Sliding through webs

It is morning and I am looking out at the garden. Such as it is. Ellie has just asked me to hold the one perfect strawberry we found so she can jump on the tramp and spy for spiderwebs. "I don't like those big tangly webs with the ginormous spiders, but I do like to slide through the teensy ones."

She sits next to me and rubs her feet on Copper's fur. I ask her if she'd like to eat her strawberry now, "I think I'd like to wash it first, just in case there are teensy, tinsy bugs on it what you can't see."

The garden has been neglected this year. I planted it, hoed it, fed it, watered it and no weeds grew. I trained the tomatoes up strands of baling wire and hilled-up the potatoes. But still, the tomatoes' skins split and the peppers developed burned spots and the spiders--oh, the spiders--are everywhere. Funnel webs dot the flowerbeds every foot or so. I had no idea there were enough insects to support such a population--an inundation, really--of spiders.

I think about how the nights are cooling as evidenced by the slowing of the crickets' chirping. I read somewhere that you can tell what temperature it is by how many chirps there are per second, but I think it was in a Trixie Belden book so maybe that isn't really true. I worry those spiders are going to come inside and I think about how the weather stripping has peeled away from the basement door--a perfect welcome mat for invaders of the eight-legged variety.

"Mom, does Copper like it when you pet her?" she stops petting for a minute and Copper turns and looks at her expectantly.

"Yes, she does."

"I wonder what it feels like to her."

"Maybe like a hug or when I tickle your back."

"I will pet her all the time then."

I suppose gardens and dogs and people are all the same....it's not enough to feed them, and train them up, to weed them and groom them...they need to be loved, too.

Fall Bounty

The tomatoes are just coming on

and they are very tasty

But for some reason the larger tomatoes are splitting

These are the Sungold tomatoes - the ones Ellie thinks are orange grapes

These are the Sugary variety and very sweet

We have no bugs thanks to the marigolds and the spiders)

The green onions are as big around as my thumb

 
The days are already getting shorter, although they seem to be getting hotter. Before we know winter will be here with her slush and snow and bitter cold. I'm going to soak up these last days of summer.

First Harvest

I came home from San Diego to find that my garden had exploded in my absence.

About 15 Sungold tomatoes are missing. They taste so good that Ellie thinks they're orange grapes. Shh. Don't tell.

Lately, I can't stop making my sister's invention of Mango Avocado Pico.

1 (or 2) mango, diced
1/2 purple onion, chopped
1 (or 2) avocado, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
juice of one lime
salt to taste

And a bag of freshly-fried restaurant nachos. Devour.

How 'bout them apples...er, tomatoes?

These are a grape tomato and perfect for salads or snacking

The tomato bed is bursting with fruit, and some of the plants are taller than I am.

Here's a special treat we can stick in the category of "When glasses were as big as your face."

How is your garden coming along and do you have entries for "when glasses were as big as your face"?

Butt, wait!

Here are my first cuts from the garden this year. I love when the peonies are in bloom.

The smell and look divine.

The roses aren't bad either. Most of the rose bush got zapped in the late frost so I haven't been able to bring myself to prune the suckers off - maybe in a few weeks.

This weekend we worked our butts off transforming this former weed patch

Into this

The tree is a Ukigumo Maple, and the leaves turn a speckled white when planted in full sun.

This bench has been sitting in our back yard relatively unused for the last seven years. It's seen more action in the past three days than it's ever had.

Our neighbors helped us to till this and get it panted. It just wouldn't have been possible without them. Don't you wish you had neighbors like mine?

My monkey. I know there will come a day when she will stop saying, "Take a picture of me," but I don't want to think about it.

In other news... with all that hoeing, I pulled a glute. It's kinda hard to run with a defunct butt. Guess I will just have to sit here and rest it a while. I'm pretty good at that.

Garden

Tomorrow I get to cross of one of the items on my 40 for 40 list: Plant the North side. I can't tell you how excited I am. It's been nothing but weeds or a barren wasteland since we moved in. It is going to be beautiful.

The lilacs were amazing this year, but after a few days of blooms, I had to cut them down--they are just too much for my allergies to handle. Sniff.

The front of the house has the purple/white/yellow/red theme going on

It pays to be up at sunrise

Potatoes. Funny story, the puny plants on the left are ones I bought, and the big, bushy ones were started from seed potatoes. They are growing like weeds.

The birds have discovered our strawberries so I've installed some netting over those hoops. Now I just need to get a handle on the slugs.

I love me some home-grown basil

The peonies will be in bloom next week, and I can hardly wait

All that remains of the willow - ready to go for the firepit and s'mores

And nothing beats the light on English daisies at 7 PM.

Thanks to Von for being a good, no make that great, sport. Won't you join us with some swimsuit confidence of your own? And pop over and tell her how great she looks.

What are your weekend plans?

Hot, hot, cold, cold

We had a brief respite from the cold last weekend. It lasted about two and a half days.

Now it's raining. A lot.

But it was warm and dry long enough for us to get the new soil mixed into the garden and the pre-plant fertilizers are thoroughly watered-in.

Now, if my plants can just hang on for the weekend, I'll get their roots in some lovely, rich earth.

We are trying a more vigorous approach to pruning the tomatoes this year. I have about 6 varieties and need to find three more Roma plants.

The other day Ellie told me she'd figured out the weather pattern, it's Hot, Hot, Cold, Cold. I think we are past due for some Hot, Hot.

In other news (for Tori, because I know this will make her laugh), one of my kids told me the other day: "Did you know that scientists think there are diamonds in Uranus?"

Had to remind myself that I'm not actually a 14-year old boy. I almost succeeded, but then she added: "you know, because it's so cold in there."

Ah ha ha ha! I couldn't help myself. Poor kid.

Lion House French Bread Recipe and Spring!

Lion House French Bread

2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 c. warm water
2 C hot water
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
5 Tbsp shortening, melted or veg. oil (I always use oil)
6 C Flour
***
1 egg white, sesame seeds


Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c warm water - let stand 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine 2 C. hot water, sugar, salt, shortening (or oil), and half of the flour, beat well (I throw it in my Bosch and don't mess with a spoon). Stir in dissolved yeast. Stir in remaining flour. Mix well until it balls up, pulls completely away from sides of bowl. Leaving spoon in batter, allow to rest for 10 minutes. Stir vigorously.

Allow to rest again for 10 minutes. Repeat 3 more times. Cover with towel/lid while resting. Turn out onto floured board. Knead once or twice until lightly coated with flour. Divide dough in half for french bread loaves (or 5 sections for soup bowls, ). Roll each half into a 9"x12" rectangle. Starting at long edge, roll loosely, seal edges. Place both rolls seam side down on large cookie sheet (I use the largest rectangular Airbake pizza pan and place the loaves diagonally). Gash the tops 3 times each with a sharp knife. Brush with beaten egg white. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (I skip this step). Let rise 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
****
I am so happy to have my camera back. Perfect timing, if you ask me.

I took it into Kew's Camera Service and they replaced the mainboard. It was their first time doing this procedure, so they gave me a steal of a deal on the labor in exchange for being their guinea pig.

I know they had my camera a very long time, but only having to pay 1/10th the cost of replacing it was well worth it. Don't you think?

Happy Easter, everyone.

Magical Mouse Poop

A few nights ago Ellie woke up around 3 in the morning and came into my room. She'd been coughing and woke herself up. As she crawled into bed with me, she started mumbling about how mouse poop was magic. I asked her to explain.

Well, did you know that mouses fink their pee is juice and that their poop is meat? You don't even have to buy them any food. Can I get a mouse?


I really marvel at the way that girl's mind works, even when she's half asleep.
***

My neck is holding strong. I've been running twice this week and I've gone biking too. I'm having a little anxiety about riding, but then I always have this sensation at the beginning of the season. It is a strange, reckless feeling to be going so fast without being strapped into or onto anything.

I sometimes have a similar anxiety about running. I have a bum right ankle, and it will roll without any warning. It hurts for about 10 seconds and always takes me by surprise - just enough for a cuss word to escape when I suddenly find myself on the ground. After walking around on it for about 30 seconds, I'm fine and good to go. It should be no big deal, but mentally I cringe and find myself thinking that one of these times it's just going to break. And that would really hurt.

Note to self: stop borrowing trouble

I have worked in my yard each time the sun has shone lately. After three months of being mostly sedentary, it feels absolutely wonderful to be moving again. I hope never to take hard work, sweat, and the good kind of body aches for granted again. I have cleaned out the front and rear flower beds and mucked out the garden. This weekend is time to put the peas, romaine and spinach in. We put this yard in with the intent that it be no or low maintenance. Hah! Beauty always requires work, but is always worth it in the end.

Monday, I find out if the camera can come off life support. Fingers crossed.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! What are you doing to enjoy Spring?

And they're out (of the ground)

The onions are drying on the back table, next up salsa. I need a good mango peach salsa recipe. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

We have the first layer of buildings painted. It is looking even better than I'd hoped. We're planning on putting together a time-lapse slide show for you to see when it's all finished. In advance: I am asking you to ignore the low-maintenance painting attire/hair/make-up.

It's a time consuming process but the results are going to make it all worth it.

I just realized that when I shut down Ty's blog I didn't move over the critical points to his story, and I will remedy that as soon as I get all this paint out from under my fingernails.

And another one down and another one bites the dust

We strained 2 gallons of tomatoes into the makings of a sauce.
I finished the owl hat for my sister's dress, finally. The first time I made it I used the wrong color of yarn. The shades of pink were off just enough so that I knew it would bug me, but they're a perfect match now.

And that's it. Other than sit around on my tookus to knit or cook, or peel something, that's all I did today (unless you count watching The Sound of Music, too). It feels fabulous having one more project on the list done.

The girls thought the best part was turning the handle that magically made seed-free juice and pulp come out of the strainer. And then we cooked it down from 8 quarts to 3 and it is going on some homemade pizza crusts tomorrow. For a thorough test run.

Our last batch turned out "spiceky" as Ellie would say, meaning it had quite a kick to it. Maybe growing them in some proximity to the peppers was a bad idea.

'Tis the Season

Any pictures posted right now would consist of tomatoes and fruit flies, which I know are not all that exciting. So I will spare you the tomato torture. But wait! There are also a couple more finished objects to show you, so I will drag the camera out tomorrow.

In other news, I ran into a friend today and managed to talk her ear off (and the whole time I was thinking, "Why can't I just shut up already?") and feel all socially inept. Gaaaah! Perhaps I should include a roll of duct tape in the contents of my purse?

You might think to yourself that this is a sure sign that I need to get out more, but you'd be wrong - it's exactly why I think I should stay in more. My mouth cannot be trusted.

So, the garden

Um yeah, so the squash bugs are back. Apparently.

But let's not dwell on the disheartening. Look! Reddish tomatoes.

And the day lilies are out,

And the yarrow is blinding.

I love that there are new blossoms everyday

Even the wisteria has a certain grace

This morning my eyes popped open at 6 AM and they never, no never do that.

I made the best of it and suited up (I highly recommend this padded racer skort - it's on clearance at Park's if you're local)

Compared to yesterday's triple digit temperatures, this morning's ride was the stuff dreams are made of and the lighting at that time of the morning is beautiful. I rode along the foothills, on trail and off through two neighboring towns, and then took off down the mountain on city bike paths.

The road makes this roller coaster dip at the half-way point of my ride, and it's my favorite part of the trip. I book it down to the bottom, my legs churning like a house on fire. Down in the bottom of the hollow, large trees hang down obscuring all but the few feet ahead of me. It's at least fifteen, maybe even twenty, degrees cooler under all that greenery.

It's a divine, delicious coolness and just what a body needs after 11 miles.

This is just at the top of the other side, and left of frame is a chestnut horse who always edges up to the fence for a closer look.

I love being out when the sun comes up - words I never, no never, thought I'd say.