The tale of dirt

Six cubic yards, noon, Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Approximately 1/2 a cubic yard, 10 am , Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Around noon on Tuesday, a very large dump truck delivered 6 cubic yards of soil mixed with compost to our house. Since the electrical wires hang low, the driver had to dump the dirt right in front of the door. But, 3 pre-built raised beds and 3 impromptu beds, and less than a yard is left. Of course, I still have no clue where to plant all of the other plants or rest of the tomatoes. ARG! I will document the raised beds when I get a chance. So much more dirt to move and plants to schlep around the yard.
Must sleep. The sun has set and will come back up in about 6 hours. I can't let any sunlight go to waste.

Just call me a pink farmer!

This is a pile of six cubic yards of dirt that was dropped off yesterday. Now it is about half gone. Of course, it is going to rain this afternoon so we have 2 1/2 hours to make this disappear. The plants are loving it though. I finally get to put out some of the seedlings into the real world, not just the sun room world.

More pictures to come. Seeing how it is 5:14 am and I am gearing up to go haul dirt, I'd say I am a FARMER! Gotta love those Midwestern roots!

2010 Strawberry Crop

These are from OUR garden. Last year they did well, but we didn't get anywhere near as many as this summer. We are up to up to 23 pounds. AMAZING!
Of course, that means more early morning picking sessions. Yeah! summer means becoming a farming in my off hours.

Quince evolution

These light peach are the flowers on the quince bush on Mother's Day 2009.

This Mother's day they are bolder in color. I love the changes.

Thanks for pretty flowers kids!
Love, Mom

Spring has sprung!

This is the first crocus of the season at our house. Yes, there were more in bloom down the street, but spring takes a bit longer to show up here. We have lots and lots of trees around our house. I am seeing lots of tulip green shoots coming up also.
I have uncovered our garlic bed, but the garlic is looking a bit sickly, maybe I didn't take the leaves off early enough. Maybe they will look better next weekend.
Inside, the eggplant seeds have sprouted. They are sooooooo tiny and delicate. Hopefully they will enjoy the warmth and sun that is supposed to come out tomorrow. I put in the onion, jalapeno, bell pepper, basil, and dill seeds last weekend. No sprouts yet.
More to come!

WOW! Daphnia COOKIES!

I am thinking these are Daphnia cookiei, or maybe, Daphnia gingerbreadius. Either way, these are cookies that Jessica Devoid made for Christmas this year. Oh, how Daphnia get into the psyche and never let go. They are just so cute. (And, before you start saying, "What the heck are Daphnia?", check this link out.)

Storm Damage from a few weeks back

This is just one of the many uprooted and blown over trees we saw while walking in Winant Park a while back. The strangest part was that we didn't see any trees down until we got to the base of the old ski tow line. Then a TON of trees were blown over. It looked like toothpicks in a row. Very weird. I am so glad I wasn't out there in the storm.

I want one!

We were down in Waltham, MA, on Sunday, so we stopped by the Lyman Estate Greenhouse. Can I just say, "I want one of everything please!". There were great flowers, warm temperatures, green, flower fragrances, fish in a pool, and GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sun is coming back, but not soon enough for me. I have decided I want a greenhouse, a fountain, more pitcher plants, more cacti, more green, and more WARMTH!
More pictures at my Flickr page. Spring can't come soon enough for me.

First Annual Holiday Preparation Party!

The fire was lit and chestnuts were roasted. Four types of cookies were baked--gooey pepermint, chocolate, peanut butter, and some other type I can't remember. All were yummy! The scent of hot cider filled the air and crafts were constructed. Next year, more warning and more baking. I can't wait.

SERIOUSLY! I am inviting YOU to come to our house this SUNDAY for holiday merriment!
You know you want to ! Just stop by anytime between 1-8 on Sunday.

Step 1

Step 1a: Grow pumpkins even if you didn't plant any pumpkin seeds.
Step 1b: Put a lot of fencing around impromptu pumpkin patch to ward off squirrels.
Step 1c: Wait until pumpkins are very large before picking.
Step 1d: Read my blog in the future to see what to do next.

I am taking pictures of my hobby

Still Life

I couldn't get any stiller than thread that has been sitting in by sewing box for a year. I have made a few projects lately, but not many. Maybe having to take pictures of my threads will make me realize how pretty the threads are and just how many projects I need to finish.

Halloween HN Style!

As we were driving through Rye after taking water samples today, we went past house with 52 carved pumpkins spread out along the rock wall. Here were 3 of my favorites. I was VERY impressed. Megan was so impressed she wanted to do the same thing in her neighborhood. If you have an extra carved pumpkin to share, just let her know!

It does seem sort of bizarre though, Brady & I don't have ANY pumpkins carved at our house. At least we have a couple of days left.

My Sunday Night Activity

My first effort for the night

I was watching the Bears trying to beat the Falcons on tv tonight when I decided I should do something productive. I took my new 24 pack of Crayola Crayons and the coloring book Kat & Zoe sent me earlier this year and went for it. What coloring book might this be you ask? It is "Color Your Own Classic Movie Posters", of course! (I have now put this image on Amazon too!)

I picked one of my favorites-the ever hilarious Duck Soup released in 1933 staring the Marx Brothers. You HAVE to see this movie to be culturally aware and to laugh your head off. Go ahead, rent it from somewhere, check it out of the library, or ask to borrow our copy. You won't regret it.

Candy Striped Leafhopper

Yet another bug in the yard. This is a Graphocephala coccinea, more commonly called the Candy Striped Leafhopper. I am still learning about taking pictures, but this guy was too cute to not post. I am not sure it is a good picture, but he was hanging out on the basil and posing. I figured it was better than the one I took of the mosquito that was in the process of biting me. What we artist's do for our ART!

Tasty new recipe!

This may not look like it, but this is a Cantaloupe Pie! We had an extra pie crust and an extra cantaloupe. There are 5 more coming in the garden. It was pretty good--not super solid, but tasty. It is like cantaloupe custard--trust me, it's good!

It would have been even better with a bit of whipped cream, but when you need a sweet fix, this will do.

Brady's B-Day haul!

Here is the Birthday pile for Brady's Birthday. There are 2 more coming in the mail. "What was in those presents?" you may ask. Do you really want to know, this is Brady we're talking about. There are wrestling books, Ralph Wiley books, Christmas music, and a book on really dumb ideas throughout history.
Also, of course, I got most of them for free after all my surveys. Yep, all from me wasting time on the internets! If you have an Amazon wishlist, the same might happen on your birthday!

Not for the faint of heart

This little lady, a cross spider, has created a web in our tomatoes plants outside the front door. Don't worry, it isn't poisonous and only about 1 inch long. I am hoping she takes care of lots and lots of mosquitoes, flies, and other bugs. I will check her out tomorrow night to see if there is any thing in the web.

Cabbage White-Pieris rapae

This male was out in the impromptu butterfly garden. Apparently the Cabbage White was an introduced in the mid 1800's and has hurt cabbage crops. It hasn't gotten our garden because we don't have any cabbage or cabbage relatives. It definitely was a fluttery butterfly and pretty in it's delicate way. Just before it left the garden for good, it was moving its head back and forth--so amazing that it let me be so close.More butterflies as they stop by.

American Painted Lady

In the garden today was this pretty butterfly--an American Painted Lady or Vanessa virginiensis. It was sipping away on the flower & let me snap a bunch of shots. We have a butterfly garden without even trying!