Thick With Carrots...

I never thinned my rows of carrots the seeds I planted sprouted. I don't like thinning anything, it makes me feel bad. So here's my three rows now. I pulled out a couple to check their progress. Man, they smell good! I never notice the smell of carrots when I buy them at the grocery market. They still need a little more time in the ground, but soon!

I love growing my own food, it makes me feel more alive. Shortly after snapping this picture I washed the dirt from these beauties and munched on them right there in the garden.

I put another row of carrots in the ground this last weekend...I tried to space them a little better so thinning them out wouldn't be an issue. Hopefully that works.

Farmer's Market Projects

Here's a little taste of what I'm working on...hopefully to sell this summer at a local farmer's market.And here is what the husband so effortlessly created, without a pattern, in "about an hour". He says the next round will be easier. Now that my job has finished up (my last day is tomorrow, it's a half day), it will be easier to have a clear head to focus on being creative. It feels like I have been on a windy down hill road full of pot holes and I just hit a nice, flat, freshly paved, straightaway. Free!

Radishes Round Two

A small radish and broccoli harvest.

This is my 2nd round of radishes this season, and I just put my third round of seeds in the ground. The warm weather we've had at the end of May and beginning of June made the second round come up in slightly less than 3 weeks!

Until recently, I'd never tried a white radish before. They seem to be a bit more mild than their red and purple counterparts. The best comparison I can make is black pepper vs. white pepper. They are similar but different.

By the way, how cool is it that the first white radish I ever tried was grown by me in my own garden! Love that!

Celebrating 31 Years...Over a Couple of Days

My birthday celebrations began four days early with a small family dinner party thrown by the husband. He made dinner, tri-tip and potatoes cooked all day in the slow cooker. My mother-in-law brought a macaroni salad and a delicious fruit salad. We also had my favorite bread, a sourdough baguette.One of our family traditions is to use this plate for each person's birthday or special occasion. I painted it the summer before we got engaged at one of those pottery painting shops.

The husband asked what kind of cake I wanted...for the last two years it's been Black Forrest Cherry cake for me. It makes me think of my Oma. She passed away in November of 2001. She was the classic Oma, made all the yummy German treats as I was growing up. She brought over this kind of cake for my birthdays when I was a little girl. I've always loved the combination of chocolate cake with cherries since.The husband hand washed the "Special Day" plate between dinner and dessert - nice touch!

On my actual birthday I woke up earlier than the husband so I decided to start cooking breakfast. When he woke up he helped me finish up. The strawberries that went on our waffles came out of our garden...the husband picked about a pint of them the night before.
Later in the day I got to go shopping...it's been a LONG time since I've bought clothes and shoes...long for me this time was about 10 months. I've picked up the random shirt, pair of underwear or other piece from time to time, but I haven't gone out and splurged on several things at the same time. It's been good to take a break, I think I appreciated today even more. Besides, it was a good day, I found some fabulous items.

My new shoes

One pink flowy tube top, three cami's in pink, black and salmon, jean capris, white clamdiggers, and three pairs of peds...all good summer staples.

What a fun birthday!

A Gift For Me

This post is my gift to myself on my 31st birthday... I was puttering around in the garden the other day inspecting things and taking pictures. I snapped a picture of this marigold because there is a little story behind it to share. It was a gift from my stepson on Mother's Day. That weekend he spent Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, through Sunday morning at our house with the husband and I. The parenting agreement the husband has with his ex has a clause for each of them to have a visit on Mother's or Father's Day from 9 am on regardless of whether the weekend is "their weekend" of visitation.

The stepson left that morning as scheduled, but suprised us later that afternoon by showing up at the house, his mom driving him over. To explain, the husband and I were both a little confused/shocked, his ex never goes out of her way to bring him by for any extra time, it just does not happen. Let's just say she isn't the warmest person, she's made it very clear in the last several years through words and actions that she doesn't want my husband or I to be happy people.

So when she pulled up with the stepson, we were out in the garden chatting with our neighbors. The stepson got out of the car, and kind of skipped across the lawn towards us with one arm behind his back. He presented me with the marigold, he looked pretty pleased as he said "Happy Mother's Day" to me.

I was honestly kind of shocked...I didn't expect him to acknowledge me in any way on Mother's Day. Really, I'm not his mom...he has a mother. The last few years have been a bit of a roller coaster as we've all tried to get used to each other. This has been my first true "maternal" experience...it hasn't been easy. The traditional experience of becoming a mother involves giving life to your own child, caring for them and loving them unconditionally and receiving their love in return, pretty pure right?

The experience of a childless stepmom isn't so pure. There's lots of negotiating, compromising, gaining patience, tears, frustration, feeling taken advantage of...in the past several months I've been in a holding pattern. Basically I've been trying to get some space and perspective. I think I went into my relationship with my husband understanding that the best thing would be for me to love his son. It hasn't been easy, I've made good steps and I've made mistakes. Last fall we went through some things as a family that left me feeling taken advantage of and burnt out from trying to force everything to work. I felt like I needed to rethink what I was willing to give and what I was willing to put myself through. In many ways having a stepchild in your home is like having your spouse's ex in your home...not easy is a very mild way to put it, at times it's hell.

In stepping back I've been able to give my husband and his son space to just be guys together. I've also been able to find outlets for myself, to fill my time with things that are healthy and that build who I am. Taking the time to renegotiate these family connections and relationships has been healthy for me. We are slowly starting over. I feel like I now know what mistakes to avoid, but I'm still figuring out how to be a stepmom without feeling like I'm letting myself be hurt or taken advantage by my stepson and his mother. Some days I feel like I've learned tons, other days I feel like I don't know a thing about any of this.

It is a slow process, I don't know how everything will turn out. I guess it's fair to say that I would not recommend becoming a stepmom, but for myself I am grateful for the experience. I've grown. I was pretty naive when my husband and I married almost two years ago...I've gained wisdom from this situation, I never would have predicted any of this.

I especially would have never predicted this card from my stepson for my birthday this year, it was given to me along with a wisteria to plant on the pergola over the entrance to my garden. The husband tells me that when they were talking about presents for me that the stepson suggested another marigold because I'd liked the first one so much. I thought that was very sweet in a child-like way, if something worked, stick with it! But when the husband told him the items I'd dropped hints about, the wisteria was the item that the stepson jumped on. Smart kid!

So here is my card, written for me by my stepson who is 11 years old. It speaks for itself.

I have received other gifts this year, all of which I am grateful and appreciative for, but I think the givers of those gifts (especially the husband) would not be offended if I say that this card is the gift that will stand out the most on this birthday.

Tomatoes, the Journey

These are what

I found

when

I finally
removed
this.
It was time.

I am possibly ready

to admit

I overplanted...possibly?

Strawberries, Yum, Yum, Yum!

It is strawberry picking time!!!

Here is the same strawberry just six days ago - it never ceases to amaze me how quickly things change in the garden. I am completely fascinated by the ever-changing face of nature.So one of the things that has been on my mind is slug patrol...this is the edge of the strawberry bed. The punched out metal strip is copper that the husband attached around the bed. Copper reacts with a slug's skin, sending an uncomfortable electric current through them if they try to cross it. (I think it's like biting foil when you have metal fillings - makes me cringe just to think about it!)

So far th copper seems to be working, though some of the strawberries are growing a little out-of-bounds...My inner control freak makes me move them back whenever I go out there to weed and water. I know, I know, trying to control nature is pretty futile, they end up sneaking back over.

If the copper tape doesn't completely do the trick, I am going to try the beer in tuna can method next...those strawberries are delicous and I don't want to share with nasty, slimy creatures!

As far as the non-slimy but still annoying birds than want to get to our strawberries before us, we invested in a bit of bird netting to fend them off. A few berries had been picked at in what appeared to be a bird-like manner, but since the netting has been over the strawberry patch I haven't noticed anymore eaten fruit.

On the subject of berries, I checked out our blueberry bushes today - they are both looking great. I transplanted them about 3 weeks ago, hoping they'd like their new home at the end of the garden. They seem to, especially this one, it's definitely carrying more berries than it did a year ago. I can't wait to pick these yummy little treats!