Are We There Yet?

No, not quite. The wedding shawl of DOOM is growing at a snail's pace.

At this rate, it will be a wedding kerchief! Since my daughter is not really wanting a veil, I'm trying to convince her she can wear this shawlette on her head Aunt Jemima style. She's not going for it. She also didn't like the idea of wedding cupcakes or a wedding pinata either. She never likes my ideas.

Running has been sporadic. As I was getting my gardening mojo going, I neglected running. Now that half the garden is going well and the other half is being eaten, destroyed or dying away I can start running again.

The local college track has been repaved and is verra nice now. I got out there last night and felt like a human sausage: fatty, bloated and stretching my casings. It didn't help that I had friends over for beer and pizza the night before. Ah well...gotta restart somewhere, eh?

Gardening is funny.

The good:
Tomatoes - Better Boy and Roma - lots o green globes on the vines. It seems they're taking forever to ripen. I so love home gardened tomatoes. If you've only eaten store bought tomatoes, I truly feel for you.
Mint - I have to cut it back as it's crowding other plants!
Cucumber - overflowing the bed and creeping out into the yard.
Eggplant - is trying. Putting on blooms
Meyer Lemon - Had to relocate after some nasty grackle birds got after it and scratched up half the maturing lemons.
Lavender - lookin' good but doubt I will get much bounty for dried herbs
Chard - Looks like it's going to pull through after some bug eating concerns early on
Basil - not going as gangbusters as I had thought it would
Rosemary and Thyme still healthy but not much growth in pots

The bad:
Strawberries - grackle birds again. They take 1-2 bites out of every strawberry rendering them unedible.
Lettuce - I let it go too far and now it's getting leggy and weird. Bugs trying to eat it too.
Mexican Lime - It's trying. I think there are 2 or 3 little tiny limes right now
Bell Pepper - looks scraggly and no veg
Dill - Half is good and the other half is being eaten by some small caterpillars which I think are some kind of butterfly. As much as I use dill, I will let them chow down on what they want


The ugly:
Onions - dead
Kale - So dead
Bok Choy - not a chance dead - eaten by something very hungry

If idle hands are the devil's playground...

If idle hands are the devil's playground, he's got nothing to play with here! Believe it or not, my plants are still alive and some are thriving! I never thought I would love making plants grow.

These pictures were taken a week ago and the plants are even bigger! The cilantro has tried to bolt and my Better Boy tomatoes have really started to take off! I even have 4 small strawberries forming!

Thanks to the wonderful plants at Maas Nursery, even my Meyer Lemon tree is making baby lemons! Ignore the scaly alien hand in the background.

The gladiolus bulbs I planted in the side flower bed have just peeked above the dirt. I'll take pics as soon as they make something purty.

I have this old chiminea that I thought I would enjoy firing up and sitting beside on my patio, playing in the fire. I never got used to the smoke smell, so there it sat for years doing nothing. (I did enjoy setting things on fire in it though. Pyro much?) I decided it would make a better planter. Since it sits in the shade, I decided to plant impatiens and creeping jenny in it. I was so proud...

Then my daughter said "It looks like it's throwing up". Hmmm...she has a point. It's done. It stays. We will see what happens.

Running has resumed, just not as often as I would like. I had to back out of a recent half marathon. You see, the threat of certain death since I was so undertrained was a big de-motivator. My illness plus my Dad's hospitalizations really took a toll on my running. I'm just getting where I can run without using an inhaler. (Sorry, I get a mental giggle thinking about my chubby-chick self trying to run and snorting an inhaler with my flabby rolls flopping to and fro. Just imagine it in slow motion and it's funnier...really) Life just gets in the way sometimes. Note to self...don't sign up for these races so early.

Knitting - still knitting on woman-child's wedding shawl. I'm about 13 repeats in and it's still not big enough. The good thing about knitting lace is you get a lot more bang for your buck. More yards for less money for longer knitting time. The bad thing is, you're knitting FOR-EVER! Will get pics on here later at least to remind myself that it is growing, although very slow...

Where was I...

Hey! Remember me? Sorry for the long absence, guys. Life has been getting in the way in good and bad ways lately.

The bad: My father has been in the hospital 3 or 4 times in the last month and a half for his heart. Without getting into all of the medical-ese and details (which I have a propensity to do) he had an irregular heart rate the likes could contribute to a blood clot. He went into the hospital to have a procedure to correct it and ended up having the complication of bleeding and a fluid collection in the sac that surrounds the heart which had to be drained by a tube. After discharge, the fluid persisted which kept the heart from being an effective pump and contributed to the beginnings of congestive heart failure which I was able to identify.

Now let me jump out of my nurse pants with my sub clinical explanation and jump into my daughter pants (don't look) to explain the other side.

it. scared. the. shit. outta. me.

My father is six foot one inch burly, country, Paul Bunyan (at least in my eyes) type of man. He tells stories of working cattle with his dad and brother sustaining injuries like a broken bone or a metal spike through his hand, splinting or tying it up with a rag and continuing to work as long as there was daylight. (Isn't my daddy the cutest little boy?)

Fast forward to his post-operative state enduring enough pain to make this larger than life man grip the bed rails with a furrowed brow requesting pain medicine. My stomach clenches at the very thought of it. He improved, was sent home but started to complain about things like being short of breath, coughing, swelling in his legs and sleeping in the recliner because it was easier to breathe. The parade of red flags was overwhelming. The nurse in me knew it was congestive heart failure and the daughter was scared to death. Thankfully, the nurse took over and in her best no-nonsense, boss-lady-nurse voice dispelled any excuses for the symptoms and demanded that my father go back to the hospital. Back he went, the fluid around his heart had re-accumulated so IV diuretics were continued for 2 days which relieved the problem.

To make a long story short, he is now back at home and doing well.

The good:  I have a new gardening obsession. I have hauled, lifted, planted and bought more dirt, plants and bedding material than ever. I started reading Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. I now have two 4' x 8' raised beds for vegetables and I added a raised flower bed beside my patio with paver stones. I even installed a rain barrel to divert water from the patio gutter to be used for garden watering. I'm even growing flowers from bulbs, y'all! (Ignore the rusted back door. With an obnoxious large dog who likes to jump on the back door, replacing it would be an exercise in...stupidity)



My imaginary psychiatrist would say that I'm anticipating empty nest syndrome by feeling the need to nurture a garden. I say until you have eaten a garden fresh tomato (not the supermarket kind) you have not truly eaten.

I haven't been too scientific about the process. Basically, I buy a plant or seed I like, stick it in the ground and hope for the best. I visit my garden every day and see what's doing well and what needs help. I'm sure I will kill a few things. My daughter jokes that our house is where houseplants go to die. I own that. Failure to thrive due to inattention. It's getting better.

Cast list for my first EVAR garden:


In pots:
Mexican lime tree
Improved Meyer lemon tree
Mystery bulbs I found sprouting in the garage
Rosemary and German Thyme

In vegetable beds:
Better Boy tomatoes
Roma tomatoes
Eggplant
Bell Pepper
Peppermint
Spearmint
Corsican mint
Cilantro
Chives
Dill
Sweet Basil
Purple Basil
Italian Oregano
Aloe
French Lavender
Sweet Lavender
Kale
Texas Onions
Strawberries
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Bok Choy
Rainbow Chard
with a few Zinnias, Marigolds and Daisies cuz ima girl and they help deter insects

In my flower bed:
Red Honeysuckle - attracts hummingbirds
Pentas - attracts butterflies
will be planting Dahlia and Gladiolus bulbs soon