5.30.2008

bubbles

Check it out. It's a game at the bottom of this page. Scroll down and have fun.

Putting off the tiling

That's what I'm doing right now. It's my specialty. Later on I'm going to put off the dusting.

That's about it. I'm a bit depressed and not really into talking to myself today.

5.29.2008

In lieu of extra sleep...


Just took half a happy pill so maybe I'll get something done today instead of blithering around, starting 100 things and finishing nothing as usual. Not much to do in the garden. Dh put wire around one of the raised beds so it is chicken-free. Maybe the cabbage will stand a chance. Unless the pretty little white butterflies lead to their destruction. I relocated the volunteer zinnias to one side and planted the rest of the bed in peppers I grew from seed. They are super tiny. I don't know what happened this year but they just stopped growing in the cells. Very little root development and barely anything past the first set of true leaves. I may have to hoick them up and replace them with hybrids from the store. Gadzooks.

The Principe Borghese tomatoes had the same sluggish beginning. They look sturdy enough now but are way behind. Even the volunteers that survived the chickens and the cultivation and the raking are bigger and fuller. That's not supposed to happen. Thank goodness I tend to grow only heirloom plants or I would have nothing in the garden. Next year I think I'll just scatter the damned seeds in the fall and wait to see what happens. It couldn't turn out any worse! Of course, this fall I'll be building a really nice cold frame using the old windows I've saved up and hopefully I'll be able to extend the season a bit. I plan on putting the tunnel ribs back up for a winter salad garden as well. Plus, we'll have kale which is always tasty fried with garlic and onions and served with pasta. Haven't had that in a long while since the store has such poor quality. I refuse to pay a premium for limp kale with thick, heavy stalks that end up in the compost heap. Worse yet is when it is sold by the bunch and you have little choice.

I have some pinks to plant, some roses to move, some bamboo to eradicate, and some horse biscuits to spread around today (Preferrably AFTER I make some more bread) so I better get moving. Another hour of sleep would feel so good though....

5.28.2008

ISO Planning committee

Summer vacation is almost here. So far nothing has panned out. The engineering class that was oh so convenient and something the kid was really interested in has been cancelled. The timeshare exchange has gone bellyup like dd's sunset platy last week. The only thing available is in Hawaii the week after school lets out. WTH can afford plane tickets for that?

Ugh. I just fired down an underripe nectarine, drawn up and sour as hell. I have a sneaking suspicion that thing will be barrelling through my colon like an El Camino full of rednecks juiced up on Pony Millers. Good thing I've got nowhere to go for the next few hours. Hell, I've got nowhere to go for the next couple of days.

Today was the last day of the great Ukrops Coffee Social for Square Peggers. That's all I'm going to say about that.

So far I've come up with the following LOOSE itinerary:

JUNE: DC, Zoo, Maymont
JULY: Williamsburg, Shirley Plantation, Monticello
AUGUST: Beach (if anything comes available. We were shooting for Hilton Head Island but I think that's a crapshoot.), Jr. Adventurers at Pocahontas State Park for the kid, and possibly Berkeley Plantation.

So much hinges on when we'll get the beach vacation squared away. If. I see a lot of rollerskating and matinees in my immediate future.

5.21.2008

A break from the rain?


I noticed yesterday that the lemon cucumbers have germinated. No sign of any squash yet though. Looks like I may have basil, too. Still don't know what's up with the purple sage. If I didn't know better I'd think it was getting sun scald. Maybe the chickens are fertilizing it and burning it. Chicken poo is famous for that. I just saw Pichu down there munching on the cabbage. All the cabbages are ragged on one side...whatever the chickens can reach thru the wire cage. They're almost too big for it. I don't have anything else to protect them. Sure would be nice to actually be able to eat cabbage this year. I really need to put a fence up. *sigh* Another expense. I need to make some choices. And soon.

5.20.2008

Guess what?


It's raining again. How unusual. I didn't get to plant anything in the garden yesterday but I did do a lot of weeding. I've got a bunch of volunteer flowers coming up. Hope they turn out to be something interesting because it looks like they are the only things that are going to mature.
I had to stake a couple of the foxglove plants. The rain has made them so heavy. Every time I turn around the planter in the fish pond has capsized. Still no sign of the cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis). I guess I'll have to write that off again. Supposedly an easy plant to grow. right. The astrantia failed to return as well. And the allysum (all) that I planted this spring are history. Coleus, too. They were all impulse buys anyway. Except the cardinal. I went looking for that last year.
The peonies are gorgeous. I've got a ring around them so they aren't being pummelled by the rain. The bamboo is outstanding this year. I'd like to get a few different types but it sure is expensive. Besides, I think my neighbour would have a stroke if I introduced any more invasive plants to my garden.

In other news:
Went to another podiatrist yesterday. His diagnosis was completely different from the first podiatrist but ended the same. "Bring back a couple pair of shoes and we'll fit you with custom inserts". And, of course, that'll cost another $40 just to walk in the door. No thanks. I don't know who the hell to believe. Oh, and of course, the referral confirmation from my GP wasn't there. Typical.
What else? I'm down to my pre-wedding weight. Not due to anything I did myself unfortunately. My foot has limited me greatly so I should be gaining instead. 'course, everything I do seems to have the opposite effect than what's "normal". That's the whole bizarro thing at work again.

5.16.2008

Lastest news from the back 40


This is what I planted yesterday:
cocozelle squash
lemon squash
striata d'italia squash
summer crookneck squash
Mexican Sour Gherkins
Sweet Basil

A couple of days before, when we had a brief break in the rain, I planted lemon cucumbers. I transplanted my Principe Borghese tomatoes, too. I hope they survive. I'm running out of the ones I put in the freezer. I also spent a great deal of time weeding around my beets. Apparently it cleared the way for the chickens for they ate every single beet leaf in sight. I keep reminding them that they aren't too old for the pressure cooker but they know I wouldn't go thru with it. Miserable birds. I'll have to put a fence up around the garden. I'll love to get all stylish and have split rail with box wire on the bottom but that won't happen. I'll probably end up stringing chicken wire around the perimeter with rebar posts. Lovely. Cheap. Dh is all about the cheap. Hells Bells, I can't even get him to spring for FREE landscape timbers or railroad ties.

I guess it's time to sow another couple rows of stringbeans. It rained this morning so I can't really get in the garden today. I did all of my weeding yesterday so nothing to do there. I guess I'll peruse craigs list to see if anyone has any mulch they are willing to part with on the cheap.

5.05.2008

Garden update...

Not much to say here. I've been working in the garden quite a bit since it stopped raining. I got my truckload of horse manure (courtesy of Elaine at Hunter Lane Stables) on Friday. The chickens pounced on it immediately and proceeded to spread it around for me. Skip has been "wrapping" my path with plastic and I've been hauling out wire grass roots by the fistsful. There's no telling what kind of surprise weeds the manure will add to the mix but it can't possibly be worse than the wire grass.

I planted a mixture of melon seeds last weekend. Two more rows of stringbeans. I took the crate off of one of the cabbages to use while pulling weeds and the chickens decimated the plant. Evil rotten birds. It's a good thing they lay yummy eggs. I'm getting the tomato bed ready and should be able to put the plants out this week. The seedlings are still so small. I need to revamp my seed starting mix I believe.

I had to move some plants from around the fishpond last weekend as well. Not enough drainage. The basket-of-gold allysum is done for. The snow in summer (cerastium) is still hanging on. Barely. The chickens destroyed all of the coleus, too.

Speaking of evil birds...I can hear one squawking now. Must have laid an egg and wants to tell the world about it. I'll see if I can find some nice big juicy japanese beetle grubs for her.