In the Garden

Coming home and checking the garden after our vacation was pretty exciting, to say the least!

Giant zucchini... there will be Laurel's Kitchen baked zucchini casserole this week!

The cucumbers are obnoxious!  I pulled seven like this one.  Luz, who was housesitting, already helped herself.  There are at least another dozen, though they aren't THIS big.  I'm going to have to figure out how to make refrigerator pickles.  Are pickles easy to preserve, in general?

Some of my tomatoes have this weird rot on the bottom.  These two tomatoes came off the same plant, and one has it and the other doesn't.  The ones growing in the backyard have just a few like this, but one of the ones in the front yard has pretty much all like this. I tried to look it up in my Golden Gate Gardening book, but meh, who knows?  It's been a pretty cold summer (foggy and overcast until afternoon) but I'm not sure that's why....

It is with pure joy that I report new growth on four of my five propogated hummingbird sage plants!  They are still so wee, but they grow so fast.  I can't wait!   I'm going to plant two on my (still mostly bare!) hill and give two to my mom.

These geraniums are growing from pieces I snapped off my my main two plants.  They are so happy and beautiful in their colorful pots.  In what happens to be, apparently, the most desolate corner of my yard.  Holy.

I put up a few new feeders over the last couple of weeks, too.  I thought nobody was interested in them, but I guess it was just the watched pot that never boils, because when we left for a week and half, the squirrels and birds went nuts!

I was especially (pleasantly) surprised that my hummingbird feeder was finally emptied! 

I happily buzzed around, checking on my bees (love you, bees!) and refilled the feeders, and harvested my vegetables, and I even felt happy when I came back inside and saw that in those thirty minutes... my family had completely destroyed the inside of our house.  *sigh*  Domestic bliss, really.  :)

Birthdays!

We had decided to stay in LA to go to DisneyLand for a few days because it was our boys' birthdays last week.  Tommy turned 10 while we were in DisneyLand, and Scotty turned 5 after we got home.   Both boys were treated to room service breakfast our fist day at the hotel...pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse, of course!!!  On Tommy's birthday he got to wear a Disney birthday button with his name on it, and everywhere we went, park employees said, "Happy birthday, Tommy!" and I do declare this to be the very best way to spend your birthday.  Magical indeed!

At home, on Scotty's birthday, I made a huge cupcake and topped it with 10 large beeswax candles and 5 squat beeswax candles, and Scotty was positively delighted by this.  Like all kids, he is so excited to get older...yet, sensing the advantages to being "the baby" in our family, he also resists growing up.  "Yesterday I was four...now I am five....but look at me!  I'm still tiny!!!"  I'm sure years of therapy as an adult will eventually sort this out.  You're welcome, son.

It's weird, in our neck-of-the-woods, to have such a private birthday celebration.  A family trip, a family candle-lit ceremony, and no goodie bags or dozens of school friends at a themed party....I don't know, maybe they'll feel like they've missed out on something later, but it felt oh-so-right just now!

Since I just downloaded a bunch of pictures from my camera (thanks for the new card reader, honey!) here are a few more pictures from DisneyLand.  We're heading up to claim our Fast Pass place in line for a second round on Space Mountain here....Scotty leading the pack, of course!

Here's one for Carmen and Nancy...perhaps this is more your speed, ladies?  haha!  :-P

Scotty and I rested our dogs at the exit to the California Screamin' roller coaster, as we waited for Tommy and Erik to finish up (they loved it!!!).  Scotty loves these types of maps, with the pictures?  He stares at them when we get them at the zoo, too.  He's trying to decide where we should go next.

Here he is pointing to the Tower of Terror on the map.  "We're not going here," he said.  "The Tower of Terror makes me sad."  Got it.  Worst parents ever....check!

Dispatches from The Magical Kingdom

On our way to Anaheim, Erik proclaimed that we would be going to the "happiest place on Earth"...and, he predicted that everybody would cry, at least once.  haha!  Oh, how we laughed.  We were there for three days and three nights, and there was very little crying or sore feelings after all!  We stayed at The Californian Resort, and it was so beautiful.  It was a craftsman-style lodge, and Erik and I both whispered to each other that we sure wouldn't mind coming back...without kids.  :-) 

Our (unconscionably high-priced) resort package included "The Magic Hour", which meant that for two of the three days, we got into the DisneyLand Park at 7am....one hour before the gates opened.  I'm here to report, it was a bargain at any price.  People:  We breezed up to The Matterhorn, Nemo's Submarine, Pirates of Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.  We waited no more than 10 minutes for Space Mountain.  We got fast-passes for Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Buzz Light Year, Buzz Light Year, Buzz Light Year, and Space Mountain.  The next day?  Buzz Light Year.  And Space Mountain.  We had some favorites!

Scotty was completely smitten with Space Mountain ("my head was almost in space!"), Toy Story Midway Mania (in the other park), the Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain.  He went on every ride he was tall enough to ride.  The only two he didn't go on were the California Screamer coaster and Big Thunder Railroad.  Everything else was a go!  Both of my kids, like both of their parents, are total thrill-seekers.  Having said that?  He was equally enthralled by Peter Pan's Flight, Mr. Toad's Wild Adventure, and Small World.  He's such a trip.

I did NOT approve, for the record, of taking The Boys onto the Tower of Terror.  Scotty said it "made me sad", which was understated considering that Tommy bawled.  Oh dear.  Erik and I spent the whole time consoling them, and whispered to each other that we wouldn't mind coming back....without kids.  :-)

Here we are exiting the Candy Store after Tower of Terror.  We're sorry, kids, that we scared the ever loving crap out of you.  Here, have some sugar!

Unbelievably, Tommy decided a little later to go on this ride, the Maliboomer.  Actually, this shouldn't surprise me....the kid went on EVERY RIDE there.  He loves roller coasters, and kept telling me to "put your hands up" on every ride.  He's so fun!  He even got Scotty to ride with his hands up on the Go Gadget coaster in Toon Town.  It was so funny!

But anyway, he's totally into thrilling rides, it's just that, like the Tower of Terror, it's a free fall drop.  Unlike the Tower of Terror, it first SHOOTS you up 1000 feet in less than 2 seconds.  Um......okay?  Scotty and Erik sat this one out, and Tommy and I waited in line for about 20 minutes.

Erik said Scotty sat on his bench and yelled, "SO LONG!!" every time the ride shot to the top.

When it was our turn to board, Tommy looked at me and said, "I changed my mind."  Then he left.  I'm such a sucker!

So I get on, solo.  The attendant pulls down my bar and then says, I swear to you, "Oops, that didn't catch...hold on."  Then he disappeared, came back, and 'tried again'.  I couldn't make this up.  "It's good now."  It is!  It's sooooo good!  What could possibly go wrong with this? 

Erik said that when we shot up, Scotty yelled, "That's what you get, Mommy!"  haha!  hahahahaha  That kills me!  I wonder if those two little twerps plotted the whole thing, to get back at me for Tower of Terror?  Wouldn't that be too funny!  Little schemers.

I was a little confused by the set up of this ride actually.  It has these glass shields as part of the pull down bars.  My friend Maia tells me later that this shield is for in case you throw up.  She also pointed out that there's a shower at the exit.

Maybe next time, Tommy, maybe next time.

Worn Out!

 I taught a class last week in Los Angeles, for the California Department of Education.  Erik and The Boys came with me, and they had many adventures while I worked during the day.  Then, we stayed for an extra three days of DisneyLand!  Which left us feeling like this.  :)  We drove home late yesterday, and it was back at work for me today.  Which was quite a relief, after all that fun.  I needed a day at work to recover from this 'vacation'!

Boys are Fun

"death to all humans"

When Tommy asked if he could decorate his drum kit with a sharpie, I couldn't really think of a good reason to say 'no'.  I wanted to say 'no', because it seemed like I should say 'no', but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it.  When I saw this snake, with what appears to be a mohawk, hissing "Death to all humans", I have to admit....I was never more sure that I had made the right decision, after all.  Because this is obviously, hilariously,  awesome.

Scotty has been keeping himself busy with his kitchen duties.  He opened a restaurant, and we all spend a bit of time, each day, paying him "one thousand dollars" for a taco.  Sometimes he only charges a dollar, and if you give him 'a dollar', he gives you back three bills and some coins.

It's a good system.

This Week in the Garden

The longview of the main raised bed.  It probably doesn't look like much is happening here.  But, as many of you know, sweet garden surprises are the reason I garden in the first place.

Because the closer you get, the more life you see!  Blooms and veggies (fruits? oh, tomato, you vex me!)  are right there for your enjoyment....

So many tomatoes!  Turning all shades of green, pink, yellow, orange, and, yes, finally red!

Squash...I don't know what this one is called, but it is by far my most prolific squash plant.  Beautiful and lush and churning out a dozen squash where my zucchini and yellow crook neckeds are barely earning their keep. 

My cucumbers and eggplants are so happy!  I'm having a bumper crop of cucumbers, and with just enough tomatoes to keep me in cuke/tom salad for dinner every night, well, you won't hear me complaining about that....ever.

Not a single strawberry has made it past the garden pests known as Scotty and Tommy.  I won't lie to you...I've committed my own crimes against the possibility of future freezer jam, standing in the garden, tunneling through berries. 

And have I ever mentioned the number of lizards living in my yard?  Seriously!!!  I see hundreds, every day.  Wasps, honey bees, turtle doves, lizards, dragon flies, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, sparrows, blue birds (cuties!), blue jays (bullies!), and too many finches to count, all count my backyard as home.   Let's not talk about the deer and the raccoons (or the damage they cause); let's just enjoy the diversity and get lost in nature's uncertainty.

Quilt Along ~ Episodes 3 and 4

I had to make a decision this weekend on what to do with my quilt along quilt.  I was toying with a particular edging (that is not binding) and in order to do it, I would have had to let go of the machine quilting.  Like any good quilting partners, Carmen and Nancy were very supportive of whatever I chose to do.  I guess you'll know what I decided when I'm totally done! 

After washing cutting, I had a bit of a snag.  Namely?  My sewing machine is my bedroom, and I like to be with my family, not holed up in the corner!  I stalled by pinning one rectangle to one square, but I finally had to breakdown and zip through all those.  I love how they made this little flag!  I thought I was being so clever when I figured this out...I was quite pleased that I had figured out how to do this part without cutting the thread and repositioning everything between all of them.  But then, right when I finished this, I saw on the I Have to Say blog that she had done the same thing, on some other project.  Harumph!

Then I put the little patches into a paper bag, and I randomly grabbed one at a time, and sewed them together (alternating square to rectangle and rectangle to square) into rows.  Each row needed five patches.   I had to force myself to not look at the bag at all, or it really wouldn't have been random at all.  I was undeniably attracted to certain scraps of fabric over others, even though everyone of them is beautiful on its own! 

When my bag was empty, I took a moment to admire my beautiful mess.  I'm sure I've mentioned that I am a) a klutz and b) a slob.  So, in addition to this growing pile, I cracked my leg on that open drawer four different times.  Awesome.

 This was before I sewed the strips together, but you can get the general idea.  It's a lot harder than it looks to lay it out so there are no rectangles that are the same touching each other!  I worked on this for half an hour, before calling in Erik so I could point out to him all the places where, even though they weren't touching, they were clearly making a pattern, and it was obviously unseemly, and he managed to be both supportive and insulting by rolling his eyes and telling me I was "thinking too hard".   Of course, he's right...I reminded myself of what my friend Monica always tells me when I'm sweating details.  She says, "Are you entering this project into a juried competition?  No?  Well, then, do you like the way it looks?  Alright then."

That's very sound advice, I don't mind telling you!