Hitting A Stride, Even Though It May Not Be Mine

After several weeks in a row of interruptions to a normal routine, this last week was pretty much back to "normal life". I always find it hard to work a full five day week after having a few shorter weeks - and indeed, this last week did feel long. Maybe because I'm now in second half of the school year and June doesn't feel so far away, or maybe because it's been several months of living at a hectic pace and I'm finally "psychologically in shape" for all that I've been trying to do...either way, I found it easier to find calm in the midst of some very full and very busy days. I'm not saying that I like being this busy, because I don't. Just yesterday the husband and I were talking about the future and me having more free time for the things I love but have had to cut back on or give up altogether since last September. I don't know how it happened but, I've found that I feel peaceful even with so much on my plate. It helps that I really love my job...it's challenging me like crazy, and somedays I feel like I'm in over my head, but I truly love it. The other day I used the analogy of the job feeling like running a marathon that I didn't train for...but since saying that, I've realized that I have trained for this "marathon"...if I really wasn't meant to be teaching in the school that I am during this time, I wouldn't be enjoying it and I wouldn't be having the success that I am with my students. Not to say that I've got it all figured out, I don't, but again, I love it and I'm learning quickly on a very steep learning curve.

Speaking of steep, I took a nice walk this morning with Bambino, part of my route is a steep hill. Even though I know I am not in good shape right now, whenever I've taken that walk in the last couple of months, I have been able to keep a good pace, work up a sweat, and end the walk feeling energetic. I am not exercising as frequently as I need to be - especially considering the amount of stress I have in my life right now...but in the last few days I've been trying to turn that around. I'm committed to getting that part of life back to where it should be. I've managed to keep from getting the last round of colds and flu that hit our house and took the husband and s-son out, which is probably why I'm even trying to be more physically active every day. Normally if I get sick, all plans and attempts to exercise and be active are completely derailed.

Next weekend is the daylight savings switch back, one hour of sleep lost, but an hour of daylight gained. Usually I dread the lost sleep, but this year I'm not feeling that way so much. I'm actually kind of excited to have more daylight when I get home from work to enjoy doing things like going for a walk.

While I was out this morning I noticed that our trees have budded out and are getting closer to blooming, and many of my tulip and daffodil bulbs have started to peek through. In a few weeks things outside will look completely different. I love spring - it's definitely the most beautiful time of year (to me) around here.

That's all for now, cheers to another peaceful (albeit busy) week!

A Gray Wednesday

It has been a couple of weekends since I've taken the time to write here. I think the realization that it had been so long came about because the rain made today too soggy to do much outside -though I did manage to weed one row in my little three row vineyard. I plan to mulch that freshly weeded row with newspaper, I don't have any saved organic material (grass clippings or leaves) on hand to weigh down the newspaper, so I'm going to wet it down with the hose and hope for the best. I also managed to do some potting, the picture above shows zinneas and pea vines together as a center piece for our outdoor table. The picture shows what a grey day it has been, no blue sky to be seen!

But, back to the topic I started at, blogging...subconciously I've missed the regular writing here, I've had a slight awareness of my routine not feeling quite complete. That's actually a funny thing since I've never considered myself to be anything close to a "writer". The fun I have been having in the garden has made up for it. It is my therapy to be out in the fresh air. A few of the things I've been doing outside lately...

*deciding where to plant all of the various seedlings I've been nurturing

*watering the plants in my greenhouse and keeping it well vented.

*collecting rocks from all over our property for the path border I've been working on

*building trellises out of bamboo for the cucumbers to climb up

*adding new layers of soil to the potato containers as the plants grow

*starting peonies, calla lillies, day lillies, clematis, and hosta in the greenhouse for some *landscaping that is going to happen later this summer

*figuring out my sprinkler/hose configuration for watering

*planning and preparing for a raised bed that will be below a bench on one side of the greenhouse - to be used for off-season growing - can't wait to have fresh veggies in December!

*weeding, weeding, and more weeding - the home-made weed spray I have been using has been working great

Even though it is all technically "work", I love my garden chores. If only someone would hire me to work in my own garden, the perfect job!

Random Bits

I'm dropping in to say hello. Things have been busy lately - but in a good, happy, kind of way.

We've got a huge building project in full swing happening on our property. I managed to do what I do best and tack on an item that's been on my wish list to the project that is going on...so soon there will be a staircase that goes from the deck that is off of our master bedroom down to our patio below. I think this will lead to the deck being used more frequently. It's something I've thought about for a while now, so it's fun that it will soon be a reality. The husband is happy beyond measure to be back in his building groove again. His exhaustion after a long (and sometimes stressful) day is woven lots of joy...so his is a tiredness that comes with a contented smile. I think that's what it is like when a person is doing the job they were made to do.

Speaking of work that we love to do, my garden is full of growth, and my greenhouse is looking fuller and more green with each passing day. It is such a rewarding and happy place for me, I love spending time there. I'm sure in the coming weeks I will have lots to share - especially come June which is when I plan to transplant most of my seedlings from the greenhouse into the raised beds.

Job-wise, things have been busy in a good way also, but even with long hours, I feel like I have found balance in that realm lately. No, I'm not yet working my dream job, but somehow I have a sense of peace. It's hard to believe what a difference the last year has made. Looking back, the experience of losing my job was depressing and paralyzing in many ways. It was worse than a bad break-up, but like a bad break-up, time has made the difference in the healing process. I'm a better person today than I was when all of that happened. I still have moments where I feel angry, sad, or disappointed with myself, but those moments are usually overshadowed by feeling right with where I am now. Or, maybe content is the word.

The weather for the past several days has been gorgeous, mostly sunny and blue skies with the occasional marine layer drizzle. I stayed outside until 8:30 one evening last week doing yard chores...it was so nice outside that I just didn't want to go in. We've been using the grill for dinner lately, I actually planned 4 out of 5 dinners this week to be made (at least in part) on the grill.

I've been doing a bit more sewing lately, I hadn't sewn at all in recent months, so even a bit of time at my machine is something. I made another pair of lounge pants and decided to use elastic in the waist instead of a drawstring. It was a cool idea, but I think I cut the elastic too long, it didn't seem to be "tight enough" to keep the pants up. Or maybe it was that the elastic was old and so it didn't have the well...elasticity. I think picked it up at a thrift store a while back. I am guessing that could happen. I also just bought a book about making skirts, the title is: Sew What! Skirts. It was a recommendation from Lisa of Polka Dot Cottage, whose blog I read. The idea is to make patterns that are customized to your own measurements. Can't wait to get started on reading the book and then making myself some skirts for summer - woohooo!

My chickens are happy with the increase in sunny-afternoon-free-ranging they've had lately, and I feel a little bit better about allowing this now that the little ones aren't so little anymore. In fact, when I was at the farm supply store the other day, I had to take a peek at the chicks and ducklings they are still selling...they are so tiny when you first bring them home. It's been over two months since we brought home our 10 new Buff Orpingtons, their size now compared to my 4 older hens is impressive, they are definitely going to be large chickens when they are full grown. Also, I think we may have a lead on someone who is interested in adopting a rooster to be able to breed and hatch chicks. Our little rooster has not yet started to crow, I imagine it will be a couple more months until he does. But, after all of the fiascos with our (late) rooster, Berkeley, may he rest in peace, the husband and I had agreed that we were going to have a rooster-free flock. The chances of bringing home a rooster in our group of 10 chicks were unfortunately pretty good, even though they sex the chicks, there's no 100% guarantee. So, rather than giving the little guy, who hasn't done anything wrong and seems to have a great temperment, to someone who will turn him into a meal, I'd prefer that he has the chance to live a happy life. I think any rooster would rather have a harem of hens than end up in a stew pot!

That's about all I can think of right now...I'll be back around soon!

Snow in May...

The past few days have been full of strange weather...wind storms that lead to power outages, torrential amounts of rainfall, thick fogginess, and tonight, snow. Very wet, slushy snow. I'm glad I held off from putting any of my little seedlings that have been growing in the Pod into the ground. As it is, I'm pretty sure that the ice pack is not a good thing for the spinach, lettuce and swiss chard that I started from seed in raised bed. Most of it was intended for our chickens anyway, so it's not a huge loss. But, this does make me more empathetic with farmers...how frustrating it would be to lose an entire crop to a freak spring snow storm!

The baby chicks (who are big enough now that I really should stop calling them baby chicks) were pretty wigged out by the snow - it was the first they'd ever seen. They were hiding in the hen house while the snow was falling. I brought them some bird seed to scratch in the covered run under their house and that seemed to lift their little chicken spirits.

I've been pretty busy lately, I just got done helping the husband for two days with a job he had installing crown molding. It was hard work, but we work very well together on projects of that sort. The experience actually put us both in the mood to do some crown molding in our own house. I've always wanted to finish our dining room ceiling - I think we may just get around to it one of these days.

In addition to being a "carpenter's assistant" for a couple of days, I'm still subbing a few times a month, doing my online teaching job, and working a couple of days a week at a greenhouse supply store. It's a lot to juggle, but I'm happy.

Today is a quasi-day off for me, I still have some online work to do, but nothing that will take me away from the house. So I've been having a slow morning. Plucking my eyebrows, spending time with the cat, making banana bread, and mixing up the spread that we put on our toast. I use 1/3 butter to 2/3 extra virgin olive oil. When I first mix it in the food processor, it is pretty runny, but the olive oil thickens when it is refrigerated. So by the time we need it to spread on our toast (or freshly baked banana bread!), it is a perfect spreading consistency.

Later I may work out a bit on the ellyptical and then head out to the chicken coop to see how my feathered friends are today. I'll probably intentionally let myself get distracted in the greenhouse after I stop at the chickens. It's nice to have a day where I can linger a bit, even if it is still pretty chilly outside!

Happy May Day!

I can't believe it is May already! This year is going by so quickly, spring has been beautiful and summer is just around the corner - Wow!

Plants in the Woods

I love walking through the wooded area on our property during each season to see what has changed. It turns out spring brings it's own uniquely beautiful plants and blooms. I love those curled up ferns...I don't think I've ever noticed ferns in that stage before. Around here spring feels more like three seasons that just one, there are so many stages to spring. Maybe it's the fact that winter is the most difficult Pacific Northwest season for me to get through that makes spring so refreshing. I've always said that summer is my most favorite time of year, but I may have to amend that statement...maybe.

Goodbye April

Goodbye April, thank you for being so beautiful and so mild this year.

Your dramatic skies took my breath away.

Your rainy days were faithfully followed by sunny days, my plants grew because of this.

Thank you.

See you again next year.

Plantin' Peas

Because we've expanded the garden so much this year with the new raised beds and my new greenhouse "The Pod", there has been quite a bit of rearranging and adjusting. There are still paths that need gravel, a used bench I need to stain and move out there, a flower bed that will be built around the Pod. But even with the huge to-do list, the encouraging part is that there are so many things that have moved over to the done list. One of those items was moving my pea trellis from one side to the opposite. Luckily the husband volunteered to place it in the ground a few weeks back (I hate using the hand post-hole digger). Yesterday I put a bit more time into that area, putting landscaping fabric on the ground and mounding up dirt. I also collected rocks from all over our property to make a nice border for the area. The last touch for the day was putting the pea seeds into the ground. One of the things I love about growing peas is how low maintenance they are. For the past few years I've literally put the seeds in the ground and walked away...as long as the peas are in the path of rain or watering, they grow easily. Love it!

Little Critters Hanging Out

The spring weather we've been having - sun, rain, sun, rain - has brought a few critters around to visit. Inside one of the birdhouses I keep by the front door (which were made by the husband last summer)...
...this cute little tree frog decided to spend an afternoon.

One of the things I have noticed as a new comer to the Pacific Northwest was how few snails there are...even with all the rain we have. So I had to get a picture of this cute little guy.

The rain also brought this waddling pair to spend a couple of days floating around and munching on worms and bugs in a big puddle.

By the way, Happy Earth Day (one day late)!

Bare with me...

This post is going to be a bit of a "brain download"...I have lots of random things running through my head to share. I spent last weekend in Whistler, BC with a couple of friends participating in a Roxy Women's Snowboard Camp. The camp was amazing, I feel really solid about my riding and have a few things I am going to be working on as far as my riding goes in the future. The entire village was in kind of a "hang over" state after the Olympics, while also gearing up for the Paralympics to start up this week. There was a stronger "international" vibe there than normal. While the girl time was wonderful and fed my need to have the kinds of conversations that only happen when in female company, I did miss being there with the husband, it was the first time I'd been there without him. He liked hearing that I missed him and that every time we turned a corner in the village stroll I thought of him. While I was gone, he held down things here at home. He did an excellent job taking care of the ten new Buff chicks, they are all thriving and growing like crazy. They've doubled in size since we brought them home. He also had lots of cuddle time with Bambino and Figaro, though both little furry boys were pretty happy to see me when I got home. Before I left I fried my point and shoot digital camera by accident in a puddle of iced tea...it was a dumb mistake I made in the midst of trying to quickly pack for the weekend. With the same mistake I also managed to leave a dark stain on our duvet cover - I still need to get to the dry cleaners to get that taken care of. As a result of the iced tea incident, I am now without my trusty camera...I feel kind of naked without it. I hadn't fully realized how much I depended on it and enjoyed having it. I am going to replace it at some point, but in the mean time I have been using the camera on my BlackBerry (I used it to snap these tulip pictures when I came home from the weekend). I also have an old digital camera I can use, but it's just not the same. I'd been thinking of upgrading to a Nikon sometime in the next year - I guess it's time to start saving for that. Speaking of photos, the tulips in these pictures opened up over the weekend. There are so many beautiful colors happening in my garden right now - it's lovely! After winter I always feel like spring's color is like a breath of fresh air. I want to get up to La Connor for the annual tulip festival this week - it's happening a bit earlier than normal because of the warm weather we've had recently. I am sure I'll manage to get some great pictures to share!

Hope all is well, I'll be back soon!

Spring?!?

It was exciting to see that after only one week away, so many small signs of spring had appeared around our house. It's still chilly outside, but I am glad that we've had a pretty mild winter, especially compared to the winter the folks in the midwest and eastern states have experienced. I am ready for spring now...winter has been around almost long enough. I am going to be heading up to Whistler with a couple of girls at the end of next week for a Roxy women's snowboarding camp weekend. After that, nature has my official permission to bring on spring in it's fullest!

This weekend I am loving being at home, spending time in the garden, enjoying my pets, and even trying to make homemade pasta for the first time ever...hope your weekend has been full of good things!

A Bit of Reflection

It's Monday again, but it is the Monday before Christmas, which makes it a better Monday than usual! We had a fantastic dinner with our neighbors last night...it was somewhat of a progressive dinner, we started off with drinks, appetizers and gifts at our house...they brought over some fantastic cheese and crackers, and I tried a recipe for amazing potato skins that I found over at epicurious. They were quite the hit and I will definately make them again, hopefully soon! We next moved the party to their house for dinner, venison marinated in balsamic vinegar and an amazing mixed green salad with gorgonzola. For dessert I'd made creme brulee the day before, but the fun part was everyone getting the chance to use the torch to melt the sugar on top of the custard the way they wanted to. We all had so much fun using the torch that I will definitely have guest torch their own creme brulee in the future, who doesn't like to play with fire?! The creme brulee turned out great, better even than the first time I made it. The s-son had a friend over to spend the night, the husband had picked up on of those take 'n' bake pizzas and a couple of movies for the two kids, because I'd trippled the recipe for the creme brulee, we also set them up with that for dessert. While we were hanging out with our neighbors in the front room, the boys were in the kitchen having their dinner, I went in there for a minute and saw them with pizza in hand happily munching away, and empty creme brulee ramikins sitting by their plates. They admitted with grins on their faces that they'd had their dessert first. Can't say I blame them, it was the first time the s-son's friend had ever had creme brulee.

So it was a great weekend, full of friends and celebrations. There was also a couple of positive moves in the realm of the husband's business. We've gone so long with nothing but forced patience and an ever tightening budget, that even though it was positive news, I still experienced a bit of sleeplessness and anxiety. I guess in a way I've gained a sense of pride that we have been able to trim our expenses and live on less, I've felt a regaining of the same drive and determination that got me through my college years when I truly had almost nothing. In the last day or so the husband and I have had quite a few conversations about our current and former life styles and we are on the same page about keeping things simple as they are now, even though we aren't going to be under the same kind of forced pressure. I have learned a ton of discipline with my spending. There is a lot more scrutiny about needs vs. wants, and honestly, it feels right to put anticipation, saving, planning and patience in their rightful place with spending and financial decisions. With the affect of a recessed economy, I've also been able to see at a deeper level the material that my husband is made of...he's struggled with the increased stress and burden, but he has also shown me his strength and determination. I trust him more because of the past year. I think we have learned (and are continuing to learn) lessons that will affect us for a lifetime. Living simply and learning to do more things for myself is satisfying, I have a higher regard for my own skills as a homemaker. Professionally as well, I have a deeper sense of my own worth. I lost a job that was providing a comfortable income, but at the same time it was robbing me of the things that I love about teaching and the things that make me a great teacher. In the last few months I have come closer to finding a balance between my professional life and my personal life. I did not and never would have chosen to lose my job, it was painful, hurtful, and stressful. I can see now though, that it has all lead to me becoming a better and happier person.

So the rest of this week will hold the wrapping of some gifts, a still sort of suprise shopping trip and a stop at a dive store to have a zipper the husband's dive vest or BCD repaired - both are parts of the series of advent gifts I've been giving him this month - the gifts have been progressively getting better the closer we've gotton to Christmas. There will also be a few rounds of Zumba, a good way to offset the feasting that will happen, we are going to have the husband's parents join us for dinner on Christmas Eve before we go to a candle light service at our church. I also have a couple of much anticipated beauty appointments, one to get my hair cut, another to have a professional pedicure - something I haven't had done in over a year! I have also planned to make and can my annual batch of cranberry chutney to give to friends and family, in addition, I plan to try making lemon curd from scratch for the first time...I'll report back on how it turns out. There will also been some work in there, I don't anticipating having too much since most of my students will be taking a break for the holiday, but I do have a couple of special projects that I will be able to tackle with the extra time. I also want to spend sometime tidying up and organizing my office/sewing room. It has been severely neglected in that area for the last couple of months. I'd like to start the New Year with a work space that is neat, I work so much more efficiently and effectively in a clean environment! I may even post some before and afters so you can see in my mess how human I am!

Lastly, I'd like to say Happy Winter Solstice to you...the song that has been going through my head today is the Beatles "Here comes the sun". After today our daylight grows day by day...I love winter, it is cozy, but I'm always happy to see spring come along!

*****************************

"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it."

~Goethe

DO fence me in!

All is well here, yesterday was rainy in the morning and I woke up with a cold. All worked out well though because yesterday ended up being a good day for indoor chores and I also had a hair appointment up in Mt. Vernon with my favorite hair dresser, Michelle. Today has been a gorgeous Pacific Northwest day - sunny with temperatures around 65. After returning from church we spent the day out in the garden, lots of little projects and one big one - with a nice break for Trader Joe's strawberry popcycles.

By the late afternoon I was feeling tired but quite on top of things. I even took the time to put some poppy seeds into the ground - right along the path up to my green house. I also put many, many sunflower seeds into the ground...I am definately getting my heart set on the Tuscan field look again this summer!

I had two more starts to put into the ground - tomato and basil. I noticed that a couple of the tomato plants that I have already planted in the "hot umbrella" are blossoming - this makes me very happy. I have dreams of fresh caprese salad made from my own tomatoes and basil.

Everything in the garden got a good watering...while watering I noticed that my strawberries are starting to blossom. I'm pleased because I was concerned that transplanting them recently might stunt their growth for the season. Doesn't appear to be the case, I'm hoping in a month or so we'll be able to start picking them. Yay!

Several of the other seeds (and bulbs) I've put into the ground have sprouted

• carrots
• head lettuce
• broccoli
• peas
• beans
• radishes
• red onions

In the green house my seeds have sprouted as well:

• pumpkins
• zucchini
• butternut squash
• lemon cucumbers
• roma tomatoes
• heirloom tomatoes

Most of what is currently in the green house will go into the ground in May - probably in the middle of the month. Around then I'll also put my corn seeds into the ground.

I also have to show yet another couple pictures from the orchard...this is that gorgeous Asian Pear again...Love those blossoms!Another project we worked on today was putting up wire on the posts surrounding the garden - the husband had put the posts into the ground using the post-hold-digger on his tractor earlier this week. At first it was a little hard to get the wire stretched out properly, but after several posts we figured out a system. It is not quite done yet, there is still another section of the garden that needs to be fenced. The tops of the posts will also be trimed off.

We are also going to put a gate at the entrance to the garden and using the extra material we have after trimming the posts, a pergola will be built above the gates. I am super excited about that little detail...I am hoping to grow wisteria on the pergola. That little orange furry friend in the picture below is Figaro. He was supervising today's fencing project.

Lastly, the chickens are still doing well, growing like crazy - and of course obviously eating like crazy. They all have cute little tail feathers now - and their bums are nice and round - not as scrawny as when I got them a week ago. I can't believe it's only been a week, I feel like they are such a big part of my life now! I've been asking all sorts of questions of my friends who already have chickens...figuring out this whole poultry thing! They moved into a bigger space yesterday - a couple of boxes I joined together an made a wire "lid" for. I even put in a sand box play area and a dowl for them to practice perching...I've caught a couple of them using it already - they seem to need to practice a bit to get the balance right. Well enough chicken talk for now, have a fabulous week, I hope there is lots of sunny, wonderful gardening weather where ever you may be!

I am an Octo-Mom...

No, not that kind of octo-mom, no artificial pregnancy for me...just eight chicks. Here are all of my babies in my arms - they are kind of on top of each other in this picture. The breed I chose is Ameraucana. When these girlies start laying their eggs will be green and blue!

These little girl hens like being on top of each other, they seem to prefer spending their time snuggling in a happy, cozy, chicky pile. I love how they came in a little box that looks like a take-out container!

Look how little! They don't like being separated, but conversely, they do like being held in a warm hand...they are soooo soft!They are now set up in their little chickie condo...complete with fresh sugar water (they get this their first day only), cozy pine shaving bedding, a toasty heat lamp, and a good supply of chick feed (the feed is not in this picture because for their first hour they are supposed to only get their sugar water).

So here are my eight little girl hens...six have lighter coloring, two are "brunettes". I don't know how I'm going to be able to tell all of them apart, maybe when they get older their looks will be different? I have decided they are going to be named for places that I've lived or lived close to...so here are the names: San Jose, Los Gatos, Fremont, San Luis Obispo (San Luis for short), Castro Valley (Castro for short), Pleasanton, Berkeley, and Stanwood.They will live in this smaller area for the next month or so, then they will be moved out to a still-to-be-built coop and run. For now they are hanging out in Bambino's kennel - he is sleeping in his closed crate in the kennel...well at least trying to sleep, the chicks seem to be a bit nocturnal, they've been cheeping since the sun went down. So Bambino may not get tons of sleep, but I guess that's his karma since he has kept us up many nights with his barking - mostly in the first weeks we had him when he was a little pup. It will be good bonding time for him with his eight new little "sisters".

As I mentioned, we still have to build their outdoor coop and run. It will be an interesting challenge to build something economically. The other interesting challenge will be keeping Figaro away from the chicks...he has already heard their chirping and is interested in a bad way. Once they are full grown he'll back off, I've noticed that the chickens that our neighbors have keep him interested, but he can see that they are too big to go after. So until the chicks are that big I'll be playing body-guard to my eight little hens.

So I am obviously excited about the chicks...they and all of their supplies are an early 31st birthday present.

In addition to getting the chickens today we also visited this store up in Bellingham today, they sell recycled building materials...it is a cool store full of some great treasures. I particularly can't get my mind off of some really cool basket lockers that they were selling - the ones I saw today are the perfect height to use as a base for a sewing table...I'm thinking about saving up a stash to buy a set to use just for that purpose. We also stopped by the Bellingham Farmer's Market after a yummy pizza lunch. I bought a basil start and two gallon sized tomato plants - both are heirloom varieties. All said plants will go into the ground tomorrow as long as the weather continues to agree (the sunshine today was beautiful).

So here's to a great weekend already, having new little hens whose eggs I am already looking forward to, and the promise of basil and tomatoes. I am going to have to make a yummy caprese salad this summer when everything is ready to harvest.

More accomplished in the garden...

First to start off, I haven't uploaded a picture of the pond in while or maybe ever - I was checking it out today - mostly looking for growth on of the weeping willow tree on the island - the area is very saturated right now, but the tree is doing great - getting big!The plant below is from a bulb that I planted last fall. I actually put three of them in my front bed. I just can not for the life of me remember what exactly they are. I usually hold onto the package tags so I can refer back, but I must have tossed them this time...when it blooms I'll be suprised I guess. Kind of fun in a way. The new tulips in the front yard have opened up to show their beautiful colors, a light ballet pink (with purple rhody blossoms in the background) and a gorgeous magental purple.

The sunshine today meant the orchard has even more blossoms than before. The picture below is my nectarine tree - the branch pictured is being "trained" horizontal with twine attached to stakes - this is to encourage more buds and therefore fruit! The gorgeous blossoms below are on an Asian Pear tree. I can't get over how pretty they are!

I put together a temporary trellis today...I'm growing green beans and sweet peas on it this season. I started by pounding large stakes into the ground.Then I fitted a net over and attached the ends of the net with smaller stakes. I also strung twine around the two larger stakes.

I think the next portion of this post is going to be gratuitously in honor of Figaro...he absolutely loves hanging out in the garden with me. One of my reasons for getting a cat originally was to have someone to hang out in the garden with me. Lately he has been taking naps in the greenhouse, the warm temperature in there is cozy, I wish I could curl up out there for a nap... The asparagus went in...it has to be planted in a trench that is slowly filled as the tips grow...the first year I can't pick any of the spears - to do so would apparently inhibit root growth, but the longer investment will be worth it, I like asparagus.

The radishes have also been planted. My mother-in-law recommended diazanon(?) to keep worms out of the radishes - I had that issue last year...BUT apparently it is not sold anymore - too toxic. When I found this out I was at the local hardware store...the gentleman who was helping me told me that "old-timers" used salt to keep worms out of their radishes. So that's what I'm trying this year - I like the solution, salt is natural, I put it on my food all the time, it's hopefully a better solution - I guess no solution is better than a solution that is toxic!

The husband offered to put up some more rows for me to plant in...in May I will put corn, zucchini, butternut squash, cucumbers, and a few other items in those rows. Can I tell you how much faster it is to put the rows up with the tractor - I spent more hours than I want to remember last year doing the same thing that took him minutes to finish.

By the way, with all of the gardening I've been up to, I have not had the chance to do any sewing recently - and I miss it!! This weekend is going to be (mostly) devoted to spending time on some sewing projects and making up for lost time. I have several more jute coffee sacks that the husband has collected from a local coffee roaster (they are all fair trade sacks)...I am dying to start turning them into cool stuff!