What a satisfying morning in the garden.  I got up early, let the chickens out (they have real attitudes if I don't let them out first thing in the morning!), watered the garden, inspected all the plants, pulled out some weeds, moved the pineapple to a better location, moved my lemon trees (in pots) around, pulled some more weeds, planted some cucumber seeds and I'm ready for action.  And by action, I mean salads. 

I'm getting handfuls of cherry tomatoes, green peppers, yellow squash and herbs like crazy.  My flowers are also looking really good and I've got lots of buds and baby lemons on the lemon trees.  They smell amazing....I don't think there's a better smell in the world than lemon blossoms.  

I'm really pleased with how the garden looks and I can't wait to see how it looks as things grow bigger.  We have several trees in the ground now too--2 peach trees and a grapefruit.  

So, now I'm dirty, wet from watering, my hands smell like herbs, and I'm feeling happy.  Dirt therapy--I'm telling you people....can't beat it.  

The hubbs and I have been going to a lot of estate sales lately, which I LOVE, and so does he.  I found this terrifying little beauty at one....

As you can see, they were asking $8 for it....it's JUST the head so I'm not sure what they based that price on.  I was tempted to buy it and just place it in one of the girls' bedrooms, but I thought that would be too mean even for me.  We have gotten lots of interesting things at estate sales, though.  Its lovely to be married to someone who has the same interests as I do.  

I think today we are going to stick close to home, do some laundry, clean a little, and work out in the yard.  We almost never stay home, so this will be nice.

I only have one more week with my VPK class and I'm pretty sad about that.  I spend a lot of time with my pumpkins and I love them all.  Some will stay with me but a lot will be done and then on to kindergarten in the fall.  Sigh.  I did NOT think this through when I decided to teach. 

I'm Dreaming of Key Limes....etc.

One key lime seed sprouted today--isn't that exciting?   Maybe someday I can pick my own 23 key limes from this little tiny tree.  

GOODNESS, it's hotter than hot in Orlando today.  I left work early today for an appointment, and I cannot believe how hot it is outside!

My great friend Chicken Noodle came to visit me at work today, and many of my coworkers told me that it made them laugh to hear us laughing...  she absolutely is my partner in crime.  Next time I see her, I will get a picture of us together, and post it.  She's a pretty good sport.  

Kaleigh is sitting in the living room, making bracelets out of beads.  She is also singing to herself, which is so cute I can hardly stand it.  If only she understood how adorable I think she is....

I think I'll do a little reading this afternoon with my extra time off.  Then I plan to work in the garden when it cools off a little bit.  It needs to be watered.  And I need to look closely for weeds, it amazes me that I don't see any for a long time, then all of a sudden they are everywhere.  Maybe I need to mulch better.  I'll think about that.

I wish I had made some decisions about the chicken quilt yesterday so I could work on it today. But I need to let things stew in my mind a little bit before deciding, and I don't like to rush things or I might not like the outcome.  This is true for a lot of things.  

No pictures today--do you want to see pictures?  Nobody is leaving comments, in spite of the many visits to this blog each day, so I can't tell what people want to see.  If you let me know, I promise to deliver it...(within reason, of course).

I've been thinking about making a challenge for myself--any ideas out there about what it should be?  So far, I've come up with the following possibilities, and of course, I would blog about it daily.  

1. Blogging every day for a month (I can start small, add later if I want to).
2. Money-saving--keep a running total of how much money I can save in a month.
3. Do-One-Thing----I can do one thing to simplify my life each day, and post about it and decide if it's worth continuing.  

Any votes?  Or other ideas?  If nobody comments, I guess I'll consult Chicken Noodle and ask her what she thinks, but I already KNOW which one she'll choose....

Seed Packets... a tutorial.

I'm sitting here folding the most adorable little seed packets!   I will use these to trade seeds or give gifts of seeds.  Aren't they pretty?

These were made out of a notepad I got at the dollar store--I learned how to do them out of post-its, but these are so cute I might just keep making them this way.  I get a lot of those notepads as little gifts and always seem to have some around.  I know I'd like to get seeds in one of these!

I'll try to show you... (this seems way more complicated in writing than it is, so I suggest you get a paper and follow along--it's really simple)  These are the kind of notepads I used.  Sorry about the change in background.  

1.  With the paper wrong side up, fold the bottom of the paper up, leaving the part you want for the flap above the bottom part.  (If you are using a post-it notepad, make sure the sticky part is on the flap at the top.)

2.  Fold both sides in about 1/4 inch.  This step might not be necessary, but I found that it makes the envelopes a little more sturdy and makes a little wiggle room for the seeds, so I do it.  

3.  Open the flaps you just folded, and cut where I have indicated below.  You don't really need to mark this, just cut it away.  (The paper on the left has it cut away, the one on the right shows where to cut.

4.  Now open up the paper so it's flat, wrong side up.  Fold the flaps toward the wrong side.  

5.  Fold the bottom up keeping the flaps inside.

6.  Tape along the sides.

7.  Fold flap down.  If you used a post it notepad, this would be resealable.  

Super cute!  If you have any problems or something isn't clear, please leave a comment--I will get back to you!

  

Frugal Gardening...

As I've mentioned many times, I'm very frugal.  I don't have unlimited funds to finance my dream garden, so I need to work at it slowly and find cheaper ways to do things.  Having said that, I am willing to spend where necessary to get the best outcome.  I thought I'd share a few ideas I have about how to keep gardening costs down.  (I love a good list!)

• Don't try to do everything at once.  Think about what you want to do ultimately.  Make a list of what you have to do to get there.  Prioritize.  Do what you can now.  Work toward what you can't do right now.
• Example--I knew I wanted a large garden with several (unspecified number) garden beds.  I didn't want to get overwhelmed so the first year I made two beds.  I handled those easily, so the next year, I added two more (larger) beds, and some pots.  Over time, I felt confident enough to dig into the yard to make a small flower bed and a small herb bed so I did those things.  If I had done them all at once it would have been a disaster.
• I like free materials.  When someone offers me scrap wood, I take it.  At least half of my raised beds are made from free wood (untreated).  
• Reuse!  Can't stress this enough.  When I buy a large plant (like a tree) and replant it, I save the pot it came in.  Chances are good I'll be looking for a pot to plant lettuce or a tomato in soon, so I wash it out really well and set it aside.  I don't keep too many though, it would be easy to get overrun by seedling planters.  
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check the marked down area at the garden center.  I have found incredible bargains there.  Sometimes it's a single plant, sometimes trees, sometimes a flat of something.  
• Also, check if your garden center recycles pots.  I have found large black pots (as big as 3 gallons) suitable for planting herbs or whatever that I can take for free (make sure to ask).  They look just like the pots the garden center sells for around $10.  
• I save kitchen scraps to make my own compost.  Best thing you can do for your garden.
• I also make my own fertilizer tea.  I keep a large jar on my counter by the sink, and crush up egg shells, cover them with water, add coffee grounds and tea bags, and after a few days, use it on my plants.  I add a lot of water to use it on my houseplants, but outside, I just dump it on whatever is looking puny.
• Buy good tools the first time.  I used regular scissors for a long time to prune plants and cut herbs because the Fiskar's Garden Pruners seemed super expensive, but my son finally bought me a gardening set with those, hedge trimmers, loppers, and a machete, and they are WONDERFUL!  I wish I had just spent the money earlier.  
• Lasagna beds!  Start them in the fall where you want a bed in the spring.  Dig out the sod--use it somewhere else in your yard, maybe low spots.  Layer cardboard boxes and newspaper (many layers) at the bottom, then add leaves, yard waste (which I'm willing to pick up from my neighbor's curb), and compost and keep adding until it's very thick (6 inches or more).  Cover with mulch and let it sit.  When spring comes, you shouldn't be able to identify much in there and you are ready to go.  Rake the mulch away to plant, then re-mulch.  Keep it mulched for weed control.
• Mulch with DRIED lawn clippings.  Free!
• Get compost at the landfill.  Free! (Check to see if your community has such a thing)
• Save and trade seeds.  I might never use a whole envelope of seeds, so I trade.  You can trade with friends, find a garden club or check with your extension office.
• Reuse stuff you have around.  You can poke holes into the bottom of a gallon milk jug, set it behind a plant, fill it with water and it can take care of slow watering your plant for you.  It looks funny when the plant is small, but when the plants grow, you can hide them.  (Half gallons work too)
• I keep my regular tools outside near the garden, and my pruners go in a basket with my gloves and some plant ties and some twine which I bring in and out of the house each time I work outside.  If your good tools get rusted, you will have to buy more--NOT A BARGAIN!
• I keep a bunch of five gallon buckets around.  I got mine from Firehouse Subs for $2 each, and they have lids to them.  They're bright red, which I love.  I mix potting mix in them, store vermiculite, peat moss and planting mix in them, and mix compost tea in them.  I drilled some holes in one to fill with water and drip slowly also, but I don't think that was really necessary.  I also collect rainwater in them to use to water the garden.  
• Starbucks is very environmentally friendly, and whenever I go to one, I ask for coffee grounds.  They save them in a huge plastic bag and give them to me or whoever asks first.  I throw them in the compost, mix them in my planting mix, and sprinkle them around my plants.  They seem to repel pests, and add nitrogen to the plants.
• If someone has a plant that I admire, I always ask them if I can take a cutting.  Generally, I just clip a small piece of new growth, pull off all the lower leaves (leave three or so) and either root it in water or just push it into the dirt.  I baby it a little to get it going, then plant it where I want it.   I also propagate my already-established plants this way.   I've been very successful with this.  If something grows well in your yard, it's baby will too.

That's what I can think of so far.  I'm sure I'll add more as they come to me. 

Random Thoughts...Again....

I've been alone for the last few days, which leads to a lot of thinking.  Thinking leads to a lot of seemingly disconnected thought processes.  I have learned not to question how my mind works because even I can barely follow the logic....   Anyway, here some of my recent thoughts:

• I WANT CHICKENS.  This is happening.  And soon.  I think they will be my birthday present to myself.  Kaleigh and I can build a coop and I think 3 or 4 would be a lovely addition. 
• My coffee sucks.  I'm not sure why I can't make a decent cup of coffee...my sister and I can make pots on the same day, with the same pot, same coffee, same everything, and mine is awful--hers is fabu.  Don't get it.
• I need to water the garden this morning--be right back.......................................................... okay, I'm back.  It seems like my green beans should have beans growing on them.  Maybe it's too early.  Looking forward to that for sure.  There's nothing like fresh green beans.  Well, that's not strictly true, all fresh veggies are pretty awesome.   I can't believe I've never planted a fall garden before this.  Last year I planted a few scraggly vegetables, but didn't really take care of them appropriately, thinking that they wouldn't grow since it wasn't spring.   Now I feel silly about that.  
• Maybe I'll make some curtains for my sewing room today--I've been needing a project to work on.   I'll look through my fabrics and see if I can find something nice to use.  I have some "vintage" (I use the term loosely) sheets that might be good to use.  I wish I had something to hand quilt.  Maybe I should look at my HUGE bin of unfinished tops for something to work on.  It would be nice to have something to do with my hands in the evening.  
• A few days ago, I chopped some herbs from my garden (basil, thyme and rosemary) and put them into an ice tray--covered them with olive oil and froze them.  This was an experiment that I saw on Pinterest (and I think we ALL know that sometimes what people represent on Pinterest isn't what REALLY happens when we try it!) so I thought I'd do it.  I can throw one of the cubes into any recipe for some fresh herb taste.  It worked.  I took the cubes out (they look like green stuff sticking out of lard at this point) and put them into a labeled freezer bag--I think I will throw a few into my tomato sauce later today.  Success!
• I'm missing Hillarie like crazy these days.  
• Looked back in my SUPER-DUPER AWESOME gardening journal to see when green beans were planted, and it's only been a little over a month, it is definitely too early.  They trick me by growing like crazy.  
• I've been thinking about moving the big hutch out of the dining room, or moving it into the corner so I can set up a planting table or shelves there in the sunny window there.  Then I can have more plants inside.  My kitchen window doesn't really get sun, just light so I'm limited as to what can grow there.  
• I need to think about some cooking projects to do with my class.  My assistant is like a genius with play dough, but the kids just love to mix stuff, and eating it is a bonus.  Do some research.

Enough rambling.  I have stuff to do.  I think I'll go mix up my compost and water the pile while I'm at it.  Peace.

Gardening Journal

This year I have made a real effort to keep a gardening journal.  I can never remember what I planted where, how it grew, what kind of green beans were those?  So I've done pretty well.  I keep my very glamorous journal (an ugly spiral notebook--maybe I should glam it up a little, I believe you can never have too much glitter.) on a shelf next to my computer and every night I write a few notes about what I've done that day--if anything.  I write what I bought and what I paid, and if I had to water or if it rained this week, and what I transplanted, or anything else.  I also wrote in there what sproutrobot.com suggests that I plant based on my zip code.  Love that site.  

Cover (specially decorated by me!):

Sample Page:

This is what it looks like--not sure if you can read what's written, but you get the idea.  Each two-page spread has a week listed.  I had divided it up into four sections (showing four years of what happened), but it turns out, half a page isn't enough space for me, so I'm changing to one year per page.  So when the book is open, the left page will be for 2013. and the right page will be for 2014.  I can see from year to year what happened last year.  After 2014 I will get a new book (sometimes I HAVE to spend money--I think it's 99 cents well spent)

I'm not a great gardener, but I've always believed that what I lack in knowledge I can make up in enthusiasm, so I wing it.  It turns out that plants have been growing on earth for millions (at least) of years, and they don't really need much help from me.  They continue to grow in spite of me.  Another beautiful thing.

A Fresh New Start...and more Compost

I am a teacher.  A preschool teacher.  So I guess I don't have to explain why my new year starts in late August, and NOT January 1st.  I love a new school year.  Mrs. Jones (my assistant) and I have had a great first week with our new pumpkins.

Recently, I really feel like my work life is coming together the way it should.  Home life is settling down.  I'm ready to go back to concentrating on me and how I feel and what I want to do.  I am re-instituting the Year of Being Amie.  I did well with it the first time around, but life stuck it's big fat nose in and I got away from it again.  So here we go.

I'm sweaty once again.  I spent a hard hour and a half in the garden this morning.  I took some pictures but it was already so steamy out that they are completely foggy and you can barely see anything.  I'll take some more later and post them. 

I ended up planting some tomato seedlings--I grew them from seed myself, thank-you-very-much--in pots.  They look so tiny.  The "orchard" looks good, considering it's only two trees.  It's looking very garden-y out in my side yard these days.  

Below is my "orchard"--a key lime tree and a meyer lemon tree.  Love them!

Below is my green bean teepee--no green beans yet, but there are lots of flowers, meaning lots of green beans to come!

I mixed up a wheelbarrow full of planting mix, used some for the tomatoes and stored the rest in a Firehouse Subs pickle bucket for later.  I make my mix according (very loosely) to Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening recipe.  Bless Mel for figuring this out for me.  I usually throw a few shovels full of compost (more on that, my favorite gardening subject, later) into my wheelbarrow, then add several shovels full of vermiculite (which I store in a large bin in the garden area outside), and several shovels full of peat moss (which I also store in a large big on top of the vermiculite bin).  Stir it all around with my new shovel, and I use it in my raised beds and my outside pots.  Like I said, I store any extra that I haven't used yet in a five-gallon bucket.  

Compost...is there a more beautiful word in the English language?  What else illustrates the beauty of recycling better than compost?  Throw a bunch of trash in the form of food waste, dead plants, leaves, grass, animal waste (vegetarian animals only), dead yard waste, and it rots into something that helps you grow food!  It's a miracle, really.  AND, if you want to there are things you can do to speed it along...watering your pile, turning it, layering the correct ratio of green things (fresh, plant based materials) to brown things (dead, brown things), but nature does the trick all by itself, even if you do nothing.  Like I've said before--it's a fundamental law of nature--everything rots.  And of course, we humans can't help ourselves but to make a simple process complicated...with tools and thermometers, but they aren't really necessary.  

I do want to say one thing about my process.  I use a bin that I made from three old pallets (see above) and throw all my kitchen scraps in there.  I save them in the kitchen in an old plastic 5 quart ice cream tub and throw them out there when it's full--usually every 1-2 days.  My kitchen has a lot of scraps!  I put tea bags, coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells, dryer lint, and anything else that I would throw away except meat and fat.  I don't want any rodents in there!  When I dump my compost tub out there, I usually throw some dead leaves or grass or something over it so the food doesn't attract previously mentioned rodents (I know there are possums around, and squirrels, I don't want to know what else).  I don't really do anything else to this.  And as  a side note, I've read in lots of places that the pile has to "heat up" to do the work.  Mind is never hot--at least not hotter than it gets in Orlando on a summer day.  It just rots quietly.  And it DOES NOT SMELL.  Can't stress that enough.  It just smells like fresh dirt.  

That is Phase One.  Just kidding, that's just one pile.  

Phase Two (okay, maybe I wasn't kidding):  I have another compost pile right next to that one that contains finished compost.  I get some from the landfill, they have this beautiful (well, not so beautiful, but free!) pile of compost on a grassy area and there are always nice people there getting some.  I like to talk to them, much to my daughter's horror.  I don't have a truck, I have a Dodge Caliber, so I put all the bins, five-gallon buckets and whatever else I can find in the back of my car, grab my shovel and go to town (so to speak).  Yes, dirt gets everywhere in my car, but I don't care.  I also put my finished compost--mine takes about a year to stew and get done because I LITERALLY do nothing to it.    My daughter has a friend (yea, Erin!) with horses, and every now and then she drops off a huge bin of composted horse manure, and I add that to my pile of finished compost.  I've also been known to "steal" bags of dried leaves, yard waste, pine needles, etc. from my neighbors' curbs on garbage day.  Call me crazy.  In the spring, when I'm about to plant fresh, I will also buy a bag of several different kinds of compost, whatever I can find.  Mushroom compost, cow manure compost, etc.  Each of these adds different nutrients to the soil for my plants.  I use this to add a shovel full to each pot or raised bed as I replant, and to make my planting mix. 

Phase Three:  This pile is on the other side of the house, where most of  my grass is.  The reason it's there is because it's dry grass.  As I mow my lawn and the bag fills up, I dump them on the other side of my house to dry.  I just leave them there (they are out of sight of the neighbors) in a couple of piles.  As I use the most dry one for mulch (again, not pretty, but its free--I take that back, no mulch is really "pretty"), I add the fresh bags to a second pile.  When the dry pile is gone, I start using the second pile, and putting the fresh bags on the first pile.  

Phase Four:  Leaf Mold Pile.  This one is my favorite.  (I know I'm a composting nut job.)  I have a huge oak tree and other, smaller trees in my front yard, making it difficult to plant there, but giving me a true gift.  Leaves.  I rake these into another pile (behind a tree right in my front yard).  This is amazing stuff.  The dirt under it is black and spongy, and truly a gardener's dream.  When I plant a new raised bed (or bed in the ground), I get some of the stuff at the bottom of this pile and spread it in the bottom, under the planting mix or dirt.  If leaves are mixed in, I'm good with that.  Like I said, everything rots.  Eventually those leaves will nourish the plants.  

I told you this was a beautiful plan.  

This year I plan to scour the neighborhood for more of the neighbors' leaves, etc. and start a lasagna bed next to my driveway, with the goal of a cottage garden there.  Herbs, flowers, strawberries, and maybe some vegetables here and there.  It's ambitious, but it's a process.  Here's the plan:

• gather leaves, yard waste, etc.
• dig out sod, using it elsewhere in yard (low spots, etc.)
• lay down layers of brown cardboard, newspapers, etc.
• cover with free mulch.  
• start at road end (so neighbors are happy) and plant entire area with herbs, flowers, whatever I find that will look nice, and edging with strawberries.  

I think I may work on this in sections as I get materials.  Do areas 4' x 6' at a time, then moving on the next section.  This will keep my yard from sitting "naked" while I wait for materials.   I definitely garden on a budget so I can't go out and buy a yard full of plants at one time.  I'm getting pretty good at propagating plants so that's something that will help.  I do need to think about a low fence or something as a backdrop.  

Wow, this has been a long post.  Not like me at all....

I Don't Want To Brag, But I Kind Of Rock...

So... I'm feeling very full of myself these days.  After work I went to Lowes and as always, I checked out the marked down plants.  There were some kind of tired looking white vincas for .40 each--my kind of price.  And vincas will grow anywhere and come back for many years.  I think I'm going to get my forty cents worth out of those babies.  

So then I think about how I got a passion plant at less than half price a few weeks ago, and decided to go and take another look-see at those.  My lucky day!  There was one that looked pretty okay, but had some dead leaves on it--they marked it down to $5 from $19.98.  WOO-HOO!

So then I thought I'd better take another look at the marked down stuff and I found some fruit trees marked down as well, and they actually looked pretty good.  I got a key lime tree (to go along with my meyer lemon) for $7!  I couldn't be more thrilled if somebody dumped a load of horse poop on my driveway.  (On a sidebar, it's amazing how the things that make me happy have changed over the years.)   There was another citrus tree there too, so I may go back and go crazy.  There was also a BIG kumquat tree for $20 which I am going to go back and get on Friday if it's still there.  I hope it's still there.  I actually have started my own orchard.  Yes, it's a citrus orchard, but details....

When I got home, I went out for a little dirt therapy--and I feel so much less stressed now.  Plus I smell like fresh herbs so that's a definite bonus.  I planted my flowers and some squash seedlings that I planted a few weeks ago, and watered everything really well.  I cut a bunch of basil and some rosemary from the plants, and when I brought them in, I cut them up, put them into an old ice tray and covered them with nice olive oil, then popped them into the freezer.  They should be really great to throw into recipes.  

Who knows, maybe I'll REALLY go crazy and start cooking again.  

Lawnmowers...Out To Get Me?

I do not have a large yard.  I don't even have to mow the backyard and one side of the house because of the plants there and it's not lawn.  So why do I have to struggle with the damn lawnmower EVERY fucking week?  Can't the stupid thing work for the 45 minutes (maybe not even that) that it takes to get the grass cut?  Can't it?  Granted, the grass is long because it's been rainy and it grows like... well.. a weed, and it's perpetually wet underneath so I have to mow slowly and keep lifting the mower up so it doesn't cut out.  But now it won't even start.  

Screw this, I'm calling a lawn guy.  Then I'm going to sit outside and sip lemonade and ogle him while he takes care of my yard work.  I'll handle the garden, and he can sweat while he mows.  I think it's a plan.




Post Script:  I went back out and finished mowing the lawn.  

What's New?

Not much going on these days.  At work we are all getting our classrooms ready for the new batch.  I have to say, our room looks pretty AMAZING!  Mrs. Jones and I made a lot of changes and I finally (AFTER THREE YEARS!) figured out how I need things organized so I can find them when I want them and everyone else can clearly see where they go.  The classroom is really feeling different, really mine all of a sudden.  It's wonderful.  Will post pictures when it's finished.  

My tomato seedlings finally have real leaves, so they are ready to be transplanted--probably this weekend.  I had 100% germination with those, but I'm VERY disappointed with the yellow squash.  A measly 10%.  So I replanted more seeds into the pots, I hope these will germinate.  In another two weeks I will plant cucumbers and lettuce.  Looking forward to that.  My green beans continue to astound me, growing 4 inches a day.  Amazing.  Lots of flowers so that means lots of green beans.  

The garden is actually looking pretty good.  I would post pictures but I'm already in my jammies and I am not changing now.  Will do soon, though.  I built another trellis (this one looks MUCH better) and transplanted the passion flower--it is looking very droopy.  Not sure if it's going to make it, but I'm making sure to water it deeply, and tomorrow I will bring it a present of worm castings, and if anything will help, that will.  

Maybe things aren't so bad after all...

After the worst week ever, and just an okay day today, I came home feeling pretty yucky.  I decided that I needed a little dirt therapy, so I went out in the garden for a couple of hours.

• Yard work, check  (now the neighbors aren't cringing at the sight of my yard.
• I ALWAYS, without fail feel better after working in my tiny garden for a while.  
• Green beans are looking good (see below), so I mulched them with free, that's right, I said FREE yard clippings that have been drying out in a pile in my side yard.  (I have two more piles ready to mulch with when I get more plants into the beds). 

• I think the mulch looks pretty good--or as good as mulch ever looks.  I hate red mulch, and black mulch seems unnatural, so I prefer brown mulch anyway, and this looks like any other mulch.  And I'm improving the soil at the same time.
• My passion plant is blooming--look at this lovely lady!  I need to find a nice big trellis for her to drape herself over. 

• I saw several tiny toads out in the yard near the garden, which is really good, it means I have lots of nice juicy living things in the dirt.  No photo.
• Last, the strawberries are running!  Yea!

• Oh yeah, I've been meaning to take a picture of this--this is my little herb propagating and seedling area next to my kitchen window.  

• After I finished all my fun in the dirt, I decided to make a little something for my favorite new teacher ever--Trina Kennedy.  These are pillow covers I sewed for her new (and first!) classroom.  I just adore that girl!  They are much prettier in person--so much so that I think I'll make some for my own classroom...

• ... although mine were made from men's shirts from the thrift store.  I even used the buttons on the back as a closure.  I think I'm pretty clever.  

Consoling Myself at the Garden Center...

Okay, maybe that was a SLIGHT deceit.  Or a plain lie.  I don't need to console myself.  Nothing bad is going on right now.  Baby girl is home, big girl is good, grandbabies are all healthy, happy and sassy, boys are being boys, and I'm home by myself on a Friday night, feeling a little sassy myself.  For a couple of reasons:

1.  I've had a great week at work, if you could call it a week--it was actually three days.  Details.
2.  Baby girl is home and healthy.
3.  She's having fun with her sister in law at a concert tonight.  Can't beat the company.
4.  My green beans have sprouted after only THREE DAYS!  I'm thrilled.  I even built them a "lovely" teepee in my front yard, which I'm sure my neighbors love.  But hey, I have to listen to them yell at each other and look at their naked kids in the yard all the time, I think they can tolerate a strange wooden trellis in my yard until the beans overtake it.
5.  I just fed my gardening addiction  preoccupation by visiting Lowe's.  I got a crap ton of great stuff and almost all of it was marked down---WOO-HOO!  

First of all, I spent $23.05--I am on what seems like an austerity budget at times so at times I find it difficult to feel great about my garden because there's so much I want to do and almost no money to do it.  I ALWAYS check out the marked down section of the garden center, and I've been very lucky there.  

I got four relatively nice marigolds (the fancy ones!) for .25 cents each, and a flat of not-so-wonderful (but still fancy!) marigolds for $1.00.  I will cut them back a little, give them a nice drink with some worm poop in it, talk nicely to them, and they will keep all the riff-raff off my tomatoes, which I paid full price for--$3.25 each.  (I'm anxious for more tomatoes--my summer plants have all pretty much burned up and the seedlings are still too little to plant).  

I also got four very nice looking but small blue salvias for .25 each.  I got two measly looking cucumbers for full price.  

Then I found a purple passion flower with some dead leaves clinging to the little trellis.  These are very expensive and butterflies and bees love them, this little one was originally 19.99, and they sold it to me for $6.00 due to my pointing out it's flaws (I'm sorry, passionflower, I really think you are very lovely).  I looked around for another one, but no cigar.    

Also, I'm sure I've never mentioned how totally cheap I am (throat clearing), but in the back of Lowes there is a cart where people can bring back those black pots that trees and large plants come in to be recycled, and they always let me take a couple (for free!) if there are any there.  I found three big shallow pots back there perfect for herbs and lettuce.  Or the top section of a stacked planter with herbs I'm tossing around in my mind.  And by the way, they sell these very pots (but clean, of course) for around $10.00 at the very same Lowes.  Crazy.

I also had dinner with my sister and her kids tonight, which was funny and nice.  All in all, a very good evening.  I think I'll read and go to bed now.  Look forward to the rest of my weekend.

Secondhand Sunday...

I went thrifting yesterday (yes, that's a verb).  I was looking for something specific, which is a big no-no in the thrifting world since rule number one in thrifting is that you will NEVER find what you are looking for, but nevertheless I was looking for some small wooden bowls or trays for my classroom.  Didn't find any.  Shocking, I know.  Instead I found two men's dress shirts, one pink, one purple that I am going to upcycle / remake into dresses for my adorable granddaughters.  They were half price, so I got both of them for $3.  I will cut off the sleeves and cut the bodies off under the arms, make a band from the sleeves for around the chest (elastic in the back, for comfort), gather the body a little, add straps to the top of the band and POW!!  Two little sundresses for my pumpkins for $3 and a little time.  They will love them--and I will take pictures when I'm done.  

I also had a fun lunch with Kaleigh and Mary Beth yesterday--it was super fun.  CPK--had the Barbecue Chopped Chicken Salad.  

On Saturday I went and painted my classroom (the alcove), and cubbies.  I painted them a lovely sage green, I think I'm going to love it.  It definitely looks different.  It's time for that classroom to belong to ME and not the former tenant.  I feel very personally about my classroom and it's time for me to own it.  This is the year I do amazing things.  I declare it right now.  

Doing a little laundry today.  I took a couple of days off work this week and next week, and I plan to enjoy them completely.  I'm going to finish my bottle garden today, and go swimming.  Just take it easy tomorrow, maybe cook a nice meal.  

I'm off to dig out my bottle garden--TTFN!

Work, Work, Work (in the garden)...

My goodness I've been busy this weekend.  I had a long weekend, so I had four days, but to be fair, all the work I did in the garden, I did in two days.  Here's my list:

1. Did a lot of "research" about what I can plant now in Orlando.
2. Fertilized the lemon tree--it's looking a lot better, thanks for asking.
3. Cut a bunch of basil to dry.  I wanted to try out drying it in the oven, but it got discolored, so I cut some more today to air dry and see if that works better.
4. Cut a bunch of lavender to dry.  Once it was dry, I crumbled it up minimally and put it into a jar--IT SMELLS AMAZING!
5. Decided that if it was so awesome, I should cut some more to propagate, which I haven't always had luck with.  This time I dipped the lavender stems right into rooting hormone and planted them into small pots.  We'll see how that works.  They are covered with plastic bags and resting comfortably on my kitchen window sill.  
6. Decided that since I was propagating lavender, I might as well propagate basil while I was at it.  Cut some nice stems and put those in water in same window sill.
7. Decided that since I was adding all these cute little plants to my window sill, some of my houseplants needed to be re-potted.   Re-potted a spider plant, and two Christmas cacti.
8. While re-potting, noticed that my little African violets are kind of...well...dead.  Dumped them into the compost pile.  Sadness.
9. Made my new garden bed, which is about 6' x 2'.  Made the soil mix for it and filled it.  Will plant beans and I'm not sure what else, maybe some flowers (?) in it.
10. After going to my brother's birthday party and collecting an obscene number of beer bottles, I thought it would be a good idea to add a little herb bed with bottles as the frame, which I've seen on Pinterest and liked the looks of.  So I started digging the grass out, and BROKE MY SHOVEL!  Picture below.  Now I have a half dug bed, a broken shovel and 75 or so beer bottles laying around my yard.  Classy, isn't it?
11. I made little seedling pots out of newspaper, and filled them with my homemade potting mix, they are ready to plant my tomato seeds in for fall (also squash).  I'm going to try squash again, even though I never have any luck.   Green beans will go into the ground--they don't like to be transplanted.

I'm feeling really good about things right now.  

Hmm, Weird...

The strangest thing just happened to me.  About an hour ago, I went out into the sunshine, puttered around the garden, pulling weeds, moving my pots around, etc. and I decided to actually ACCOMPLISH something (no, that's not the weird part).  A friend gave me some reclaimed wood quite awhile ago to make raised beds, and I have been too lazy to do it not gotten around to it yet, so I decided now would be a good time.  I rounded up all my tools and the deck screws that I need and started working.  Picture it, I'm sweating like . . . well, a virgin at a prison rodeo and I've almost got the darn thing put together, and I hear this loud noise--it's like a train.  Or an airplane or something.  I stop, look up and in the distance I see a torrential rainstorm blowing toward me.  Literally, the sun is shining on me, and about three streets in front of me, over the roofs I can see just a sheet of rain, and I can hear it coming.  Before I can even get my tools and stuff together, I'm soaking wet.  Weird.  It was like buckets pouring out of the sky.  Very weird.

Cue elevator music...

Now it's later...the raised bed is built, and it's filled with my special recipe soil mix.  (Not so secret--approximately 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 super duper special compost.)  I also mixed in a little bit of dried grass clippings and leaves at the bottom, along with cardboard boxes--they really kill the weeds.  The peat moss and vermiculite help the raised bed hold water better than just the dirt.  Key in Florida.  

Please ignore the messy yard around it, and the horrible steps up to my front door.  I'm going to fix the steps next weekend, and trim the grass as soon as I get done here.  I swear.  On the positive side, I got a lot of use out of the beloved wheelbarrow that the boys got for me for Mother's Day.  I ADORE that thing.  

I think I'm going to try to start tomatoes from seed.  It's time to do so in Florida, and I've wanted to do so for awhile.  In a few weeks, I will plant green beans in the new bed, and I've been thinking about making a natural trellis with some old narrow branches I have around.  (My inner hippie coming out again.)

I'm enjoying my four day weekend for Independence Day.  I've been reading a lot and gardening, doing a few little projects around the house.  I wish I could hug my sailor (Brett), but since he's being making sure we are all free, I will just think about him, smile and remember that our freedom isn't really free.  I hope everyone did something independent yesterday.

A Little of This and That. . .

I finally remembered to cut a bunch of herbs from the school garden and bring them home to root.  I have had success rooting lavender and rosemary in water, so I got those, and lemon balm and tarragon.  I'm not sure if this is going to work with those, since they aren't woody stems, but I'll try.  They are now happily relaxing on my kitchen window sill.  I've been referring to them as "the girls".  I'm not sure why.  My goal this week is to bring some of my worm compost from school and add it to my seedlings' dirt.

I need a theme song.  I started doing this when the show Ally McBeal was on and she always had a theme song, so I started doing it.  I haven't had one in awhile, so I'm trying to think of what a good one might be.  Hmm. . .  I'll think a little about it today and get back to you (all three of my readers).

Yesterday I went out into the garden (which I feel I may have over-glorified in my descriptions, it's really only two raised beds and a bunch of pots right now), and dug around a little bit, watered the seedlings, and I SAW WORMS IN MY DIRT!!!  A LOT of worms.  Yea Me!!  That means my dirt is healthy and doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.  Makes me happy.  Amazing how what makes me happy has changed over the years.

When I got home from work last night I washed my sheets and put clean, lovely smelling sheets on my bed.  (Not that my previous sheets smelled bad, lol).  There is nothing better than that.  I watched a couple of DVR'd shows and read a little.  Nice to get enough sleep. 

  

 

Research--my new normal.

I've been reading a lot of blogs about sustainability in central Florida, and I'm actually learning a lot.  Yesterday I stopped at a couple of nurseries and bought a few tomatoes and cucumber plants for the beds.  They look really good, and the beans I planted last weekend are a couple of inches tall already thanks to some weird rain we've been having this week.  The lettuce is just starting to come up and also looks good.  I will get the tomatoes and cucumbers in later today. 

I visited my mom at the hospital yesterday, which was a little upsetting.  She is very confused and has been combative, although she wasn't yesterday while I was there.  She did introduce me as Mary Kay several times, so she has a little hospital dementia. 

Kaleigh and I have started the massive organizing project of our house.  I am doing SOMETHING towards this every day.  This weekend I'm going to get in the sewing room and try to get it together.  I'm trying to find a way to sell the antique bedroom set--I adore it, but nobody else likes it and if I'm not going to use the spare room as a guest room, there is no good place to put it.  My next big project is going to be organizing the laundry closet.  There's a lot of stuff in there that could go, and I want it to look nicer.  Reinforcing the shelves is going to be important too.

More later.  Gotta go have lunch with two of my favorite people in the world.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

I got out in the yard today after doing some more research about what to plant for a Florida Fall Garden, and planted some pole bean seeds and some lettuce seeds that I've had good luck with  in the past.  I will get some tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs next week.  I don't really want to plant those from seeds.  I've never had much luck with beans but I think I've been trying to plant them too late in the spring so it gets too hot for them pretty fast.  Who knew.   I am going to go online and order some seed catalogs tonight to peruse. 

Kaleigh and I are going to put together two more raised beds, one for herbs (a small one), and one for tomatoes.  It's just laziness that we haven't done it yet. 

My pots of lavendar and basil are looking a little wilty and stemmy, but I'm going to try to cut them back and see if that helps any. 

Mom is back in the hospital again, I am having some really awful anxiety about it.  How much can a body take?  (I'm talking about mom's body.)

I puttered around the house, did a little laundry, washed dishes, organized a few things, but did little else today.  I really needed that.  Cari called this morning and said that her mom said Kaleigh can come over today, which truly irritated me.  I'm doing all the driving (two trips each time one of them wants to go to the other's house), and HER mom says it's okay.  Isn't that nice of her?  Who asked me?  I want to do things I WANT TO DO sometimes. 

I think I'll go read and make dinner.

Business and Dropping My Basket. . .

Kaleigh and I have been tossing around an idea to re-start my quilting business.  She could be a big help for me and we could do well, I think.  I'm not sure that she fully understands how much work it will be, but I'm embracing the idea.  We need to think about changing our sewing room arrangement to make things a little easier. 

Today I spent a lovely (no sarcasm) three hours at the bookstore while Kaleigh and her friend Cari went to the mall and shopped.  I thought three hours was going to be a VERY long time, but I was actually a few minutes late in picking them up.  I walked around the bookstore and found a bunch of books about omesteadng and sustainability, and several quilting magazines, went into the cafe and bought myself a $1.50 cup of coffee and sat and read for 2 1/2 hours.  It was lovely.  I took notes whenever I thought of something i wanted to blog about, or do in my classroom, or quilt, or anything I thought of to tell K about for the business.  Apparently I needed that.

I've been in a weird state of anxiety for the last few days.  Financially, I am having a rough time, and I've been trying to make a plan to resolve the issue, so I made some phone calls yesterday, and things are looking better.  I always love a plan of action.  I kind of call this anxiety "dropping my basket".  Where I'm not nutty enough to need mental help, but just enough to make me a little uncomfortable.  Anyway, I'm glad it's over, now I'm having another idea spurt. 

I've been working like crazy on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt, and the top is almost done.  I only have to add a blue row to the bottom, then the borders, then I'm ready to start the hand quilting.  REALLY looking forward to that!  I have missed hand quilting.  It used to be my best friend.  Hand piecing the top has provided me wonderful side effect that I will ned for the hand quilting.  A quilter's callous.  Now I don't have to do dishes anymore because I need that callous to hand quilt.  It's ugly, but there's nothing more fabulous to a quilter. 

I have plans to make another raised bed for herbs.  I have them in pots right now, but I want to let them get bigger, so I want to move them into a bed.  I also want to plant some more cherry tomatoes and maybe even some plum tomatoes.  We had some nachos last night--made by Kaleigh--with some of our heirloom Mr. Stripey tomatoes.  They were so good!  They are green and orange, with red stripes through the inside.  Yummy!  Can't wait to get more.

This Week in Review. . .

This past week was kind of a bust up until yesterday.  My foot started hurting on Monday--I have gout, which is an OLD MAN'S disease, for god's sake--90% of cases are in men--why do I have to be so special?  Anyway, it flares up every now and then, and I'm still trying to figure out what is causing it to happen.  I don't really eat the things that they say cause it, but I know I don't drink enough water because it's hard for me to always be leaving my classroom to pee.  Anyway, it just got worse and worse, and on Friday, I mostly stayed off it.  Also, on Friday, my two work study girls, who are two of my favorite people in the world, got really upset with me, and I would NEVER do anything on purpose to hurt their feelings, so that was super-unpleasant.  We had a tear-fest in my classroom on Friday.

My identity has been stolen AGAIN.  This time someone used my debit card numbers (not the actual card) to charge $700, which caused a bunch of my own charges to overdraw my account.  It will get sorted out, but it takes time, and meanwhile I have no cash, and no access to cash.  Sucks.

Yesterday (Saturday), my class planned a field trip to Leu Gardens, which was wonderful, and we will definitely plan another one next year. It was so gorgeous there, and reasonably priced.

This is a picture of the vegetable garden.  I immediately threated to squat (by that, I mean move into) in the garden house, and just live with that garden in my front yard.  Then I thought, wait a minute, I HAVE a front yard--couldn't I just do that in my front yard, and save all the packing?  It was all I could do to refrain from picking the cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash.  The only thing that stopped me was the little sign that said that they donate all the vegetables to local food banks, so I couldn't feel good about picking things.  The herb garden was pretty spectacular too.  And. . . look at that beautiful composter next to the porch.  Need I say more?

***TANGENT ALERT***   Okay, so I'm at Leu Gardens and I'm really considering this vegetable garden, and we all know I have hippie tendencies as I'm "maturing", so I'm really thinking about having a garden like this.  Can I do it?  It's a lot of work, and I'm intrinsically lazy, but this is really PULLING me.  And most of the work is up front.  Some of you know that my dream is a to live on a hobby farm, and this would be an interesting start.  Living a sustainable life (within reason) really appeals to me.  Of course, if I did do this, I would need to get a really bitching rocking chair (or two) so I can sit outside and look at my work.  ****Thank you for attending this tangent--it's now over.***

My gorgeous work study girls came on Saturday too, and Mrs. Jones so we took this picture together.  I am so going to miss Rachel, who is on the right, she is graduating.  Of course, I'll miss Trina too, but she will at least still be with us in the fall.  I can't believe how emotional I am over this.  It's kind of stupid.

Naturally, my foot took a beating walking all over Leu Gardens, so I'm in a lot of pain again today, but it was totally worth it.  Kaleigh and I will be visiting Leu Gardens again.  Maybe even volunteering there would be good.

I'm sitting at my computer listening to my dumb dog snore on the couch.  She misses Kaleigh so much when she spends the night with a friend.  My coffee this morning is really good, which is weird for me because my coffee usually sucks.  I'm using the word sucks a lot lately. 

This is a picture of Kaleigh on a bench at the gardens.  She looks so cute!  I am so proud of my kids.  Not sure if I've said that lately.  They are all such amazing people, and not just because they are mine.  I include my beautiful daughter-in-law in the group too.  I wish I could spend more time in the same room with them. 

Last night I had a little anxiety, probably over my bank account, but I was thinking about a lot of things. I did get a good night's sleep, and I have a very relaxing day planned, so I'm feeling better this morning.