Misc around the house August 24, 2009

Life is all work work work, play a little, go to the cabin a little, work some more.  The weeks keep flying by, and I have no idea where they’re going.  It’s funny how life at work can seem like it’s going so freaking slow, but then I turn around and the summer is over.  My birthday is in exactly two weeks, and no matter how old I get, that still means school is just around the corner.  Summer has been relatively good to me, though, despite all that working business and the speeding by business.

Bountiful harvest.  I would say that I have more cucumbers than I know what to do with, but I can easily eat on of these in a sitting.  They do not go to waste.  I might, however, end up with more tomatoes than I can handle, but I have some great recipes in mind.  I will have to work fast, though!

There is an airport nearish my house (not only has my official address been the same block my entire life, but I’ve also lived near an airport my entire life.  And a train track.  It’s a requirement), so there is always interesting aircraft flying around my neighborhood.  I made a rare trip outside of my house for something other than work last weekend, and was thankful I had randomly decided to pack my camera in my purse the night before.  As it turns out, I NEVER carry my camera around.  I just don’t ever think to take pictures.  But I managed to get a picture of the Good Year Blimp while I was driving.  I’m pretty sure I took that picture at a stop light, because the ones actually taken while moving turned out poorly.

That lovely vision of shit greets me every time I step out of my house.  My neighbors are absolute rubbish, and their lawn reflects it.  This picture was taken (by the Hippy while I was gone; apparently my camera was more convenient) on a particularly bad day.  Turns out my neighbor and her children are moving!  Hooray!  Oh, but wait.  Her sister is moving in instead.  WTF? (or FTW? if you’re a wench)  So, sadly, it will be the same shit, same people, same nonsense.

Okay, summer has been MOSTLY good to me.  With the exception of the neighbor thing.  I also got a new washer–no pictures, because, well, it’s a washer–for nearly free.  It was in the renter’s side because it was “broken,” according to the woman who sold the house.  Hippy figured out what was wrong, got a $60 part for it, and WHAMO!  Even better washer than the one I’d been using.

I’m a late bloomer….. June 24, 2009

*har*

Our dirt finally arrived.  We spent a good four hours hauling dirt from our parking pad to the two gardens in our yard.  Our renter helped for about half the time, which was awesome and much appreciated, even though it made The Hippy feel guilty.  I told him to quit worrying because she wanted to help.

Because our dirt came way later than I ever thought it would, I decided to run to the nursery this afternoon to get myself some pre-grown veggies.  Lucky me, they were half off!  I’m still nervous about whether they will be successful, but I tried to pick things that had a shorter maturity time.

Front row: sweet basil, oregano, parsley.  Back row: Rhubarb, chocolate mint

Front row: Melon (I think it’s watermelon), cucumber x2, tomato.  Back row: Melon (honeydew… maybe.  They could be switched), squash (spaghetti and acorn, don’t remember the order), tomato

Planting went fast, but it was incredibly annoying.  Why?

BARK BARK BARK BARK STFU BARK BARK BARK

As it turns out, I really don’t like dogs all that much.  And I especially don’t like dogs that don’t like me.  I’m not sure if glaring at them made things worse, but hoses were a good temporary fix…  Until they started barking again.

I’ve had flowers going in my yard for a month or so now.  Just haven’t gotten around to mentioning them….

Moss roses, aster, and snap dragons.  If you’re wondering why they aren’t in the dirt, well, that’s reserved for my beloved moonflowers.  Provided they actually grow.  I’ll be sad if they don’t.  Right now there’s stuff growing, but for the most part, I can’t tell if they’re weeds or moon flowers.

Not a terribly impressive photo, but this is my pride and joy right now.  I bought this black-eyed susan vine because it was stunning.  STUNNING.  Don’t believe me? See what they look like here.  Only mine is yellow and orange.  We went away the weekend after memorial day and it was HOT all weekend (here… not up north where we were).  Didn’t think to bring my plant inside, and the renter was gone so no one watered.  It was a brown withered mess when we got home.  But careful watch, grooming, and watering has bounced my baby back.  It now has one flower, another on the way, and tons of new growth.

See all that shit in the background of that picture?  We’re on the hunt for shrubs and other plants to cover up our view of the neighbors’ yards (both sides).  We want to go outside in peace and to enjoy the view.  I got one shrub today, but I want The Hippy to help pick everything else out.  Anyone have a favorite shrub?  Lilacs are very, very low on my list because we have a huge lilac bush along the alley.

Quickie May 25, 2009

Spent yesterday out in the yard putting in flowers.  When my plants look like more than just slightly brighter splotches on the dark soil, I’ll grab a picture or two, but in the meantime I want to share my first major gardening success EVAH.

Wee tomato!

It is, perhaps, hard to see him in the picture… I had to grab the picture fast before the sprinkler came back to get me.  Behind him is the future home of my raised bed garden.  I think this week we’re going to work on getting dirt into the gardens.  We’ve been remiss, to say the least.

Blogging from the past… April 10, 2009

This post is being written on Thursday, but published on Friday.  I shouldn’t even bother to give away this secret, but I fail to see how it matters.  I just don’t want 1) Two posts in one day and 2) to forget to post it.  I merely mention this so people don’t get concerned that I’m blogging while I should be working.

I few months ago i started a kitchen window garden.  I would really like to replace a window with a greenhouse window.  I think I would get more even sunlight, and just a better environment for my plants.  Still, without that, I have come up with this:

We got your tomatoes, your parsley (which went from 2″ tall to 5″ tall virtually overnight) and your oregano.  The tomato and parsley plants are totally schooling everything else…

And your basil and bonsai kit.  The bonsai kit belongs to The Hippy.  We got it at World Market’s closeout.  I also have an ivy plant that deserves more sunlight than I am able to give it.

Our renter wants a garden, so we’re building her one and one on our side to make the yard symmetrical.  The Hippy toyed with the idea of building one giant garden, but then he decided it would be unfair to the renter.  We’re kind of lazy, and we’re afraid she would end up taking care of our part of the garden.  I’m not sure what will go in the garden, but I know my mom had saved a bunch of seeds for me from last year.  We’ll see.  A green thumb I have not.