Tuesday, April 27, 2010

This was a surprise!

Just a little bit:) I was on my way to hang out laundry which I will still do...its melting fast with the sun shining!
Lee

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Working in the garden...

Lee here....The list of things that need doing is soooo looong!! I haven't put a dent in anything. I'm not sure why I'm not motivated to do things right now...I'm excited about gardening but I also have things that need doing inside. I would love to cross some thing off my list. I started uncovering some perennials..slowly...and then my rake broke :(
Look at this little tiny patch of iris....I pulled some grass from it and a few weeds between the rocks....
Half done.....I pulled back some soil, put down some leaves and some compost from the bin,covered it with more leaves and a bit of peat moss, covered it with the soil I pulled away and covered it with straw. Another thing on my to do list is ask my neighbour for more straw (I hesitate because I always offer to pay for it and he always says no but then I feel bad asking for more!)....I have the other half of the bed to do..where the composter is sitting. I need to lift it off and it will not be pretty...full of winters kitchen waste that hasn't broken down yet...I may plant some greens in this bed to give it a try, but otherwise I will let it sit until next spring. I will move the composter to another bed..maybe a new one I am building at the back, so I can do the same bed building in the fall.
Annie made some natural lip balm from a kit she received from us for her birthday. It turned out really well and made lots to share!
Kate and Annie goofing around on a scooter. Sometimes when we need to stay in the city for some reason, we go to the waterfront trail and go for a walk..and Annie brings her scooter. Its all paved and beautiful.
I was so excited to see this!! Random acts of knitting! I've heard of querilla knitting and gardening but have never seen it in action. It really brought a smile to my face, so I came back the next day (because we had more time to kill in town) with my camera. I would actually like to have a new cell phone that has a camera built in.
And then Kate spotted this!!
I would love to know who did it!! I guess thats part of the excitement and mystery and joy!
So, thats what we have been up to. Today is sunday and I have been doing so great on WW. I feel like sunday should be a day off, not from WW but from the to do list, so I am blogging instead.
Things that need doing asap:
*TODAY...Empty out girls bedroom so we can paint and set up new shelf that has yet to be built. I hesitate in doing this because it means cluttering up the living room for a few days and its a huge job but once its done, its done.
*clean out the remainder of the garden beds
*build pea trellis and plant peas
*take down bird feeders and move swing set back over the main garden for tomato support
*plant more spinach, chard and other peas, and lettuce.
*I had cleaned out and trimmed a pine tree in the yard and some stumps still need to be cut lower to the ground so I can keep it clean, and then rake out all the brush under it
*pull up the numerous thistles that keep growing in the yard..find puller to do that!
*mix some clover seed with soil and put it in that yard in hopes of it taking over the thick, tall grass that grows(way too quickly) over the septic bed...
*build Annie a treehouse
*stop writing anything else on the to do list!
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed!







Thursday, April 15, 2010

How many points in a box of cookies?

Lee here...I attended my first weight watchers meeting today. It is all fairly common sence stuff..its a good reminder though on portion sizes and healthy choices. I need to be held accountable, so tracking food, weekly weigh ins, and attending a meeting are all excellent for that! If I can pick up where I left off and resume losing a pound a week, I will be very happy! I hesitate to mention that I weighed in at 10+ lbs more than my scale says! Time to throw out this very old scale and get a new one!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

First garden of the season:)

This little garden is planted with corn salad, new zealand spinach, turnips, romaine lettuce and a few peas....I'm hoping the twigs will support the peas a bit..the seed package said they grow to about 30 inches tall. The other peas I plant have 6 ft vines and need a major trellis to climb. This is a start. I will make another planting of the lettuce, corn salad and spinach in a couple of weeks. I have other greens that need to get out and more peas but that will have to wait for another day this week.
Lee

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Pizza birthday cake!

....Annie's idea, but she wasn't here to make it so this is Kate's creation! How fabulous is this pizza cake! I think she could sell them! I rented a big round cake pan from the bulk barn and put less batter in it than was called for. Kate hollowed it out a bit, making the edges look like the crust..cherry pie filling for sauce, pieces of white chocolate for cheese...marshmallows for mushrooms and assorted gummy candy for pepperoni, green peppers and black olives. I'm totally impressed by this! I suggested whipped cream in little containers for dipping sauce.
Lee

Friday, April 9, 2010

Now this is happening....


Annie had the boyz over for her birthday....we totally ambushed her with silly string...a spray streamer typ of thing. It sure is messy stuff!








Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Spring Happenings......

Things growing.....do hens and chicks look this good all winter? I didn't check. This time of year is so great...I enjoy cleaning up the gardens and my arms aching from all the raking. It's good exercise right? Only the odd mosquito and no blackfies yet.
Chives are popping up all over the place. I'd really like to get some flat leaved chives...yo, Zee, any to share?

Kathy gave me some hepatica a few years ago....they get flowers before their leaves.
I planted a bunch of bulbs this past fall that I had gotten on sale. I wasn't sure if they'd come up but at least this one did. I'm hoping the little grape narsissus' come up!

We have April birthdays! Chris, Stef and Kate. Annie decorated this cake for her dad.
I snapped this photo of my daughter, when she wasn't looking, doing her new job as shift manager. She has a new shirt and bandana typ thing, a new name tag that is on order, and doesnt need to wear a hat but her hair needs to be tied back tight. It is a very difficult and challenging job with tons of responsibilities and I often wonder if she'd prefer to go back to crew member some days. It is a great experience for her though and she will do great I'm sure.

Last, but not least...the almost 12 year old going for a ride on her scooter. Our roads are perfect right now, but many times during the summer, they get grated and new gravel dumped on it, making even bike riding tricky.









Thursday, April 1, 2010

Basil seedlings

Lee here.....Annie started these basil seeds a while ago and it was time to move them into their own, larger pots. Time to set up the grow light and plan what else will get a head start by planting it inside.