback has seriously gone down hill lately. Prices have gone up, quality has gone down. This is about the third time we've been disappointed there. I think it will be the last.

I finally watched Avatar last night. Tom's been bugging me to watch it since it came out. It was pretty good, but I'm getting so darn sensitive when it comes to anything sad in movies. And even though the movie had a happy ending, I had a difficult time with the fighting and destruction.

We spent the weekend fixing up our "yard". We added some river rock and pavers and a small wire fence to try to keep Noah in so that I don't have to spend my entire time outside running after him.

I am feeling very content and settled for the time being. I had a feeling that the trailer would feel better once we chose to be in it, and weren't feeling forced to be in it. The book, "Voluntary Simplicity" speaks to this idea that simplicity, when chosen and not forced upon someone, is so much better.

2010-06-14T23:12:00.000-04:00

The house has been sold for about a month now. I have since been house hunting but the housing market is quite ugly here. Many homes are still over priced. There are a huge amount of short sales and forclosures but many of them are such a mess and would require all kinds of work to fix up, and most of them are over priced as well. It's difficult to get sellers, renters (as is the case in many homes), or banks to even remotely want to put an effort into moving these properties off the market. So, we wait. Gladly.

We have decided to do a few "upgrades" right where we are. We are going to put a small fence around our little campsite and increase our patio size with some 18" pavers. None of this will cost much, but will give us a little more usable space outside the trailer so Noah can play without running into the street. We will be doing that this weekend. I also need to hit IKEA and get a few items to help with organizing inside. The nice thing about having a small space to improve - it's relatively cheap because it's "small". Not like decorating a large home would cost.

It's nice not having a mortgage payment. We have considered staying this way for a while. We are able to do some necessary things, like have Mollie's wisdom teeth removed, and her second set of braces put on. And, Tom put our first big chunk of money into investments.
We are even taking three days to spend in Key West over the fourth of July. It's nice to be able to do that without being worried about money. The past three years were certainly stressful. I am enjoying this period of time without all those concerns.

My babysitting routine has settled into a normal one. Noah spends every Wed/Thurs with his dad/Grandparents. Then he spends every other Fri,Sat, and Sunday there as well.
Sam works as many hours as she can, so I have asked her to plan on taking off every Monday for me.

That leaves me to watch Noah on Tuesdays, and every other weekend. This is much more do-able. Mollie needs me. Now I will have the time to give to her.
I do not think we will be enrolling her in high school this year with Clonlara. There is no hurry as far as the school is concerned, so she can wait until she's ready. She has so many interests to explore and this past year with the baby has left her to herself far too often. I'm looking forward to being more involved again.

I plan on picking back up with the "living responsibly" habits I had been adding to our lifestyle before the house sale and move. I slacked off some while we were transitioning. I'm not beating myself up for it, but I do prefer to pay attention more to the way we are living and consuming.

I hope to post more often now that I have a little more time. I'll try to get some pics up, too. My camera broke on the way back from KS, and I just got it back last week. It's amazing how often I wished I had it while it was in the repair shop. Everyone changes so much around here in just a month. I hate to miss any of it with pictures.

2010-05-05T00:05:00.002-04:00

I'm making some progress on the house, but it has been slow going while caring for Noah. He's a super "busy" boy. Tom says the girls were just the same, but honestly, I can't remember them tiring me out so.

I did happen to snap this peaceful shot of him enjoying some crackers.

We took time out to go to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead this past weekend. Noah got to see all kinds of farm animals and got to pet a young calf and feed the goats. It was nice to get out of the house and the weather has been beautiful here lately. I'd upload more pictures, but I am using a wireless data card, and it's having great trouble just uploading the one picture I want to put on here.

Tom flies back here to Kansas on Friday night. My mom is coming in on Friday night as well. She is taking home my dining room set with her when she leaves.
When all is said and done, I will be leaving here with Sam's bed, and 3 leather chairs from the rec room. Also, 1 coffee table, two end tables and a table for the entryway. Oh, yeah, and my outdoor table and chairs and my washer and dryer. That's about it besides boxes of stuff.
Weird how I waited for 20 years to buy nice furniture, got to enjoy it for about 2 years and sold it. I'm thinking differently now, though, and I am leaning toward hand picking used pieces for my next home. I like the character that some older furniture has and I like the idea of reusing stuff. We'll see.

I have a garage full of stuff that I am trying to arrange for a charity pick up for, but it's not looking so good. Salvation Army won't return my call. I may end up putting it on the driveway this weekend with a "free" sign. There is a neighborhood garage sale on Saturday that has been advertised for, so I'm hoping that alone will draw enough people to snatch up my stuff so I don't have a lot to haul to Goodwill on my own if it comes down to that. I think if I go that route, I'll post it on freecycle, too.

It feels good to let go of all the junk I have. I'm not much of a pack rat at all, but I have a lot of things that I just will probably never use. After living in the trailer for almost a year this time, I've really learned what I don't even need. I have missed a few things and I am bringing them back with me when I go home.

We've decided that we'll be bringing our household goods to Florida instead of leaving them in storage here. I think it's time to end this chapter of our life. That means that next week, I'll be driving the truck behind Tom in the Uhaul, and I'm totally not thrilled about driving 1400 miles by myself. Quite frankly, I'm scared a little.

It feels good to know that I don't have this house payment anymore. If we don't buy another house any time soon, we will have some money to save and invest. We have always sucked at saving money. It feels good to be so "mobile" too.
I don't mind those feelings, but living in such a small space for so long is not much fun. I guess it's a trade off. Maybe I won't mind the small space for a while now, knowing that we are actually not still paying for our house too. I guess we'll wait and see.

No matter what we decide, this is the first time since July of 2007 that we've even had any choices to make - and that is refreshing.

Cleaning up and Letting Go

2010-04-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

I'm wasting time on the computer because I have so many other things that I SHOULD be doing...I am tired.
I'm in Kansas.
Packing.
I have the baby and Moll here with me.
Moll's been busy with friends, and I've been busy trying to get rid of stuff and pack what remains -- all while chasing Noah around the house. We have no baby proofing done here. That means every cabinet is a "free for all" as far as Noah is concerned.
We sold much of the good furniture with the house.
What remains isn't that great.
I was planning on trying a garage sale before I go, but I'm feeling more like doing a massive donation to someplace. It sure would be easier.
I don't mind getting rid of most of the stuff we have. I've been weeding through it for the past 3 years anyway.
We'll be hauling what remains by uhaul to Florida in two weeks.
It will go in storage until we decide what we are doing next.
I have good and bad moments emotionally surrounding this darn move. Today, I came across the cat bed that Sinbad and Sardine last year made their final trip to the vet in.
I am going to wash it and take it to my little old cat down in Florida to sleep in.
I am enjoying having a dishwasher and washer and dryer.
I will say that I am hoping above all hope that this is the last time I must leave things behind to start over.

Under Contract!!

2010-04-17T10:31:00.000-04:00

Last week, we accepted a contract on the sale of our house!!! Gee, that didn't take long at all. :-)

I'm heading back to KS this week to pack it all up. Closing set for May 12th.

Just wanted to let you all know. Probably will begin posting again when life settles down.

2010-04-10T21:32:00.002-04:00

I haven't been writing much because for the last month or so, our lives have been in a bit of a holding pattern. This is why...
Tom was looking at a job in another state. We still have no offer on our home in Kansas, and living in the fifth wheel with the five of us can get overwhelming sometimes. Not to mention, I really haven't found peace with living here in South Florida. I know some people just love it here, but so far, it hasn't grown on me yet. Needless to say, we've been feeling desperate to try to change our living situation, and a new job with a relocation package seemed like one way to do that. Tom had a total of seven interviews with this company. We were feeling pretty confident that we would be heading out of here, but yesterday afternoon, we found out that he did not get the job.
At first, I was a little disappointed, but I'm o.k. now.
As well as that, when we thought we might be leaving the state, Sam mentioned it to the father of my grandson, and he told her that he would not let my grandson go. Mind you, he has nothing to do with him, but according to Florida law, if you relocate, and there is a parent that does not agree, you must go through a judge to get the relocation ok'd. Anyway, things started to get ugly. This young man's attorney (yes, he has one because he is a convicted felon on house arrest..) slapped us with some bogus paperwork saying we couldn't leave. Needless to say, we had to hire an attorney. To the tune of a $3500 retainer. This has been a major bummer, but worth every penny to have someone who knows what they are doing. Now that we are not relocating, our attorney will handle the drawing up of a parenting plan because one does not yet exist.
I am completely confident that in the end, all will be well.
But the past weeks have brought some unwanted stress.
With that, they have also brought time for counting the many blessings in my life. That's my way of dealing with stress these days. When I can finally catch my breath, I count my blessings. It takes the focus off the things that one day will be just a bleep in the rear view mirror of my life, and puts the focus on the things that are BIG and will always be BIG, the things that matter most.
I've spent some time reflecting on the last three years and I am so impressed with myself. Yes, that's right. I am impressed with myself. It's been through the struggles that I've gotten so much stronger.
Three years ago this July, I watched as my husband drove away from our home in KS towing our fifth wheel trailer to his new job in Florida. I must admit, I felt abandoned. I know he knew it was the right thing to do for all of us, but I couldn't see that at the time.
During these three years, I have lost 7 beloved furry friends: One dog, two cats, two rats, and most recently two parakeets. But I've also been blessed with another dog and two more cats. (Mollie has acquired a few rodents as well, but I've tried not to get attached to them this time.)
I went from a 3000 square foot home to one that is probably about 300 square feet. I used to have a nice front loading washer and dryer, now, I haul 7 loads of laundry twice a week to a laundromat around the corner from where I live.
I wash 2-3 loads of dishes by hand each day instead of one in the dishwasher at night before I go to bed.
I dream of taking a bath in a tub. My last bath was in June of last year. I do get a "navy" shower every day.
One daughter has gone from being an 11 year old girl to being a 14 year old that has already had her first set of braces on and off.
One daughter went from barely having a driver's license in her possession to having a baby of her own.
Tom and I have struggled at times in our marriage. There have been times when our vision for our future together has been so different, I wondered if we were even compatible any more. But we made it. In twenty two years, change is inevitable. All it takes is one look in the mirror to see that simple fact. "For better, for worse..." Yes, that's marriage.
Over the past three years, I've gotten to know people from all provinces of Canada, from England, Germany, and Morocco, and from probably every state in the US. (And that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there are other countries I can't even remember)
While I've been here, my mom went through a nasty divorce. We've cried together over the phone so many times, I can't even count them.
My little brother went from being a senior in high school, to being 21 and a junior in college. Engaged to be married.
My little sister went from being a college student to being a young married adult.
The grandmother that I loved most, passed away last year.
We went from having no debt (except for our mortgage), to having almost as much debt as we had 4 years ago before we left Vegas.
In all these things, we've managed.
We've more than managed. We've been blessed.
I have my health. My husband and my children and my grandson are healthy.
We eat well.
My husband has an awesome job, and my daughter also has an awesome job that she loves.
We pay our bills.
We are together. We have each other.

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. (Nietzsche)

My Grandson is ONE!!!

2010-04-06T22:59:00.004-04:00

Noah turned one year old today! What a year it has been, too! We had a simple celebration for him. Mollie and I took him to an indoor play place. He had a great time playing with all the toys and all the kids. After his nap, we went out to his favorite burger joint (well, ok. It's really Grandpa and Grandma's favorite burger joint) - Five Guys! After dinner, a cat faced cake made by his Aunt Mollie, and then presents - a cool set of wooden blocks and a new "wheely bug" cow. He loved the blocks. The cow is a bit intimidating at the time but hopefully he'll grow into it.

14 years

2010-04-02T22:45:00.004-04:00

Moll turned 14 yesterday! All she wanted was a new hair do and dinner out at an Irish pub/restaurant downtown by the riverfront. So, that's what we did. After dinner, we came home and had a piece of the delicious birthday cake she baked for herself!

Shampoo Soap, Updates and a few Pics

2010-03-03T23:10:00.005-05:00

I just finished using up the first shampoo bar soap that I had bought. It lasted about a month and a week. I was the only one using it and I shampooed every day or two. I am trying a different type now by JR Liggett. It is their formula for 'damaged hair'. My hair is actually very healthy, but I thought this might be worth a try because my hair does tend to be kind of dry. And I was right. It leaves my hair much softer - almost as if I used conditioner. This gets an A+ from me!

As for lotions, the last mega batch that I made I must have done something wrong because it came out very 'dry'. I could barely smooth it on my skin. I will try it again without altering the measurements, but I am also going to try a few other recipes as well others.
I checked out a book from the library by Stephanie Tourles called "Organic Body Care Recipes" and I am very impressed with it after looking it over. I am going to experiment with some of her recipes for body care. I'm especially excited over the possibility of finding a good face cleaning cream and lotion that I can make.

On the home front, I've recently learned how to knit. A friend of ours showed Mollie how to knit when we visited them last fall, but after 35 years of crochet, I've been reluctant to learn anything new. Mollie talked me into trying, and I happen to have met a few ladies in the park who can teach me, so I've been busy making a pot holder to start out with and it turns out that I actually like knitting!

Sam finally found a job - it's been months of looking. She is working at Panera and I am so excited for her. So, I am, at least for now, babysitting Noah while she is working. I enjoy the heck out of being with him! But, I'm so torn because Mollie has all these interests that she is now delving in to, and I am having a terrible time finding time to help her with them. Needless to say, I feel so very guilty. And I know that my first priority is my own daughter, but I'm trying so hard to make it all work. I think that if we were in a bigger place, things would be easier to handle. I am hoping that soon we can sell our house in Kansas. It's been too long. The interest on it has picked up tremendously over the past month. We've lowered our price (we're about 30,000 under what we paid for it 3 years ago - blah!), and it seems that between that and the usual Spring 'pick up', we've had lots of showings. One person went back twice. That's a good sign. Trouble is, they have a house to sell before they can buy ours. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that we can sell this house soon. I'm truly so very tired of living in this little trailer. Five of us in a 40 foot trailer with 4 pets is INSANE!!! Ah....oh well.

We did get to the Ren Fest last weekend. Fun. But I think after 3 years in a row, I don't need to go again for a while.
I'll leave you with a picture of the clan at Ren Fest, and a picture of Noah as he walks toward me. He's just about done with crawling. Now it's walking or nothing. He even tries to run from us when we start to chase him, but that doesn't usually turn out so well!

Laundry Woes

2010-02-22T22:32:00.003-05:00

I tried. I really did. Today I gave up on natural laundry detergent. At least until I no longer have to go to a laundromat to do my laundry.

As I was folding my clothes today, I could just see all the stains set into them. Even though they are 'clean'. I've been using natural soaps for a few months now. I started with homemade detergent and stopped using bleach. Well, after one load without bleach, I decided I'd at least use it for my whites. You see, I don't use paper towels, napkins or toilet paper at home. Instead, we use towels and cloths and I try to keep them all white or bleach friendly so that I can minimize loads at the laundromat.

The one time I tried to wash my whites without bleach, it was as if I didn't even wash them. So I added that back, but kept my detergent homemade...for about a few weeks. My clothes started looked pretty dirty, so I decided to start buying natural laundry soap.

I bought the target "up" brand which I actually thought worked pretty well. When that ran out, I bought a mega size "kirkland" brand from Costco which was lousy but lasted FOREVER. Before I could make it through that bottle, I bought some "Green Works"..I think it's by Clorox. It works like crap, too. And I've tried everything. I've washed in cold, warm and hot. I added laundry wash boosters. I pretreated stains with hydrogen peroxide (which, by the way, actually works pretty good if you rub in a little baking soda, too). But, if I miss a stain, forget it. It's like permanent.

And my darks keep coming up with greasy spots all over them. Today, I had to throw 6 shirts back in the wash for the next time. And washing isn't cheap. One load is 2.25 to wash and dry. I wash about 12 per week because of the ultra small machines at the store. That's about $1200 a year to wash laundry. Yeah. You heard me right. My whites are stained and my socks are brown. Today I washed my whites twice to try that. It helped, but wasn't perfect.

So, this afternoon, I went to Target. I bought Shout, Clorox, Tide, and Downy.

Sorry. I'll try again when I can do a soak wash first and it doesn't cost me an additional buck. But, I can't afford to buy new clothes and Tom and I can't stand wearing them looking like they never even were washed.

29 Gifts: Day 3

2010-02-20T10:26:00.003-05:00

I've got an appointment with the tax guy this morning, so I need to hurry this one up, but I don't want to drop the ball on my 29 gifts.

I have to say that I didn't do anything that "stupendous" yesterday. There was a couple coming through a store door at the same time we were entering, and I stepped back and held the door for them and allowed them to go first. They didn't even smile or say thanks which is pretty customary for this part of the country. But, part of the 29 gifts challenge is to not expect anything in return.

I hope that the universe gives me some greater opportunities for gift giving than this in the next few days, though. As I've thought about this, I am also asking that I be more "aware" of opportunities. I think they are out there, but I also think that I've become somewhat blind to them. There are lots of needs, I'm just good at ignoring them, sadly.

later note: I forgot about something I did. I took Noah to the park for about 15 minutes yesterday to push him in the swing and take him down the slide - which he just loves!!! Fun for him and fun for me!

29 Gifts: Day 2

2010-02-19T10:00:00.003-05:00

I set out to make some rugelach and deliver it to "Manny the propane guy". He's just a sweet old man that Tom and I purchase our propane from and he happens to be one of the nicest people in south Florida. The recipe is one that I meant to make at Christmas time and has been sitting on my counter as a reminder since then. Unfortunately, I did not realize that the cook time on the cookies was about 25 minutes per pan and my oven is very small so the process took much longer than I thought it would. By the time we finished, Manny's shop would have been closed so we delivered some to our neighbor Vicki, instead.

Another gift I gave was that I highlighted Moll's hair for her. I'm sure that to some, that doesn't sound like some great gift, but for me, it was. Here's why. I really don't like coloring the girls' hair....and it seems like they are always asking me to. It usually takes about a half hour or maybe a little longer, but it is just something I hate doing. I can think of a million other things to do instead. I mean, come on now, this is the lady that washes her hair with a bar of soap every other day. Though I do blow dry my hair, that's it!
Anyway, Moll bought this highlight kit over 2 weeks ago and I have been putting it off with every excuse under the sun since then. As a matter of fact, I almost weaseled my way out of it yesterday because she hadn't waited 48 hours from her last shampoo to use the stuff...but she figured no big deal....so I did it. It came out ok for a novice. She's happy with it. And I'm happy it's behind me. But I'm also happy to know that I made her happy by taking the time to give the gift of my time to someone I love.

29 Gifts in 29 Days

2010-02-18T10:25:00.004-05:00

In a recent issue of "Body and Soul" magazine, there was an article about a woman diagnosed with MS. She became depressed and unable to move forward in her life. When she spoke with a spiritual friend, this friend made a suggestion. She suggested she give 29 gifts over the next 29 days. The gift did not have to be monetary, but it could be. Or it could be a kind word or smile, too. Another important part of this "healing" process was that she must also learn to be a receiver of gifts that come her way.

It was a wonderful article and it spoke to my own heart. I have spent so much time over the past 3 years thinking of myself and the uncomfortable place that we are in. Those of you that read my blog probably know this all too well.

So I have taken this 29 gifts in 29 days challenge for myself. Mostly because I believe that is the way I should probably be living every day of my life. Not just for 29 days. The woman that wrote the article has continued, 29 days at a time, for many months because it was such a wonderful way to live life.

I'm going to take the time, hopefully daily, to post my experiences. Yesterday was Day 1. My gift was this: I was driving in a construction zone and the right lane came to an end. I was in the middle lane. You know how there are always people that push the limit and ride in the right lane to the very point that they can go no further? Well, there was a guy in a white car that did that and he happened to end up trying to merge in in front of me. And I patiently let him. And he waved a 'thank you' to me. And I felt good. I let a few others, too, because I was the only one apparantly willing to allow them over. I must say that I often do this anyway. But yesterday, I purposed in my heart to do it 'cheerfully' and that made all the difference.

I'd love to challenge anyone reading this to join me over the next 29 days and if you do, I'd love to hear about it.

More on Lotion Making

2010-02-13T18:18:00.004-05:00

I've already used up all of the lotion I made a few weeks ago so it was time to make some more. I had attempted a different recipe a week or so ago. It didn't work out for me. I did substitute coconut oil for the olive oil in the recipe. Many recipes I find online instruct me to stir until cool, but this one didn't, so I did not. What I ended up with was solid oil on the top and water on the bottom.

Today I made a quadruple batch of Miranda's recipe that I used a few weeks ago. I added lanolin and vitamin E oil to the recipe. I'm still using half cocoa butter and half coconut oil because I really liked the consistency. I did not use any fragrance though because the only fragrance I own besides peppermint is lavender and I really am not feelin' lavender. Besides, the cocoa butter gives the lotion a chocolatey smell and lavender just doesn't smell nice in it.

I'd like to buy a few more essential oils, vanilla and jasmine, but I just haven't had the money. I am thinking that the vanilla might work with the cocoa butter. I also want to order shea butter to use in place of the cocoa butter. I figure it won't have the a scent and I can use the jasmine or any other fragrant oil with out undertones of cocoa. (My dog, by the way, loves this lotion! When I come out of the bathroom after I shower, he goes straight for licking my legs!)

If Today Was Your Last Day....

2010-02-13T10:07:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to post these lyrics here. I'm sure most everyone has heard this song, but sometimes, I forget these truths.
Sometimes I get so caught up in worry about the future or thoughts of the past that I let "today" pass by without living it. That isn't what I want to do. So sometimes, even a simple song or phrase will bring me back to the importance of living the very moment that I am in. Every moment a gift.

If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce of memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce of memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

I don't Like Liars

2010-02-11T21:08:00.004-05:00

I really hope there is such a thing as justice. In some way shape or form for those that do wrong and seem to get away with it.

I was rear ended yesterday. Simple. Cut and dry. I was stopped and waiting in a row of traffic as a draw bridge went up on the intracoastal. The lady that hit me from behind was very apologetic saying she accidentally accelerated instead of braking. There was not a whole lot of damage, especially to my big truck. It needs a new bumper and some paint.

We pulled over to a safe spot, exchanged info and went our merry way. I naively did not call the police because it just didn't look that serious to me and it seemed as though it was handled.

I spoke with her insurance company today and they were just awaiting a statement from her but knew of the accident last night because she called them.

Then, this afternoon, I got a call from my agent saying that she called to tell them that I hit her. Can you believe this? I couldn't. As a matter of fact, I accused my insurance company of making an error and confusing me with another claim.

So we waited and at about 4pm, my insurance company called me back and said the woman had made a statement that I rolled back into her. (uhum..I drive a very powerful automatic...if it's going anywhere, it's going forward)

I cried. Truthfully. I am so sad that someone could just blatantly lie. Sam and the baby were in the truck with me. The only witness. I went around today to the nearby businesses to see if anyone else saw it, but to no avail.

It looks like I will have to pay to fix my truck (probably about 5oo dollars). My insurance will refuse to pay her claim. So, I'm not sure what will happen after that.

I get so very stressed out about these kinds of things but like I said, my biggest shock is just how someone could lie so easily.

This is the 2nd time something like that happened here in S FL. The first time was when we first got here, I had my little car parked at the mall while we were in shopping, only to come out and find that the whole side of my car was dented in. No note, no witness, no nothing.

I'm really trying to continue to believe in the good in people but today shook that in a major way.

2010-02-05T20:58:00.003-05:00

Today I had the chance to make some toothpaste. I ended up using a recipe made up of baking soda, salt, and peppermint oil. Not too bad, but the salt really seemed to irritate my gums. Mollie likes it, though. For now, I think I may stick to Tom's toothpaste. It's expensive, but to me, some things are just worth buying. I've found that to be true with dish soap and laundry soap, too. I would love to say that I do everything the "all natural, homemade" way, but it's not shaping up to look that way.

I also made my very first attempt at a sourdough starter this afternoon. I should have some to use within a few days. I am hoping to be able to start crankin' out some homemade sourdough bread. I'll let you know how it works. Again, there are just so many recipes on the internet, it's really "hit and miss" if you don't get a hand-me-down recipe from family or friend.

I wish sometimes that I had grown up in a family that was more into living naturally. I wish I had learned from a young age to live more simply. It seems harder now. Not like I don't like giving up so much, but more because I can't always find an alternative way to what I've been doing my whole life. I am thankful for friends with good ideas and helpful suggestions but sometimes, I wish I could just come up with ideas on my own.

Moving on to family "stuff", Sam only stayed in KS for a few days before realizing that she missed Noah and came home. She has been taking a more active role in being "mom" and I am finding more time for myself. There has been such a drastic change in her moods that I decided to do a little research into post partum depression and I really think she experienced this pretty severely. The sad fact is, I had worried about that from the beginning and so we had hooked her up with a psychologist and a psychiatrist to get her through the first months. All they did was give her several different medications, and I think that the effects of these meds were far worse than if they had just left her alone. She is no longer taking any meds and I feel like we have our daughter "back".

With her being "mom" more, I am feeling a bit selfish with my own time. I told her recently that I already spent almost 20 years giving up some of my own pursuits in order to give time to raising my children. I don't really want to wait another 20 years to start living life a little more for myself. I looked forward to it.
Mollie is hitting high school age and wishes to be enrolled this fall in an online diploma program. I also need to be available to her now to help her accomplish that goal.

For now, with all of us pent up in this little trailer, living independent lives is difficult. I do believe, though, that once we can sell the house and find another home to live in, day to day life should flow a little more smoothly. I can't believe that it has almost been 3 years since Tom took his job down here in S. FL. and half of that time, we've all been smooshed in a forty foot box.

I don't know if there is anyone out there that has ever felt like they were in "limbo" for as long as I have, but I'm telling you, despite my efforts to count my blessings and focus on the here and now, I am still feeling stuck in the middle of a part of my life that I'd really like to put behind me. Maybe one day, I'll fondly look back at this time and realize all the lessons I've learned, but quite frankly, right now, I just want to move on!

Growing up sooooo fast!!

2010-01-30T22:39:00.002-05:00

Not me. Noah! Can you believe he is almost 10 months old? He's not quite walking but he stands for a few seconds on his own. He says "Ki" ( "key") for kitty. He goes brrrr when he plays with his trucks. I liked this picture taken today with me and him and wanted to share it with my friends.

Handmade Lotion and Lip Balm

2010-01-28T20:58:00.003-05:00

I finally got the ingredients in the mail to make my own lotion and lip balm. There are so many recipes online, I made only one recipe for lotion and one for lip balm to try.

For my lotion, I used Miranda's recipe.
It came out lovely! Nice and creamy. I put a few drops of lavender oil in half the batch and left the other with no fragrance except for the smell of the cocoa butter. I did substitute half cocoa butter for the oil like she suggested. It's a very nice texture. I had found some half pint Ball canning jars at Target today and picked them up because I thought they looked cool.

For my lip balm, I used this recipe from ehow.com. I did have to leave out the lanolin because I didn't order any, but it seems to have worked out fine anyway. In the picture, you can see that this recipe made only a small bit of lip balm and I just put it in a small baby food jar. Not exactly attractive, but it works for now.

2010-01-25T19:56:00.004-05:00

Today, I unclogged a drain using only baking soda and vinegar. I have to admit that I didn't initially think we were going to get it cleared without some harsh stuff, but with a little persistence and several pots of boiling water, wah-lah! Impressive.

I've been using my shampoo bar now for the past 2 shampoos and I am adjusting. It's not like shampoo and conditioner. As a matter of fact, I think it has a similar feel to when I washed my hair with Dr Bronner's soap, but I'm getting used to it and I really like the smell of it and the way it makes my hair seem to have more body. I'm currently shampooing every 2-3 days.

I've been using the Dr Bronner's liquid soap, diluted -1 c soap to 1/2 cup water - as shower soap and I love it. I put my mixture in an old hand soap bottle and with only a few squirts on a washrag, I get lots of lather. I imagine my Dr. Bronner's soap mixture is going to last a lot longer than an expensive bar of castile soap.

I replaced my shave cream with a bar of shave soap. Looks like that, too, will last forever!
I can really dig saving money on all this stuff.

The supplies that I ordered for my lotions and lip balm are supposed to be here this Thursday. I can't wait. Until they get here, I am using up the old lotions that I have and I don't like using them any longer now that I have a better understanding of some of the ingredients in those products.

I will have to look into face creams and cleansers at a later time. I have been using the same cleansers on my face since I was a teen and every time I've tried to switch to something else, my face breaks out. So, this will be one of those steps toward healthy body care products that require a little more patience and I will have a lot less tolerance for change.

The baby has been with his Grandma again the past 2 days. Mollie and I have been feeling a little under the weather. I picked up some black elderberry syrup from Whole Foods and have been trying to get a handle on this before it kicks my butt.
I had never heard about elderberry until Moll and I visited Miranda in November and she had a nice supply of this on hand (from her dad's elderberry bushes) to put in her tea every evening. I've been doing the same only mine probably cost a bit more:)

I love the discovery of new things in this world. Things that are healthy and useful. I think that what I love most about the discovery of natural solutions for home or body care, etc, is the closer connection I feel with the earth when I'm using it.

2010-01-18T20:36:00.003-05:00

Today, Mollie celebrated her 5th anniversary of being out of public school. It has been an amazing journey and quite a learning experience. Probably more for me than for her. I am proud of who she is and I am amazed and impressed with the way she thinks.

As for my eco-trip (another name for my journey to living more eco friendly), I finally ordered the supplies I needed for lotion and lip balm making. I am super excited to give it a try but I did have to put out some money for some nice ingredients. I am going to try two different lotions and one lip balm.
I've put off ordering these supplies because I have this incredible nack for getting a good idea, ordering or buying supplies to implement these ideas, and then being dissatisfied with the results and going back to my same old way of doing things.

I did this recently with laundry soap. I bought all the stuff to make my own. I've done this in the past with 'eh' results. But, I thought I'd give it another try. What I realized is that the pay washing machines at the laundromat here are too small and they run a very short wash. Things barely come clean anyway. I think my homemade detergent might work better if I could do an extra rinse/soak before the wash, but if I did that here, it would cost another $1.25 and I already spend enough money on laundry.
So for now, I've got all these ingredients (borax, washing soda, etc) and now I'm just using them as laundry boosters with store bought eco-friendly detergent. I did have one success and that was that I no longer use fabric softener. I have 2 downy dispenser balls and I just fill it with vinegar instead and it works. I guess it's all trial and error with this stuff. I wonder if everyone else has similar experiences when trying to reduce waste and live more environmentally friendly.

Next on my list of things to make will be soap. I have been a little afraid of the whole "lye" ingredient usage, but after reading some, I'm not as worried.

As for shampoo, I settled on ordering two different bars from JR Ligget LTD. For the time being, I have been using regular shampoo and washing every day. I have an appointment for a hair cut tomorrow. Once my new shampoo bars come in, I will begin by using them every day. I just want to see how it works when I use it as I use regular shampoo now. I am hoping that within a few weeks, I will work my way to shampooing just twice a week. That's the plan, anyway.

A Night Out

2010-01-16T22:40:00.004-05:00

Living in a trailer can get very old. Today I had a major meltdown because I am tired of hauling my laundry to the laundromat in my beat up little red wagon. That's not the only thing I'm tired of. I'm tired of Mollie having to live in a teeny tiny room. She spends most of her life there because she's on the computer so much and because she likes her privacy. It dawned on me today that her room is really about the size of a coffin, only tall enough to stand up in and maybe a little wider. Sad, but true. I suppose I should be thankful that we have a roof over our heads...ok...whatever.

Sometimes, I get very cranky here. I have, many times, convinced myself to look at the bright side of our living situation.
We try to make time to get out when we can - to keep sane.

Tonight, Moll and I had tickets to see a show called Groovaloo. The dancing was amazing and the message to be yourself and follow your dreams was inspiring.
Tom and Noah got some Grandpa/grandson bonding time while we were gone. Of course, it's late now and I'm tired.
Samantha flew to Kansas to stay with friends. She left yesterday and we do not know when she will return. Yeah, I miss her. She needs to figure her life out. Probably should have done that before having a child, but I guess sometimes it just doesn't happen that way.

In the meantime, I've been thinking how, about 12 years ago I prayed that I would have another child and that it would be a little boy. Tom had already been "fixed" and I found myself going through a case of vasectomy remorse. So, getting pregnant again at that time would have had to be something of an "immaculate conception". It never happened of course and now that I find myself raising a little boy that I always wanted to raise, I have to laugh at God's sense of humor. My grandma always said that God's timing was not our timing. I keep thinking, "Wow, God, we were really off on our timing, weren't we?" hmmm...Maybe I should have specified a particular date/time frame when I made that request. I guess I must have left out that one important detail.
On the 'up' side....I sure love Noah. Lots.

Strike Two

2010-01-13T14:02:00.002-05:00

Well, I just got out of the shower and here's my report on Dr Bronner's pure castile soap (almond scented) as a shampoo and body soap.

I don't care for it. I mean, I smell super duper yummy...I just love the smell...but my hair still feels greasy or something. I mean it was terribly difficult to blow dry because of the sticky kind of residue feeling to it. And my skin is feeling itchy and dry.

I did do a vinegar/water rinse on my hair today and I thought that maybe that might have caused some problems, but truthfully, since my skin is itchy it's probably better to find something else.

I guess I will stick to the Dr Bronner's as a household cleaner. Now there, it works wonders! Last weekend, I had to clean my disgusting shower doors and floor. I sprayed it with vinegar and dusted with baking soda. I let that sit for a few minutes. Then I took my no scratch sponge and doused it with some diluted Dr Bronner's and started scrubbing the tub and wa-la!!! It came out squeaky clean!

I also use the Dr Bronner's diluted in my hand soap/foam bottles.

I think I will try the shampoo bar that Miranda recommended at the end of my last post.

I will say that one of the things that frustrates me and often causes me to give up on my search for natural products is that I seem to have to try an endless number of concoctions before I find one that I really like and sometimes I don't feel like there is enough time in the day to research what to try and what not to.

Pits and 'poo

2010-01-12T21:22:00.002-05:00

Today was day four of my "no shampoo" (or "no 'poo- as I've heard it referred to) experiment. It is also the LAST day of my "no shampoo" experiment!!!! Seriously. Yuck.

I've read of others online that have had good success with this. But, they admit that it takes a fair amount of time for one's hair to adjust to the fact that it no longer needs to produce so much oil to compensate for the oils being stripped during shampooing.

I'm not really willing to wait to see. So, I tried washing just with baking soda and rinsing with vinegar and I didn't like that either. Tomorrow, I am going to wash my hair with diluted Dr Bronner's liquid castile soap to see how that cleans. Truthfully, I just want to break free from my dependency on so many products. I guess it just bothers me that I'm hooked on shampoo or deodorant or lotion, etc. I've been forking over gads of money for the past 30 plus years on these things (most of them heavily laden with possibly harmful chemicals that my skin has also been absorbing all these years.) I'm tired of spending so much money - and that even includes spending outrageous amounts on healthy products from places such as Whole Foods...(or 'whole paycheck' as Tom likes to call it.)

I guess you could say I've hit the end of my rope when it comes to consumerism. I'm tired of it. Tired of participating in it myself. I want to get off this ride.

I did switch recently from deodorant to plain old baking soda for the underarms and it works magnificently. Of course, the true test will be when it hits 90 degrees outside and the humidity is 75%. But for now, it works well. I just made myself a little powder box out of a cardboard cookie tin I got at Christmas and had to buy a powder puff to put in it. After my shower, I just 'puff, puff" a bit of baking soda in the 'pits' and I'm done. What I've found is that I like this because it doesn't leave pit stains on my clothes. I've bought the organic, healthy designer pit sticks and they left terrible underarm stains that I was never able to wash out.

So there you have it...the down and dirty...

Monkey Man

2010-01-12T08:36:00.006-05:00

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the little guy that consumes most of our time these days.
He is now 9 months old.
He is not walking on his own but can walk with his little push toy a few feet.
He crawls (we thought he'd never get to that point!).
He stands and he climbs on everything...including the 3 steps I have in my trailer. (Of course, he goes up, but doesn't come down so gracefully! Needless to say, I have to block them off until he figures this out!)
He is able to leap tall buildings on a single bound....certainly you didn't fall for that one....
He puts everything in his mouth...including my face if it's close enough.
He just got his first tooth on January 3rd.
He laughs hysterically when our dog goes into schizoid mode and barks like a freak.
He laughs hysterically when the cats try to perform "laser eye removal" on the dog.
He loves yogurt and cheerios.
And....we love him.

I think I'm back...Or at least I'm trying.

2010-01-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

I've been playing around with different templates and pictures, trying to create a new look for my blog. It's not what I want it to be, but I'm pretty challenged when it comes to stuff like that, so I'm stuck using whatever is already available on Blogger. So, hang in there. I'd like to start posting again, and this is my first attempt to begin.
It's difficult finding time to say all that I have to say. Plus, I'm so far behind, I've just completely given up on the idea of "catching up" on my blog. I'll just have to start with where I am and what I'm doing today.
For the most part, my days are filled with caring for Noah my grandson. My daughter has struggled with being a mom at her young age (no shocker there...not really). I love Noah and I'm trying to fill in for mom. It's working, and that's all that matters.
I would say that I struggle some with selfish desires to be doing all the things I "waited for my kids to grow up" to do. Like sewing and crocheting and learning yoga, etc, etc. Sometimes, I do get to worrying that I may "never" have time to myself. Sorry...I know that sounds terrible, but, truth is truth.
Fortunately, Noah's other Grandma lives only 30 minutes from me, and is wonderful to take him often so I can do some catching up.
Yesterday, Moll and I got some time to ourselves to see the Norman Rockwell display at the Fort Lauderdale Art Museum. I really enjoyed it but she just couldn't understand why we had to stop and look at each painting for so long! Of course, I'm a bit weird at museums, in that, I "have" to read everything in the descriptions given or I feel like I might "miss" some important detail! Good grief!
In December, I read the book, "No Impact Man," and that has given me many ideas for living in 2010. I've set many goals and will try to take some time to give you progress updates along the way. As a matter of fact, expect to see much along these lines here on my blog, as the book has given me much food for thought and motivated me to push myself to live a life of less impact on the world around me.
Having goals for that kind of growth has helped me through the struggle we are still facing with our living situation. Our house in Kansas has still not sold and after almost 3 years of maintaining a home in two states, we are starting to feel financially "tired". What that translates to is that we have more debt than we are comfortable with and I am beginning to worry that it could keep getting worse if we can't sell this house this year. And that is scary.
Enough said for now. Temps here in S. Florida have been freezing and we've blown through two full propane tanks in just a week. I guess trailers aren't exactly airtight. Nothing like "heating the world" (as my propane supplier likes to tell me that I'm doing at this time of year).
It's late - rather, it's early (because it's actually 1 AM), and I have to be up in a few hours to get more propane and run some errands before Noah comes home.

Reunited

2009-08-07T08:01:00.007-04:00

So...I've been told by my mother-in-law that it's time to start blogging again and post some pictures. I guess I better do something. I can always use "brownie points" with the in-laws. (ha)
Besides, she recently made me the most beautiful quilt and I wanted to share picture of it with the world. It's actually called a "quillow". It is a quilt that folds into a pillow. She has a machine that allows her to embroider a picture of something meaningful for the recipient. A few years ago, she made one for Mollie with a picture of our cat Sinbad. She knows my love of birds, and in particular, the chickadee, so that's what's on the front of mine.

I guess while I'm writing, I'll give a brief run down of the happenings around here lately.
Sam and her fiance and the baby moved down here last week. They have been busy getting settled and looking for jobs.
Thank God I'm organized, or the trailer would be an impossible place for six human beings to live happily together. As it is, though, it is working well. I turned my recently transformed office into a baby room for Noah. It was worth it. I love having him around. And, he sure does love his Grandma!
Along with the baby, they did manage to bring with them about 15 loads of unwashed laundry (where did it all come from?!).
They also brought with them a kitten that they had found about two months ago. He was totally flea infested, so we had to work through that and eliminate those varmints before they got the best of a household already filled with animals! The dog and my cats seem to really like having a kitten around. Well, all except our oldest cat, who just stays out of the way most of the time.

Moll has pretty much turned into a computer junky and spends a lot of nights up and days sleeping. By some miracle, she is finally beginning to change her routine, and is up this morning requesting that we "do something", so I think we will head over to the science museum a little later.
Tom's about 8 weeks away from finishing his MBA, and he's so ready to be done with it! I am hoping that once he is done, we'll have a little more time to do some scouting around the area.
We have finally decided to sell the house in Kansas. It will go on the market this coming week. We have hired a realtor that has hired a professional "stager" to come in and set it up to sell quickly. We have high hopes that that will happen soon.
We drove over to the west coast of Florida a few weeks ago to check out the area. We visited Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, and Englewood. All of them about 2 and 1/2 hours from here. We are strongly considering buying a home there. It is a good time, as the area housing market took a strong downturn over the past few years and the prices are very reasonable.
I like the area better, too. The cities are smaller and more like what I was used to in Kansas. It feels like "home" to me. The beaches aren't as crowded and there aren't the high-rises like there are on this coast. It's more the kind of beach that I prefer. So, it seems a wonderful compromise for Tom and I. He loves Florida, and I like "country" living. This seems to be the best of both. It's not too far away that he can't drive it whenever he wants and I can come to this side if I want to. We'll end up keeping the trailer here for now for him to work out of. With his business, who knows where he might end up next. It's important to me and Mollie to try to settle down (especially through her high school years), so we figure it's a good idea to find our forever home in a place that Tom will always love to return to.
We can still move around with him in the trailer, should he move out of state, but we have decided that we need a "home" to be there for us when we finally settle down. He really didn't want to return to Kansas, and this seemed the only real solution. We considered going back to the desert (Vegas or Phoenix), but a home near the ocean won out.
So we will embark, one final time, on the the adventure of selling our home, and finding a new one that will suit us for years to come.

Oh! It is a Wonderful Life!

2009-07-12T09:31:00.020-04:00

I've got some space. Not a huge space, but a wonderful space of my own, nonetheless. Ahhhh....blissful, selfish, space.

Yesterday, Tom stripped the bunks out of one of the back rooms and thanks to my new friend "Ikea", I have a work table and chair. Here is a picture of my new office/sewing room. It's messy and I have lots of ideas for making it personal and functional but for now, you can see what I'm talking about. If you look closely, behind my computer you can catch a glimpse of my birthday present. A NEW SEWING MACHINE!!

Tom bought me a refurbished machine 20 years ago. I still use it at home, but it's a bit rebellious at times and decides not to do what I want, so I wanted a new one. I haven't plugged this one in yet, and I'm hoping it's not too complicated to learn to work, but it has 80 different stitches and all kinds of automatic threading/bobbin winding functions/button hole stuff, etc.. so I'm giddy with excitement over the prospect of playing with it!

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy but let me try to give a brief recap by photos.

On our travels to Florida, we stopped in Memphis, New Orleans, and Panama City Beach before arriving in Fort Lauderdale. These were all first time visits for me.

Memphis highlight...The Lorraine Motel...MLK was killed here in 1968. We stood in front of the exact spot where he was shot.

Thoughts on New Orleans...20 years ago, Bourbon street would really have impressed me, but no so much now. We did get a great PO'Boy sandwich there. We drove by several plantations dating back to the late 1700's and stopped off at St John the Baptist church and cemetery dating back to 1770. Those where very cool and if I go back to N.O., those are the places I'd really like to tour.

Our final stop was in Panama City Beach, FL. We planned on meeting up with some friends there that we had not seen in FOREVER!!! Oh, this was absolutely the best part of our trip. Truly. I found a small inn directly across the street from the beach. It was such a cute and quaint establishment, we will definitely return. The price was reasonable, and the best part.....ALL our pets were WELCOME!
We hit the beach straight away...just in time for an afternoon thunderstorm with lightning that scared the crap out of me! I mean, it literally shot out of blue sky! We ran for shelter, as I really didn't want to become another lightning strike statistic.
We met our friends (OH, Miranda....I'm so glad we got to see you guys!!!!) for a wonderful dinner at the Boar's Head restaurant, where I tried some fried alligator for the first time in my life. Tasty but a little chewy.
After dinner, we strolled with our friends along the beach and hit a novelty shop before heading back to our room for the night.

We got home Friday eve, and spent a wonderful fourth of July with some friends on the beach. BBQ, margaritas, beach, fireworks, and friends....it just doesn't get any better than that! Oh, it sure is a WONDERFUL LIFE!