garden update

My hands were a bit full last summer, what with Alice's arrival. We managed a little garden, but barely. Strawberries, tomatoes, a couple handfuls of sugar snap peas- was there anything else? I can't say with confidence that there was and I have no record of it. The previous year we hit a glorious gardening stride (check out these pictures!). Life ebbs and flows, waxes and wanes, fits and starts, yadda yadda, but now we're back on the bandwagon with lots of things- composting, mowing, weeding flower beds, and yes, even vegetable gardening.

An addition I'm excited about this year is using some choice plants to deter bugs from us and from our cultivated plants too. We've added lavender, mint and lemon balm to the mix and split apart our bull onions- the ever spreading, hearty as heck bull onions- and spread them around the perimeter of both garden beds. Slugs go crazy for our strawberries, so I'm also hoping to run copper wire around the strawberry bed to tell them who's boss.

To go along with our perennial strawberries, asparagus, and hops, we've planted three kinds of tomatoes, four kinds of peppers, arugula, lettuce, sugar snap peas, two kinds of cucumbers, zucchini, and radishes galore. I love dirty gardening hands almost as much as I love crunching into my own, backyard grown veggies. I love the hope of planting and waiting- letting those precious little seeds go dark and quiet and then seeing them courageously burst out, faces shining in the sun.

Too much? Too dramatic? I don't care. I'm really glad to be gardening again.

Radish seedlings:

Hops, hops, hops- we need to split and spread these rhizomes:

Grow little sugar snap, grow:

cuddle and breathe

I found these two fortunes in my desk during the deep clean of the house and they seemed almost too relevant to be true. I have no recollection of what they're from- how long ago the Chinese food they came with was eaten in our abode- but, I know that when they were acquired I did not foresee the mayhem that our home would be for the last six months. Nor did I anticipate the relief of it coming back together- oh the sweet, deep breath of relief!

As of last week the stairs are carpeted and cozy- a quick fix to a real eye-sore- and they have provided the most surprising addition to our routine. Jake loves sitting on the stairs now and the animals come running to him when he gets home, all vying for his attention. Even Layla joins the gang- our poor cat who turned into a troll during the construction, living under the stairs and only coming out at night, is part of the family again. All three animal babes cuddle and wrestle with Jake, still in his work clothes. I imagine I'll place a newborn on top of the pile one of these days- one more babe to greet him after work.

We got some 'eh' news at Jake's monthly infusion yesterday. Not bad news, per say, but not good news either. Slightly disconcerting neutral news, I guess. We left the neurologist's office, Jake took my hand, and I was thankful for a reminder that every stinkin' day is a gift. Believe in miracles. Cuddle on freshly carpeted stairs. Take a deep breath. 

on hives and love

It has been a stressful, hive-inducing week. Its no one's fault, really, and the week did start out beautifully, but by last night I was itching my red and bumpy hive body and crying over the chaos of our house being under construction (we're going on week four of the mayhem).

Sure, I'm sad that I will probably not wear the new knee length dress intended for my graduation on Sunday (a ankle length one will better hide the hive legs), and I'm so very done with the grit and crazy of our little abode, but I am trying to focus on the fact that the house project is ALMOST DONE and that graduation means I'm nearly a MASTER. Also, focusing on the wonder that is my loving, hard working, all-sorts-of-talented husband helps too. He's a good man.

As if you needed it, here's a little proof of his goodness- a photo of my precious nephew (who turned four last week...FOUR!) and my precious husband:

baby steps

Sometimes doing work on your little house means that when attempting to lug sheetrock through a tiny kitchen, the toaster is knocked off its shelf and into your face.

But you know what? Headache, swollen forehead and all, I was still just blissfully happy to wake up in the strong arms of my hardworking hubby this morning. No matter the state of our home, or the stress on our weak-nerved animals, we have all that matters in the world.

PS: The only thing those pictures have to do with anything is that they're downright adorable and make me happy. Artie can barely go five minutes in the same room with Dallas without saying "oh, she's so cuuuuute" or "auntie, I love your dog." That Dallas accepts his [sometimes rather forceful] expressions of admiration just makes me love our dog all the more too.

garden update

Remember that time I became a farmer? Well, our little garden has been making great gains. I love seeing green tendrils slowly reaching out and climbing. Our cherry tomatoes taste like candy, and we have a few full size tomatoes which haven't ripened, but will surely make a great sandwich in a couple weeks. I've been picking wildflowers in the backyard too. Queen Anne's Lace on the dining room table is my current favorite.

Happy Wednesday. If you have a moment, pick some wildflowers.

and then the marsh came to life

Our neighbor, the marsh, suddenly popped full of orange lilies this weekend. Hundreds of gorgeous, tall, strong flowers bursting forth, praising the heavens. We enjoyed sitting on the deck, taking in the scene and the scents, rightfully taking part in the praising too.

And that's my goal for today- praise a little more, give thanks a little more, take for granted a little less. Happy Tuesday.

on how I became a farmer*

Before I delve into all the wonderfulness that was our vacation (big beaches, big trees, big campfires), I want to acknowledge the lovely home we settled into in the days before we left. We love it. I want to say it again because we love it that much- seriously, we love our new home. It is old and chock full of so much dang character. Built in the mid-eighteen hundreds, it just feels so full of stories. It was in the same family for almost all of those years, and at least one child was born in it. "If these walls could talk" and all that. It's got a barn with a loft in the backyard and marshland as a neighbor. And it has lots of space for gardens. Gardens!?

One of my LIST items (#16, to be exact) has been to "help Jake have a big garden again." Before Jake and I moved into our last apartment, he lived in a house with a nice sized backyard. He had two chickens (named "Beef" and "Pony"), and a great, big garden. Before we started dating he "courted" me by leaving his own home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers on my desk at work. The first time I went to his house was to see his garden. He showed me a cantaloupe he grew and a few weeks later, in the first stages of dating, we ate it together. When we moved last summer, he lost the yard and gave the chickens to my uncle in Connecticut. He moved all his gardening tools into a friend's garage and gave up on having a proper garden again for a while.

Then this house fell into our laps- it all happened rather quickly and unexpectedly, looking at it on a whim and then suddenly falling in love with it and what it would mean for us. We had such absolute peace about the whole thing, and before we knew it we were moving into a whole new adventure and undertaking. Not until we got back from vacation had I ever gardened before. Sure, I've pulled a weed or two in my life, but I've never cleared and hoed and dug and watered. As of Sunday, I am in love with it all. I worked on the yard for 4 hours on Sunday and another 3 after work yesterday. It is hard, dirty work and is so rewarding. And I've started accomplishing #16- we're on our way to having a big garden again. There's even a cantaloupe seedling.

*Well, not a farmer really, but a gardener. Farmer just sounds so much more surprising. "Farmer Kim" has a good ring to it, right? But is it better than "Director LaCroix"? Doubtful. I'll keep my day job.

the move

Barefoot and clad in my black and white paisley bathrobe, I stood at the screen door watching Jake leave for work this morning. He walked through the front gardens and climbed into his car, parked in the driveway.

Screen door? Gardens? Driveway?

I am achy and exhausted from the series of yesterday's events. The final walk through of our new house was at 7:45 AM, followed by the closing at 8:30 AM, from which we went directly to unloading the first truck loads, relocating stacks of boxes into unfamiliar spaces. By 10PM our apartment was bare and clean, and our new abode was full of friends congratulating this huge step, amidst stacks of cardboard.

Jake and I felt clean in a whole new way climbing into, well onto, our mattress on the floor last night. We'd taken our first shower in the new place, washed off all the grime of the move, and were ready to really sleep for the first time in days and days. The anticipation and anxiety had finally released. We were home.

My mom (Linnie) will be arriving around 6PM today to get the settling in started. Those boxes don't stand a chance. We'll be having tea on the deck in our bathrobes by tomorrow morning.

The Simplicity Project - Home Edition

I love Kristin's "Simplicity Project" over at As Luck Would Have It. Here's the thing- it is so frustratingly easy to get sucked up into the pretty things and clothes and couches that can be found online (side eye at you Pinterest). Now that Jake and I are buying a house, I want it to be lovely and homey and using the space oh-so-well. I also want to live simply. I don't want to get bogged down in buying new everything. I want to be conservative and smart about the whole ordeal.

SO, I'm making a few "Simplicity Project" commitments:

• As we pack up in the next two weeks, I am committed to really looking at what's being packed. Do we use this? Do we need this? Does this make our life better, or just clutter it up? I don't want to move anything to our little cottage which is just clutter. It's a lovely little home- emphasize little- and if we're not careful it would be easy to fill up every nook and cranny.
• I'm committed to purchasing a few items that will help simplify things- a bed with some storage so that we can downsize to one bureau, a storage unit for the mud room to make the lack of kitchen cupboards do-able.
• I'm committed to not purchasing every single thing I've been eyeing. A new couch and a shag rug for the living room can wait. I want to live in the new space for a little while and then decide on what the priorities are (I have a feeling deck furniture may trump the couch this summer).

Those are my goals to start. I'll be checking in on how they're coming along, and any additions that pop onto the list. The move happens in just 14 days! We should start packing...