A little concert and a little dirt

DS sang in a concert the other night.  See that look he’s giving me?  You’d think he was having a bad time, but he said he was just nervous.  Sometimes, he’s such a sour puss, I don’t know what to do.  Yesterday, when I made dinner, he cried.  I made a perfectly good pasta salad with artichoke hearts and olives.  I’m so worried when this kid is a teen.

And my other kid?  Well, she’s happy even when she’s playing with dirt.

Not that I am comparing them, because we’re all different.

As for comparing, I’m finding I took the same exact pictures of my garden last year as I have been this year.  How do I spice things up?Hrm.  Well, at least last year didn’t have an ant on the peony. Check it out:

And really, you can never have too many pictures of your garden, right?

I love my garden so much, I put a lil dirty Buddha there to protect it.

I got a foul

My dh is a baseball fan.  A Cubs fan,  to be more specific.  I have no clue about baseball.  Or the Cubs.  I’ve been trying to find ways to learn more.  At my ds’s games, I’ll ask, “what’s a double?  what’s a home run?” Just kidding, I know what a home run is.  I’ll call the runs “points,”  he’ll correct me.  So, I have this girlfriend who is obsessed with Cuddyer on the Twins.  I watched a game with my dh just so I could see what Cuddyer looks like.  I was not impressed.  But I had an idea.   I’ll find my baseball crush.  So, I went about, until I came across who I thought could be my baseball crush.  I said, “honey, honey, I know who I like in baseball.”  He asked, “What team is he on?”  ”The Jets.”  ”Uh, the Jets are football and they’re my team’s arch enemies.”  Okay, I give up.  I’ll go back to gardening.

Gardening, how I missed thee.

Finally, I got to dig my hands in the dirt.

You know what feels like an accomplishment?  When I can name all of the plants in my yard.  And all of the trees in my neighborhood.  Without the little tags to remind me.  The first year we were in this house, I brought my Complete Garden Flower book with me everywhere (a gift from my DH, awww), until I finally had it figured out what was out there and what I wanted add.

So,,,here goes:

spinach; cinnamon basil; carrots; rhododendron; hydrangea; mum; hosta; my veggie garden: tomato, beans, peppers, lettuce; tomato; pepper; a dying tulip; petunias with a wind charm; a garden angel; lily of the valley.

I love you, Spring

While we wait for some sort of answer as to whether this weather is going to last or not, I’m going batty not gardening in the sunshine.  So, I asked dh if he’d put up the gazebo.  Last year we tore down the porch and the slab of cement has been so lonely.  I thought the gazebo would give us a sense of privacy again.  It hasn’t, but it still looks nice.  (and is a good place to get shade for the hot summer months)

And the peonies are coming up. They’re my all time favorite!

I caught dh practicing his golf swing.  He played for the first time of the season just the other day.  Here we go with the golf swing practice while waiting for dinner to cook, while waiting in lines at the store, while out having a drink, you name the place he’ll stop to check his golf swing (minus the club, of course).

(in fact, he’ll be checking the blog to see how his swing looks. )

Anyway, here’s to hoping you’re having a fantabulous spring.

xxoo, G

my love affair with the library is back on.

Have you been on the edge of the seat, wondering if my library card worked or not?  Well, IT DID!!! I got books.  yay!!!  So, I’m in love with the library again.  All is good in the world now.

So, after getting a buttload of books at the library, my dd and I went to the hot dog stand, because yay! it is open.  That’s the first sign of spring/summer – the hot dog stand being open.  Usually, the tulips aren’t up yet, but since the weather has been so nice, those are up, too, and everything just feels so right in the world.  I wish I could put my seeds in the ground.  I cannot wait!!!  Anyway, at the hot dog stand, which by the way my ds and I are volunteering at tomorrow (moneys go to his school!!!), an old lady came up to me and my dd and said, “two peas in a pod,” very matteroffactly.  ”Well, yes, indeed we are,” I replied.  And it’s totally true.  My mom says I am her best friend and I think my daughter is my best friend, too.  Doesn’t the thought of that just make you smile?

Well, and my ds is my bestie, too.

So, I decided to do a mini photo shoot:

Spring fever.

Charlie passed his obedience class.  With flying colors.  He’s the only student in his class that accomplished the shake and roll over tricks.  I’m not bragging or anything.  Okay, kinda I am.  We had to take the test in front of everyone.  Let’s just say, we were a hard act to follow.  The last person got up to take the test and said, “well, i don’t want to show off or anything” AND LOOKED RIGHT AT ME WHEN SHE SAID IT.  Uhhuh, that’s right, my dog is bad ass.  The thing is, I never realized how competetive I was.  I actually asked the teacher to give my dog a grade.  She said, “we only do passes.  And we believe in ‘no dog left behind’.”  Well, I graded him myself and he got an AAAAAA++.

Anyhoo, now that I have a very obedient dog, it seems like the possibilities are endless.  Especially since it’s March and it got up to 70 today.  Tomorrow, it’s supposed to be even warmer.  I see dog parks, long drives, and brisk walks.

It just so happens that my kids are on spring break right now.  Today, we went to the zoo.  First, we went to the conservatory and took pictures of the pretty plants and flowers.  Can I just say something?  Nature is very sexual.  I got the giggles at like every picture I took.  Here are some:

I mean, right?

Not to mention all of the statues.

And I love it, I really do.  When Spring comes, I get all mystified by the world and how lovely and magical it is.  I know it’s kind of sappy of me, but it tames my cabin fever.

Well, darlings, here’s a picture of my loves of my life:

Oh and speaking of magical, isn’t it crazy and cool that these little beings grew inside my belly?  I know, I know, I’m getting a little weird.  And no, I am not pregnant.  But yes, Spring brings out the baby fever in me.

 Sorry Honey.  Hurry and get that vasectomy!!!

xxoo, ciao, momma

sun dried tomatoes

During the summer, I was worried I wouldn’t have enough tomatoes.  But alas, in came the end of summer.  Since I plucked all of the green ones and let them ripen on the counter, I’ve run out of things to make with them.  I already made 2 batches of salsa.  So, I decided to sun ripen them.

The sun hasn’t been out and it is freeeezing, so I did it the oven method.

I cut the tomatoes in half, placed cut side up on a baking sheet, sprinkled with kosher salt, and baked at 200 degrees for 5 hours (it can take up to 12 hours, but since I had little ones, it didn’t take as long).

That many tomatoes made just enough for half a sandwich baggie.  They store indefinitely, but I have plans for them for Thanksgiving, so stay tuned…

You say tomato, I say tomato.

So, I am in the process of jotting down the notes of the failures and successes of my summer garden.  In the mean time, while we wait for me to make a post of those, I’d like to tell you about the tomatoes…There wasn’t any time to wait for them to ripen on the vine, so I picked them, put them in a paper bag, and hoped they’d ripen on their own.  And that they did!!!  As they started to turn, I would take them out of the bag and put them in the windowsill.  And once they were really red, I’d put them in a bowl to gather a few for salsa.

Here’s my salsa recipe:

lots of tomatoes

some basil, and a peppermint leaf

lots of garlic

a little bit of onion

1/2 bushel trimmed cilantro

a few pinches of kosher salt

a jalapeno – 1/2 if you don’t like it too spicy, 1/4 if you like it milder

squirt of lemon

blend in a food processor.  It gets a bit frothy, but yummmmmmmmmmm it’s delicio!!!

I put into containers and freeze for the winter!!!  Lots of fresh salsa is really, really, really good for you!

It’s getting cold. Really cold. Just like I said it would.

So, I took all the tomatoes off and threw them in a bag.  Someone told me this would work to get them to ripen.  Am I crazy?  If all of these tomatoes ripen, I will be in salsa heaven!!!

And my poor, poor green pepper.  Did you know I grew it from seed?  Yes, so it’s like my plant baby.  I decided to leave it alone, but cover it with a milk jug.  I hope it grows into a big, beautiful, and healthy pepper, perfect for dipping or in pasta sauce.

I’ve been neglecting the beans lately so was happy to find some humungo pods.  Check em out:

A perfect day for gardening.

Today, it’s a bit chilly.  The wind is busy and it’s a bit overcast.  Well then, we had to take advantage of it.  Before long, it will be cold, really cold.  Really, really cold.

So, first we planted the tulips.  (I paid DS 1.00 to do it )

Then, I planted some pine trees and hedges around where the porch used to be.  (but looking a little bit closer, I see I was a bit lazy with the mulch and yikes, we have a lot of crap going on around the yard.  hey – do you see my pup running toward me?)

And, then I found a special garden treat: a green pepper!!!

My, my what a wonderful day!