First Signs

Of Spring, that is!  Yes, I know it is still dreary and dismal January.  But I was able to confirm that my garlic has indeed sprouted.

See?

I planted it last October or November (I don’t really remember exactly) and most of the little bulbs now have beautiful green shoots.  Even the one I planted upside down managed to find it’s way to the sun (I righted it today so it has a fighting chance).  Combine that with the beautiful blue sky that is out today, and things are looking up.  

(Watch, there will be a huge storm this week just to remind me that it’s still winter…)

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A Plan of (Edible) Attack

Being inspired yesterday with the gardening thoughts, I decided to take advantage of that state of mind and develop a plan of attack.  My gardens are generally late or don’t happen because I forget what I was going to plant/when to plant it/etc.  This year, I want to at least grow my favorites, so in the spirit of success, I’m forming a battle plan.  First, a list of the items I want to grow, when they should be planted, light requirements, and anything else I should know.  Armed with my local Garden Guide and a copy of Grow Great Grub, I set to work on a spreadsheet.

(Yes, I’m a big nerd.  But at least I’m trying to be an organized one!)

Ready for this?

Tada!

(click to embiggen)

Sure, it doesn’t look like much, but it tells me a lot.  First of all, the planting will all be done before the baby arrives (yay!) and secondly, I learned a few things from Grow Great Grub that I didn’t know.  For example, carrots like to be planted with tomatoes, onions, peas, and lettuce, but not dill or parsnips.  That means I can sow carrots in nearly every planter and raised bed I have.  Pretty awesome, eh?

The next step is to figure out where everything goes.  Armed with the extra knowledge of what plants don’t like to play together, I can start planning it out.  Both of my raised beds are partial shade due to the buildings they are up against.  The shed bed gets morning sun/afternoon shade and the house bed gets morning/afternoon sun with evening shade.  The potato planters are getting shifted and placed closer to the other beds in a place they will get morning sun.  The tomatoes will be trying this year out in the house bed with green beans and edamame behind, lettuce and carrots in front.  The shed bed will continue to have garlic and onions with snap peas behind, lettuce and carrots in front.  Cucumber and zucchinis will be placed in pots and trellised upwards.  (I have 4 large ones from Costco that will do nicely)  Those pots will be spread about in places that get the appropriate lighting and where I don’t have to mow around them.  The herbs will be put in pots small enough that I can bring indoors when it gets too warm.

(click to embiggen)

That’s the plan for now.  I’d love feedback or advice from more seasoned gardeners.  It’s a fairly small garden, but I want it to be manageable and filled with the foods we like to eat.  After all, what’s the point of a garden if you don’t eat what comes out of it?

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Willamette in Progress

Crappy pictures or no, I’ve decided to post more this year.  When it comes to sharing in this space, I am often held back by the lack of good photos.  I see other peoples’ blogs and feel ashamed that I don’t produce the same quality when it comes to images.  But this blog is for me.  If all I want to do is use the webcam on the MacBook and give you a grainy cat picture, then that is my prerogative.

Wow… That kind of turned into a mini rant.  I thought about deleting it, but decided not to.  Anyway, moving onto the yarn part of this post.

See?  Yarn!  Plus a bonus Chloe shot.

Early in November, when Star announced her Stumptown Knits club, I was immediately smitten with the first project and treated myself to a membership.  I have knit one of Star’s patterns before (Prairie House Shawl* anyone?) and knew going into this that I would get a quality pattern.  I rarely do any kind of yarn/pattern/craft club, but this one struck a different chord with me.  It is simply a pattern club.  If you want to buy the same yarn(s) she used, there is a discount coupon included for Twisted (my favorite PDX yarn shop).  Otherwise, you simply receive your pattern and choose your own yarn.  There is a knit-a-long in her group on Ravelry if you want to join, but you don’t have to.  I love the low level of commitment that this club demands.

(If you don’t want to join the club, each pattern is also available for individual purchase.  But without the price discount or the perks.)

When the pattern showed up in my inbox in January, I went to my stash and found the squooshiest yarn I could in a color that would work.  I’m using Caper Sock from String Theory in the colorway Earthquake.  (I could never photograph it in a way to do it justice, so just visit the link to see the real colors.)  I honestly don’t remember purchasing this yarn.  I’m pretty sure I picked it up in a wool fume induced coma at a convention (Stitches? Sock Summit? Black Sheep?) or in a yarn shop on a trip.  If it was a gift and you’re reading this, I’m sorry I don’t remember (but, thank you!).  Regardless, it is a very yummy Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend that will feel nice next to my skin.

I must say, I’m very smitten with the pattern.  Linen stitch starts it off and is pretty familiar to me.  Then Star throws you into herringbone with an i-cord style edging.  I have never done herringbone stitch before and I am really enjoying it.  I can’t wait to see how the finished scarf turns out.  It already has great personality and the yarn is really taking to the pattern nicely.  I’ll keep you posted!

*I knit a complete Prairie House Shawl to within 2″ of the end before running out of yarn (my fault for not reading the yardage on the label). Because it was a STR serendipity skein, there was no way to get more or match the color.  I had to frog the entire thing.  It was a very sad day.

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16 Weeks

I should have posted this yesterday, but didn’t get around to taking the photo until later.  Here is the Baby Avocado bump.

I apologize to my readers who have no interest in the pregnancy.  It’s sort of a big deal in my life right now, so you’ll have to just skim past these posts.

(I promise there won’t be any birthing pictures.  I hate those as much as the rest of you.)

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First Tuesday of 2012

Today is the first Tuesday of the new year.  It is also the first day that my house has returned to a slightly normal schedule.  The husband has gone back to work and I am home.  I got up this morning and made an actual breakfast (bacon, hash browns, egg, coffee) for the first time in months.  (I feel like this trimester is letting me reclaim a bit of normalcy, at least for now.  Today marks my 16th week (4th month) and the baby is approximately the size of an avocado.)  The animals are taking their 9am nap and the neighborhood is quiet.  All is right with the world at this moment.

It should also be noted that a very cunning dog made me think she had not been fed yet and so received a second breakfast.  That same cunning dog also sweet talked me out of the last piece of bacon. She looks pretty content now, eh?

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Ringing in the New

I’m starting the new year out right.  Tea on the couch with a sleeping dog and a warm heater at my feet.

We stayed up just late enough to ring in the new year in style.  And by style, I mean in our PJs, in bed, and half asleep.  I fell asleep to the sound of small fireworks going off in the neighborhoods around us and slept in until nearly 10am.  My darling husband brought me coffee and breakfast in bed to top everything off.

I’ve puttered around a bit this morning, adding shelves to part of the new storage cupboard (more on that later).  I know you’re not supposed to wash or clean anything on New Year’s Day (superstition and whatnot), but I’m not one for those sorts of things.  If I get up the energy later on, I’m going to tidy the kitchen, put clean sheets on the bed, and maybe even make sure I have clean clothes for work tomorrow.  But for now, I’m just enjoying sitting in my warm house, admiring the new laminate floors (more on that later, too), and drinking tea.  Even a cat butt in the face can’t ruin this moment for me.

See?

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