A few more...

I'm not sure how long it takes for the parsnip seeds to develop but it's an interesting experiment.

Another picture post!

Columbine is one of my favorite flowers.

The beans are settling in ok.


Yukon Gold potatoes showing off their skirt of old straw. With the garlic in the background.


My raspberries are flowering already!


I think the cucumbers are getting impatient for their spot in the garden.

Ladies' Challenge

I was just rooting around in my purse for dental floss when it occurred to me that here is a challenge; what's in your purse?

Personally, I carry a very large purse so I always have a place to tuck a book and water bottle so there is a lot of stuff hiding in there:

lipstick
sunscreen for lips
8 gig thumbdrive
wallet (money, checkbook, id, pics)
keys
needles (for son's insulin)
sewing kit
SOG multi-tool
dental floss
ipod
aleve (super strong pain reliever)
tissues
cloth (for cleaning glasses)
quickload with bullets (although I don't carry my gun in my purse)
cellphone charger
allergy pills
pocket knife with locking blade
led flashlight
tire pressure gauge
pen

I should make up a wallet size first aid kit.

Odd thought for the day

I wonder if women in the future will look back at our time and wonder at the voluntary torture from high heeled shoes. Much as we now look back at the throttling corsets worn by women in the past.

Electric usage on the rise?

This is on the back of my electric bill each month. I thought it was worth posting as it shows the point in 2008 when I decided to actively cut my usage. I had already moved to CFL light bulbs so this decrease is entirely due to putting things like tv and computers onto power strips and shutting off the vampire loads. I also unplug the microwave to avoid powering the clock...that would be the clock that was never set anyway! From that month on my bill dropped between $40-50 from what it had been.

The peak months are when the weather is at it's extremes; generally August and December or January. I expect this fall my averages will drop again when my son goes to university. I continue to get 400 kwh from wind power. It's my goal to eventually get my usage down that far.

The power company sent pamphlet out explaining the latest proposed rate increases and showed a chart graphing the rise in residential usage over the years. In 2009 it hit 13,000 kwh per residence! Imagine if all those customers initiated the simple cut-backs I did? My yearly usage is running around 8,750 kwh.

What can be better than saving money and the environment?

Weather foibles

How did we go from brrrrrr to dripping with sweat so quickly? Weren't there supposed to be a couple months transition between winter and summer? Suddenly it's in the 80s (28 Celsius) and the forecast calls for this to continue all week. My polytunnel is a sauna!

I did get the runner beans planted out...which is why I'm inside cooling off.

The picture post

Cucumbers are doing well.


The scarlet runner beans are ready to plant out today!


I love how vigorous cilantro grows. Why is parsley so slow?


Last year's parsnip that I'm letting go to seed as an experiment.


The first poppy of the year.


This is the first year my white lilac has blossomed. Worth the wait. :)


Finally the oak tree is leafing out. The hardwoods do take longer, don't they?


I've got some garden work to do today. Happily, the wind is not blowing gale force like yesterday.

whew

I saw the doctor today and the suspicious mole wasn't a problem after all. Since that took about 30 seconds we chatted about weight for awhile. Still no easy answers there. The other good news is my blood pressure is excellent. I'll take all the positives I can get!

Melanoma

I did a melanoma screening at work today and tomorrow I have to see my doctor to have a mole removed and checked. While the vocal part of me is grumbling at the inconvenience, the inner voice is saying 'ACK!!!!! Cancer!'

Worry, worry, worry.

The graduation

It was a fabulous weekend! The party was great fun, although I felt a bit scatterbrained getting everything set up (or not) and making certain I chatted with everyone that came. Old and new friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors; best of all everyone remembered that this day was for the graduate and not a bit of fuss, drama, nor snide remarks took place. I was too busy to take pictures during the party, but since everyone was eating that's probably for the best!

8th & 8th

Tanya at Allotments 4 You challenged me to post the 8th picture in the 8th folder today. The funny coincidence is this picture is also 8 years old. The old library setup; the couch has been given away and the carpet replaced. Everything else has moved around.

Fun idea! I haven't been getting much traffic lately (everyone else is busy too) so I'll just put it out as an open challenge to others.

Tight schedule

I know I'm overdue for a good gardening post with pictures but it will have to wait until after the graduation. It's almost comical for a hermit-like type person like me to have to make the house company-ready. I'm getting closer; still need to organize the library (books tend to end up in stacks), clean the porch, arrange the cookbooks and dust the kitchen. The china cabinet needs dusting (why didn't I buy one with glass doors instead of open?) but I don't know if I'll get that far.

So, I'll aim for that long post on Sunday!

Oh, the irony

The other day my mom asked if I feel properly grown up inside and I do. Then last night as I was pushing the grocery cart through the downpour I found myself quietly singing "and the rain rain rain came down down down and washed away poor Piglet". Maybe I'm not as grown up inside as I thought!

a song

I heard this on the Graham Norton show; I wasn't crazy about the band, but like the song.

What if I'm wrong
And you figure it out
That we just don't belong
And you're better off without me

The minute you're gone
I bet it would dawn on me
Suddenly, suddenly

So what if I
What if I fall
Would you hate me
Would you let me go
What if I realized
That you're the only one
Who makes me
Who makes me whole

Blundering on
Making no sense
Without any thought
To the consequences
But one of these days
The truth will be facing me
And I will find a way back to you again, oh

So what if I
What if I fall
Would you hate me
Would you take it all
What if I realized
That you're the only one
Who makes me
Who makes me
Who makes me whole
Who makes me whole now

What if I
What if I find the thing that I want

The minute you're gone
I bet it would dawn on me
Suddenly, suddenly

So what if I
What if I fall
Would you hate me
Would you take it all
What if I realized
That you're the only one
Who makes me
Can make me
Who makes me whole

Nippy

It's been a cold, windy and wet day until this evening when the sun finally appeared. Tonight we're actually under a frost warning. That made it the right time for me to earth up the potatoes.

I've also been bouncing back and forth between reading Karen Traviss' series with the environmental aliens and The Little House on the Prairie books. That should provide a bit of insight into the strange dichotomy that is my mind. Part of me loves comfort, cool gadgets and the promise of space; the other leans towards self-sufficiency, independence and a minimal impact.

windy

I had a little wander around today with the camera:

I love the intricacies in plants.
This tree always blossoms on the windiest days. I remember having to hold the branch still last year too.
A promising start to the rhubarb this year.
The potatoes are peeking out.
Lettuce and cilantro.