Challenge: Day 1

***My Good Thing For Today--I was on Facebook this morning for my daily check-in, and an old friend messaged me--his name is John and I've known him since I was 12.  He's in the navy and is now stationed in Afghanistan.  I had no idea.  So I got his address and I will make a point to write to him and send him little care packages.  He is a great friend--I consider him one of my closest friends and I know how much mail means when you are deployed.  I will also be thinking happy thoughts about him each day.  

Lesson planning, gardening, laundry, mopping the kitchen floor, and puttering around the house are on my agenda today.  I find doing all of those things very satisfying so I don't mind any of them (even mopping the floor!).  I'd like to organize my closet too, but we'll see about that.  I definitely want to get out this morning into the garden.  I'm on green bean watch.  So many flowers, I should have a ton of green beans soon.  I'm going to pickle some and freeze some.  And EAT some straight out of the garden.  I need to soak up some vitamin D and get my hands in some dirt.  

I have key lime tree sprouts!  That is very exciting!  Three sprouts so far, they are very tiny, so I think more will come.  They apparently grow pretty slowly--it took them two weeks to germinate.  I woke up last night to a lot of rain, so I think I will wait and fertilize the garden tomorrow, I don't think I even need to water it today.

Heading out... maybe I'll post more later.  

Garden looks pretty good...everything is growing nicely.  I'll be happy when I can see some actual green beans.  

Sending Love Out Into the Universe (I know I'm a hippie)...

Okay, I have made a decision.  For the next month, I am going to send love out into the universe.  Every. Single. Day.  

I challenge myself to do something every day (CONSCIOUSLY!) to make someone else feel good.  Things that I already do for people don't count.  I have to actually think about it and do something nice for someone.  And they have to know that someone made an effort.  They don't necessarily have to know who.

The reason I came to this idea is that as I've mentioned before, recently I've been going through a very stressful time in my life.  And I don't see much of an end in sight.  So I have to do something that really makes me feel good instead of always just trying to get through the day.  (I do not in any way mean to imply that I don't have some really wonderful things in my life, or that I'm not happy or anything like that, it's just a few things that are ongoing suck up all my attention.)  I've been thinking for awhile about how good I feel when I do something nice for the person behind me in line.  Sometimes I pay the toll on the highway for the person behind me or I pay for the order of the person behind me when I'm getting coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.  These are tiny things as far as money goes--at most a couple of dollars--but I giggle all day after I've done it.  

The cashier usually smiles and makes a nice comment, and I imagine she thinks about it and does something nice too.  Then those two people who have had something nice done for them do something nice for two other people.  Kind of like that old shampoo (was it Breck?) commercial.

One time my daughter asked me if anyone had ever done that for me, and I thought about it and no one ever has.  But I don't care.  That would be nice, but I probably wouldn't giggle about it all day.  

So I am going to see if doing nice things for others really does make me happier than having other people do nice things for me.  Will definitely post  each day what happens.

I start tomorrow...

A Great Day at School!

Today was a great day at school.  We got so much done, and the kids all were engaged and active in the classroom with the activities we planned.  We stayed to our schedule, and even got some extra things done that we just have to fit in somewhere.  We did apple rolling (art), added some sparkle to a previous art project (my classroom is KNOWN for it's propensity for glitter), did some writing about our observations in the science center (illustrating our observations of cut apples, using magnifying glasses), a math activity (counting tiny apples while placing them onto a tree mat with tongs, how many yellow, how many red, how many green, how many all together?) that was also good for fine motor practice, an "apple toss" at another center (tossing red, yellow, and green bean bags into a basket and counting them up), and finally, we started setting up our "Apple Store" in the dramatic play center.  This is a loosely interpreted store, where we sell anything that has any remote thing to do with apples.  Of course we sell apples, but we also sell apple cookies, Apple computers, apple jacks, etc.  We also have our own economy.  When you come in the store, the shopkeeper gives you money and when you buy something, you give it back to him or her.  The friends set the prices and make their own signs.  Photos to come (when the store gets finished).  

Sometimes I feel like the day has gone by and I wonder what we really did?  But days like today make up for those days by a long shot.  

I Am A Professional....

Today I was professionally developed.  I have been taking a series of workshops about supervising employees.  No surprise, I suppose that I'd rather do something myself than argue with somebody else about why to do it.  But the truth is, if I were a better supervisor, I wouldn't HAVE to do a lot of things myself.

Anyway, while I was there, I made a list of things to blog about.  It goes as follows:

1. Benjamin Franklin had a group of people who met for forty years for "mutual improvement".    Interesting concept.  
2. Learn to ENJOY NOW.
3. I need to think about identifying what brings me joy, satisfaction and engagement.  What makes me feel guilt, anger, boredom or remorse? 

(On an unrelated note, perhaps if I paid better attention in the workshop instead of making lists, I would be a better supervisor...just a thought)  I'm glad that this series is only one day a week (4 weeks).  It's exhausting to have such a change in my schedule.  

Tonight is the season premiere of Sons of Anarchy.  I am SO looking forward to it.  I think I need to marry Jax Teller.  I wonder if he's into big girls.... food for thought.

Nothing much to talk about...

Back to work today... I love weekends, but I love work too.  Apple Project, here I come!

My quiet, relaxed weekend went pretty much as planned.  Yesterday I grocery shopped, which desperately needed to get done, and made cheesy chicken enchiladas for me, Kaleigh, Tara (daughter-in-law), Bianca and Bridgette (granddaughters).  It was nice.  They are all such sweet girls, and we laughed a lot, which was nice.

On Saturday, I had lunch with my friend Mary Beth, that was wonderful, as always.  Other than that, this weekend I just puttered around, cooked, read, did a little cleaning and laundry, and worked in the garden a little.  I didn't end up planting because the ground was so wet, maybe tonight I can do a little digging.

My Weekly Garden Center Haul...

I just got home from my weekly trip to Lowe's and I also stopped by Walmart's garden center that's across the street from Lowe's.  

I got four very nice bright green Coleus for 25 cents each, and they look great.  They don't look at all past their prime.  

I got four vincas for 25 cents each also, and they look a little leggy, but they always come back nicely, and you really almost CAN'T kill them.  They are pink. 

At Walmart I found four leggy white pentas.  They are pretty.  I'm thinking I'm going to cluster all these plants in groups in my cottage garden.  I guess that means I need to start digging out a bed tomorrow.  The plumbagos I got last week are still in pots and they need to be planted too.  I'm going to transplant some salvias into the bottle bed tomorrow, and use the pot for something else.   I also need to transplant my key lime tree into another pot as it falls over every time it rains. 

I said earlier that there were benefits to styling the garden either rows or cottage style.  I think I want to lay them out here so I can make a decision about how I want to start working tomorrow.  Nothing like a last minute decision.  But... the good news is that if I hate it the way I do it, I can just dig everything up and plant it the other way.  Soooo.... here we go.

Cottage Garden--clusters of different plants here and there.  All of it mulched between plants.  A few garden decorations here and there.  I have a small collection of birdhouses, and I want to make a (fake) bee skep for in there also.  The benefits to this type of garden is that it lends itself to the way I garden and buy plants.  Now and then, here and there, a little random.  Also, and not the least of which, this is the way nature works.  Nature has never planted a row of anything.  It would also be a lot easier to build this garden as I go.  Plant what I have in the space I have, then dig up the next space.  Add fruits and vegetables here and there, even a raised bed or pots look good in this style.  Also I can add pavers here and there in a meandering path.  I like that.  I'm a little crooked myself. 

Row Garden--this isn't really like a farmer's row garden, more like orderly rows of different plants.  This appeals to me because I like to think I'm organized and this looks organized.  I'm thinking as a guideline, 2 foot rows planted between 2 foot walkways.  The beds will be mulched, an the walkways will be different materials in each one.  Maybe gravel in one, then pavers in the next one.  I can build this one as I go also, adding a row at a time, but since I buy plants a few at a time, and usually on clearance, the choices are sometimes limited (sometimes there's only a few of each plant) and I'm not sure how that's going to look in rows.  

Wow, that didn't help at all.  But I have made a decision after all.  I think I'm going with the cottage garden style.  I like nature.  She's done things her way for a few years without me trying to force her into submission, and I already have some raised beds if I'm feeling like I need orderly squares or rows.  

Decision made.  

I'm feeling a lot better today about everything.  Some issues have resolved themselves with some help, for which I am so thankful I can't even express it yet.  I got a good night's sleep, which can only help any situation.

Enough of that.  

I went out to work in the garden this morning, it's cool out (as cool as Orlando gets in September), and overcast.  All the rain lately has been doing wonders in the garden, so there was truly nothing to do.  Everything looks great, is growing wonderfully, there aren't many weeds, nothing needed to be fertilized, so I just puttered around--checking everything out, and thinking about where I'm going to put the lasagna beds. 

There's a couple of options there.  I can do them English cottage style, with the whole area mulched and plants here and there,  and walkways meandering through. The plants will fill in as they grow this way, and I love the way this looks.  I will also add decorations here and there (not too many).  Or I can do orderly rows with different types of plants and walkways between.   The paths will be added as I need them, with whatever materials I come across when I'm ready to make them.   I feel I may be describing this in a little bit "grander" terms than I really need to because the area isn't very big.  It's the strip of grass between my driveway and the neighbor's yard.  It's maybe 10 ft. by 30 ft. not including the area I already have my raised beds in.  There are benefits to both ways.  

While I was thinking, I did pull some basil off the plant and stick it into the dirt in my large herb pot.  That works well, and I have a bare area in there.  The salvias are really looking pretty, even the ones that seemed like they weren't going to make it a couple of weeks ago.  I put them into a pot, but they are rallying.  No flowers on those yet, but the leaves look good and healthy.  

I've never had any luck with cucumbers and squash in the raised beds, so this year I decided to try something different.  I planted one squash and two cucumbers in the beds, and planted one squash and a two different varieties of cucumbers in pots to see if that made any difference.  I have also been using my homemade fertilizer (***Recipe Below***) on them religiously, and they are all looking really good.  The cucumbers in the boxes aren't growing very big, but they are flowering, and I've been making a point to hand fertilize them, and I think we have had more rain than they like, but they are looking pretty good, if small.  The ones in the pots are all doing well, but they are still little babies.  As for the squash, they are going berserk!  Growing like crazy in the box and the pot, and I see LOTS of flowers, which I will also try to hand pollinate just to make sure.  I LOVE CUCUMBERS AND SQUASH.

***Home made fertilizer-- I keep a large jar (probably two quarts) on my counter, fill it halfway with water, and crush up any egg shells I come across and throw them in as well as my coffee grounds and tea bags and let them all stew for a couple of days.  I shake it up every now and then and put it into a large watering can, fill it up the rest of the way with water and use it on the vegetables in the garden.  I truly believe this has made the difference in my garden this year.  

When I came in from the garden I cleaned up the kitchen.  Not nearly as fun, but necessary and a clean kitchen makes me feel good.  My lesson plans are done for this week and tentatively next week, all my things for work are done, so I can just be domestic and calm this weekend. 

Just like I planned.