Stirrings in the Soil, Stirrings in the Soul

I didn't garden last year. At all.
Actually, that's a lie. I planted some Gazanias. We had a drought. They died.


(These are not my flowers. I had to find some on the Internet because I couldn't find my one picture I took of them. Of course.)
So when I said I was ready to get out in my flower beds and do some work, I got the look from my husband.
You know, the one that says, Awesome, you're going to dump tons of money into buying seeds and bulbs and soil and whatnot and give up on it a few weeks in while the weeds (good Lord, deliver us from the weeds!!!) take back over the neglected patch of "flower bed" because THE HEAT, good lord the EAST TEXAS HEAT...
You know, that look.
But yeah, I'm ready to get out and work in my gardens again. We all go through different seasons in our lives and last year just wasn't a gardening season for me. I think this year is, though.
So I sat down and made a list of all the projects I want to do. The baskets of potatoes. The rose bush transplanting. Making a trellis for vining plants. Making a vine teepee for the kids to play in.
Then, I listed out all the supplies I was going to need for these projects. Seeds. Compost. Trellis materials. Etc.
Instead of going out and purchasing willy-nilly, I got just a few things I was going to need in just this upcoming week. Soil. Seed potatoes. A few gardenia plants to put next to my to rose bush in my front flower bed.
I'm approaching this from a more thoughtful angle. I'm hoping that taking the little bit at a time approach will help sustain me when the OH MY GOD THE HEAT comes back to East Texas.


(Oh, yeah, I also got the boy a Venus Fly Trap. He is BEYOND. EXCITED.)
So for today, I did something simple. I took some five gallon buckets I had lying around and drilled some holes in them.


I filled them with about three inches of soil and two seed potatoes each.


I put a little more soil in each and then set the buckets up near the back fence,placing them on a few bricks I also had lying around the yard.


And now the waiting begins. Hopefully in a week or two I should start seeing growth. At that point, I'll add more soil, "hilling" them up, eventually, to the top of the buckets.
The nice thing about this setup is that if I see they're not getting enough sunlight, I can just move them. So that's kind of cool.
The tutorial I saw online for this used laundry baskets. I've still got a few seed potatoes left so next week or so I might go get a few baskets and plant the rest.
I have plans. I'm moving stuff, planting stuff, re-planting stuff, and just generally puttering around. I don't ever expect to have a "pin-worthy" garden, but I hope to have a little bit of green on my thumb this year. I hope to get the kids involved in working the dirt with me. I hope to keep the dog out of the work I'm going to be doing. (Stocking up on red pepper flakes--I hear they're pretty effective...)
I hope to enjoy my gardens and defeat the evil weeds this year.

Testing

My gosh, she's getting big.




I'm testing out using BlogPress from my various devices. So far, seems to be working peachy.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Two Conversations Between Two Six-Year-Olds

Conversation #1

Harrison's adenoidectomy and ear tube insertion surgery is tomorrow and he has been telling everyone about it and his hearing loss that led up to the surgery. Telling his friend Taylor about it, he finished by proudly saying, "And the best part is, I get to eat all the ice cream I want!"

Taylor looked at him incredulously and said, "Ice cream's the cure?"

"No, hospital ice cream is."

***************************


Conversation #2



Taylor: Knock knock.
(Six year olds are bonkers for knock-knock jokes.)
Harrison: Who's there?
Taylor: Anakin Skywalker.
Harrison: Anakin Skywalker, who?
Taylor: Dum dum dum, dumdumdum dumdumdum. I cut off your arm.

I love six year olds.

Summer Day

About to sit and watch some TV with my hunny while we eat some ice cream. (I stole his ‘top-of-the-carton’ serving—I’m in trouble now.) Took the boy to the dentist today; he impressed them with his super-clean teeth. (I keep telling him that brushing twice a day is a good thing!) Otherwise, we just kind of hung out. I’m working on the muslin for my jacket and it’s kind of driving me batty, so I think I’m going to think about a different project for a day or two so my ‘eureka!’ moment can happen.

Off to the tube! (Does anyone even have a tube television anymore?)

Waiting for Steve Jobs

No...phone... iPhone backing up… Software…updating… Hours…without…apps… Don’t remember…what…to do…in bathroom…without surreptitious email…and Facebook…checks…

In a nice touch from the Irony Fairies, Robert sold our iPods to fund the acquisition of our new iPhones (about which we have received word on shipping—yay!). I’m working in the office/sewing room tonight and don’t have my phone or my iPod to listen to.

Gah!

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes

So, I’ve reached my goal. I’ve blogged for each and every day of the past year. It seems kind of amazing that I finished it up. I’ll be honest—there were plenty of times when I just flat out didn’t want to do anything. Being sick, being tired (oh yeah, my thyroid is fine, but apparently I have a jinked up iron level), just not feeling like I had anything to say. But I trudged through because I had made a commitment to do so.

And so.

How do I measure a year?

In morning snuggles on the couch with the boy.

In piggy-tail sessions with the girl.

In conversations with my husband about the interesting and the inane.

In kisses and hugs.

In plants planted and subsequently killed (or thriving, as the case seems to be for a precious few in this drought year).

In art pieces that were awesome and award-worthy.

In art projects that made me question what the heck I was doing.

In birthday parties.

In vomit and high temperatures (thankfully, not at the same time!).

In teeth gained (Laura’s up to five now!) and lost (Harrison’s down to 18-1/2).

In jewelry, from the beautiful diamond Robert got me after 16 years of marriage to the necklace Harrison printed out from the internet and colored, stringing on yarn and giving me after telling me that I was the best Mommy in the world, to the red stone bracelet that I made the other day that makes me want to get into beading to Laura wearing stacking rings on her arms as bracelets and trying to steal the thumbprint pendant necklace that Robert made for me from the kids fingers for Mothers Day.

In clean sinks and beds made and floors swept.

In vision restored.

In lots of coffee.

In love.

Maturity

We did our Father’s Day stuff a day early this year, trucking over to Shreveport to go to SciPort. I feel like I should feel guilty for trying to ‘geek’ my kid up, but in all honesty I don’t think I could change him if I tried. He loves science—mostly astronomy, which he is thrilled to share with his dad. One of my favorite moments of the day was when he climbed up in the clubhouse in the younger kids section and saw the telescope. He immediately screeched across the room, “Hey Dad, look! It’s a telescope!” and looked through it to see Robert.

I can’t say how proud I am of how he’s growing up. He reads, much to the surprise of strangers and much to the joy of my heart. I treasure the afternoon reading time we share—he with his book, me often with mine, snuggled on the couch and feeding our imaginations. Sometimes, I’ll share a book with him and let him read to me, filling in on the harder words and letting him stop to ask me questions. Either way, it’s good stuff.

On top of the reading, he’s getting really good at navigating the day to day stuff that used to make me really nervous. We instituted a chore chart for him a few weeks ago and he dutifully does his daily jobs, usually without whining (unless it’s laundry, which he’s still not excited about), and checks them off. He loves having the satisfaction of seeing all that he’s accomplished for the day and I love seeing him develop a healthy attitude about housework. It’s something that will likely never disappear from his life, so I’m glad that he’s not going to have to grow up dreading it.

Part of me dreads him maturing and growing up since it means I’ll be losing my baby to some big, gangly teenager and eventually a real, actual adult. Other times, I wonder if his maturing can go any faster since he’s driving me nuts. Always, though, I’m proud of who he is and who he is becoming.