God, please let me drive the karma bus....

I am a big believer in karma.  You get what you put out there.  You reap what you sow.  Do unto others.  What goes around, comes around.  And so on.  I also believe that EVERYONE gets what they deserve in life, and sometimes we get to see it.  Sometimes we don't, but when we do... it's a beautiful thing.  That's all I'm going to say about that.  

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.  

Bring on the Preschoolers...

So...school starts on Monday (it's Saturday now).  We have had a frantic two weeks getting the classrooms ready--open house was Friday.  It was so much fun, so very PLEASANT.  Everyone has really been making their classrooms theirs--and this is really the first time I have felt like my classroom was MINE.  I did some painting and moving around, and I finally decided to gut the office and organize it the way it needs to be.  Over time, we added a lot of materials and without any organized way to store them, we could never find anything, so this was important.  Now there are specific shelves for literacy activities, math, science, motor skills, outdoor, art, play dough, and light table.  

I am most proud of the Quiet Center--with my pillows that I made.  And the sparkly lights in the lace curtain over the entrance.  That's our "SHOWSTOPPER", as Mrs. Jones says.  

Today all my coworkers met at Kim's house in Christmas--how much do I love that place?  Five acres, gardens, a pool, trees, a barn, etc.  Fabulous!  She has a whole fence full of passion flowers--gorgeous.

 Look at this banana spider!  It was as big as my hand!  Amazing.  

We all had a really nice time, in spite of the heat.  

It was very pleasant to spend fun time with everyone, just laughing and having fun.  I will have to remember to thank Kim for that.  It's all because of her.

I meant to come home and mow the grass, but it was raining when I got home so I took a nap instead.  I think it was the right thing to do.  I guess that's what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon though.  Or my neighbors will revolt.  

I've been reading a really interesting book called "Sleeping Naked is Green" by a Canadian girl named Vanessa Farquharson.  She made one green change every day for a year and blogged about it--whether it worked or not, and if she was going to stick with it or not.  Some were kind of weird, like using vegan toothpaste, but she also sold her car and got rid of her refrigerator.  

I also just finished "Hit By a Farm" by Catherine Friend--who moved to a sheep farm with her long-term girlfriend (why the hell can't I just say her wife?) without any experience or anything, and what happened.  Loved it, as anyone could probably guess.  

I have seriously read 10 books in the last few weeks (maybe 3).  I'm a little obsessed.  Maybe.  

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.