Looking out my windows and I smile because my garden looks wonderful! I have green plants I thought had died growing, plants that never seem to die flourishing and plants I grew from seed fattening. My rose bushes are filled with red new leaves. My tall flowering bushes in my back yards are often visited by yellow and black colored butterflies. There are vegetables (lettuce, beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli) and herbs (cilantro, rosemary, oregano) growing in my yard. On my birthday as my parents were leaving my home I handed them some cilantro, rosemary and oregano. My father was so delighted. He knows and I know and so many other people know how expensive these herbs can be in the grocery store. I grow them at home with ease.
I spent the afternoon and evening of the 18th weeding my front garden. It was relaxing, until my back begged me to stop. Is there a way to garden without my back suffering for it? I meant to take pictures as soon as I was done weeding, but then it was dinner time and after that too dark. The next day was my birthday and I forgot. Yesterday, my head hurt so bad I wanted to cry. Since my birthday on the 19th my son and I have come down with some sort of bug. The little guy was worse off than I was, but he is sleeping and recovering now. I am feel much better now.
The day outside is beautiful. While he sleeps I could take some pictures...
Oh! I almost forgot to mention. For my birthday gift my kids made me gifts our of recycled material and they bought me beautiful flowering plants for my birthday. My husband bought me a tomato bush and made all the food (a variety of salads) for the picnic. I am loved.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Another Reason to Eat Organic, Local and Raw:High LDL
I received my test results in the mail today. It turns out I have a slightly elevated cholesterol. The irony, at my age I'm one of the few I know who eats fairly healthy and exercises daily. I know a lot has to do with genetics, but the doc still wants me to go on a diet.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
I have a carrot!
After the crazy weather, two sets of frosts separated by warm weather rain and humidity, I (without hope) went into my garden in the backyard and noticed that I still have lettuce in my garden...alive! I have beets growing too. Oh! and what surprised me the most was the growing carrot. The carrot survived both frost and all the cold weather. Not only that when I walked over to look at it the carrot it was so large it was cracking through the dirt. Is it time to harvest?????????
I think I'll gamble and pick it tomorrow. I need to before on of my neighbor's dogs digs it up. I haven't told you the story about the dog yet have I? My neighbor told me the other day that our backyard neighbor has a dog that was able to jump over the fence into my neighbors yard. My neighbor saw this dog in his yard and when he tried to get him the dog jumped over the tall fence into my yard and straight into my garden. He tried jumping back into his own yard from my yard but fell and then jumped over the short wire fence around my garden and then played with my dog. My dogs not much of a guard dog is he?
I never saw any of this but I did see the loose board on the ground in my garden that my neighbor said the dog tried to climb before he fell with it to the ground. Id wondered why the fence board had fallen. If the dog did jump into my yard he must have eventually jumped back to his. I didn't think dogs could jump that high. Will he jump back? Should get my carrot before he does? As if the weather and soil aren't enough to worry about, now I have to worry about an amazingly high jumping dog. Is the dog part cat or squirrel?
I think I'll gamble and pick it tomorrow. I need to before on of my neighbor's dogs digs it up. I haven't told you the story about the dog yet have I? My neighbor told me the other day that our backyard neighbor has a dog that was able to jump over the fence into my neighbors yard. My neighbor saw this dog in his yard and when he tried to get him the dog jumped over the tall fence into my yard and straight into my garden. He tried jumping back into his own yard from my yard but fell and then jumped over the short wire fence around my garden and then played with my dog. My dogs not much of a guard dog is he?
I never saw any of this but I did see the loose board on the ground in my garden that my neighbor said the dog tried to climb before he fell with it to the ground. Id wondered why the fence board had fallen. If the dog did jump into my yard he must have eventually jumped back to his. I didn't think dogs could jump that high. Will he jump back? Should get my carrot before he does? As if the weather and soil aren't enough to worry about, now I have to worry about an amazingly high jumping dog. Is the dog part cat or squirrel?
Monday, February 7, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
It was suppose to snow, but instead it's just ugly and cold
It was suppose to snow today...last night, but instead it's just ugly and cold another day. And there is or was ice all over the roads according to the millions phone calls I received this morning.
I hate the cold and it isn't even cold here compared to other places. My kids had to stay home from school and I usually don't work on Fridays so... it worked out. Except everything is dark and gloomy... I feel gloomy and grumpy and bitchy. Where is Spring?
The kids did a few chores and now they're watching TV. I'll let them do this all day. They don't get to during the school week.
This morning I looked out the window, after a million phone calls wouldn't let my husband and I sleep in and I noticed my red rose bush was falling over. I guess I should have covered my rose bushes this time. They're sturdy but not that sturdy.
On Wednesday we had a pipe burst and our garage was filling with water. That was a cold night. My husband was at work, but luckily my neighbor, my grumpy and old but very helpful and always to the rescue neighbor, endured the cold with me and fixed it. The pipe broke on the outside not inside the wall. If I were a religious person I would have been kissing the sky. Instead I just wanted to hug my neighbor. I offered him dinner instead, but his girlfriend was over at his house waiting for him.
I owe my neighbor a lot of dinners for the help he's given us. This past year though we've been struggling just to feed the kids. We aren't starving or anything, but we've had to ration. Have I mentioned yet, that I had to lie to my husband. I told him I canceled the meat CSA when really I just postponed deliveries for a few months in hopes that in a few months we'd see a few extra hundred dollars a month in our bank accounts.
Don't get me wrong, my husband loved the CSA meat. He was the first to notice the leanness of the meat and the clearness of the animal fat if there was any fat. He really liked that. In the end though it just came down to the fact that we couldn't cut any more here or there to afford it. Our food rationing isn't anything new. I've always been a frugal person. Rationing should be done by everyone, I think. However now it's not about saving money it's about not having enough money and so we have no choice, but to ration to keep our heads above water. I hate that. I hate not having a choice. It doesn't help that my husbands student loans are dragging us down.
I've tried to use these hard financial time to try to convert myself into a vegetarian. I feel guilty eating meat. Yes, yes roll your eyes, but it's true. It's how I feel. Besides cutting meat out of our diet would save us money and is suppose to be eco-friendly. I'd love some simple vegetarian dishes to make and eat everyday, but my addiction for meat is hard to break and there is no way in the world I could pull my husband away from meat. He'd be willing to maybe be a flexitarian or reduce the amount of meat per meal (which we have done in recent years), but not go meatless. Something is better than nothing I guess.
Anyways, since our rationing became a matter of "no choice" we haven't invited our neighbor over for dinner as much. Like I mentioned he's a grumpy old man and sometimes he says things that well.... a grumpy old man would say, but overall he means well and he's always willing to help for a meal. I know he's noticed that we haven't invited him over as much, but I don't know if he thinks we don't want him over or if he understands our financial situation. Maybe I'm wrong and he hasn't even noticed, He has been distracted on several home improvement projects and his girlfriend. In fact he just came back from a home improvement project he left for a month ago.
Ahhhhh! It's cold in here... My hands are freezing. I'm going to have to put on another sweater and yell (I've already asked them to twice so now I think I'll yell :) )at my kids to put on more clothes. Can't they feel the cold or am I just a wimp?
Cold Cold Go AWAY!
I hate the cold and it isn't even cold here compared to other places. My kids had to stay home from school and I usually don't work on Fridays so... it worked out. Except everything is dark and gloomy... I feel gloomy and grumpy and bitchy. Where is Spring?
The kids did a few chores and now they're watching TV. I'll let them do this all day. They don't get to during the school week.
This morning I looked out the window, after a million phone calls wouldn't let my husband and I sleep in and I noticed my red rose bush was falling over. I guess I should have covered my rose bushes this time. They're sturdy but not that sturdy.
On Wednesday we had a pipe burst and our garage was filling with water. That was a cold night. My husband was at work, but luckily my neighbor, my grumpy and old but very helpful and always to the rescue neighbor, endured the cold with me and fixed it. The pipe broke on the outside not inside the wall. If I were a religious person I would have been kissing the sky. Instead I just wanted to hug my neighbor. I offered him dinner instead, but his girlfriend was over at his house waiting for him.
I owe my neighbor a lot of dinners for the help he's given us. This past year though we've been struggling just to feed the kids. We aren't starving or anything, but we've had to ration. Have I mentioned yet, that I had to lie to my husband. I told him I canceled the meat CSA when really I just postponed deliveries for a few months in hopes that in a few months we'd see a few extra hundred dollars a month in our bank accounts.
Don't get me wrong, my husband loved the CSA meat. He was the first to notice the leanness of the meat and the clearness of the animal fat if there was any fat. He really liked that. In the end though it just came down to the fact that we couldn't cut any more here or there to afford it. Our food rationing isn't anything new. I've always been a frugal person. Rationing should be done by everyone, I think. However now it's not about saving money it's about not having enough money and so we have no choice, but to ration to keep our heads above water. I hate that. I hate not having a choice. It doesn't help that my husbands student loans are dragging us down.
I've tried to use these hard financial time to try to convert myself into a vegetarian. I feel guilty eating meat. Yes, yes roll your eyes, but it's true. It's how I feel. Besides cutting meat out of our diet would save us money and is suppose to be eco-friendly. I'd love some simple vegetarian dishes to make and eat everyday, but my addiction for meat is hard to break and there is no way in the world I could pull my husband away from meat. He'd be willing to maybe be a flexitarian or reduce the amount of meat per meal (which we have done in recent years), but not go meatless. Something is better than nothing I guess.
Anyways, since our rationing became a matter of "no choice" we haven't invited our neighbor over for dinner as much. Like I mentioned he's a grumpy old man and sometimes he says things that well.... a grumpy old man would say, but overall he means well and he's always willing to help for a meal. I know he's noticed that we haven't invited him over as much, but I don't know if he thinks we don't want him over or if he understands our financial situation. Maybe I'm wrong and he hasn't even noticed, He has been distracted on several home improvement projects and his girlfriend. In fact he just came back from a home improvement project he left for a month ago.
Ahhhhh! It's cold in here... My hands are freezing. I'm going to have to put on another sweater and yell (I've already asked them to twice so now I think I'll yell :) )at my kids to put on more clothes. Can't they feel the cold or am I just a wimp?
Cold Cold Go AWAY!
Monday, January 31, 2011
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