Garden 2013

Last week I finished working on our garden for this year.  It's not a large area.  We learned long ago that I can't be trusted to remember to water a lot of things.  And let's face it, come the middle of Summer it's so hot and humid I just don't want to be bothered with the task most days.

Last year we did move the garden a little closer to the house.  I can see it EVERY day from our bedroom window so that is a reminder small reminder to water.  This year it's a lot cuter than last year, so maybe that will help, too

 My plant markers are Pinterest inspired although the pic I had pinned didn't give instructions on how to break the pots of you didn't already have some broken.  You could use whole pots and just bury half but I wanted mine broken. If you want to break bots, simply dropping them on the ground isn't gonna do.  You will need to score the pot down the sides and across the bottom with something sharp.  I used an old, flat-head screwdriver.  Once I had a decent groove, I started on the bottom and placed the flat-head in the groove and tapped it with a hammer.  It eventually broke and for the most part on the grooved line

*Side note: Be aware that the terra cotta pots that you buy may have concrete or something in the center.  The ones that I had at home stamped that they were made in Italy were terra cotta all the way through. I picked up a couple from Lowe's and they had something else in the center and were more difficult to score and break.
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You could freehand the letter but since my handwriting is crap I found a font online that I liked and printed it out to the right size for the top of the pot.  Next I cut it out and took a pencil and marked all over the back of that paper over where the letters we on opposite side.  Tape it to the pot where you want the word with the letters facing up and trace with a pen or pencil.  I would bare down pretty hard.  When you pull up the paper you will have a pencil mark that you can paint.  When it dried I then sprayed it with a matte clear coat.

Sure, there are easier ways.  But I don't have a vinyl cutter and I wasn't going to search for stickers.

The little bricked off area is for Tristan to play in and plant as he wishes.  The wine bottles are strictly decoration.  Just a divider between 2 herbs that I planted.

Now if I can just remember to do this.

 

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Things that are planted in the garden:

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Zuchinni

Peas

 Basil

Cilantro

Parsely

Strawberries

Tips from the Farmers Market

Sometimes you get more than food grown locally or handmade, one of a kind items at the farmers market.  Sometimes you get some great advice.  I got 2 great tips this past Saturday and I wanted to share them in case someone else wasn't aware. 

1)  You can freeze eggs.  Just crack them into a muffin tin, put in the freezer and when they are solid, pop them out and put them in a bag.  Thaw later to use in baking.

2)  You can freeze zucchini.  This is particularity helpful if you have a plant that has a zucchini the size of your arm.  Those don't taste the best  You can grate it for a cake or bread and if you can't use it right away, freeze it and make the bread or cake later later. 

Do you have any tips or hints that other might not be aware of?  Share them in the comment section.  I'm sure I will find them helpful as others might.



Mandi

Naked Paintings

Back before Easter we had Tristan enrolled in a swim class at the Y.  Two days a week I would pick him up from school and then we would go to his swim class.  One of those afternoons we were in the locker room getting his swim trunks on and I noticed some yellow paint on his leg.

Me: "Tristan, what is that yellow stuff on your leg?  Is that paint?"
Tristan: "Yep. We painted 'nekkid chicks' at school today."
Me: (Looks around to see if any of the other parents heard and are looking.) "Naked chicks?  What?"
Tristan: "Yeah. We took off our socks and shoes and stepped in 'lellow paint and made chicks."

Barefoot = Naked

I love the age of 4!

And now we have a 'nekkid chick' hanging on our fridge.

 

Easter Weekend.

Easter is here and I think we are ready.  

We've dyed eggs.

 And decorated eggs.

There has already been a few egg hunts and we have another one today.

This morning we even had a festive little breakfast.  Partially Pinterest inspired, part my own idea. Cute right?

Happy Easter to all.  

And here's to hoping that no child was scarred by my son's version of the Resurrection story at the Y's egg hunt yesterday morning.

Tiny, shiny hiney!

Sometimes I get the feeling that this is the only view of age 4 I am going to see.

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4 years old.

Wow!  It's so strange how time flies and seems so slow at the same time.  Today you are 4 years old.  4 years ago, today seemed ages away, yet it got here so fast.  Four years ago I wasn't so sure you were going to like me, let alone love me.  I knew virtually zilch about babies/kids.  But now I know I am one of your favorite people.  Or in your words, "Your best buddy."

You've grown almost a foot in the last year. 

You love trains.  All trains.  Green is you favorite color.  You like tacos, mac & cheese, pb&j sandwiches, carrots, strawberries, bananas, chocolate milk.  You choose ice cream by color, not taste.  Mint Chocolate Chip.  You run "supa" fast and jump "supa" high.  Everything that you love is "Wow! Awesome!"  Potty talk is all the rage with you right now.  Who knew that even I could find so much humor in poop? 

Your favorite game to play in the car is "Punch-back".  Which is a lot like "Punch Bug", except no one gets punched and the vehicle we are in search of is yellow.  In other words, All "punch-backs" are yellow, but not all "Punch Bugs" are "Punch Backs".  It can be confusing for some, but you made up the rules.  And sometimes you still change them.

Your cast of characters, otherwise know as your friends, has grown to include the following: Meow, Meow, Eee Eee, Wrinkles, Nanook, and Scat.  Sometimes they all go with us.  Sometimes just one.  But usually you sleep with them all at night.  

You have what you refer to as "Good lookin' eyes." Which is to say you can see really well.

We made another Birthday Video.  I loved being able to look back at last year's video to see how much you changed. (You can see last year's video here.)


Just as I was hitting the stop button, I was super impressed he hadn't said said the word poop.  Upon play back, I realized he did say his "pee pee was on fire".  Oh well, so much for no potty talk.

You are silly, funny, sweet, lovable, and have a kind heart.  You are "all boy".  The knees of your pants don't stand a chance.  Holes abound in most of them.  You are loud.  You are you and I hope you never change.  I love you, my sweet boy.  Happy Birthday!

Sledding & Snowflakes

Yikes!  It's been forever since I've been in my little corner of the world and posted something.  Sometimes life should just be lived and then there is stuff like housework that gets in the way.  All that trumps this space. Besides, if I don't do the laundry or the dishes it might look like an episode of hoarders up in here and I can't watch 15 minutes of that show without thinking I need anxiety meds to get thru the rest. 

Anyway, last Sunday (March 2nd) we took Tristan sledding at Beech Mountain.  We had a little bit of snow at the house the day before but it wasn't much and it didn't stick.  That's ok with me.  I am AWLAYS up for a trip to the mountains.

Tristan really enjoyed himself and we stayed much longer than Steve and I thought we would. The temps were in the teens and then with the breeze, there was that wind chill factor.  We were dressed plenty warm enough and stayed for a couple hours.

After one solo trip down the hill we had to beg him to let us back on the sled when we wanted a turn.

On one trip down with me we "crashed" into a haybale.  The only bale without snow banked up against it no less.We hit it going pretty fast and hurt our right legs.  A few tears were shed.  Not by me.  :-) After that Tristan refused to let me ride with him.  He milked that "injury" for 2 days.  "Well, Mommy, I can't run fast now cause you crashed me."  I heard about it no less than 8 times on the trip home alone.  

My Snow Angel

My favorite pics of the day are these of snowflakes.  I've never seen a snowflake with my own eyes.  Probably because I've never sit still enough to notice.  But I did notice these and captured a few.  It's not that I didn't "believe" they existed or actually fell and look like this.  But, well, like everything, I had my doubts.  And I have always wanted to see one on my own.    

Things are heating up here this weekend.  It looks like next week we will be up close to 70 degrees.  With the return of Daylight Saving Time (this weekend!  Remember to set your clocks forward.) we will be able to play outside a lot this up coming week.  

Have a great weekend.  We are headed for a quick trip to Raleigh for my niece, Anouk's, 2nd birthday party so we are going to have a great one!

Mandi