Daily Garden News

Weekend Recap

2011-03-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else feel like this weekend was on fast forward? Great chunks of time passed in the blink of an eye, and here it is Sunday night (and past my usual Sunday night bedtime) and I'm not sure how it got to be this time on this day.

We had rain all day yesterday. It was a steady rain with a comforting sound, which made for a day of general laziness, although I did not nap or spend the day reading. I made some earrings, finished making a few faux dicro beads, did a little bin organizing. And then it was bedtime. Huh? Seriously, it went that quickly.

Today was no slower. It didn't rain, but it was overcast and cool all day. The Chihuahua Brothers were content to snooze in their beds while I cleaned off my desk (again) and washed clothes. Which reminds me - my sheets are still in the washer. Guess I'm up for another hour until they finish drying. I started a sweater for my newest grandson, due in July. And I like the pattern so much that I started a second one before I was even halfway finished with the first. And I just might start a third. Yes, I like having project options. I have five socks finished for him. Unfortunately, none of them match. I have two more on the needles, and then I'll start over on the matching ones. My goal was a different pair for every day of the week. No soap this weekend - I think the soap supplies are permanently put away until early June when I can start selling some of what I'm making.

I did get quite a few bins emptied. I have a great stack of crafty stuff to give away, as well as several boxes of stuff that I'm just tossing. I'd say I'm about a third of a the way finished cleaning out my craft room. I've needed to do this for a very long time!

And there may or may not have been chocolate chip muffins baked ... I'd post photographic proof, but my camera batteries seemed to have died. You'll just have to take my word on the yumminess.

Techniques should be for Tuesday ...

2011-03-24T21:45:00.003-04:00

... the alliteration is just better. But I learned a new technique tonight, and it's Thursday!

I love staying up late on Thursday. I'm normally in bed by 9:00 and up by 5:00 or 5:30, but on Thursdays I give myself permission to stay up late and do whatever I want. I just don't care if I'm tired at work on Friday, because - hey - it's Friday! It's ok to be tired at work on Friday, right?

So tonight I followed the detailed instructions I just purchased on how to make faux dicroic glass beads (http://beadazzleme.blogspot.com/2011/03/tutorial-how-to-create-faux-glass-beads.html). Out of, guess what - no, not soap. Or glass, either, for that matter! Polymer clay, in case you're tired of guessing. It's all very mysterious and involves translucent polymer clay, foil leaf, pearl-ex powders and liquid polymer clay. Magic heat applied by a heat gun and everything melts and clears and comes together in a beautiful bead that looks like glass. To wit:

Yeah, sorry about the crappy, blurry photo (and my messy desk). I think I may have actually captured a better image on my cell phone, but for some reason it won't download from my e-mail, so we may never know.

But in real life, this bead is clear and beautiful and not blurry. I still need lots of practice to make better ones because I smeared one of the layers of Pearl-Ex and the liquid clay ran in drivels on one layer. And there's a big stinking air bubble, and I'm not totally in love with the gold foil - this is one time I think silver foil may have actually worked better but I don't have any so I'll use less gold next time. And I should have added a few more layers of liquid clay for a thicker layer of clear on top the colors, but we all know how patient I am so that didn't happen. But tonight is Technique Tuesday on Thursday and I learned something new and I'm still awake and the Chihuahua Brothers are asleep in their little beds and tomorrow is Friday and it's all very, very good!

Soap photos!

2011-03-20T19:37:00.004-04:00

Here are a some of the soaps I made yesterday. Good clean fun - right? LOL! I made more bars with crushed lavender buds, scented with anise and lavender and tinted a light blue (with a little bit of sparkle mica added), but I can't get a decent photograph of them because my camera just doesn't know what to focus on.

This is goats milk and aloe with ground oatmeal. The scent is wonderful - oatmeal, milk and honey. Soft and sweet, but not cloying. I made two bars with soap left from the loaf below.

Goats milk and clear glycerine with ground oatmeal added. I did a 2-color pour around the inclusions, and I love the way it turned out. I scented with oatmeal, milk and honey fragrance oil, but in hindsight I should have used an orange/vanilla scent to match the orange sherbet look.

These are foot-scrub soaps. The tan bar has raw sugar added, the white rectangular bar has white sugar added and the oval massage bar has sea salt. I'm having these bars "tested" for effectiveness, so I didn't include fragrances. But for foot bars, I'll probably scent with peppermint or eucalyptus or maybe tea tree or bamboo. Personally, I don't think the salt bar is going to work very well. I always wash my hands with any leftover bits, and this one doesn't lather very much. It's really for exfoliating, though, so we'll see what everyone thinks.

And lest anyone is worried about organizing being pushed aside for crafting, there's plenty of that going on this weekend, too. Bags of stuff to donate or throw away, craft supplies to share with friends and plenty to keep, although not as much of that as there was. I have found that I CAN get rid of yarn! LOL!

Great crafting weekend!

2011-03-19T21:42:00.003-04:00

And it's not over yet! I love that I still have one more weekend day for working play.

Today's crafts:

Soap (and lots of it) - ground oatmeal in goats milk base with a soft milk and honey scent; two types of sugar scrub bars; a salt scrub bar (that I think still needs work, but we'll see what my testers think)
Hand-dyed yarn - in candy stripe colors
Beaded earrings
More polymer clay swirl beads

Photos tomorrow. Now to get my Etsy store up and running ...

My daughter Jennie and I had dinner together today, sort of. We cooked the same dish (a family favorite with Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, onions and lots of basil, served over rotini pasta and topped with Swiss cheese - yum!), but we're 500 miles apart right now, so we didn't actually sit at the same table to eat. But it was fun, nonetheless!

Diego loves Brussels sprouts. Well, Diego loves any type of food (except Jello). He waited patiently for a bite.

Almost time for my once a year post ...

2010-05-07T19:12:00.005-04:00

It seems like that's about how frequently I can manage to blog, so we'll go with it.

A few weeks after my last post, I lost the love of my life, Miss Chelsea. She died on 8/5/2009, and it was one of the saddest days I've lived through. Her loss left a gaping wound in my heart that has finally started to slowly heal. I now only cry over her death once or twice a week instead of one or twice a day.

Chelsea came back to me one morning a few days after she died. For her entire life, from puppyhood on, every time she walked past me she would poke my leg with her nose. Every time, without fail. Diego has never done this, not once, not ever. The Friday morning after she died, I was getting ready for work and standing in the bathroom putting on my makeup. Diego walked past me and poked my leg with his nose. I had to go sit down. He had never done it before, and he has not done it since. I know it was her coming back for a minute to let me know she's ok, and I was thankful.

The Chihuahua brothers are vastly entertaining, though, and Skippyjon tries hard to love me in the same way Chelsea did. She and Skip used to have long conversations a few weeks before she died - he'd sit directly in front of her and would bark up at her face. She'd look down at him and would bark back. This would continue for ten-minute intervals, several times a week. I think she was telling him that she knew she was leaving and that he had to help take are of me. He is my snugglebug, and he makes a valiant effort. Diego continues to be the explorer - curious and interested in the people of this world. Well, except for those skateboarders who insist on riding the sidewalk right outside my front door. Those guys terrify him.

I might try to start posting more frequently. I still haven't decided which direction to head in blogging-wise. I'm doing a lot of papercrafting, but not enough to post something new every day. I'm still dyeing sock yarn, so maybe I'll post about that. And maybe someday I'll actually start gardening again!

Apparently there's no time limit ...

2009-07-14T21:56:00.003-04:00

... for not posting anything! Now that I've written my password in a place where I can actually find it when I forget again, maybe I'll start posting on a regular basis.

To catch everyone up - I now have two Chihuahuas, brothers but not litter mates. They're as different as night and day, including their coloring: one is white and sable, the other is black and white. Diego is curious and outgoing and loves everyone; Skippyjon is a little more reserved and likes to observe before he joins the fun. Chelsea has learned to accept the boys, and she spends her time watching their antics.

It's late now, so I'm heading off to bed and I'll write more later. Now that I'm back in, I have to figure out a direction for this blog. Do I turn it into a crafting blog and write about what I'm making? Do I turn it into a blog about the dogs? Hmmm, decisions ...

And just like that, I'm back in.

2008-11-26T08:59:00.003-05:00

For months and months (obviously) I have not been able to remember how to access this blog. Couldn't remember my sign in, couldn't remember my password, and couldn't find information on how to get back on.

And then magically this morning, it all came together. I searched the Help area, put in the right search terms and found the solution. Ta-da! And here I am again.

To catch everyone up -- Diego's baby brother Skippyjon is now living with us. Same parents, different litter. He's an aggressive little bugger and starts fights with Diego on a daily basis, but we're working on that. He is serving his purpose is a most excellent way -- he and Diego are best buds when they aren't fighting, and they totally leave Chelsea alone. She's much happier and more relaxed now, which makes me happy. I really didn't want her last years to be spent hiding behind the chair or under the bed so that she could avoid Diego.

I changed jobs almost a month ago. I'm now working as publications director for another yarn company. And I LOVE MY JOB!!! After a year of not really liking what I was doing at the previous yarn company but settling for it because I couldn't figure out what to do, actually liking my job again is refreshing and welcome. I'm crazy busy with it, and that's ok. I feel like I've been there for a long time instead of a few weeks. The whole thing totally fell into my lap out of the clear blue sky, and I'm incredibly blessed with a good salary and a great position.

What else, what else ... oh! I'm getting a new car today! Well, not a new car, but a new-to-me car. The Transition Car died two weeks ago. I've had a rental for a week, and found a 2003 PT Cruiser with decent milage in pretty good shape. It comes home today, and I can't wait. It's a limited version, with a sun roof and heated leather seats. The inside is in great shape, as is the outside. The dealer fixed a few little problems for me (that could have been big problems had I not had a prepurchase inspection done when I looked at it), so I'm happy. I still will need shocks, new wipers and new tires, but all of them can wait a bit and I can do one thing at a time until they're all done. I feel safe enough with it to drive to visit family over Christmas -- about 600 miles each way -- and it will be nice to not have to pay for a rental like I usually do when I drive home.

On the knitting needles: six socks, all on double-points, and one more sock to be cast on [soon] to try out the new square double points I just bought. I want to see if all the hype is true. It wasn't [at least for me] for knitting two socks at once on two circulars. I still have the same two socks on the same two circular needles that have been there for a year. I should finish them ... Also on the needles, my version of the Noro Silk Garden 1/1 rib striped scarf. I'm using Sonnet from Wisdom Yarns, which I'm pretty sure is very similar to Silk Garden. The colorways I'm using are prototypes, so they aren't available anywhere. The scarf is gorgeous and will be a gift to a friend who has been helping me out with occasional rides while I've been car-less. I finished up socks for my brother and sister-in-law, who are on their way here as I write this to spend Thanksgiving weekend with me. We'll have a wonderful dinner tomorrow, do some work, and then have some play time at Gem Mountain over the weekend. I can't wait to see them!

I think that's all the big stuff. Now that I know my sign-in stuff, I'll be posting often again. I missed writing here!

In other news, Diego reaches 2 pounds today.

2008-04-08T06:49:00.003-04:00

Back to our regularly scheduled garden news tomorrow, I promise. I really do have baby tomato plants!

Diego, the Explorer

2008-04-03T20:21:00.006-04:00

One of the few times he sat still today. That tail is moving though!

Whoa -- what's this under here? Can I eat it? (Once he was under the chair, he sat up -- he didn't have to crawl under on his belly.)

Hi Mom! Hi Mom! Hi Mom! Hi Mom! (each Hi accompanied by a jump)

I know he's around here somewhere -- I need to hide!

[Note: Sorry for the blurry photos -- neither of them would stand still. Diego is so excited to just be, and Chelsea is trying very hard to stay out of his way. Perpetual motion these days!]

I'd really forgotten what having a new puppy was like. Chelsea was a puppy 13 years ago, and she was so very, very good. Diego is a totally different story -- he's a little terror! Must be the Chihuahua blood ... And he isn't really a terror. He's very much the fearless explorer. He wanders all over the apartment, and he discovers new things at every turn. This morning I caught him chewing on all of the following: a bead, a little clump of Chelsea's fur that she pulled out while scratching, a tiny piece of rubber that must have bounced off the table when I mounted stamps the other day, the label sheet to a set of stamps that I've been looking for (who knows where he found that), a piece of pine straw that must have come in on Chelsea's fur, an ancient treat that was under a living room chair (he fits under there quite well, almost without crouching down), a strand of yarn from the skein hanging off the back of my desk chair (that I didn't think he could reach), a corner of the blanket covering the back of his play crate, the potty pads in the bathroom, a piece of dog litter from the box he doesn't use, a strand of carpet fiber, the corner of Chelsea's steps, my socks (my fault for leaving them out). And when he was very quiet and I couldn't find him, I called him, only to find him right at my feet chewing on the strap of the clog I was wearing. He had quite a busy day, and now he's sleeping soundly at my feet under my desk, right where Doodlebug used to sleep and where Chelsea had been sleeping. She's cowering under the dining room chair in the corner.

Chelsea absolutely hates him. He's tiny and very quick, and he absolutely adores her. Whenever he catches sight of her (which isn't often because she stays very far away from him), he gets all quivery and waggy-tailed and darts toward her. She immediately jumps up on whatever surface is closest, which has made for some interesting moves this week. She ended up on my desk chair yesterday, and then fell off of it when it swiveled. She's been limping a little today and hesitant to jump, so now she's started barking her head off whenever Diego gets close. She truly doesn't like him, which surprises me a little, and disappoints me, too. I really wanted him to be fun for her as well as fun for me. Maybe one of these days she'll at least tolerate him and will forgive me for bringing him home. She hasn't slept with me since last Friday. She won't kiss me. She doesn't look at me if she can help it. And the only time I can pet her is when he's securely locked in his sleeping crate and far away from her. I knew he would rock her world, I just didn't realize he would devastate it.

Anyway, here are his vitals -- he was 10 weeks and a day old when he went to our vet for the first time. He had his first vaccination on Tuesday, and he weighs 1.8 pounds. Our vet was very impressed with his lines and thinks he could be a champion show dog. I'm not interested in showing him; nor am I interested in breeding him. He'll be neutered at the first available opportunity, although the vet wants to wait until all of his adult teeth are in so that he can pull any remaining puppy teeth if necessary. He doesn't want to have him under anesthesia any more than necessary because of his size. He'll top out at about 5 pounds when he's fully grown. He was also dewormed again, and I have a tiny heartworm pill to give him on the 10th of this month, provided he weighs 2 pounds by then. I can check his weight on my kitchen scale. We visited some of the apartment office staff yesterday, and he was exhausted by our outing. We've been staying inside because of his lack of immunity. I can't put him down outside until he has two more parvo/distemper shots. Because we live in an apartment complex that allows pets, there are quite a few dogs here and the vet is concerned that he'll pick up something from feces or vomit on the ground. There's plenty of both, even though we're supposed to clean up after out pets. I know, TMI.

I love him so much already. He's so very sweet, and so very mischievous, and so very comical -- everything I wanted in a puppy!

Mixed Emotions

2008-03-27T21:38:00.003-04:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Diego is finally old enough to come home. Yay! He'll be ten weeks old on Monday, and his breeder says his mom's milk has dried up and he's eating solid food now. He weighs a whopping one pound (plus a few ounces). I'm a bit nervous about bringing home something so tiny. I had guinea pigs bigger than he is! And Chelsea, at 16 pounds, will look like a hulking giant next to him.

And I'm also sad. I tore Doodlebug's huge crate apart tonight to disinfect it and wash the blankets. I left it up after he died so that Chelsea had his scent to remember him by. I did pull out his bed and put it the chair where she sometimes sleeps. Hopefully she'll use it occasionally and think of him.

I shopped today for food, doggy litter, teeny tiny toys, a very little collar and a very small crate. Deigo will sleep there, and I'll put it inside Doodlebug's crate so that he has a secure corner for snoozing when I'm not home. Doodlebug's crate will serve as Diego's home for as long as he needs it. I won't let him have the run of my bedroom until he's reliably housetrained. Chelsea has potty pads in my bathroom, and Diego will have a litter box there, as well as the small one in his crate. He isn't vaccinated at all, and probably won't start getting shots until he gets a little larger, so he won't be able to go outside at all for quite some time.

Besides shopping at PetSmart, I stopped at the holistic pet boutique across the street from where I work. I was talking to the owner about getting Diego neutered relatively soon, and she was all over me about waiting until he was an adult. What's up with that? We have an appointment with my vet on Tuesday, and his word will be the final say. I'm all for early neutering/spaying, and can't see that it has hurt any of my dogs in any way. This woman was very annoying, and if she wasn't the only place in town to buy the food I want to feed him, then I would not go back. She totally poo-poo'ed the idea of training him to a litter box, and said she hadn't heard of it ever working. Of course she wanted me to buy the potty pads she sells there.

Anyway, there you have it. Excited, sad, anxious, annoyed. And tired! Night-night!

Vote for Chelsea!

2008-03-11T05:58:00.004-04:00

No, she isn't running for president, although she would be fair and just and a proponent of animal rights everywhere. Hurricane Katrina would have been handled much differently had she been in charge. I'm just sayin' ...

I've entered this photo in a contest at Bissell. The weekly prize is a new Pet Eraser Vacuum and a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000 donated to the pet cause of our choice (along with Chelsea's photo on new product packaging). My current vacuum cleaner is over 10 years old, and on it's last leg (wheel?) -- although I'm very proud of the fact that the two times it has broken in the last year, I've been able to fix it myself!

Please vote this week, and only vote once. Duplicate votes will be disqualified. And if you'd send all your friends there to vote, too, we'd appreciate it! Here's the link:

http://www.bissell.com/products_by_lifestyle/pet_products/mvp_pet_photo_contest/vote_on_photos/voting_period_10/page_id/47126/default.aspx?imageurl=http:%2f%2fimages.bissell.com%2fimages%2fincludecontent%2fmvp%2fperiod10%2f5542.jpg&ref=mvp%20period%2010%20-%20my%20pet&pet=5542

Diego, Week Four

2008-02-22T19:28:00.003-05:00

Here he is -- sitting up no less. Isn't he the wonder pup! The breeder has two puppies in this litter. She's keeping one -- also a male, and she's named him Ace. She said Ace has more attitutude, growling at her with his little puppy voice when she talks to him, although wagging his tail the entire time. Diego, on the other hand, licks her nose when she talks to him and looks at her adoringly. Just the type of puppy we need. Ace also happens to be just the type of puppy she needs, since she plans on showing him.

Since she's only an hour away, I asked about visiting. She said sure, but that I couldn't hold the puppies or bring Chelsea around them. I had planned on taking Chelsea, but leaving her in the car. Working in a vet's office for a while, I should have known that I couldn't hold Diego either, or get anywhere near his pen because of the possibility of transferring a virus to an unvaccinated pup. I didn't even think of it, although I should have. I don't think I'm going now, simply because I won't be able to resist the temptation to touch them, and it will be too hard not to pick Diego up and snuggle him a little. The breeder has promised to send photos frequently, so I guess I'll just have to be content with that until I can bring him home.

I think I'm going to send her a new, wrapped baby blanket that she can let Diego sleep in for a day or two (or a week) and then send back. I'd really like to get Chelsea familiar with his scent so that she recognizes it when he comes home. I'm sure she'll accept him -- I just want to make this whole thing as easy as possible on her.

I'm so excited!

Where does the time go? Seriously ...

2008-02-18T12:52:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post! So much has happened -- a trip to California taken--a trip to Minnesota canceled, a new puppy waiting to come live here, socks finished, the flu from hell, learning about hand-dying yarn ... so where to start?

Well, we're learning how to get along without Doodlebug. We still miss him terribly. I find Chelsea in his crate frequently, and she's been pretty mopey sometimes. Because of that, I decided to buy us a puppy. This puppy needs to be a male and grow up smaller than her. A male usually won't challenge a female's alpha status -- I didn't want her "golden" years to be a constant battle for position. She's been the dominant dog for 13 years, and there's no point in messing with that. So I did a bunch of Internet research and book purchasing, and here's who is coming to live with us as soon as he's old enough: Meet Diego!

Diego is now 4 weeks old, and he's a long-hair Chihuahua who will mature at 4-5 pounds. He'll be with his mom and breeder until he's 10 weeks old, and will come live with us around the end of March, first part of April. His breeder is an hour and a bit north of here -- a nice spring drive for Chelsea and me. I've been trying to prepare her by talking about Diego, but of course she has no idea what's happening, and her little world is sure to be rocked hard by this little guy. I'm ultimately hoping that he'll bring some fun and activity into her life, and will watch them both closely to make sure she isn't freaked out by the whole thing. Here's the deal though, I have to get a new dog now, or soon. If something happens to Chelsea before I have another dog firmly planted in my heart, I'll be devasted at the loss of her and I'm afraid I'll never be able to love another dog. So this puppy is really for both of us. I'm not looking forward to puppy-proofing and housetraining, but it's all part of the process and we'll all get through it.

I know I preach rescue to everyone I know who is looking for a dog, and I've rescued my share of animals. This one time, though, I want to know what I'm getting. I needed to know that this puppy will be free of genetic health problems, and hopefully free of the allergies that have plagued Chelsea all of her life. I need to know that this puppy has a good personality from the get-go, and what size he'll be when he's full-grown. If I didn't have Chelsea's emotional well-being to be concerned with, I'd be the first one at the pound when it opened. But this one time, I'm getting a full-blooded breed.

California was great, and a blur. I got there on Thursday, and we started setting up our show booth early Friday afternoon. The weather was wonderful, and I have no photos besides booth set-up, and those are boring photos. Anaheim is always sunny and pleasant, and this trip was no exception. I got to have a great breakfast with my dear friend Margot, the Impatient Beader (and Blogger -- http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/ -- go check her out, I'll wait). And then I had dinner with my dear friend Tanya on Sunday and my dear friend Barb on Monday, both with DRG Publishing. I had about 10 minutes with Laura, and was sad that while we only live 3 hours from each other, we haven't been able to get together here in the two years we've both lived in NC. While I don't miss northeastern Indiana or my old job, I do miss my friends very much, and it was wonderful to have the chance to visit with them. I flew home on Tuesday, and was home in time to rescue Chelsea from prison, which is very unusual and both of us were thankful.

I was supposed to go to the Knit Out at the Mall of America in Minnesota this past weekend, but I brought a visitor back from California with me -- a flu bug, and it bit me hard on Thursday afternoon with a sore throat and earache. Friday morning brought chills and fever, along with a dry cough, aches and intense fatigue. I hated missing this show -- it was the first consumer show that I've been totally responsible for, but as Friday wore on, I knew I wouldn't be able to go. I gave my supervisor a long list of instructions, and hopefully everything was fine. I told him to call if they needed anything, and I didn't hear from anyone so I'm assuming all was well. I'll find out later this week, I'm sure. I'm home again today -- I'm still achy and tired, and now my head is all congested, but at least the fever, sore throat and earache have subsided. I'll go into work tomorrow, and possibly come home early if I get too tired. This stuff is nothing to mess with!

So I've been wanting for a very long time to hand dye my own yarn. Last month I ordered and received nine skeins of naked superwash merino/nylon sock yarn from Knit Picks (http://www.knitpicks.com/Bare+Superwash+Merino,+Nylon_YD5420145.html -- sorry, I don't know how to do hot links), and I have two books that I've been reading and rereading on dying yarn. I don't want to buy new pots to dedicate to harsh fabric dyes, so I'm going to be using food coloring and vinegar. I'm good to go with the technique, I think; now I just need to wind the yarn into 40-foot skeins so that I can start painting. And buy food coloring, but I'm pretty sure Michaels carries Wilton paste food coloring, and that's what I'm going to start out with. Maybe that will be my project for this weekend. Carmela (my youngest granddaughter) loves purple, and I can't find yarn in just the right color and print that I want for her, so I'm going to experiment with small amounts of yarn first. I can get a pair of socks for her out of a 50-gram ball of yarn. I'm very excited about this!

And on the finished object front, I have another pair of socks finished for Carmela, a single for her finished (with the second sock not yet cast on -- please pray for me, I have a textbook case of Second Sock Syndrome), a single for her almost finished (in a different color from previous single, of course), and a sock and a half finished for Lily, my oldest granddaughter. Getting the flu has been good for something -- I've had forced knitting time because I sure don't feel like doing anything else! I need batteries for my camera -- I'll post photos later this week. And hopefully I'll have an updated photo of Diego from the breeder later this week. Stay tuned!

Here be angels ...

2008-01-19T14:39:00.000-05:00

In the two, almost three, weeks since Doodlebug died, I've had two interesting experiences. The first was a few Sundays ago. I was sitting in my chair in the living room, peacefully knitting a sock for my youngest granddaughter. That particular Sunday was a sunny day, and since my windows face south, I had the blinds closed to block out some of the glare. Something caught my eye and I glanced up to see a play of shadow and light on the ceiling. The precise angle of the blinds and the position of the sun, along with the way the breeze was blowing the tall bushes outside the window—all of these things combined to make the word "Hapy" out of light and shadow on my ceiling. I wanted to get my camera, but I was totally enchanted with this phenomenon, and I couldn't move. After a few minutes, the sun moved slightly and the word blurred and faded away. I found that I had tears running down my face. Even thought the word wasn't spelled correctly, I knew what it was and it made me happy in the core of my being.

The second experience was a week ago on the way to work. One of the roads I take runs next to a school, and there are five speed bumps along the way with a speed limit of 25. You have to drive slowly on this road. As I neared the end of it and was driving over the last speed bump, I saw a beautiful brown/tan husky walking on the sidewalk next to the road. I slowed down to a crawl, because you just never know what an unleashed dog will do. As it turns out, the dog came over to my car, put his/her paws up on the passenger door and smiled at me through the window—smiling in the way only a husky can do. He/she delicately dropped back down the grown and proceeded across the street in front of the cars stopped in the other direction.

I'd like to think Doodlebug had something to do with both of these incidents. The breed of dog that smiled at me is totally significant because when we first moved to Indiana, Doodlebug wiggled out of his collar on one of our walks and instigated a fight with a husky. The husky ended up picking him up and tossing him aside (he was fine), and this was the first of many times he tried to pick a fight with a much larger dog. One of those fights was with my brother's Rottweilers, and Chelsea, even though she had nothing to do with starting the fight and tried in vain to hide behind the couch, ended up being the one who had to be rushed to the emergency room.

Along with letting me know he's happy, maybe he's also trying to tell me that he gets along with the big dogs now and that my brother's Rotties (three of which went before him to the Bridge) are now his friends ...

A bad month for pets at my house ...

2008-01-18T18:19:00.000-05:00

I have a little dutch blue lovebird that I raised from a tiny one-week old chick. I named him Sailor because my son was in the navy at the time and he became a very beloved part of my little family of pets -- one of the pack, if you will. He loved to bark with Chelsea.

Sadly, Sailor died yesterday morning. He would have been 12 in March, so he lived a wonderfully long life for a bird. He greeted every morning with enthusiastic chirps and squawks, and he was a happy little bird. In typical lovebird fashion, he had a peacock feather that was well-loved, and he'd love that feather at the most inopportune times, especially when I had dinner guests. He'd eat eggs from my plate, which I always thought was weirdly cannibalistic in a bird sort of way. He loved to hide under my hair when it was long. His favorite busy-bird activity was perforating paper -- he'd punch holes in paper towels, newspapers, but his favorite was crisp cardstock. I was his mom when he was a baby, and then his best girl when he grew older. He'd threaten the dogs when he was out and they came too close to me, and Chelsea has a scar on her nose as a result of being bitten by him.

Sailor has been cranky in an old bird kind of way for several years now and hasn't wanted to come out of his cage in a very long time. He was still warm when I found him, so I knew he hadn't been gone long. I cuddled him in a way that I haven't been able to for years, and I shed many tears over him yesterday morning. Coming on the heels of losing Doodlebug a few weeks ago, it was almost a little bit too much to bear.

My house is very silent now, and at some point I probably will get another bird to fill the void. It won't ever be able to take Sailor's place, though. Like Doodlebug, Sailor's personality, heart and soul were much, much larger than life.

I hope he and Doodlebug have found each other. And that he doesn't bite his nose ...

Doodlebug, a Tribute

2008-01-06T16:08:00.000-05:00

This is going to be long, but I just have to write a little more about him, and then I think I can move on. I just came back from the pet store, and while I'd never buy a puppy from there, I did find myself thinking about what having one of them would be like, and how it would up-end my life and Chelsea's. And then I got really sad, bought what I needed for the fish, also bought a little clip-on bejeweled bone for Chelsea's skull collar and left.

Doodlebug came into my life about 12 years ago. I was working at a vet's office at the time, and a woman brought him in with a cocker spaniel she found in the woods. They were traveling together, and they were extremely shy and hesitant to come near her. She said it took about two weeks to gain their confidence. All of us at the vet's office seemed to remember an ad in the paper seeking two dogs that had run off, but none of us could find it when we looked; even the paper couldn't find it when we called them. Hard to believe we all dreamed up the same ad ...

Anyway, I took it all as a sign that he was supposed to come live with us. One of the vets in the office neutered him, clipped off his dew claws, and he came home to live with us (us being my ex-husband, Chelsea, our big dog Deogee, the bird, and various guinea pigs). He was supposed to be my ex's dog, but he took to me and remained my dog to the end. The vet thought he was about 5 years old, but admitted it's hard to tell with an adult dog -- he could have been a year or two younger or older. We didn't have to go through teething and chewing, and he was pretty much housetrained. He was very protective of me (the Chihuahua in him) and frequently growled at my ex when he tried to come to bed at night. He sure knew better than me in that regard ...

Doodlebug traveled with Chelsea and me on our adventure moving to Indiana (the first time I've ever lived alone), and then moving to NC to take this job two years ago. As long as he could see me, he didn't care much where we lived. His second great love was Chelsea, but she never seemed to care for him at all. She never was much for other dogs -- I think she thinks she's a short person in a fur coat. Doodlebug was content to be the Omega dog in our little pack, and it greatly upset him if I slipped up and put his collar on first, or gave him a treat before Chelsea had one or fed him first. He was happiest going last in everything. Dogs are cool that way.

While Chelsea has suffered all her life with various skin allergies and ear infections, Doodlebug was hardly ever sick. He had cortisone shots once when all three dogs were stung several times by ground hornets. He'd get the occasional case of diarrhea when he ate too many dried worms off the sidewalk. I think he had a sore throat once -- he seemed to have difficulty swallowing for a few days, but it went away with no medication. And the first time he received a bordatella vaccination, he coughed for a week. Other than that, he had no problems until this past January.

A routine geriatric blood panel revealed Doodlebug had elevated liver enzymes. The vet watched him carefully and tested his blood on a regular basis. At one point he suggested a sonogram to see if he had a tumor on his adrenal glands. He did not. The vet suspected Cushings disease, and Doodlebug's later symptoms confirmed that diagnosis. Because of his age (close to 17 years old), we opted not to treat the Cushings. The cure would have been worse than the disease. This is a disease that many old dogs get, and the medication is a chemotherapy drug that shrinks the tumor that causes the disease. We opted to let Doodlebug live as long as he was happy and pain-free. He was all of that until the day he died. The Cushings symptoms included excessive drinking and the resultant excessive pottying, but potty pads and confining him during the day took care of that. And the occasional accident in the living room was taken care of by regular carpet cleanings. I could never have put him to sleep because he pottied in the house.

Doodlebug was a typical boy. He loved playing in puddles and getting dirty. He loved sniffing bugs. When we were in the car and a truck drove by, he'd put his paws up in the window to watch it go past. He taught my big dog to howl, and although they had a great time howling when they were together, when Deogee went to live with my stepson, Doodlebug never howled again. When he barked, it sounded like he was saying "out, out!" He loved getting baths, although he did not like getting his fur trimmed -- scissors scared him and I always had to figure out ways to distract him when I wanted to trim the fur on his face. He was a favorite at the kennel here; I boarded him and Chelsea about 8 times a year. The only time he ever boarded alone was when Chelsea had ear surgery. I scheduled it to coincide with a business trip and she was at one vet's office recuperating while he boarded at his regular kennel. I don't know if he was happier to see me or her, but the day they both came home was a day of great joy for all three of us.

To sum it all up, joy is what Doodlebug brought me on a daily basis. His little eyes would light up whenever I came home, and even thought he couldn't hear what I was saying at the end, he'd still look at me as if I was making grand pronouncements that would end world hunger or save all the children. He loved me like no one else ever has, except Chelsea. He's the one who'd kiss away my tears when I cried, or laugh along with me. He was fearless -- attacking big dogs who could easily tear him apart when he thought Chelsea or I was in danger. He wasn't afraid of thunder or fireworks, and he'd sit with me on the glider to watch it storm while Chelsea cowered under the bed. He missed me like nothing else -- whether I was gone 5 days or 5 minutes, and he wasn't ashamed or embarassed to let me know how glad he was to see me again. He was worth every minute of work that having an extra dog caused, and if I had to do it all over, I'd go through it all again, including the pain of losing him at the end -- he was worth every nanosecond of it.

Doodlebug's Last Road Trip

2008-01-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at Christmas. I finished a few presents, and let go of hoping I'd get the others done -- what a relief. Why in the world do we we put so much stress on ourselves? Everyone was happy with their gifts, and I was really excited about mine. I received a Nintendo DS, and I've already bought several games to play. I love this game system -- I can play it anywhere, and the games I bought are variations of old favorites.

The dogs had a great time. They were fed much and much loved. We traveled home on Saturday, spent Sunday resting, and then Doodlebug passed away on Monday morning. I'm in shock still -- it just doesn't seem real.

I woke up at 5:00 Monday morning and petted him. He wagged his tail and licked my hand. I told him we could go back to sleep since I didn't have to work. At 7:00 when I woke again, he was sitting on the floor beside the bed. I immediately got up and got dressed, but when I walked over to him I noticed that something was really wrong. He tried valiantly to get to me, but his entire back end was paralyzed. I wrapped him up and rushed him to the vet. He was gone before 8:00. I don't think he suffered -- the vet said he couldn't feel anything. At that point his heart was beating erratically and his breathing was labored. His heart stopped the instant the vet put the needle with the euthanasia drug into his vein -- he took two more breaths and then he left me. I tried to comfort him -- I hope he wasn't afraid.

Doodlebug was the best little dog. I always say that Chelsea is my heart, and she is -- but Doodlebug was the love of my life. He was always there for me, and he very seldom let me out of his sight. During the last few months, I started moving his little steps from room to room so that he could join me in the chair or on the sofa. We took the steps with us on our last trip, and he slept next to my youngest granddaughter. He wore sweaters constantly the last several weeks because he was always cold, and they were sweaters I knit for him. He seemed to love them, and he looked very dapper in them. He didn't make much noise and didn't take up much room, but there's a very large presence missing in my house. His heart and soul were larger than life, and his passing leaves us empty and sad. I took Chelsea with us to the vet -- partly to hold me together on the drive there and back (I knew in my heart I'd be leaving him there), but mostly so that she had the chance to see him and smell him and know that he was gone, which she did. She grieved very hard for a few days, and is just now starting to eat and drink normally and be interested in going outside again. She's taken to lying in his spot on the bed and under my desk. I haven't been able to fold down his crate and put it away, and I found her inside it the other day, sleeping in his bed. He was always underfoot in the kitchen, hoping for crumbs to fall from the counter. I find myself still looking down before I move -- still trying to avoid stepping on him.

They say rescued dogs are grateful every day for the person who took them in. I was so thankful every day to have him in my live. I'll miss him for a very, very long time.

True Confessions

2007-12-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Well, don't get too excited. The confessions are just about my unfinished projects.

It's been hard to figure out what to write about. This is supposed to be a gardening blog, but there's nothing to do right now that's garden related. I haven't received my new garden catalogs yet, it's way too early to start seeds, nothing is growing. I have no idea what my patio containers will contain in the spring. So what to write about?

Maybe I'll use this blog as a way to keep track of my other projects. I'll post a list of things and then check them off as I finish. Yeah, that's exciting, but look at it this way -- I'm being accountable, if only to the blog gods. So, here we go!

This photo is what I'm hoping to get finished by Christmas. Clockwise from upper left: A sweater for my almost 9-year old granddaughter in a colorway of Macaroon that never went forward (Macaroon itself has since been discontinued); I have the back started, but it's on size 11 needles, so it should work up quickly, and since it's a sweatshirt style, there will be minimal finishing. Center top: A dog sweater for Doodlebug in Washable Wool; he's not normally a sweater wearer, but he's lost much of his hair because of Cushing's disease, and he chills easily now. Next: a finished sock from Sockotta for my 4-year old granddaughter; these are on size 1 needles, and I need to let my fingertips heal from the sharp points before starting the second sock. Upper right corner: An afghan in Washable Wool for my son and DIL as a housewarming gift; they recently bought a new house in Gettysburg, and a new sofa! Center bottom: An almost-finished sock in Opal for my oldest granddaughter (the one getting the sweater); she chose this yarn when she was here for Thanksgiving. And last in this pile: A crocheted sweater for my youngest grauddaughter (the one with the finished sock). I think I have a good shot of getting this all done by Christmas, which I'll be spending with them this year.

And my one finished object: This is a dog sweater for my "grand" dog Roxie the Wonder Chihuahua. She's all of about 3 pounds, and this was like making a sock, only quicker. It's in two shades of Washable Wool, which is a really yummy yarn. It should be warm! Here's the pattern I used: http://www.redlipstick.net/knit/chihswe.html. I'm also using this pattern for Doodlebug's sweater, only I added stitches and length to make it bigger. He and Chelsea are both little dogs, but they looked like giants next to Roxie!

Random Saturday Musings

2007-11-17T11:12:00.000-05:00

This is what I saw when I took the dogs outside this morning. How gorgeous is this tree! There are four of them in a group behind my apartment. I normally walk the dogs across the street in front of my apartment (where there are no red trees but lots of pretty yellow ones) but we went out back for a change today, mostly because I just wanted to stand under the red trees. When the morning sun shines through them, the light becomes a magical filtered pinky-red that almost sparkles. It's like having a peach bulb in your lamps -- everything looks more beautiful in this light. This is one of the reasons fall is my favorite time of year. The photo is clickable, and I left it a large file so that it will expand to fill your screen. Go ahead and click on it -- I'll wait.

We're getting closer to Thanksgiving! One of my sons and his family (including their Chihuahua, Roxie) and my brother and his wife are coming to visit for the weekend, which means I'll get to cook a huge dinner. I've been planning the menu for weeks, and I think I finally have it finalized, after input from everyone who will be eating. We're having all the traditional stuff, as it turns out. Some things are just too good to change, and Thanksgiving dinner is one of them. We'll have interesting food for dinner on Friday and Saturday, but for Thursday, we're sticking to the classics.

I've been avoiding cleaning. Well, not avoiding actually. I'm in the middle of about a hundred different things -- cleaning out the spare bedroom, putting an end-table and some shelves together, petting the dogs, making some surprises for the girls, cleaning bathrooms, knitting socks (just because I like to), washing windows and dusting blinds -- you know, all the usual stuff you do before company comes. Even though they won't be here until Wednesday evening, I have to have most of it done by Monday because the carpet cleaner guys are coming in the morning. I should just focus on one thing until it's finished, but at least this way, everything will be finished at the same time -- until then, it just looks like a hurricane landed in my apartment.

Yes, it's been a very loooonnnggg time!

2007-11-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

But, you see, I forgot my sign-in and password. Only through entering it about a bazillionty times did I finally guess the right one. Or maybe the blogger police just took pity on me and let me in with the wrong password, because I sure can't figure out why I made part of it what I did.

So what to write about now that gardening season is officially over? Actually, it was officially over not long after my last post. As you may recall (especially if you read over my last entry to refresh your memories), the last time we saw the tomatoes was when we were in the middle of a huge heat wave and drought. The mighty 10-foot tower had toppled over, and the tomato plants were languishing, draped not so gracefully over the hedges. To my chagrin, they still are. Only now they're brown and crispy. As is every single last plant in my containers. We went on water restrictions quite a while ago, and I misunderstood what I could water and what I could not. I found out today that I could have watered the plants because I was not sprinkling, I would be holding the hose to water. Who knew? Obviously not me.

I keep reminding myself that I need to get out there and clean everything out, but other things keep getting in the way. End of season garden clean-up has never been one of my favorite things. This year, though, it shouldn't be too bad if I ever get around to it. The roots of the plants are so huge, I just need to dump out the dirt and carry everything to the dumpster. When I replant in the spring, I'll order new dirt to fill the containers and start over from scratch. I can't wait!

I haven't received any garden catalogs yet for the spring season, but I know they aren't far away. This year, I'll get a new Bio Dome from Park Seed and start my own tomato plants -- that way I'll be able to have exactly the kind I want instead of buying the only plants I could find. They did amazingly well, but I would rather have an heirloom variety instead of what grew. I also won't plant beans again -- that was a waste of a container for what I harvested. The local farmers' markets have great beans, so I'll just buy them there. I am going to plant loads of zinnias so that I have lots for my vases, and I'll be buying another Crazy Daisy to replace the one that died in the drought.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I'm so excited that I have family driving down to join me for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to cooking a huge dinner and spending lots of time with people I love!

The Tower Topples ...

2007-08-12T17:51:00.001-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post -- and now it's almost mid-August. Where's the summer gone?

My little patio garden has been thriving, but really all that's left are the three tomato plants in one pot, a container of blueberry plants (which don't look very good right now -- most of the leaves are turning brown; I never did add anything to acidify the soil), a container with two marigold plants and a container of zinnias (which also contained my daisies, but they died back after I cut the flowers). The last container is growing lettuce seeds that finally saw the light of day after the bean plants were pulled out. There's one lonely beet plant in that container, too.

It's been ungodly hot here. I think the temps broke records on several days last week -- over 100 degrees with a heat index in the 110s. Incredible, blast-furnace heat. I can't take the dogs for walks, because they're heat-absorbing black and they're low to the ground, so all the heat reflected off the sidewalks hits them in the bellies. We get about 10 feet from the door and they're both panting and ready to come back in. Doodlebug's vet has told me to keep him out of the heat as much as possible -- he's really lost quite a bit of fur due to the Cushings disease, and he has no protection from the sun. I had to take Chelsea to the vet for a very scary faux-death experience on Monday, and the vet we saw then said the same thing about her, but because she's old, not because she's losing fur.

I came home on Wednesday to find this: [NOTE--I just realized I don't have a photo to put here, and it's very dark outside now. I'll add the photo of the toppled tower tomorrow.)

I'm amazed at how much these tomato plants grew in this container, and I'm surprised the supports held up as long as they did. Right now the plants are still sprawling all over the short hedges in front of my patio, and short of pulling up the plants, I really can't do anything about it. They're all over 10-feet tall, and they're too heavy to lift by myself. The supports on these containers really are too flimsy for indeterminate tomato plants, and I should have known that -- I've grown tomatoes for years, for pete's sake. Next summer I'll try something else to keep the plants upright. For now, I'm just going to let them go. One of the main vines broke about halfway through the stalk, but the top of the vine doesn't show any signs of wilting. I have dozens of green tomatoes on the plants, so I'll just let everything ripen and see what happens. Because it's been so hot at night, they aren't setting new fruit. If the plants survive the topple, they should start producing again when nighttime temps are below 70. If this fall is anything like last fall, these plants should produce almost until November.

A huge downside to all this is that I've lost the wonderful privacy screen that was formed by this container of plants. I have tall hedges on one side of my patio that block the view from the street, and this plant blocked most of the view of the "active" side of my patio -- where my glider sits and where the table and chairs are. I enjoyed sitting outside much more when I didn't feel on display to the main street. I guess it isn't too early to start planning for next year ...

Gentle Tomato Spirit

2007-07-09T18:11:00.000-04:00

Remember the tree people in Lord of the Rings? Well, this gentle tomato folken reminded me of them. I wish he'd hurry things along and ripen all his kindred spirits -- I counted at least two dozen that are a great size, and I can hardly wait for them to turn red. None of them show any sign of blossom end rot, and I'm thankful for that. The credit goes to these wonderful pots! They don't dry out, so there's no lack of nutrient uptake.

We're having a much needed rain-shower right now. I took out the dogs at 5:30, and it was just starting to rain. The air smelled all ozoney, and the raindrops were huge. They did a fast potty, but they still have more to do, and I can't take them out now because of the deluge. And the thunder -- Chelsea is quaking at my feet as I type this. Silly Chelsea. We aren't having lightening, so I'm not too worried about turning off the computer just yet.

I know it's been over a week since I last posted, but there's really not much going on. The tomatoes are growing -- the plant is at the ceiling of my balcony now. I may trim off the top -- it's only going to bend and break anyway. I spent two days in New York, and had a blast (along with discovering all the color trends for Fall/Winter 2008-09). It was a very quick trip. I took off Monday and Tuesday last week, and with the holiday, I had a grand long weekend. I didn't do anything -- I parked the car after work on Friday and didn't leave again until I went to a photo shoot Thursday morning. And I was just as bad this past weekend -- I stopped at the store on Friday and didn't go out again until Monday morning. I love my apartment, and I love staying inside when it's too hot to breathe outside.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm leaving for New Hampshire for the Knit & Crochet Show. I'll be meeting with designers and hopefully will find another technical editor or two to help out with editing patterns. That's my goal, anyway.

TTFN -- Hopefully I'll have ripening tomatoes when I get back. I'll keep you posted!

Today's garden news ...

2007-06-17T15:56:00.000-04:00

... is all about the fish! There's nothing happening with the garden anyway. It's very hot, and the tomatoes are just getting bigger. The beans are languishing, although the pots are very moist. Everything is doing what it's supposed to.

A friend of mine is visiting overnight -- we're leaving early tomorrow for New York, and it's easier for her to stay here than it is to drive to the airport from her house. So I've been cleaning like a madwoman. You know, vacuuming the window blinds, cleaning the windows, scrubbing the bathroom. She's only going to be here for a few hours, but I still want everything to be sparkling. BUT, at the same time I'm avoiding doing everything I need to finish, so in practicing said avoidance, I decided to strip down the aquarium and scrub it in an effort to get rid of the algae once and for all. I'm tired of trying to see the fish through green water, and I'm sure they're tired of having to live in it.

So I put the fish in their bucket filled with aquarium water and an airstone and drained the tank. I washed the gravel three times, until the water ran clear and not green. I scrubbed the plants, the filter intake tubes, the air tubing and the large rocks. Then I put everything back in place and refilled the tank. It's quite a shock to the fish to do things so drastically, so I've been trying to get rid of the algae without stripping the tank. No luck -- so drastic times call for drastic measures. At least now the tank is clean and sparkling. I keep to a pretty regular maintainance schedule, and maybe I'll be able to keep the algae away. In my research to see what's causing the problem, I read that when full spectrum lights get old, they don't work properly and that sometimes allows algae to get out of hand. If it comes back, I'll try replacing them. I can't remember when I set up this aquarium originally -- maybe autumn? I know it was before the holidays. I also put Algon in the filter, and maybe now that things are clean, that will help. It didn't do anything to clear up the problem over the last few months, though.

So now I have happy fish, or at least fish I can see, and I still have to finish cleaning. Better go!

PS -- That's Sushi on the left. She's camera-shy, and I usually can only get photos of the back of her. Her tail is gorgeous, so maybe that's what she wants everyone to see. The other fish is Anjin-san. I don't know why -- perhaps the fact that they're Japanese goldfish (Ryukins) and Shogun is one of my favorite movies? I've had them for over a year (their bodies were the size of a quarter when I bought them, and now Sushi weighs 15 ounces -- yes, I weighed them before I put them in the bucket). I assume she's a female since she's larger, but they haven't shown any breeding behavior. I don't think they're old enough yet. Once they outgrow this aquarium, I'm going to send them to live with a friend of mine who has a pond in his back yard. I don't have room for a larger tank. Hopefully that will be a while ...

Tomayto, Tomahto

2007-06-10T17:47:00.001-04:00

However you may say it, I'm going to have some! In just four short weeks, give or take a few days, these little marble-size beauties will be red, ripe, sliced and slathered with mayo (fat-free, of course) on whole wheat bread. And possibly bacon. Too bad my lettuce didn't last longer ...

It's blasted hot out there today. I'm glad I got all the garden chores done early yesterday morning. Such that they were -- I'm so used to spending hours weeding, planting and watering that the hour I spent outside yesterday morning tending to my pots seems almost a cheat. Can I really call this gardening?

Why yes, I can!

This morning I congratulated myself on the fact that I went to Wally-World and only spent $80 -- a minor miracle. Then I stopped at the grocery store to pick up the things I couldn't get at WW and spent another $80. Sigh.

Other weekend news -- well, there's none. I spent an hour or so gardening yesterday, came in and took a nap, cooked the beans and some corn on the cob for a light, vegetarian dinner, cut out and mounted some rubber stamps and called it a night. Today I shopped in the morning, put groceries away, took a nap and just looked at the clock and realized it's almost 6:00! No wonder the pups are pestering me to go out!

Hasta la vista, baby! (remember Terminator?)

My first harvest

2007-06-09T09:10:00.000-04:00

Here they are -- 2-1/2 pounds of beautiful yellow and green beans, destined to become part of my dinner tonight and tomorrow night, and then bean salad for lunch the next few days after that. Aren't they pretty?

This particular type of yellow bean is called Soleil. They all mature at the same time, and it doesn't look like I'll get a second harvest because there were no further flowers on the plants. Many of the plants were finished, so I cut them off to allow more air and sun for the other plants. I didn't pull them out because I didn't want to disturb the roots of the plants that are left. The green beans have more flowers, so I'll get a second smaller harvest from them in a few weeks. In the meantime, I have another container of yellow beans with many flowers that will turn into ready-to-pick beans in about two weeks.

Here's another drawback to this type of garden. In my earth gardens, I had produce all summer -- enough to freeze so that I could have beans of all sorts, squash and fresh tomato salsa and sauces into the winter. I could never freeze enough for the entire winter -- my freezer wasn't that large. That certainly won't be the case with what I'm growing now.

While I was picking beans this morning, I was looking over the other plants and finally discovered what's been eating at the crazy-daisy buffet. Two Japanese beetles were snuggled cozily among the petals. Not for long! I used to think Japanese beetles were beautiful when I was a child. I still do, only now I know how destructive they can be. I knocked them off and stepped on them, only cringing slightly at the rather loud crunch they made under the heel of my shoe. So there Daisy-Eating-Beetles! And I dare all your friends to munch on my flowers!

It's a jungle out there!

2007-06-06T19:57:00.000-04:00

Literally! The beans are spilling out of their container and trailing bean vines all over the patio. The tomato plants are as tall as I am -- already! I found more flower bracts today, so I really think I'll get a decent crop of tomatoes. I can't wait!

Good organic fertilizer and a constant water supply -- and look what happens! Scott, you really need to buy some of this fertilizer!

I didn't downsize the photo, so you'll be able to click on it to enlarge and see the actual beans! I'd like to put text on the photo to direct you to what I'd like you to see, but my photo program doesn't do that.

I pulled out the wilty lettuce and planted the snapdragons, parsley and chives I brought back from PA. I cut off all the blooms and placed them behind the tall zinnias so that they'll get some relief from the afternoon sun. I'm sure the snaps will bloom again in a few weeks. I really like the way snapdragons smell, but these smelled different than any others I've ever grown before. Their scent reminded me of black licorice. I'll let them reseed at the end of the season, and between them, the daisy, the herbs and the ruffled coneflower I plan to buy next year for this container, this pot will take care of itself. I'll just have to keep it watered and add fertilizer during the growing season. You have to love perennials!

Why, hello Miss Daisy!

2007-06-05T18:13:00.001-04:00

Isn't she pretty? She isn't even fully open yet. I love Shasta Daisies -- especially the Crazy Daisy variety. The others shastas are a bit more reliable bloomers, but they don't have the personality of Miss Crazy. The petals go this way and that -- some are thin and some are wide. Too bad they don't have a scent.

The dogs are recuperating nicely from their trip (as am I). We napped most of the weekend away, and I went to work refreshed and ready for new challenges. I have another group of pattern books to get started on, but only three instead of ten. I'm actually looking forward to working on them! Planning the designs is my favorite part of putting pattern books together. I love it when the plan comes together and the book looks like I think it will. Sometimes when working with multiple designers that can be a bit risky. I have a 2-day photo shoot scheduled this week, and a 2-day trip next week and the week after -- this month will be busy!

In other garden news, the beans are getting beans! Some are ready to pick now, but I'll probably wait another few days until I can pick enough for dinner. These varieties aren't supposed to get stringy, so it's fine to wait a bit. The anticipation of eating them is almost as good as actually eating them! The lettuce is just about ready to pull out. It's been hot here, and while it hasn't bolted, it stays wilted most of the time. I brought a flat of snapdragons back with me from PA, and I'll plant them there. If I cut off all the blooms, they'll bloom again when the weather cools off a bit. The tomatoes doubled in size while I was gone. Each plant has a flower bract, and one of the flowers has a tiny tomato inside. I'll probably be able to pick them in early to mid July. All of the herbs are growing nicely (despite being planted in self-watering containers -- so there, self-watering-container-book author whose name I can't remember who said they wouldn't do well with a constant water source), and I brought back parsley and chives to plant. The lavender is still a no-show. I'm pretty sure I did plant the seeds -- the packet is empty. Lavender is just difficult to start from seed.

The only thing I have left to plant is the trombocino squash, which I'll try to do one evening this week. It's getting ready to storm and my pizza was just delivered (thank you Papa Johns), so I won't do it tonight. Squash is a summer plant, and we still have a long summer left, so I'm not worried about planting it late.

Doodlebug's Last Roadtrip and Big Adventure, Chelsea Too -- Part 1

2007-05-31T23:44:00.001-04:00

What a trip! We got home about a half hour ago. I've been driving on and off since about 10:30 this morning, and I have that weird vibration in my body from being on the road so long -- kind of like sea-legs. Of course, I've had about 6,742 mg of caffeine (thank you, Starbucks!), so the weird vibration may be coming from that.

I think D-Bug had a good time! My granddaughters were very gentle with him (and with Chelsea). They ended up staying with me at the hotel, and we had three sleepovers, including tattoos! I love having them around, and I miss them already! Doobie got to be the man -- he put a jumping silky terrier in his place (although the poor guy is named Daisy -- I think he has to jump pretty much nonstop in order to prove his manhood), he ate people food like crazy, he got petted almost nonstop, and he got to see Scott -- his second favorite person in the whole world. On the down-side, he completely lost his hearing a few days ago. I need to do some Internet research to see what's up with that, and then possibly take him to see his vet. He has Cushing's Disease, which is caused by either a tumor on the adrenal glands, or a tumor on the pituitary gland. I'm thinking possibly his is a pituitary tumor and maybe it's large enough to be pressing on nerves that control hearing? I may be grasping at straws here. At any rate, being 16+, the vet and I have decided not to treat whatever diseases he has (he probably has cancer, too), and will just let him live out his life until he isn't happy any more. Since we aren't going to treat him, there's no point in doing any diagnostic work, so we may never know what is really wrong with him beyond the vet's best guesses.

Anyway, that's it for tonight. I'm going to try to read a little and unwind. Hopefully the buzzing will stop soon ...

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go ...

2007-05-25T04:37:00.000-04:00

And now that I've left you with that song in your head ...

The books are finally at the printer and out of my hands -- woohoo -- and they'll be in the distribution center on time. How cool is that! It was touch and go there for a while, but it's all done now and I can go on vacation with a head devoid of knitting and crochet abbreviations. What a relief!

The pups and I are heading out in a few hours for Doodlebug's Last Roadtrip and Big Adventure, Chelsea Too. I haven't really told them yet that they get to go with me, but they know something's up. I keep asking Chelsea if she wants to see her Scott-Boy, and she get all waggy-tailed and happy. Usually I avoid mentioning the name of anyone she loves, because she gets sad and just looks out the window and sighs. I haven't mentioned the D-word (for Daddy) in a very long time -- I think she thinks he lives in the phone, since that's the only place she ever hears his voice. Come to think of it, maybe he does! I haven't actually seen him in 7 years, so maybe he is just a voice in the phone!

I still have a few last-minute things to do (like pack and clean up the kitchen, and clean the birdcage, and possibly clean the aquarium, although what's the point because I can't seem to get rid of the green water no matter what I do, and oh yeah, color my hair and shower -- we may not make it by 6:00, and I'm still here updating my blog. Hi Drew -- I'm practicing avoidance!). But you know what, it's my vacation and I'm driving this time, so I don't have to worry about getting to the airport in the nick of time. If I want to leave at 7:00, I can! If I leave any later, though, I'll have massive Charlotte traffic to contend with, both on 485 and 77. I'd better get in gear and get going!

Scott, by the time you read this, I'll be on my way (hopefully -- you know how I am about being on time ...)

Bye y'all! CUL8R! Peace, out!

PS -- I had a garden emergency last night! I went out to check the plants when I got home, and they were drooping! The weather here has been warm, and the beans had used all the water in the reservoir. It hasn't been a week since the last time I watered them, so I guess I'll need to call the apartment people to water them while I'm gone. It's a chore -- I hate to ask them. Drag the hose outside, hook it up inside, fill, fill, fill -- it takes about a half hour, and I haven't prearranged it with them. I know it will be fine. This apartment complex rocks for tenant service -- that's their main selling point (besides gorgeous apartments in a great location). They feed the fish and the bird while I'm gone, and they'll get my mail, water the plants, take my laundry to the dry cleaner if I want them to, they even pick up the trash outside my door once a week. It's so worth the rent to live here!

Looking for Jack ...

2007-05-21T19:59:00.001-04:00

As in Jack and the Beanstalk. I expect to see a giant around here one of these days.

Ok, the beans aren't quite that tall, but they're much taller than the package states. Both of these varieties are supposed to be around 20" tall, and they've more than topped that. Some of them are behaving more like pole beans than bush beans, and they're vining around each other.

My tomato plants have doubled in size, and I need to get the cage set up and installed before I leave on vacation, because I have a feeling if I don't, I won't be able to when I get back -- they'll just be too overgrown to contain without damaging them by that point. I have another container coming tomorrow, and I plan to work outside part of the evening getting the cage set up and the container filled and planted. I'm going to plant a trombocino squash or two (or three) and let them vine up around the baker's rack. They're my favorite variety of summer squash, and I'm happy to have found the seeds here.

It's warmed up considerably here -- temps are supposed to be in the mid to high 80s all week. I imagine the lettuce only has a few weeks left, if that. I've turned the container around so that the taller plants (hello Miss Daisy) are in the back providing a little shade in the afternoon, but I still think they'll bolt while I'm on vacation. I'll be surprised if they haven't.

I thought I wouldn't like "gardening" in these containers, but they've proven to be a godsend while I've been working long hours these past few weeks. I really haven't had time to even give a second thought to my garden -- I just go out in the morning to pick a few leaves of lettuce to put on my sandwich for lunch. I've only had to water every week and a half to two weeks, though that will probably change when the temps get up into the 90s and as the plants get larger and demand more water. I still think I'll be pretty safe going on vacation for a week and leaving them. I'll make sure they're full before I go, and I'll water them as soon as I get home.

We're struggling to get one last book the printer tonight, and then I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. I still need to review printer proofs -- probably on Wednesday -- but then I can go away and not even have to think about them. They're in good hands with our printer, and I know he'll take good care of them and make sure they're to our distribution center on time. Thank you Robert!

I haven't told the dogs yet that we're going on a road trip. I wouldn't be able to live with their excitement every time I open the door! I'll surprise them Friday morning when I wake them up and make them go outside at 5:00 in the morning. The even bigger surprise will come when I put them in the car. Chelsea loves road trips. Doodlebug? Not so much. But he loves the end result -- visiting all his favorite people. I do, too!

2007-05-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

Look what's been happening with my garden! The first photo was taken on 5/10. Looks great, right?

The bottom photo was taken just a few minutes ago on 5/13 (Happy Mother's Day, by the way). Look at the beans! They're amazing. I've picked lettuce three times so far -- last Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. I think I could probably start picking enough for a sandwich every day. I love being able to go out and just pick a few leaves here and there. Because I don't use pesticides, I don't have to even worry about washing the leaves!

I think I've been at work more than I've been home lately. I know I said I didn't think I was going to like gardening this way, but man, if you don't have time, nothing beats these containers. I've gone two weeks without watering. I'll fill them today--the water level tubes indicate they need it, but the soil is still moist.

I'll be glad when all of these books get to the printer and I can take a break. I'm so looking forward to my vacation the end of this month! I'm taking the dogs on a road trip to visit family in PA.

Well, if I'm going to take a vacation, I need to get back to work! I think I'll take my computer out on the patio so that I can watch the plants grow while I work ...

Garden goings-on

2007-05-05T08:31:00.000-04:00

And lots of growing has been going on! Just look:

So much is happening you can't even see it all in this photo! Closest is the Crazy Daisy. She likes this container environment very much -- this is one strong plant! Behind her container is the first container of beans I planted. Some of the plants are putting out bud stalks already -- I'll probably have flowers within a week, and then beans a few weeks after that. In the third container are tomato plants I just received. I'm not at all pleased with their condition, and won't be ordering tomato plants online again. They arrived within two days of shipping, and they weren't dried out at all all, but they were tall and spindly with yellowing leaves -- which obviously means they weren't grown in the best of conditions. Hopefully they'll recuperate and get strong -- I planted them deep so that they can develop good root systems. In the fourth container are the blueberry plants, which are still doing well in spite of the fact that I haven't added peat to the soil yet. And last but not least is the second container of beans, which has started sprouting. The lavender, alas, is still a no-show. I've almost given up on it. I did plant some beans in the same area as the lavender seeds. If they ever decide to grow, they can grow around the beans until it's time for them to come out, and then they can have that space.

We had almost record-setting heat the beginning of this week, but yesterday and today are cloudy, drizzly and very chilly, which makes the lettuce happy.

This photo is from Tuesday, and it's grown even more since then. I really need to start thinning it out, so I'll probably start picking it today and have a baby lettuce salad with dinner. I have a nice light raspberry vinaigrette, fresh mushrooms and some feta cheese just waiting ...

I bought some trombocino summer squash seeds last week (http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/packpg/veg/squash-trombetta-p.htm). I had planned to plant them in the strip of soil between the hedge row and my patio, but after talking with my son last week (Hi Scott!) we came up with a better idea. See my baker's rack in the first photo? I'm going to remove the bottom two shelves (Scott, they do unscrew) and put in another self-watering container. This type of summer squash vines profusely, so it can grow up and around the bars and shelves on the baker's rack. Having summer squash in my little garden makes me happy!

And speaking of happy, my friend Margot had this wonderful idea on her blog (http://margotpotter.blogspot.com/). She's adding photos of things that make her happy, complete with a cute little happy sign in each of them. I'm going to stamp a fun happy sign and do the same! I think we all should, and create this viral Happy Things campaign that just sweeps the Internet and spreads happiness. Let's do it! And be sure to stop in and say hello to Margot -- she rocks!

My guilty, guilty pleasure -- a day late

2007-05-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

Well, ok, not so guilty. And if you're coming here today to read about gardening, you're out of luck and you need to leave and come back tomorrow when there WILL be garden news. Today is all about dancing ... Dancing With the Stars.

Does anyone else think John Ratzenberger is totally hot? I don't think I liked him on Cheers, but I don't remember since I've slept quite a few times since the last time I saw it, and I was never a big fan of the show anyway. Imagine my surprise the first night when this sophisticated yet down to earth, handsome and, well, hot, man walks out onto the stage. The goatee? Yummy. In an odd way he reminds me of Anthony Hopkins (but NOT in the Hannibal Lecter sort of way), who is also a very attractive man.

So I don't have TV here. Well, I have TV, in fact I have two of them, but I get lousy reception and I can't watch either one. I refuse to pay for cable to watch two or three shows a week, and neither antenna works, so I get to watch everything a day late on the internet via my computer. Thank you, Internet, for ABC.com, and thank you ABC.com for playing all of your shows the day after. And thank you, work, for giving me a laptop to use that I can take home at night so that I don't have to buy my own computer and can instead spend my money on garden stuff. And rubber stamps.

Anyway.

I just finished watching last night's epi of DWTS. And Oh. My. God. It was sensational! The dancers were really good (except for Billy Ray, but he knows he isn't good and he's just having as much fun as he can, and that makes him the best to watch). Ian finally opened up his personal space and looked at Cheryl like he could just devour her. Joey did some bendy moves during the jive that were phenomenal. I didn't like Apolo's waltz, but his other dance deserved the 9s it received. Billy Ray sat out most of his waltz, instead showcasing his partner's dancing talent (and I just cannot remember her name right now), but came back and was more involved in the Mambo. Layla is my favorite to win, though -- but so is Joey. It's going to get tough!

And who will go? Sadly, because IMO he's a hottie, I think John will be the one to leave. Billy Ray is a bad dancer, but he has a huge fan base, and that's what's keeping him. The loser is being decided right now as I type this, but I won't get to see it until tomorrow, so please don't tell me!

Saturday Update

2007-04-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

Woohoo -- I can upload more than one image! I think I may be getting the hang of this blog thing!

Well, here's the garden today. If you go back to last Saturday's image, you'll see how the beans have grown by leaps and bounds. I love beans for that reason. I'm going to plant another container with just wax beans tomorrow. I'll add more marigolds around the outside to deter the bean beetles, which may or may not be a problem here (they were a huge problem in Indiana and the marigolds helped quite a bit), but they're pretty, and they can't hurt, right? Too bad they don't smell better ...

The Crazy Daisy has settled in and is growing well. It's probably almost twice the size it was when I planted it. I'll probably be able to pick a few leaves of baby lettuce next Saturday, and I'm looking forward to that.

I received notice from Burpee that my tomatoes and herbs have shipped and are scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. I'll try to leave work on time so that I can get them planted right away.

Tomorrow, along with planting beans, I'm also going to dig up the strip of dirt between the hedges and my patio to plant the tall red and lime-green zinnias. I'm also going to head to the local nursery to buy a trowel (for digging up the strip) and a cool, non-self-watering planter for the herbs, since they do better if they're stressed from time to time by lack of water. Who knew? The nursery opens at 8:00, so I'll be able to work outside in relative peace before the sun gets too warm.

When I moved here, I didn't have room for my baker's rack. I put it on the patio with the intention of putting plants on the shelves, and I think I'll try the herbs there to see how they do. Guess I'll need a watering can, too, since I'll have to water the pots frequently when it gets really hot here. Right now I'm watering the containers with the hose from my Python aquarium cleaner. I take off the part that goes in the tank, so there's no worry about contaminating the fish with anything, although with the muck they're swimming in right now, I don't see how anything could make it worse. I'm having horrible algae problems, and the Algon can't even keep up with it. Guess I have to take out everything and give it a good scrubbing to get rid of some of the spores. I can't move it anywhere else -- my apartment gets good light everywhere!

That's it for now -- I'm in the middle of making a bunch of thank-you cards, and I'm going to try to get more of them finished tonight. Four down, eighteen to go ...

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease

2007-04-26T18:34:00.000-04:00

until she crashes on the floor. And then she runs and hides under the desk.

I have to face the facts -- my heart, my muse, my furry soulmate, the love of my life is getting old. Chelsea turned 13 last September, and while little dogs live long lives, she's still considered geriatric and she can't do the things she thinks she should be able to do.

Chelsea is as close to a cat as a dog can get, without all the aloofness that a dog could never pull off. She stalks prey, she isn't afraid of heights, she sleeps on the windowsill in the dining room, she's nimble-footed. I love watching her jump from the sofa to the chair to the ottoman to the other chair. She can just about make a circuit of my living room without setting foot on the floor. She jumps from my bed to the side chair and back again, and hardly shakes the bed. Until last night.

When we go to bed, Doodlebug hops up his little doggy steps and settles right in beside me. Chelsea comes to bed until she thinks I'm asleep, and then she hops into the chair to sleep alone until about a half hour until the alarm goes off, then she comes back to bed and stays there until I get up.

Last night, she missed the chair and landed in a heap on the floor. She sat there a bit dazed for a minute, then literally shook herself off, jumped into the chair and settled down for the night. She moved a little slowly this morning, but she does that from time to time -- we're all getting older. When I got home from work tonight and let them out of the bedroom, she made a mad dash for the chair in the living room -- she likes to be as close to my level as she can get, probably in a ploy for the alpha position. She tried to jump to the ottoman, but misjudged the distance and fell again. She sat hunched over for a few minutes, and I felt everything to make sure she hadn't broken or dislocated anything. She seems ok now, but she's still moving slowly. A visit to the vet may be in order ...

I'm not worried about losing her -- she promised me the day I picked her up from the shelter that she's immortal. But, damn, it sure is hard watching her get old.

And on the garden front, the beans are growing, the lettuce is starting to look like lettuce, the zinnias are working on their second set of leaves, it looks like the blueberries will survive (even though I haven't put peat in the container yet to acidify the soil), the daisies are getting taller and the lavender is still a no-show.

What a different a day makes ..

2007-04-24T19:57:00.000-04:00

or two days, or three -- especially in a garden.

My little garden microcosm is no exception. Look at today's photo (taken yesterday afternoon) and then go back and look at Saturday's photo. Amazing, isn't it! Yesterday all the plants just had their original seed leaves (cotyledons to all of us seed geeks), and now most of them are starting to get their second set -- the leaves that look like what the grown plants leaves will be. In two weeks, I'll be having baby lettuce salads with a fruity vinaigrette dressing, and won't that be very, very good.

While I very much like these containers and enjoy poking in the dirt, I'm finding myself at gardening odds. In my big earth beds, I had something to do every. single. day. I'd plant a square foot of something, or pick radishes to give to a friend and her family (I don't like radishes, but after a long, gray winter I just had to plant something that would grow quickly to harvest size), or pull baby weeds that would grow after I turned the soil and exposed them to light. I'd have to water every few days, or transplant seedlings, or move mulch from around the perennial daisies and coneflowers. I'd spend hours out there in the morning, just zen-ing out while I was working, or meditating about different things, or feeling my heart and spirit mend. Here, all I have to do is go out every day and take a photo of what's growing. I don't think there will ever be the same level of involvement that I had with my earth beds. For instance, I can't see myself sitting out on my patio tending plants and crying over a broken relationship or disappointment in my job. And maybe that's a good thing? I don't know. It's good, I guess, but just very different.

I found out why I had wasps on the patio! It seems those crafty little beasties are building a nest in the corner where my upstairs neighbor's deck adjoins the wall. When I spotted it Sunday evening, it was the about 2" in diameter and contained about 10 cells. Now it's a good 5" in diameter and has 35 cells -- yup, I counted them. I called the apartment manager, and the exterminator will be taking care of it on Thursday. Normally I'm thankful for bees and the busy work they do, but wasps are a different story. The gloves come off and it's a fight to the finish. At least this time I don't have to worry about taking care of it! One of the bennies of apartment life! I still don't know why they were eating the glider ...

PS -- I'm really not writing in stream of consciousness mode. I'm putting in spacing between paragraphs, really I am! It just isn't sticking when I post the entry! Blog help anyone?

Watching the beans grow ...

2007-04-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

Today has been kind of a quiet day, and long, which is the BEST on weekends. It feels like it should be after 6:00, but it's just 3:15. Ahhh, extra hours today ...

I sat outside for quite some time earlier, just reading and watching the beans come up. I swear, they're growing so fast I could almost see them break ground, unfurl their leaves and reach up to the sun. But not quite -- I think they knew I was watching and would only grow when I looked away. Anyway, this is how they looked this morning. In no time at all, they'll be shading the lettuce, which is exactly what I wanted them to do. I was finally chased in by two wasps who insisted on buzzing around the glider. It looked like they were trying to eat it -- even though I washed it off, perhaps there's still pollen left in the pores of the wood. I've been stung too many times by wasps and wasn't in the mood to be stung today, so I surrendered and left them to it. I needed to clean the aquarium anyway, and now the fish are happy and I can see them again. I know I skipped cleaning for two weeks, but that tank was just way too murky for normal fish muck. They may be getting too large for the tank -- I probably should start thinking about moving them to my friend's pond.

The pups are enjoying the day, too. Chelsea has been sleeping on the chair by the window with her head propped on the windowsill, letting the breeze blow over her and waking up to bark at passing people, cars, bees and whatever else goes by the window. Doodlebug has been right by my side, as always. He had quite the accident early this morning, so I've been trying to take him out every hour today, and I'll pick up his water around 8:00 tonight so that he doesn't drink so much before we go to bed. Not a pleasant experience for any of us, but I can't yell at him for it because he can't help it. He's just getting old. I guess I could put him in his crate at night, but that would be punishment for both of us. I'd miss his furry little body curled up behind my knees.

Since I still have a good part of the afternoon stretching out ahead of me, I think I'll go rubber stamp some cards. Or read a bit more before starting dinner. Or take a nap with the pups ...

Welcome little beansprouts!

2007-04-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

Lots happening in my happy little garden today (anyone else miss Bob Ross?) -- the tall plants in the planter on the left are the blueberries (there are two in the planter -- you can't see them both in this photo). I didn't get the soil amended with peat to make it more acidic, but unbeknownst to me the box was sitting in the apartment office for a week, and I thought it maybe was better to plant them and get them rehydrated than it was to have acidic soil. I'll go to the garden center tomorrow morning and amend the soil around the plants. Fingers crossed all will be well with them. They weren't totally dried out, but they were close.

In the center planter, making their sunshine debut, are the beans! I can see two of them that have broken the soil in this photo, but unless you know what you're looking for, you might not be able to spot them (and I haven't figured out yet how to put text on photos). See the greenish clump in the center? That's a bean spout breaking the soil. There's also one right above the white watering tube. There are also several others that are thisclose to breaking through. The green seedlings in the bottom right corner are marigolds. The other green sprouts you can see throughout are lettuce.

And in the right planter, the row on the left is thickly sown lettuce. The thin line in the center contains white zinnias. The daisy plant is in the upper right corner and the lavender (lower right corner) is still a no-show.

I'm still expecting tomato plants and herbs. I almost bought a beautiful rosemary plant last night (along with parsley plants), but I'm pretty sure I have one coming, so I didn't. I can pick it up later if I still want it.

I watered these containers thoroughly last Saturday and filled the reservoirs. The soil has been nicely damp all week (not too wet, though), and this morning's check of the reservoirs shows them about half full. Of course, our weather this week has been coolish and overcast most days, with high wind the beginning of the week.

In other news, I spent too much money at Wally World this morning. I stopped in specifically for dog food, light bulbs, batteries and hair color and came out with all that plus ribbon, snacks, rechargeable batteries and a charger, the latest People magazine and Joe Hill's novel -- Heart-Shaped Box. Joe is Stephen King's son, and it's interesting to see that he has chosen to write in the same genre as his father. I can't wait to start this one! And what is it with Wal-Mart? I seriously cannot go in that store without dropping at least $100, and here lately, it's been closer to $200. Every time! I think stuff just jumps in my cart when I'm not looking, because I totally don't remember buying Crunch & Munch, but there was a box in the bag when I got home. And it's the good toffee kind, too, with peanuts and almonds. Yum!

It's in the 70s here today, and sunny, so I think I'm going to annoy the dogs and go sit out on the patio and read for a bit. With the Crunch & Munch, of course, and a glass of pomegranate juice. And I'll wave to the dogs through the window ...

Every battery I own is dead ...

2007-04-19T18:59:00.000-04:00

... except for the one in the car, and I'm ever so thankful for that. In the year plus a few months that I've owned it, I've gotten so much better at turning off the lights. I haven't had a dead battery in a few months now. Yay me!

Anyway. Not to be outdone by the lettuce, the marigold seeds broke ground today and I'm very excited by that, but I can't show you because my camera batteries are dead. So are the ones in my Wisp air fresheners. And the ones in my CD player. I got all excited for a second to see the calculator sitting out on my desk, but then I realized that it's solar-powered. Stupid calculator. I was just so sure I had extra ones somewhere, but I guess I used them all in the camera, such sucks the power out of batteries at an alarmingly fast rate -- what's up with that?

So, instead of a photo of the marigold babies (which sprouted in just five days), here's a photo of Doodlebug, my worm-jerky afficionado--snoozing peacefully in the corner of the sofa. Pleasant dreams, Doobie!

Salad, anyone?

2007-04-18T20:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've started this blog entry twice, and I've deleted what I wrote both times. I'm not going to try to comment on current events, because it just makes me sad. I'm also not going to comment on my job, because I didn't like it today. And I suspect I won't like it for the next month, but it's my job and I have to go to work to pay for all the dog, bird and fish food (because Ryukin goldfish get constipated easily and have to eat the really expensive goldfish food to prevent Swim Bladder Disorder. constipated fish -- who knew?). Anyway. Stupid job.

Since the point of this blog is my patio garden, let's see what little surprises were waiting in store for us today, shall we? And look -- here they are! Lettuce seedlings! They're almost microscopic in and among all the rich, dark potting soil, but they're there all the same. Right now, the only thing sprouting is the lettuce mix. I also planted marigolds, lavender and green beans, but none of them have broken ground yet. I'm sorely tempted to dig around a little to see if the beans are sprouting, and if this were an earth garden I would, but since I planted containers and the number of seeds is very limited, I won't disturb what's there just because I'm sometimes very impatient and I can't stand to not know what's going on under the soil. Since this blog is supposed to my record-keeping attempt, I'll just note here that the lettuce seeds sprouted in 4 days (temps were cool -- in the 60s, and weather conditions varied from sun to high wind to rain to overcast).

I think I'll just zen out a little and watch the lettuce grow and pet the dogs and listen to the bird chirp and watch the fish swim and forget about my stupid job for a bit. And maybe in the morning, I'll sit out there again while I drink a cup of tea -- just so I have enough calmness banked to get through another day at my stupid job. You know, the one that won't be any fun for another month and then will be a total blast again for a while.

(Disclaimer: If anyone from work is reading this, I really do like my job! Just not this week. And not until all of these books get to the printer.)

PS -- I do have to share something I read today: "God bless everyone. No exceptions." I won't comment on this any further except to say it was in the back of my mind all day. To go any further would be getting into current events, and I'm just not going to do that.

All the more reason to dig in the dirt!

2007-04-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

Evidently, scientists have discovered that there are "feel good" microbes that live in the soil. When we play in the dirt (or eat them somehow -- I didn't figure that out), those microbes travel around in our bodies giving off all these little happy vibes that make us feel better. Mice injected with the microbes swim around longer in a water-filled beaker before giving up than mice that didn't have the microbes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070413/sc_livescience/depressedgoplayinthedirt;_ylt=Ao_E8o_fZHXIaeHv.myYavnq188F

I hope they rescued the mice. Seriously!

This is a really interesting article and doesn't take too long to read. Check it out -- you might need to copy and paste the link. (and thank-you, Angie, for sending it to me -- big hugs to you)

Well, it looks like a flower.

2007-04-15T12:22:00.000-04:00

And besides, it's my blog and I can talk about food if I want to. And food is the end result of a vegetable garden, so in a weird way it's all related, right?

Anyway, I'm going to a rubber stamp workshop at a friend's house today, and she's stressed out over selling her house and buying another house and her husband travels quite a bit and her mom (who lives with them) had surgery a while back and still can't get around too well and she has two very young children -- so I volunteered to bring the food.

I know ya'll have been making these fruit pizzas for, like, ever, but this is my first attempt, and isn't it pretty? Yes, the chocolate is a bit blobby, but I'm sure that will NOT affect the taste. I'm also making sesame chicken strips which are in the oven baking right now, and I wish you could smell them, because they're making the dogs walk around sniffing with their noses in the air. And I have a cheese ball chilling in the fridge. Oh, and I have to leave in 10 minutes and the laundry is still spinning in the dryer.

My god, I can seriously NOT get anywhere on time!

Shhh--be very, very quiet ...

2007-04-14T12:37:00.000-04:00

... the seeds are germinating.

I planted two of the planters today -- the one with plant already growing contains a Crazy Daisy (the green stuff you see), lavender from seed (which may not grow -- lavender can be weird that way) and lettuce of all sorts but mostly red. And green. And frizzy. And mixed in with other yummy lettuce-y things like bull's blood beets and mustard greens (which were both in the mesclun mix I bought).

The second seemingly naked planter contains green and yellow (my fave) beans -- why did I plant green beans which I like when I LOVE the yellow ones -- marigolds in the corners and lettuce broadcast thinly over top everything. Yes, I know the lettuce is going to grow where the beans are, but by the time the beans are getting big enough to do anything, the lettuce will be bolting and I'll pull it out to give the beans more room. And I did warn you -- I push the limits of what can grow in a finite amount of space. I'll fertilize and thin. Don't worry -- it's all good.

The other three planters are still empty. In two weeks, I'll sow more yellow bean seeds in one (with more lettuce and marigolds) for a continuous harvest. My blueberry plants are on the way, so I'll plant them in one when they arrive, along with whatever else I can find that will grow in acid soil. And hopefully my tomato plants will be shipped soon and I'll plant the last one with them. And basil. Lots and lots of basil. I grew Summerlong two years ago and absolutely loved it -- the flavor was superb. I kept the flower heads cut off, and they just branched out into gorgeous mounds of green deliciousness that smelled wonderful whenever I walked past.

I bought Summerlong again this year, because I just think its the best. I'm not into lemon or chocolate or cinnamon or other unusually scented/flavored basils. While they probably smell wonderful, I really think basil should taste like basil and not cinnamon. Or lemon. Does it taste cinnamony enough to put on my oatmeal? Will my green tea taste better with the addition of lemon basil? And how about a nice glass of milk with lots of -- you guessed it -- chocolate basil. I think not, so what's the point in growing them? My basil will go into summer salads or be layered with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes and dressed lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I can hardly wait!

For now, I'll just be quiet so I don't disturb those little seeds from getting on with what they do best.

And come to think of it, I don't think there's a chocolate basil plant. Maybe I'm thinking of Chocolate Cosmos ...

We interrupt this gardening blog for a book review.

2007-04-10T19:35:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned below, I've been gardening for years, but only in raised beds in my backyard in Indiana. I grew flowers in containers, but not vegetables, so my patio experience with vegetables is new to me.

Being the consumate book collector, when I find a topic that interests me, I look for a book to support it. Or two or three, and then I buy them all. I'm all about having information and choices. Deciding to raise veggies in pots on my patio was no different, and I found a book! Huzzah! Sadly, the huzzah is for finding the book, not for the book itself.

Let me start by saying the photos are drop-dead gorgeous. Close-ups of luscious vegetables at their peak abound. And there are LOTS of them. All very exciting and inspirational. The actual gardening info, not so much.

The most helpful part of the book, to me at least, is the chapter on soil. Explaining how a plant takes up water and nutrients and why putting regular garden soil in a container is not a good option was very helpful info. The part of this chapter that just seemed silly to me is about starting and maintaining a compost heap. Good info, but if you're an apartment dweller -- not really an option.

The author also spent a great deal of time taking about what he planted in his earth garden. I would have rather had that space dedicated to more info about what to plant in containers -- that's supposed to be the focus of this book. And I wish the info had been more on patio gardening, rather than the author's experience of using his containers to supplement what he grows in his earth garden. What also slightly annoyed me is that the focus of the book is self-watering containers, but Mr. Smith spends a large amount of time talking about growing herbs in regular pots because they thrive on poor conditions such as dry soil and hot weather. That's great to know, but please don't devote a whole chapter to herbs that can't be successfully grown in self-watering containers. Instead give me options--tell me about the ones that will do well.

I guess I'm jaded. I know a lot about gardening. I have many, many gardening books -- from Square Foot Gardening (my holy bible of gardening) to books on starting seeds. I thought I needed to know a lot more to garden in containers, but after reading this book, I probably knew enough to get started without it.

If you're new to gardening, read the book. But try to borrow it from a library first before you spend the money for it. I found most of the information it contained on the Internet. If you already have earth-gardening experience, my advice is go to gardenweb.com and visit the container gardening forum.

All that said, this is a beautiful book, and I will refer to it from time to time, especially the last part about varieties of plants that work best in containers. It just isn't going to become the reference that I'd hoped it would. And all of this is just my opinion -- yours may vary (that's what makes the world so interesting).

And today's garden news is ...

2007-04-07T17:39:00.000-04:00

... there's no news! I came home yesterday with every intention of spending the day outside planting all my little seeds. And then I woke up this morning and took the dogs out for their walk. Brrr! We all froze our butts off! Even Miss Chelsea, who stares wind in the face with her ears aerodynamically held back and just lets it just blow right over her, didn't want to stay out today. So I turned the heat back on and we spent the day inside, rubber stamping (me) and sleeping (them, and then me this afternoon). It's been seriously warm here for over two weeks, with above-average temps in the 80s, which makes this cold snap seems even colder.

Or else after being here over a year, all of our blood is getting thinner ...

Almost after

2007-04-05T18:33:00.000-04:00

The seeds arrived yesterday. Little packages of life held dormant by a hard seed case. Seeds are the absolute most amazing thing to me.

Take a tomato seed, for example. One little seed, if watered and given sunlight, can grow up to be a plant over 10' tall that willingly provides a bushel of luscious, juicy red fruits that are perfect for adding to a slice of bread slathered with mayonnaise and garnished with lettuce. And bacon. And sprinkled with generous amounts of salt and pepper. One tiny, seemingly lifeless seed is where it all starts.

I've had tomato seeds survive the worst of winters in my garden (I was never very good about cleaning out the beds at the end of the growing season). At the first thaw, those little seeds crack open and out comes this amazing plant that can grow inches in just one day. Multiply that by the dozens of tomatoes that got left in the beds in the fall, and you can just imagine what I had growing in the spring! And nothing smells more like spring than a tomato plant.

You know, God sure knew what He was doing with all the seed business. And I am so humbled by it all.

The before view

2007-04-04T06:45:00.000-04:00

The self-watering containers arrived. The casters arrived. All the various accoutrements were in the box. No container gardening book was to be found, though. Anywhere. I called GSC, only to find out the books were on back order. Sigh. I need the book. But my seeds aren't here yet, so as long as the book arrives soon, it's still all good.

I originally wanted to ask the Fedex delivery person to take the boxes around to the patio, but it was really hot yesterday. I figured I could carry them through the [cool, air-conditioned] apartment to the patio. Turns out I got some exercise -- those boxes were heavy!

So here's a photo of the containers and everything that came with them. I hope to finish assembling them after work today!

The before before view

2007-04-03T08:36:00.000-04:00

This is a view of my patio, sans garden. We're looking out from the west corner to the sidewalk and the street beyond. The patio faces south. There's a good view of the short hedge in front of my patio. There's a 12" wide strip of dirt behind the hedges. Empty dirt people!!! It won't be for long. That's what all the zinnia seeds are for. I figure they're hardy enough to start growing in a semi-shady location, and they'll be taller than the hedges in front of them in no time at all, so shade won't be an issue at that point.

My patio looks small in the photo, but it's actually quite large. The strip along the front is about 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep. The shaded part under the porch of the apartment above me is about 6 feet wide and 8 feet deep. I have a table and chairs tucked in the corner -- just right for having a cup of tea and reading outside. You can also see the corner of my wonderful glider, which I don't use often enough.

My garden containers are supposed to arrive later today. I'm working at home today to wait for the Fedex delivery person. Since the containers were shipped with soil, I'm thinking those boxes are going to be heavy. I'm going to ask him to just wheel them right around front to the patio.

Woohoo -- I can't wait to get started!

Well, how 'bout that?

2007-03-31T22:10:00.000-04:00

I have a blog again! This time we'll see if I can last longer than two weeks -- I get bored easily ... can you say ADD? No, I don't actually have ADD, but I tend to get distracted by life, and pretty yarn, and interesting books, and the dogs, and cleaning the fishtank ...

I guess a first post should be all about introductions. Let's see. I'm 39 (well, not really, but did you think I was really going to say how old I am?). I'm all about doing stuff with my hands -- playing in the dirt, crafting, cooking, petting the dogs, etc. I have wonderful friends, but most of them live in other areas that aren't within driving distance, so I tend to spend lots of time e-mailing them and sending photos of my dogs or the traffic on the way to work or the dogs ...

Did I mention my dogs? I have two. Doodlebug is old -- around 16. He came to live with me about 11 years ago, so he probably doesn't remember any other home. I sure don't remember a time when I didn't have him. He's having age issues, and I'm trying to work out a good way to keep him from pottying all over the floor. We're exploring doggy diapers. Fortunately he doesn't seem to embarrass easily. Chelsea is my other dog, and she's my heart. That's her in the photo, which was taken about a year ago. I've had her since she was a baby, and she'll be 13 this year. She's a spunky terrier who saved my life when she was about 6 months old, and I promised her a place in my bed for the rest of her life. Both dogs are black and little, and people tend to think they related because they think they look alike. They really don't -- they're both just black. And little. They've been with me through two major moves -- one from South Carolina to Indiana, and then from Indiana to North Carolina. As long as we're together, they seem to take it in stride. My lovebird, Sailor, is also old -- he just turned 11.

The whole point of this blog (besides getting back in the habit of writing something interesting) is to describe my garden adventures. When I lived in Indiana, I had five very large raised beds that I had so much fun with. One year I planted a purple garden in one of them. Everything was purple. Purple beans. Purple eggplants. Purple radishes. Purple zinnias. Purple Brussels sprouts. I like to combine flowers with vegetables and herbs, and I tend to push the limit of how much you're supposed to plant in a finite space.

After spending last summer in produce Hell (how can the grocery stores around here not have good tomatoes in the summer, and where in the world is the farmer's market I hear everyone talk about?), I decided this year I was going to do something about it and spent some time perusing catalogs and reading about container gardening on Garden Web. That's a terrific site, by the way. Most people are very helpful, and very willing to share what works for them.

My apartment has a great patio, and it faces south, so it gets sunlight all day. Just right for tomatoes! I ordered five Tomato Success Kits from Gardener Supply, and I'm waiting for them to get here -- they're supposed to arrive on Tuesday. After I ordered them, I realized I didn't need to get five tomato kits -- I could have just bought one tomato kit and ordered plain planters for everything else, but oh well. I'll just have extra tomato fertilizer and red mulch for next year.

I also ordered a bunch of seeds for green beans and lettuce, as well as zinnias and marigolds. I ordered herb plants and two blueberry plants that are supposed to do well in containers. And I bought a Shasta Daisy plant because, well ... Daisies. I shouldn't have to say anything else about that!

Oh, and I bought a book on container gardening. Because I've never done this before! Everything should be here the beginning of the week, and I'm anxious to get started!