Monday, March 26, 2007

Lots of work done this weekend!

Saturday, the weather was stunning. I got a little sunburned on my face and arms! This is what got done: 1. blankets all hung outside all day on newly installed clothesline 2. cleaned out all pots on patio from last year's plant debris 3. planted all patio pots with recovered seeds from last year (daisies and marigolds) and several different varieties of new annual seeds (including nicotania - supposed to have lime green flowers...can't wait!) 4. Put together the little outdoor side tables that mom got me (and all my other sisters) at Christmas. They were lime green, promptly painted black. 5. Planted carrot seeds in the garden 6. built an enclosure for my raspberries and other mystery berry I planted last year (very excited as there are about 11 new raspberries coming up this year!) 7. Cleaned patio table 8. Watched Rob mow the front yard (looks excellent!) 9. Trimmed my lilac trees (almost ready to bloom!) 10. Went to the grocery store 11. Bought a new tinkly windchime (was excellent on Sunday when it was a little rainy and somewhat windy) 12. We made the bed with the excellently fresh blankets that had been outside ALL DAY. The sun is the best fabric refresher there is! 13. Planted 72+ seeds in little peat starter pots. Tomatoes and basils all! Can't freaking wait!!! On Sunday, I cleaned the kitchen, made two huge loaves of banana bread, took down all the St. Patty's decorations, roasted a chicken, watched more of March Madness (stupid Kansas!), did some laundry, more dishes! I made a stovetop mac-n-cheese with turkey sausage and the cherry tomatoes that I roasted last year - they added a really great flavor...I am impressed with myself. I trimmed the dog's toenails. And, spent some quality time on the couch as well. That's about it. Wonderful weather. So thankful for the sun and the dirt. So excited for the arrival of my newest green babies.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Bunco! Or is it BUNKO?

On Saturday, I hosted a St. Patrick's Day Bunco party. All told, there were a total of 13 women in my house (including me!). It was a great time. I made corned beef sammiches (brown the brisket in a non-stick pan with some oil and brown sugar - about 10 minutes on each side or until a little brown and carmelized. Put it in the crockpot, pour a can of Guiness on it, cover and cook on low for eight hours. Stellar.) and Irish coffee (one ounce {a shot} of Bushmills Irish whiskey, one heaping teaspoon of brown sugar - stir 'er up. Fill the mug with hot, fresh, strong coffee. Add a dollop of homemade whipping cream.). People brought lotsa good food and since the weather was so nice, we got to hang out on the patio on "breaks."
I had a bunch of silly St. Patty's Day decor - green candles, green glass "stones" everywhere, a rather scary looking leprechaun on the front door, shamrocks all over, green tablewhere, etc. etc. Everyone got a little baggie with goodies in it - my favorite was a light up shamrock necklace. Go Oriental Trading Company (seriously, check it out for all your cheap party needs - www.orientaltrading.com ).
Fun times had all around! Host your own bunco party! They are fun, easy, and a blast!

Out in the Garden

I worked out in my garden last night. That was FUN! My sister helped me rake up all the leaves that I was using as mulch. I tore out the old tomato plants that had been there all winter. Looks much better in there now. I have new growth on all my herbs – three thymes (the orange thyme is so cool! It is a ground cover, has really low feathery tiny leaves – and they do smell citrusy! It is about 16” in diameter this year.), the green sage (we dug from Grandpa Sterling’s house), the purple sage, tarragon, bergamot, winter savory, the English lavender, St. John’s wort, lemon balm, the chive and the garlic chive already have harvestable shoots, and the parsley I planted last year is already back with a vengeance! I did not even know the dumb thing was a perennial. But, it is! Sweet. My rosemary did not die again this year…does not have new growth on it yet, neither does my Echinacea. I have a hollyhock we got from the plant sale at the church across the alley last year that has about quadrupled in size…it should bloom this year. I am excited to see what color it is. I can’t believe what a tiny sickly plant it was when I put it in and how big it is today! The raspberry that Rob got me has new buds on it – I need to trellis it this year. It is a third year plant, so it should produce this year!!! Yay! We got some other berry (two plants survived) from the neighbor last year…again, terribly sickly baby plants that have grown up. Not great, mind you, but grown up nonetheless. I ordered all my seeds yesterday – I decided to start my seeds indoor this year. We shall see how it goes! This is what I got… Tomato Better Boy Hybrid Tomato Early Girl Hybrid Tomato Sweet Baby Girl Tomato Tomande Zucchini Burpee Hybrid Winter Squash Early Acorn Squash - Autumn Glow Sunflower Chianti Hybrid Sunflower Honey Bear (pictured above, so cute!) Basil, Genovese Basil, Green Ruffles - Basil, Thai 'Siam Queen Basil - Sweet Nufar Hybrid Basil Summerlong Nicotiana Nicki Mix Portulaca Magic Carpet Zinnia Pinwheel Series
Oh man. Basil. Basil. Basil! BASIL! Can't wait. I've done my research and I think that I have the harvesting thing figured out. Stay tuned for pesto. Lots and lots of pesto!
I also made a border out of old beer bottles. I will try and post a picture of that soon. If it remains stable, I think it will be a great way to recycle the beer bottles. The dark brown glass should absorb the warm sunlight, so that should be helpful as well!

Friday, March 9, 2007

Wonder what I'm thinking about?

I can't wait until I can plant my garden! This is a photo of it from last year. I can't wait for the tomatoes and the basil. I plan on planting at least 10 basil plants. I hope that I can be more proactive on the harvesting...I will be able to keep the plants going for much longer. Pesto for all! Freakishly good stuff seriously.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

We Got Engaged!

I am sure that everyone knows, but Rob and I got engaged at the end of November. It was a perfect proposal - I totally stole Rob's thunder (as usual) - but it totally worked. It was crazy, the dogs were freaking out and running around, and Rob was as sweet as he could have been. He was going to be sneaky and ask me at the airport, but I told him on the way home from work I was just going to drop him off. *Thunder stolen* He totally had to come up with plan B in about 10 minutes. He asked me to marry him and then left for New York for a week. It was the loneliest five days I think I have ever experienced.

He is still the wonderful man I met, four years ago March 22! I can't believe it. We are so excited! Keep watching for exciting wedding details!!!

Jumping on the damn bandwagon

Here I am! Starting a blog. I want to see how well I am able to keep up with this. Bear with me...my life is not very interesting. Hee hee!