Have you seen the info on straw bale gardening? I like lasagna gardening because I don't really like to dig, but this year, I chose to experiment. Since I have never grown anything in a straw bale, I purchased one bale and placed it in the corner of my garden. I added about an inch of compost and then proceeded to plant my zucchini on and near the bale. The finishing touch was watering it well. So far, the plants look good. The wire cage to the left of the bale is an old display from work that I am using to support the pea plants. I put it in the ground about an inch down and then planted the peas. With the cool weather we are having, the peas should still do very well. The only problem with this consistent rain is the timing. It seems like the nice days I'm at work and the rainy days I am at home. I don't have to water, but I am finding it hard to finish the yard and garden. The mulch is still in bags on my front step and my tomatoes are still in the flat. Hopefully, I will be able to finish what I started soon. Otherwise the season will be gone. Blink and I will miss it. … [Read more...]
Picnic in the woods
Working in the retail business, weekends off are few and far between. I've taken to requesting a weekend day here and there just to be able to see my husband. Some requests are granted, some denied. My husband surprised me recently on a Sunday off with a picnic in the woods by the river. With spring being so late, it was like walking in a black and white film, sometimes with sepia filters. Color was void. Even the sky was gray, but it was wonderful. We found a log to use as a bench near a small creek running into the river where we could watch the reflection of the trees ripple as the breeze made the surface breathe. The quiet calm was interrupted by a bicycle or two on the tar path about 100 yards away. Then a bird, or the wind whispering through the tree tops. The undergrowth was just a thought under the leaves covering the ground, creating the perfect environment for trekking through the woods, investigating things we observed while eating our lunch. The woods were full of interesting details, many of the decomposition process. White shelf mushrooms forming on fallen trees were common. We also saw a few duck couples, some with their white … [Read more...]
Being a Mother
Late again! I know Mother's Day was yesterday. No matter what my true intentions are, I'm chronically three to five minutes late in getting somewhere, and at times a day late or a dollar short when it comes to acknowledging special days and events. My husband says he knows how I LIKE to do things, but it's not that I LIKE to do things that way. Normally it has to do with trying to get too much done in too little time. I digress... Anyway, I really wanted to say something about being a mother and what Mother's Day represents to me. There is nothing that compares to being a mother, and no feeling that bonds two people together as fully as the parent-child relationship. When I said that to my daughter, she said children change your life forever. They really do. And all the changing diapers, wiping snotty noses, kissing scraped knees, washing dirty faces, helping with homework, setting curfews, checking up on their friends and the challenges that come with raising them is well worth it. A child can melt your heart when she looks at you with love, completely forgetting she was so angry with you earlier in the day that she screamed for what seemed like forever, and then gives you a … [Read more...]
Which photo would catch your eye first?
Things are progressing with the book publishing, and I am again looking for some input. I have two photos that I am considering for the front cover of the book. Though I have already pretty much made up my mind which I want to use, I would like to know which you would pick up first. Keep in mind the title No Time to Quit with the subtitle Life in a Broken Package. Let me know which you would pick up first, the child or the plant. ?Use the comment section below this post. Thanks! … [Read more...]
