No more planting today, unfortunately. I wanted to see if I could get anything done but to no avail - instead, it was a quiet day. I took the boys outside so G could play with some sidewalk chalk and both of them could get some sun. It turns out that neither one wanted to stay outside very long, but at least we got out there.
Tonight we'll have money for groceries, and we'll need one thing tonight (formula, unfortunately), but everything else can be bought tomorrow. I can't wait - I LOVE going grocery shopping! We've become broccoli addicts around here, and it turns out that if you cut it up and put it in plastic bags in the fridge, it lasts a long time. Which is great, I think, because a little broccoli can go a long way.
That's unfortunately about it. New washer works great. Need to make some kind of post plan for tomorrow...
When we know better, we do better.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Planting
Today is planting day.
I've spent most of the day getting together my pots and my soils and coconut fiber stuff and peat. Most of it's in little clumps that look freeze-dried - they've had to be saturated for about 10 minutes each but I have it all done. The soil - Organic Miracle Gro! - is already ready to go and is sitting in the bag in my living room.
You might be asking, "Why aren't you planting in the ground like a normal person with a yard?" Well, that's twofold - first, because the soil here SUCKS and it does not like green things. Second, because we won't be staying here past June. Those who are unfamiliar with my story should know that we will only be in this house until May or June, at which point our lease ends and we will be moving on. We could probably sign another one, but honestly we're done paying $500 a month (rent-to-own) for a place that is our own but is mediocre, and dealing with a negligent and confusing landlady whose bank doesn't want the house in their name anymore and who dislikes us (looooong story). So our stay here, as great as this place has been, is almost up. In lieu of permanent plantings outdoors, I've chosen to do a lot of potted plants - I have three small pots of spices (parsley, orgeano, and cilantro (or coriander if we choose!), a hanging basket of strawberries, and I have two hanging baskets still to plant that will be broccoli, butter leaf lettuce, and green beans. Everything but the veggies are planted and seeding, and I plan on finishing them in my coconut fiber planters tomorrow that I can hang outside. I LOVE coconut fiber, because as long as you don't over-water things, it will hold in the liquid and still allow proper drainage without soaking through or letting pieces of soil drop through. All the same, until I'm used to using the coconut fiber as a basket instead of a planting medium (the herbs are in peat, the veggies will be in organic potting soil, and the strawberries are in coconut fiber), I'm going to be hanging them outside where I can keep an eye on them. I wanted to hang them off of our deck, but that just isn't an option, unfortunately.
Also, we seem to have some sort of plants coming up in our front yard and around our house! Pictures later, as they look like tulips to me, but based on leaves alone I can't identify things for the life of me. Maybe one of you talented, knowledgeable peoples can help me out.
Weather here has been in the 70s today and that should hold out with plenty of sun through the weekend, when it'll crawl into the 80s. I could not be happier! This is amazing. We might take G to a local park that has water jets at it. Free, fun, and it gets us all outside. That's the best part of spring.
And speaking of G, he celebrated his 3rd birthday on Sunday. His actual birthday was Monday, but Sunday was free for most everybody. He made a good haul - a lot of books, a LeapFrog Jr. and books with it, and a lot of Nick Jr. toys. He adores that station and the online games that come with it, and I don't mind much. Other than the fact that it means he spends a lot of time on the computer (we don't have cable), it's cute, and educational - and let's face it, I couldn't teach him Mandarin like Kai-Lan does. We had his well-child checkup today - no shots - and he's in the 93rd percentile overall, 73rd in height (or so) and 95th in weight (or so). He's so smart.
Meanwhile, A is now mobile. He figured out crawling (although he's still very slow) and cruising at the same time. All that and he still has no teeth. It's amazing sometimes, and at other times it's scary that he's this big, this old, and still has no teeth. Today is organic baby food day, because I feel too lazy to get something ready for him. I might steam some carrots later to give myself something to do. I really want to plant more but I'd have to do so outside, and C is off trying to find a new job while G is napping in our room.
I just love planting. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Is that what I get for being born on Earth Day? Has anybody else started indoor planting yet? If so, what are you working on?
OH YEAH. We got our new washer! WOOHOO! I can go back to cloth at home!
I've spent most of the day getting together my pots and my soils and coconut fiber stuff and peat. Most of it's in little clumps that look freeze-dried - they've had to be saturated for about 10 minutes each but I have it all done. The soil - Organic Miracle Gro! - is already ready to go and is sitting in the bag in my living room.
You might be asking, "Why aren't you planting in the ground like a normal person with a yard?" Well, that's twofold - first, because the soil here SUCKS and it does not like green things. Second, because we won't be staying here past June. Those who are unfamiliar with my story should know that we will only be in this house until May or June, at which point our lease ends and we will be moving on. We could probably sign another one, but honestly we're done paying $500 a month (rent-to-own) for a place that is our own but is mediocre, and dealing with a negligent and confusing landlady whose bank doesn't want the house in their name anymore and who dislikes us (looooong story). So our stay here, as great as this place has been, is almost up. In lieu of permanent plantings outdoors, I've chosen to do a lot of potted plants - I have three small pots of spices (parsley, orgeano, and cilantro (or coriander if we choose!), a hanging basket of strawberries, and I have two hanging baskets still to plant that will be broccoli, butter leaf lettuce, and green beans. Everything but the veggies are planted and seeding, and I plan on finishing them in my coconut fiber planters tomorrow that I can hang outside. I LOVE coconut fiber, because as long as you don't over-water things, it will hold in the liquid and still allow proper drainage without soaking through or letting pieces of soil drop through. All the same, until I'm used to using the coconut fiber as a basket instead of a planting medium (the herbs are in peat, the veggies will be in organic potting soil, and the strawberries are in coconut fiber), I'm going to be hanging them outside where I can keep an eye on them. I wanted to hang them off of our deck, but that just isn't an option, unfortunately.
Also, we seem to have some sort of plants coming up in our front yard and around our house! Pictures later, as they look like tulips to me, but based on leaves alone I can't identify things for the life of me. Maybe one of you talented, knowledgeable peoples can help me out.
Weather here has been in the 70s today and that should hold out with plenty of sun through the weekend, when it'll crawl into the 80s. I could not be happier! This is amazing. We might take G to a local park that has water jets at it. Free, fun, and it gets us all outside. That's the best part of spring.
And speaking of G, he celebrated his 3rd birthday on Sunday. His actual birthday was Monday, but Sunday was free for most everybody. He made a good haul - a lot of books, a LeapFrog Jr. and books with it, and a lot of Nick Jr. toys. He adores that station and the online games that come with it, and I don't mind much. Other than the fact that it means he spends a lot of time on the computer (we don't have cable), it's cute, and educational - and let's face it, I couldn't teach him Mandarin like Kai-Lan does. We had his well-child checkup today - no shots - and he's in the 93rd percentile overall, 73rd in height (or so) and 95th in weight (or so). He's so smart.
Meanwhile, A is now mobile. He figured out crawling (although he's still very slow) and cruising at the same time. All that and he still has no teeth. It's amazing sometimes, and at other times it's scary that he's this big, this old, and still has no teeth. Today is organic baby food day, because I feel too lazy to get something ready for him. I might steam some carrots later to give myself something to do. I really want to plant more but I'd have to do so outside, and C is off trying to find a new job while G is napping in our room.
I just love planting. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Is that what I get for being born on Earth Day? Has anybody else started indoor planting yet? If so, what are you working on?
OH YEAH. We got our new washer! WOOHOO! I can go back to cloth at home!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Apologies!
First of all, a HUGE apology.
Part of being a responsible blogger is to acknowledge and accept the responsibility of actually updating said blog on a regular enough basis to make reading it a worthwhile venture for followers. I have not been upholding my end of this bargain, and as such, I am VERY sorry. I know that apologies don't really do much for most people, especially when the reason offered happens to be indiscriminately vague: namely, I have been depressed.
Okay, so let's take it a little further. I am the kind of depressed that modern medicine has been struggling to help.
I know that the crunchy thing to do would have been to take some St. John's wort and continue on with my life. Unfortunately, as we all know, sometimes the crunchy option is not always the best. Instead, I am on Lexapro, via prescription from my OB. I am also no longer on my previously chosen form of birth control (the Mirena IUD). The decision was made that the combination of the anti-depressant and the hormones were making my previous depression problems worse. For now, we are using a combination of not really having sex, pull 'n' pray, and condoms to prevent pregnancy. Once I have an established cycle back, we'll go into the "natural family planning" option of charting - not to conceive, of course, but to avoid it (colloquially referred to as "TTA" or "trying to avoid" by most of the forum communities I'm a part of). I'm already vaguely familiar with charting, so learning how to do it fully and keeping track of my cycles should (hopefully) not be difficult for me. It'll also be fun to help C learn how to do everything!
Also, I have made a couple of decisions. First and foremost, for anyone who is aware, I have a blog called "Believe In The Flowers". Although it hasn't been updated in several months, as of today, I will no longer be updating it. I won't be shutting it down, in case I ever want or need to access it again, but I have no intention of ever continuing to use it. This was a personal decision that I made based on the fact that I already don't update the blogs that I do have. I see no reason to continue a blog that has no real purpose to me anymore. Granted, I do still have things I want to complain about - don't get me wrong about that! - but I can always torture anyone and everyone that reads this blog as well by occasionally sharing my woes here.
More importantly (at least in my opinion), I have changed my name on Twitter. I used to be @bitf and as of this morning I have become @crazycrunchy instead. I have 24 followers who this currently affects, and I have sent all of them a direct message. However, if you are a follower, and you notice that @bitf is no longer updating, that would be why!
Regular posting will resume tomorrow!
Part of being a responsible blogger is to acknowledge and accept the responsibility of actually updating said blog on a regular enough basis to make reading it a worthwhile venture for followers. I have not been upholding my end of this bargain, and as such, I am VERY sorry. I know that apologies don't really do much for most people, especially when the reason offered happens to be indiscriminately vague: namely, I have been depressed.
Okay, so let's take it a little further. I am the kind of depressed that modern medicine has been struggling to help.
I know that the crunchy thing to do would have been to take some St. John's wort and continue on with my life. Unfortunately, as we all know, sometimes the crunchy option is not always the best. Instead, I am on Lexapro, via prescription from my OB. I am also no longer on my previously chosen form of birth control (the Mirena IUD). The decision was made that the combination of the anti-depressant and the hormones were making my previous depression problems worse. For now, we are using a combination of not really having sex, pull 'n' pray, and condoms to prevent pregnancy. Once I have an established cycle back, we'll go into the "natural family planning" option of charting - not to conceive, of course, but to avoid it (colloquially referred to as "TTA" or "trying to avoid" by most of the forum communities I'm a part of). I'm already vaguely familiar with charting, so learning how to do it fully and keeping track of my cycles should (hopefully) not be difficult for me. It'll also be fun to help C learn how to do everything!
Also, I have made a couple of decisions. First and foremost, for anyone who is aware, I have a blog called "Believe In The Flowers". Although it hasn't been updated in several months, as of today, I will no longer be updating it. I won't be shutting it down, in case I ever want or need to access it again, but I have no intention of ever continuing to use it. This was a personal decision that I made based on the fact that I already don't update the blogs that I do have. I see no reason to continue a blog that has no real purpose to me anymore. Granted, I do still have things I want to complain about - don't get me wrong about that! - but I can always torture anyone and everyone that reads this blog as well by occasionally sharing my woes here.
More importantly (at least in my opinion), I have changed my name on Twitter. I used to be @bitf and as of this morning I have become @crazycrunchy instead. I have 24 followers who this currently affects, and I have sent all of them a direct message. However, if you are a follower, and you notice that @bitf is no longer updating, that would be why!
Regular posting will resume tomorrow!
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