Sit Down, Stop Whining, and Weed!!!

Remember me complaining about how I never can get anything done in my own garden. I was sunburned and being a big baby. The garden really was neglected. There were weeds everywhere. Everything was overgrown, and many little veggies were waiting to be planted. Well what a difference a week can make.

At the end of my gripefest last Sunday, I had decided to just go out in the garden and just enjoy gardening. I took a little stool, gloves, a bucket for weeds, my Felcos, and a glass of wine. I sat in the garden for about an hour and a half, staying until it was too dark to tell the difference between the good plants and the bad weeds. I worked until the area I could reach was cleared and then picked up my stool and moved down the row. After repeating this activity every evening since, I am happy to say, about half the garden has been looked after and the compost pile has been turned.

It is possible to turn and sift a compost pile while sitting down. A giant pile of plant material was accumulated during the weeding process. After compost turning and sifting was over, I layered the weeds, with rough compost, and stuff cleaned out of the refrigerator. Cotton seed meal was also added to the pile. Hopefully, tomorrow, this will be a hot pile. If not, tomorrow's post will be a rant about why my compost pile will not heat up.

I really enjoyed this week in my garden. There was no sunburn or sore back. There was no feeling sorry for myself. I did get crawled on by lady bugs and enjoyed the scent of herbs as I brushed against them while working. Lemon balm, lemon verbena, Mexican mint marigold, thyme, and basil all smelled wonderful. Finally, I have a garden I can be proud of. Well, at least part of the garden is praise worthy. The second half of the garden and the perennial borders still need a lot of work. There is still a long way to go, but at least I know how to get there.

Breaking Tomato News and a Cookie

Texas is not responsible for the tomato crisis. Neither is California. Although earlier we were being investigated. Is this news? They don't have a clue where the salmonella came from.

Above is a great oatmeal peanut butter cookie made with eggs from a friend's flock. No salmonella there. Middle Monkey made them and they taste great. Please forgive the blurry picture, Aunt Debbi is tired.

Giving and Gardening

I was reading blogs (imagine that) and Silence was giving some great hints on reducing clutter. She got me to thinking about something that happened yesterday. First the back story.

Two years ago, a fellow master gardener suggested that we take on two projects. Both were to build, plant, and maintain flower beds adjacent to local charities. The first was at a senior citizens center. The second was at a local women's shelter. I did not know that there was a women's shelter.

The funds to run the shelter are raised by a thrift store. They take donations of clothing, books, furniture, toys, appliances, and sporting goods. I soon as I became aware of this set up, I began donating all of our unused, outgrown, or just unneeded stuff. Turns out with three kids and a large generous extended family, we end up with a lot of stuff.

I have been volunteering on the projects since the beginning, working on the design, installation, and upkeep of the flowerbeds. I have dropped off many many bags of clothing, toys, and random stuff for the thrift store. I also occasionally shop at the thrift store for books or seasonal clothes. It is a feel good project and a feel good way of donating.

Yesterday, it all took on a different meaning. I was talking to a fellow baseball mom during a game. I mentioned that I had bought a couple of prairie skirts at a thrift store. I was bemoaning the fact that I could not find new prairie skirts. She suggested I look at the thrift store at the women's' shelter. I explained my involvement with the women's shelter gardens and that it was exactly where I had purchased the skirts. She lowered her voice, leaned in toward me, and said,"I am staying there right now. Please don't spread it around, but they saved my life." I knew her son was staying with grandma, but I didn't think anything of it. Many children stay with grandma, especially during the summer. Turns out she was a victim of domestic violence. The volunteer staff of the center houses her, feeds her, gives her counseling, and helped her write a resume and get a job. Yes, she has a job. She plans to stay a while and save enough money to make a good stable start to living on her own.

The picture above is one of the flower beds. This is a Christian run charity, but don't worry, I am not going to get all religious on you. Before you even ask. No she does not read this blog and her identity is very well protected. Ignore the spacing, blogger is at it again and I can't fix it.

Block of the Month Gone Bad

Here is the May block of the month. As you might have read before, I agreed to do this block of the month thing with my mom back in January. You buy the first block and if you bring it in on the first Thursday of the month, they give you the next block for free. You then have the option of buying three "completer" blocks to go with your free block. The completer blocks are only seven dollars pattern and fabric included. If you do all four blocks each month, at the end of the year you will have a full sized quilt top.

Sounds good, right? Wrong!!!!

I have lost complete control of my project. I didn't get one of the completer blocks done for March. I didn't get any of the completer blocks done for April. So I am four blocks behind and a new month is here. Last night I cut out the big block for May. I sat down to sew it this morning. Luckily my mom called to see when to come pick me up to go to the quilt store. I said, "Give me about an hour. I have it all cut out and there is only a little bit of applique. It shouldn't take me too long to get it together." She asks, "What applique?" I had cut out the wrong @!#$ quilt pattern. Mamala to the rescue. We sat down and cut it out. Cutting it out is the longest part of the process. Then she pinned and pressed while I sewed. We had it made in two and a half hours.

At this point I have nine quilt blocks to make to get caught up with this project. I also need to make two double wedding ring quilts one for Baby Sister and one for Niece#1. The first needs to be done by September and the other by this time next summer. I have sewn myself into a corner and can't get out.

The pattern pictured above is called "Devil's Claw." That, somehow, seems fitting.

Bunny Update and The Tomato Situation

Two of the babies have their eyes open. One of the white babies is definitely and albino. Its' eyes are very pink. Fat boy has dark eyes like mom and dad. The last one is white and still has its' eyes closed tight.

Now, I wonder, dad is black and white and mom is brown and white. Hum, albino twins? Do rabbits have milk men?

Does anyone else think the media is overreacting to the tomato situation? Apparently, cherry, grape, vine attached varieties are supposed to be okay. Take is seriously, but don't scare people into not eating healthy fruits and vegetables. I am seeing a fantastic trend around here. Several home gardeners are selling their extra produce. These roadside stands consist of nothing more than a card table and an honor cash box. I bought beautiful yellow squash and tomatoes yesterday. I will keep buying like this until my own garden begins producing enough for our family. Maybe I will have some to sell. This is doubtful, as we love our veggies. I also buy our eggs from fellow master gardeners who keep chickens. As I might have whined about before, Manly Man will not let me have even one chicken. Sigh.

Why?

I had to visit a big box store to purchase a replacement water pump for my little half whiskey barrel water garden. At the entrance to the garden center were two shopping carts loaded down with dozens of flats of dead lantana. The flats had not been watered. How long to you have to neglect to water lantana before it dies and dries out? I just don't understand.

Disappearing Corn Snake

Talked to my mom this morning. She was inviting me to share a ride to the grocery store. She told me my younger sister had given her son a corn snake for his birthday and somehow the snake had escaped from its' cage.

I waited a few hours and called the sister for a snake update. She told me the snake was still missing. They had torn the house apart and looked everywhere. Unfortunately, this had to happen while her in-laws are visiting. I am not sure how they feel about snakes. We talked about how to find a snake on the loose and the wisdom of getting a snake for an eleven-year-old. Then she screamed. The snake had reappeared in its' cage. Luckily, she figured out that the log in its' cage had an almost invisible opening in it that the snake could slither into. But wouldn't it have been funny if she didn't figure it out and the snake disappeared and reappeared over and over in the cage. Sorry, I find my siblings hilarious. I wonder if she know that snakes can't have hiccups?

No we are not getting a snake. I am putting my foot down. If a snake got loose in my house I would have a complete nervous breakdown. No snakes.