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Couple of roller-coaster weeks

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 7:56 pm

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Yup, went to the doc for a screening, and they found something suspicious. So I got to jump through a bunch of hoops and testings, and it looks like just a fibrous mass. They are going to do a "needle biopsy" (sounds like ouch to me!) but are pretty sure it's nothing.
Alas, my tomatos are shot. They just got too wet. I have some new ones started but not the kind I wanted, couldn't find the seeds for them. Aaand, it's supposed to hit freezing tonight. Then get up to 79 by Sunday afternoon. Poor plants!
The bunnies have discovered that the big dogs are all gone, and my little guy hasn't much interest in them. So I'm getting some wild bunnies skipping around the yard. Not a problem, since most of my garden areas have chicken wire on the lower part to keep out critters. And there was a goldfinch in my oak tree just singin' his little ol' heart out this morning.
Wish I had time to read up on what everyone's up to, but there's just too much going on- DS's cap and gown arrived yesterday and I'm SO not ready for this!
Weeds are a-calling!

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And a quick word from DS

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 4:55 am

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Well, he's into his last night in New Orleans. His overall impression is that it's very much asleep during the day and only comes awake at night! Got to see the oldest church in the US, loved the stained glass. Wishes he could have done more, the emptyness and destruction of the worst-hit area was pretty overwhelming from what I could gather. I'm glad they had such good weather the last couple of days. And I'll be so happy to have him home again. as he launches into the last several weeks of his gradeschool life (excuse a Mommy-ish sniffle!)
Hope he can adjust back to the cold and rain back here! I'm taking the pooch up to meet him, Max will probably wiggle right out of his hide!

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Great day with DD!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:48 pm

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Well this will be boring for anyone reading it but I don't want to forget what a great day I've had! I drove into town a little way, as far as my wonky eyesight would allow. Then DD and I walkeda through the rain with our big ol' umbrella, and arrived at a bus stop just ahead of the bus. This is the first time she and I have taken a bus trip together, kinda an experiment. Anyway, we rode it all around town and ended up at the downtown terminal. A very nice lady there helped me get the paperwork I needed to get DD a disabled-person's bus pass, then we walked (the rain had turned to mist now) the 5 or so blocks to the farmers market, which just reopened for the season. We got some homemade blueberry jam, a big loaf of whole-wheat sourdough from a local bakery, and some chicken/spinach sausages from the local butcher. Had bagels for lunch, and just moseyed around the farmers market together. We ran into the lady who was her developmental-preschool teacher 10 years ago, she was so happy to see Becky finally walking! (she still couldn't when she graduated preschool at 4). We picked up some big crunchy apples & walked back to the bus terminal (rain had completely stopped by now). Rode back to the car & stopped at the grocery store on the way home. When we got back and checked the mail, the Stuart Little video I'd ordered for her had arrived. Whoo, I'm ready for a nap, but what a good day! AND, the goat even stayed in!

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More on my son's trip

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:11 am

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Heard from DS again tonight, wow he sounds busy! He got the "servant of the day" award today, that's pretty cool. And they had a crawfish boil. Now, around here, we call them crawdaddies and they aren't big enough to bother eating. But apparently he came in second in how many he was able to wolf down! He's actually been sleeping pretty cold at night, due to a misunderstanding about how many bags he could take with him. But one of the guys in the group managed to round up enough blankets that he's ok now.
Some guys from Michigan (?) brought their guitars with them, so he's been like a pig in slop, playing on those in the evenings.
Looks like they will be through with all they can do to the house they've been working on by tomorrow afternoon. They might get to go see what the rest of the group is working on. Looks like it will be nice out, they might even do a bit of sightseeing. "They" being DS and the builder he's been working with. Who also happens to be the guy who came in first in the amount of crawfish devoured. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that the two of them went looking for more of those!
The weather guy is calling for rain on Friday, it'll be interesting to find out if the Friday plans work out, they want to do some cleanup work in the 9th ward. Trying to minimize the influx of rodents.
Talking of rodents, and back home, DD and I had tea at a friend's house- she lives in a log house she and her husband built when they were newlyweds. The shingles they split for the roof had to be replaced as a result of a chimney fire earlier this year. Apparently, in the 30-odd years since they built the home, mice and birds have been tucking little nests into the gaps in the shingles! Cute to think of all the lifeforms their home has been home to, but with the new metal roof, guess they'll have to find other abodes.
Didn't get anything done in the garden today, hoping to get a battery for the mower tomorrow, and maybe get some pictures snapped of the wildflowers. I did pick up three pots for my tipsy-pot to go on the front porch. But now I have a raging headache and this screen isn't helping so I'll sign off.

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son's first day in N.O.

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:35 am

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My boy reported in this evening, but he was so worn out tired that he didn't talk long. He and another fellow were laying the floors for a family that's been living in a FEMA trailer, with several of the family members having disabling conditions. DS sounded SO happy to be moving things along for them. He wasn't in the 9th ward, but might be by Wed., several members of the group were. He was in an area called Covington (a suburb of New Orleans). He didn't sleep well last night (new place, air mattresses & all that) but it sounded like he will tonight! Guess they did have a rather dramatic thunderstorm, which he really grooves on.
His sister watched videos all day while I worked painting a bedroom. She swears it isn't the same blue that I painted her bathroom with, but it sure looks the same to me and I've been trained in seeing color variances! O well, glad I don't have to sleep in it, it's a little intense for me. She wants me to lay on a glaze tomorrow. Fine with me, it's too cold and rainy to really do anything much in the garden anyway, and the weatherdude says snow at my elevation.
Max is under my feet, sulking about the weather. A guy can't really get out to play when it's like this. definitely giving the rain the doggy version of the stink-eye.
Madame Houdini (the goat) was happily tripping about the yard when I got home from working today. Impossible to be mad at her when she so cheerfully pops back into the pasture, but my patience is definitely running very thin!!!


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Never a dull moment! (could use a few!)

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:14 pm

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Goodness, it's wonderful to see how busy this site gets! No way I'll be able to catch up on posts but I think I'll go searching to see if anything came of the suggestion for Stew to put the logo on t-shirts at cafepress or something.
Well, my boy is winging his way to New Orleans. I guess the homes they will be working on have gone untouched since Katrina hit. How disheartening that must be for the people who lived there! Hope they can get at least a couple of them close to ready for living in. And, I'm wondering if the powers-that-be have thought about flying to the Netherlands or someplace like that, where cities have been below sea level for a long time, and see how they construct their walls? Dunno, maybe it's a different ball game since hurricanes don't hit in that area. Just seems like something could be done...
Tried to mow a bit of my grass this week and, ta-daa, the battery in my mower is dead. I've recharged it too many times, it's well and truly dead. Rotten timing, but O well. It's raining again anyhow so I can't mow anytime soon. And I have some yard work lined up this week so I'll set that aside for a new battery. I don't really make any money gardening, I just recycle it into maintaining my equipment!
A friend gave me some native plants he had potted up, so I get to plant those some time this week. And I splurged on a bleeding heart to go down by my pond, did a mini-landscaping job around that. I am looking into getting a little solar-powered fountain to float in my pond (2 of them, actually) just to keep the water moving. Don't want to run power down to where the ponds are.
So, I've been weeding, pulling dandelions to feed the bunnies, pulling weeds, and, did I mention the weeds? Between that, my daughter having an allergic reaction to a medication (she's ok now) , my son flying across the country and all that entails, and so on, it's been a truly adventurous week. Think I'll go check out what the rest of the Stew is up to before I have to go take a chocolate mousse to a potluck!

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mumblings of sleepy gardener

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 2:24 am

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Held my two-day garage sale, and my grand total (garage sale plus gardening earnings) is two-hundred buckaroos! Just in time, as the money for DS's New Orleans trip is due next Sunday. Nice to be able to add to the pot and not require DH to work so much overtime. I'm getting nervous about the whole thing, though. People are telling me horror stories about the nasty molds and such that have accumulated in the uninhabited buildings. The group they are working through are very skilled at protecting the workers, but hey, I'm a mom, worry comes with the territory!
I went to saw up the cherry tree that has been disease-prone all it's life and which threatens my greenhouse since it's developed a nasty lean. But I just thought I'd give it one more chance. I sawed off a big part of it, straightened it up a bit, and used a nylon anchor strap to hold it that way. I'm just not sure what I want to do with it, but since the raised beds need to be rebuilt anyway, might as well try to save it until then.
My little yellow pear-tomato seeds are coming along nicely for the most part. I've moved them to a north-facing window for diffused daylight. And I planted a bunch of pansies in my kitchen window-box on the same side. Now I just need to tune up my mower for the season. Egads, I'm making myself tired. Five acres gets more overwhelming every spring.
I've got an idea for a new painting rolling around in my head, inspired by a lesson taught by DH this morning and having to do with God designating different people for different purposes. If I actually get the time to work on the painting I'll post it here, it'll either be really pretty or a real candidate for the gesso jar!


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A day in the mud!

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:51 am

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Whee, I actually got PAID to fiddle in a garden today! It was overgrown with grass, beyond what the owner could manage. The last person they hired just pulled up the grass, I got in there and sifted the roots out of the soil. Time just flew, which is amazing since I was freezing the whole time. Not entirely my fault, I had to bold out of the house this morning because my son desparately needed something he left at home- since the HS is a half-hour drive I just took my grubbies along, not noticing that a) the socks weren't quite dry, and b) my coat was not in the stack. And the wind blew. But I uncovered two black beetles and one lady bug, several unfriendly grubs (very satisfying to squish), and lots of big fat nightcrawlers, which I moved to the freshly-fluffed soil. Even got to take my pup with me. And I got to bring home two flowering quince starts! On top of that I got some adorable seed packets from Toni... I am SO ready for spring! *tapping toes impatiently* Making Cabbage Patch soup for dinner- brown a pound of hamburger & drain/rinse. Add 1 can diced tomatos, 2 cans beef stock, 1 can mushrooms, 1/2 finely chopped onion and simmer together for a bit. For last 15 min, add chopped-up cabbage. Uber-easy, my family loves it, what more could I want? I think I have some grainy-bread that'll go good with it, too.


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Leisure time? Whats' that?

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:40 am

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I had one of those gardening days that just doesn't warrant photographs. Cleaned out the poo and straw from the henhouse, and let the gals run loose on the prairie for a bit. One of them is eating all the eggs, I'll have to get feed with a higher calcium content or fire that hen. Started to clean under the bunny hutches, but a person can only take so much in one day, so I only got two cleared out. I'll just do the others another day. Limbed up a medium-size doug fir and discovered some daffys trying to come up under it, hopefully they'll get the sunlight they need now. There were alot more bulbs in the bucket than I had thought, and many of them were moulding. I just dumped them in a grassy spot, moved the grass over them, and wished them well. Spent about an hour planting the rest of them- like I said, alot more than I thought. They probably won't even survive, but at least now they have a fighting chance. Then I moved a little doug fir that was growing in the road easement- wrong time of year, but here's hoping.
So now I'm cleaned up and working on dinner. I use a really great salmon recipe that a friend invented. Here it is if anyone's interested- you take a chunk of salmon and drizzle it with honey. Then sprinkle it with ginger, ground mustard, cayenne, cinnamon, pepper, and garlic. Heat some olive oil in a skillet, and cook the salmon, turning it once after about 4 minutes. When it's just about done, pour some soy sauce over it. When the soy sauce starts to bubble and the salmon is completely cooked, serve it right away. I usually have this with the extra sauce over a bed of brown rice, but tonight we're having it with focaccia bread I got on special. (I suppose this would work with any fish, salmon is just what we have alot of around here)
Tried to trim my goat's hooves yesterday but the trimmers really need a good sharpening. Always a bit more to do around here than I can do in a given day. O well. Think I'll work on a drawing tonight...

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We now return to our regular programming

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:49 am

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OK, the cold bug is dispatched. I get them alot, but they never hang on to awfully long. So, during a sun break on Friday, I went out and yanked up one of my overgrown raspberry beds. I amended the soil with lots of good, moisture-retaining bunny poo compost, and gently bedded down two new blueberry bushes.
Raspberries out, blueberries in. Now I just need another break in the weather to go tidy up the raspberries on the other side.
I know it isn't the ideal time at all, but I discovered some bulbs I'd missed last fall. I'll poke them around just to see what happens. The crocus have been taunting me, all up and strong and healthy, but very few blooming. And the ones that are are in odd places, I suspect either a dog or another critter toted them away from their home.
Still trying to find a job. Just to help pay for my son's college expenses come fall. It's appallingly difficult to find a job that will work around my limitations, but something will come up. I've pretty well decided the whole "work from home" route is either about selling friends laundry soap or just an outright scam.
Off to feed the bunnies, there's another break in the hail!

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