are things complicated yet?

The Garden, Weeks 14, 15, 16: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The tomatoes started to blossom so I fertilized them with some gray stuff in a bag that was stinking up to HIGH HEAVEN and WOW it smelled so badly I can't believe I PAID for the contents of this stinky, stinky, bag.

I have four whole tomatoes growing now, 3 weeks after first blossoms. I have two Yellow Pear and two Amish Paste and, look, this seems rather shrimpy to me. I have lots of blossoms on the other ones, but no tomatoes and some of the blossoms have turned brown and fallen off, which I think is called Blossom Drop. The internet tells me it's from lack of pollination so I suppose I'll go outside and shuffle the plants every now and then. It could also be from sustained temperatures above 85 which HA HA YES that is already happening too.

I have to keep remembering that I started these from seeds AND they are heirlooms so they are just not going to produce as early or often as my friends that bought plants. Elizabeth and I were talking about this one day and we produced a very handy graphic to make ourselves feel better about this situation.

Ahem. Moving right along.

I am not sure what I did to the green onions but they stopped growing and then just kind of....vanished one day. I think they maybe needed more water than I was giving them. This is okay, because the cucumber and okra plants are going crazy and I am going to move half of them to the empty spot where the green onions used to be. 

Observe cucumber and okra huge-ness, only six weeks after I threw seeds in the ground:

It is rather crowded in this six square feet: two tomatoes, two basils, six okras, six cucumbers. So, I don't know, it's been pretty boring in the garden lately. I water, I prune, I weed. It's rained a little bit. I keep an eye on the bunnies.

Yesterday, I noticed part of a tomato plant had some leaves chomped on. I looked closer, getting agitated about something snacking on my garden. I wondered if the bunnies had figured out how to lean their paws on the fence to get a few leaves...but then I moved on to the next plant, which was missing HALF its leaves and whaaaaaaaat?

UM, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

A moment later I caught sight of THIS guy, just hanging out all casual-like on one of my beloved Brandywine plants.

Hey guys! Just having a snack! (urrrp.)

He was GIGANTINORMOUS and he had these awful beady eyes and little T-Rex type paws and a little red pokey thing and he was FAT and LUMPY (with my tomato leaves!) and GROSSSSSSS. Oh, he was horrible looking.

Eagle-eye Jess told me what I had was a tomato hornworm. And ohhhhhhh, doesn't that sound EVIL? It is you guys, it totally is evil. I hope you are not eating right now, because what I am about to tell you might make you lose your appetite. This sucker turns into a moth with a FIVE-TO-SIX-INCH WINGSPAN. A fluttery moth that makes whappity-whappity papery sounds with wings AS BIG AS YOUR HAND which presumably FLIES AROUND and it might TOUCH MEEEEEEEEE OMG.

(GAHHHHHHH HAND FLAPPY OMG OMG OMG)

Obviously I do not want any of these around, either as giant caterpillars eating my tomatoes I have spent sixteen freaking weeks babysitting from seeds, or as giant moths flying around my head (HURL). I will be purchasing some insecticide tomorrow. Organic, schmorganic. I cannot have any of THESE anywhere near me.

Elizabeth, helpful as ever, suggested I purchase this very important reference guide:

The similarity is STRIKING, don't you think?

7 Quick Takes: Dallas, Stokke, Pot Roast

1. Jennie and I went to a screening of TNT's new show, Dallas, last night.

The invitation said business casual but there were women there in floor-length gowns with sequins, men in very nice suits, model/reality television types in obviously styled outfits whom I FELT like I should know, but I did not because I just don't watch a lot of TV. It was very pseudo-fancy, is what I'm saying. There was a red carpet, which was hilarious because they told US to walk on it, and HA HA HA this is the silliest event I've ever been to, and I have been to a lot of schmoozy, uppity events with self-important people.

As you might imagine, we had a great time people-watching and making comments to ourselves.

The show is terrible, by the way, and I wonder if they had the premiere in Dallas on purpose, to keep it away from Los Angeles and its far more critical eyes. I mean, I will watch almost anything with bemused enjoyment (after all, I was out on the town away from my kids!) and this was just terrible writing, terrible acting, and even the production was uninspired. It was boring. I wanted to go home.

It felt disjointed and trite at times, with two characters meeting at Cowboys Stadium, on the field, on the star, to discuss their evil plans. That's...not really a place you go to discuss evil plans, all casual-like. I get that you wanted to show the stadium in the pilot (and I am SURE Jerry was ALL OVER THAT IDEA), but perhaps ten more minutes of creative thought would have resulted in something more believable/natural/organic. It feels like there was a lot they could have done with the amazing story they already had and they turned it into something really boring. I mean, even the clothes were BLAH. It was not for me.

It started later than scheduled and we left half-way through the screening. Yo, we live in the suburbs. Some people have to get home at a reasonable hour.

2.  The baby was waking up at lot at night because she was losing her binky through the crib slats. I put the bumper back in and then next day she slept until 830. Today she slept until 7. Oh, crib bumper, you are my new best friend.

3. We've had some high winds here and two days ago I backed out of the garage and found this:

Yeahhhhhh. That's half a Bradford Pear tree in my front yard. We called the tree guy and he said that the split had weakened the remaining branches a great deal and the tree was not salvageable. If we left it, and it split again (which it would) it would fall on the house. On his recommendation, we had him take the entire tree out and now my front yard is very strange looking. That makes two trees we've cut down this year, leaving only the scrappy Magnolia.

4. I'm making pot roast for dinner.

5. I am going to buy another Stokke high chair, because Charlotte is getting to an age where she can sit in it and I would be VERY EXCITED to take this piece of shit Chicco Polly to the curb (SO HARD TO CLEAN OMG). Now, we already have one Stokke Tripp Trapp, that used to be mine when I was a kid. It's kind of a natural/cherry color. A smart person might get another one in the same hue, but I kind of want this green one.

Am I crazy? I mean, I expect to have this chair for....the rest of my life. These chairs last forever. My grandchildren will eat at them, just as my mother's grandchildren do. It matches the color scheme I'm going for in my kitchen these days. I just...I dunno, I like the green! I think it would look fun! I dunno, what do we think? Crazy? Imprudent? Or, Very Stylish and Brave Of Me? I have not mentioned my green chair idea to Chris yet, but I'll bet he votes Safe, Neutral Color Chair. What I'd REALLY like to do is buy TWO green chairs and send the neutral one back to my mom's house, so she can have two matching chairs and I can have two matching chairs, but I am not sure I feel like spending $400 on TWO CHAIRS FOR MESSY CHILDREN OMG. We'll start with one.

For comparison, the Neutral Chair we already have. (Boring! It's so boring!)

6. I know I already told you I love my Jack Rogers sandals, but two weeks later I STILL LOVE THEM. They're really comfortable and I'm not having any wearing-in issues AT ALL which I expect when I spent $100+ on what is basically a shiny flip-flop. I've been wearing them almost every day and they are certainly elevating my (rather extensive) collection of Old Navy dresses. I'm already dreaming about other colors I'd like to own.

7. I took this picture a few days ago and it makes me laugh so much.

Room Makeover: My Bedroom (And Kind Of The Bathroom, Too)

For years, I never made the bed. Like, EVER. (Do you make your bed every day?)

In my mind it totally DID NOT matter, because nobody was going to see it. I mean, why not use those precious moments in a hurried morning to load the dishwasher or do a chore that MATTERS? (You know, if I'm going to do a chore in the morning before work which HA HA NO, that never happened.) I figure I spent less than one hour, conscious, in my room per day. I woke up and went to work and didn't really go back in that room until it was time to sleep. It was not a hanging-out room. I wasn't even going to see the dumb bed until it was time to un-make it, so what's the point of actually MAKING it in the first place?

(Research like this validated my thoughts on the topic.)

(Warning: That link has a Very Scary, Intensely Magnified Bug Photo.)

Anyhoodle, my thoughts on the topic started to change when we moved to a house with the master bedroom downstairs and kid bedrooms upstairs, which forced us to naturally spend more time downstairs, nearby and in our room.

Then we had another baby and put the changing pad/station on our dresser, because who wants to go upstairs (after labor and delivery!) every time a diaper needs to be changed? No. I don't think so. We were in and out of the room a lot, as one might expect with a newborn. I started to (begrudgingly) make the bed every day, which actually means, "Throw the duvet up in the air and smooth it out as fast as I can." The lumpy sheets were making me insane and since I was dealing with a refluxy baby in that same room, it needed whatever (free, fast) feng shui I could manage. Making the bed was kind of a big deal to me for several months. It transformed the room! Good enough for now.

THEN I quit my job and I was staying at home for waaaaaay more hours than I used to. Some days I was staying at home for ALL THE HOURS. I was spending a crap ton of time in my bedroom changing diapers and nursing a baby (the glider was in there) and trying to get a baby down for a nap (she slept in a pack and play for MONTHS in our room). Sometimes, I even slept in my room! (Not a lot.) My desk was also in there, so if I wanted Quiet Internet Time, guess where I was spending it?

IN MY ROOM, YOU GUYS. I NEVER, EVER LEFT MY FRAKKING ROOM. IT WAS HORRIBLE. I spent a lot of time thinking,

"This room is actually very, very ugly. Ugh, I want to leave this room right now."

I was still making the bed (still new to me! still a big deal!), but LORDY I had not spent a dime decorating in here since about 2005, which was the middle of last decade, in another HOUSE.

Man, this is a really long lead up to a picture of my new duvet, which I am somehow calling a Whole Room Makeover. (I AM SORRY. I just feel like I have to EXPLAIN how I got to the picture I can't believe I'm about to post.)

OKAY, THE BEFORE PHOTO

This is such a sad, boring decor photo, but this is how my room looked for two years in this house and for six years at the old house. I mean, I know it's no van down by the river, but it's also not anything fun or interesting or PRETTY. 

UGLY ROOM ANALYSIS AND FURTHER EXPLANATIONS (I AM SORRY, BUT I HAVE TO EXPLAIN SOME MORE)

I hate this furniture. The wrought iron look is just...not for me. At all. But Chris came into our marriage with this furniture (woo! free!) and this room has never been a spending priority. So, we sort of try to ignore the ugly. This worked for a long time because we didn't spend much time in here, but lately that kind of brainwashing isn't working as well.

The duvet is a Marimekko print from Crate and Barrel (2005, I think, but they still sell it in different colors). I liked it for a long time, but in this room it felt so faded and washed out and also it was ooooold and I was tiiiiired of it. The whole setup is very sad and pathetic with only our two pillows (one is actually on the floor!). I never hung anything above the bed because I figured we'd get new furniture at some point and we all know where that budget conversation went so this Giant Expanse Of Blank Wall just kept existing, all Ugly and Boring and In My Face and killing my soul.

And then one day I decided to throw some money at the problem. Literally, I opened a Pottery Barn catalogue, saw what I wanted and bought it THAT INSTANT. This is the best impulse purchase of my life, people.

PRETTY AFTER EXPLANATION AND ANALYSIS

I bought a new duvet and a crap ton of pillows in a dreamy palm print and some of those fluffy pickstich shams. Part of my strategy with the pile of pillows was to try and cover up that ugly ass wrought iron scrolly-headboard. And, it kind of worked! I hardly ever think about it these days! I am thinking about maybe some kind of bench or chest for the foot of the bed, to perform similar visual-blocking miracles. There is a cedar chest in Claire's room that I am thinking of requisitioning for this purpose.

This beachy pillow cost too much but I LOVE IT.

I had some canvas wraps printed (at Costco!) for over the bed. They're 16 x 20's and I thought they might be too small for such a big space, but I actually really like them there. At this point, Claire BEGGED ME to "be in a picture with her picture." What a stinking HAM she is.

THEN I got really nutty at Target one day and decided I LOVED the brighter green color in the duvet and what the BATHROOM really needed was a makeover too. (I am really good at spending money.) I got some new hand towels.

And then I got a new bathmat. What I really wanted to do was rip the room to the studs and start over again, but that actually costs more than a bathmat and hand towels (Crazy! I know!), so I quit while I was still under $40 for the room and actually, it makes me notice the 1997 brass-colored everything a lot less when I have nice hand towels to look at, so that's a win in my book.

This is kind of a boring picture, but I also finally hung some prints that I got for Christmas (about Maui, of course). (I LOVE THESE PRINTS and his whole Hawaii-themed shop of original artwork. LOOOOOVE!)

So, that's what I've been spending money and time on this past month. Wheeee! 

7 Quick Takes: I CREATED A TOMATO! Also, I hate chicken and cemeteries are creepy (WHO KNEW?)

1. Firstly, a housekeeping matter. Here are results of the Are You A Card Person survey from a week or two ago.

About 46% claim to NOT be Card People, 20% are, and 35% of you fall somewhere in the middle. So, rather evenly split actually, which surprised me. (And, if you took the survey, thank you for clicking three whole extra times. CLICKING IS HARD, I KNOW.)

2. I should probably save this for a Legit Garden Update, but this is kind of a big deal and I felt those of you who are emotionally invested in The Garden might be rather interested to know a tomato has appeared, which proves I can do anything with the help of the internet.

You hear that? I CREATED A TOMATO!

3. We are back from New Orleans and I have been mentally composing a big recap post, but let's be honest, who knows when that will actually happen, as I never got around to actually recapping my trip in January 2011. If you would like to sneak peek and browse the photos, they're over at Flickr.

We toured a cemetery and I still have the creepies about it, several days later.

4. I have recently decided I am going to stop buying chicken. I stopped eating chicken in restaurants ages ago, because it just felt like FILLER to me. I didn't enjoy eating it and it tastes pretty BLAH (hence the phrase, "tastes like chicken," I suppose). I even started calling it "Token Chicken." This phrase refers to mostly to Thai dishes with vegetables, noodles, sauce, and some kind of bits of chicken thrown in to satisfy meat-eaters that need meat to call something DINNER. I also find Token Chicken in pasta dishes, burritos, sandwiches (just gimme the vegetables), pizzas, etc. About the only chicken I get excited to eat these days is hot wings and that's like, a once-a-quarter thing for me.

I just...kind of find chicken to be really disgusting. I don't like touching it raw, I hate cooking with it (slimy, veiny, disgusting), I don't enjoy eating it all that much and.....meh. I talked about it so much in such a negative light that Chris kind of agrees with me at this point. I'd much rather have beef (good beef, that is) or just straight-up vegetables. So, yeah. Kind of out on chicken these days.

5. The Blathering is in six months! Oh, I can't wait to see everyone. 

6. I finally bought my Jack Rogers sandals in silver and THEY ARE FANTASTIC. I had to order a half size up, because the 9 was very, very narrow. My pinky toe was actually hanging off, which was not super attractive. The 9.5 though was perfect and I wore then all over New Orleans and I just love these shoes. I am so mad I waited so many years to try them.

7. The baby woke up. There will be no 7th take today.

The Garden, Week 13: Blossoms, Mushrooms, and A Very Goofy Kid

Today while watering the garden, which I have not done in several days (thank you very much soaking rain from last Friday), I was picking at random bits of grass that had come through the soil and pinching off suckers and I noticed some BLOSSOMS!

Is it hard to tell what you're looking at? Well, I don't have a fancy lens to take close-up pictures of my garden, so I'll make it super easy for you:

This is a website that prides itself on excellent and highly professional photo editing.

This means I will spend time tomorrow at the garden shop, buying fertilizer. I am not sure what to buy, but I am banking on the garden people being helpful and I also read an article from the Sacramento Bee (that Elizabeth sent me, of course) so it doesn't look too hard.

I was feeling like my tomatoes were rather shrimpy to be blossoming (they're about 18") but Elizabeth's are about the same height so I guess it's fine. (Elizabeth and I spend a great deal of our friendship discussing tomatoes, what of it?)  I was just expecting GIANT HUGE TOMATOES OF DOOOOOOM and unless I start giving them steroids I'm not sure how that's going to happen in the next month or two. Perhaps I will be wrong? The Brandywines are easily 18" each but I have a lone Black Krim that's only 8" at this point and he is growing SO SLOWLY.

(Pretty sure he is going to get cut from the team for 2013.)

Mushrooms in my garden, WTF DO I DO WITH THESE?

A week or three ago, a found a stray mushroom growing in the garden. A clump of them, actually, right at the bottom of a tomato stalk. (I might have sent a panicked email to Elizabeth that said something along the lines of "WHAT THE SHIT DO I DO?") I pulled it out of the garden, but more showed up! I yanked those out too. About Day 7 I finally remembered there's this thing called The Internet and maybe I should see what it says about mushrooms in my garden?

They're okay according to a few oddball gardening forums. (Watch out for that first link, it's kind of FREAKY how excited some people get about garden mushrooms.) It's something about how they help the root systems? And some people BUY mushrooms to put in their garden to improve the soil? I don't know, but the spores were probably part of the vegetable soil mix and I felt silly for taking them out if they were supposed to be there. They pop up and disappear over a couple of hours and don't seem to be hurting anything, so unless someone leaves me a panicky comment otherwise, I'm ignoring them.

Can you believe the audacity of this bunny to just HANG OUT by the garden fence??! 

He is totally asking for me to pop him with a BB gun. HE SO TOTALLY IS. And you guys? He does this several times a day. He just loiters over there, plotting ways to get in once the vegetables show up. He's much smarter than he looks, I'm sure of it.

And here I am, with no makeup on at twilight, watering the garden. 

This is what I look like when I water the garden. Most of the time, I actually DO maintain a slightly wry look on my face because I can't believe I haven't killed anything yet. Also, I am wearing an Old Navy maternity t-shirt from 2008 because it has aged BEAUTIFULLY and is SO VERY SOFT and I will never get rid of it, even though it is a maternity shirt. Please don't judge me and my awesome 2008 maternity shirt.

Aaaaand, here are some pictures of Claire and the garden.

I know, I know. She appears to be dancing to Thriller. I....don't really know why.

Cards: Flimsy Paper or Emotional Declarations?

Are you a Card Person?

That is, a person who sends a lot of cards, for a lot of holidays, to a lot of people? And, in return, enjoys receiving cards from a variety of people to celebrate/mark different days? Perhaps you have maybe felt hurt or emotionally put out over NOT receiving a card from a certain person?

Or, conversely, has a relationship ever improved because someone sent you a card? (In this case I am talking about a card without apologetic/forgiving/meaningful original words, which I would describe more as a letter. [Which could be IN the card, but would be different from simply A Card With Only A Signature, which is what we are talking about today.]) Any of these are the kind of behavior I'd define as belonging to a Card Person.

I'm not a Card Person. I enjoy finding them in the mailbox, but I RARELY send actual birthday cards or any other cards. I do not frequent the Card aisle. I do not have a Card Drawer or Box or Stockpile, contrary to Hallmark's urgings about Cards being absolutely necessary (and thus stockpilable!) for after the apocalypse.

I never have a panicky thought of, "OH NO I HAVE TO SEND A CARD!" To me, no rational person would judge me on such a trivial thing, because it's just A CARD. They fall in the category of compliments for me: I enjoy receiving them, and sincerely appreciate them, but I do not expect them or assign meaning to my relationships via Cards. 

I don't want to sound like I think, "Oh, a stupid Card," whenever I receive one, because I don't think that AT ALL. I LOVE getting fun mail and it makes me smile and feel warm and fuzzy and I put all of our cards on the mantle and look at them for several weeks and then I usually keep them in a box (especially cards the girls get). I think it's sweet and nice that someone took the time to send me one, particularly because I know what a string of errands it can be to get one in the mail. But I have never, ever, thought more or less of someone for the lack of or presence of A Card.

Moxie has a post today that kind of highlights this idea. The woman in question sent her MIL a Mother's Day card, but the MIL did not send HER a Mother's Day card (quelle horreur!) and, well, she is offended about the lack of card. Which must obviously mean Other (Bad?) Things about their relationship.

There are a lot of comments over there about the nature of mother/mother-in-law/daughter/daughter-in-law relationships and who "deserves" the card/mention and who "owns" the holiday and I'm all,

"Maybe the MIL isn't a Card person and this whole made-up situation is something she is entirely oblivious to? IT IS JUST A CARD."

Cards are just SO NOT on my radar of ongoing things I need to pay attention to. I don't send ANYONE a birthday card (or a whatever card) because cards are not a way I primarily express love/affection/friendship. When I feel stamp-and-mailbox inclined (RARELY), I am much more a fan of the random card or postcard, sent for no reason.

Perhaps this comes down to Love Languages? Mine is Words of Affirmation, which maybe explains why I'm ambivalent about cards? I don't know. I'm just not A Card Person! Don't hate me!

I tried to embed a simple survey, because I suspect I'm in the minority on this whole Card thing, but I can't make it work and the children are not pleased with me. So, here's a link instead. I KNOW, A WHOLE EXTRA CLICK.But, I have a feeling if you are A Card Person you will be wanting to let me know about it. In my experience, Card People feel very strongly about Cards.

Click here to take survey

Why do the worst photo shoots always return the best pictures?

We took some pictures last week, with our very awesome and fantastic photographer Angela Majerus. She's shot both girls since they were babies and I was fortunate to find her through the obsessive googling that only a first-time pregnant woman does in the middle of the night. Her work basically decorates every wall in my home.

The children were...uncooperative. (To put it very nicely.) There was not a lot of smiling, a whole bunch of whining, a pair of lost shoes, crying, and scowly faces. I was sure the shoot was a disaster. We were already planning the re-shoot.

And then Angela sent me these photos and I died. 

Oh, these girls. My heart. 

All photos by Angela Majerus Photography.

The Garden, Weeks 10, 11, and 12: Minty, Smelly, Watery, Rabbity

I know it's been awhile since we talked about the garden, but it turns out once you get plants in the ground there's not a lot of day-to-day ACTION. (Perhaps this is a reason, "The Garden!" is not one of this summer's action-packed blockbusters.) Time to just throw out a big updatey-update.

***

This is an Apple Mint plant. I bought it at Home Depot and I thought it would be nice to have fresh mint for iced tea, mojitos, and whatever else I came up with. Mint is really hard to kill, it smells nice, and thrives in wet spots. Our hose bib leaks a considerable bit when turned on so I figured it was a GREAT spot for some mint.

Then, some bugs promptly chewed it up. There were hardly any leaves left and while I know mint is a very difficult thing to kill, I was sure the bugs had done it.

There used to be a lot more leaves on this plant. As in, you could tell it was actually a plant.

But! Lo! THE MINT CAME BACK! I was very pleased with myself for continuing to water a dead-looking plant. Surely only a very smart gardener continues to water a dead-looking plant, yes? (Don't answer that.) It was looking very leafy and healthy and I thought, "I should take a picture of it! To show how mint can come back!" 

And then, on Monday, Chris was making a loop of the yard with his trimmer and he mistook the mint for a weed. He said, "it suddenly smelled minty and I just KNEW." He knows how important my plants are. He felt pretty badly.

You can't even tell where a mint plant is supposed to be, it's just a jumble of sad plant body parts.

I told him it's okay. Mint is really hard to kill. It'll come back. Mint is the Pheonix of the herb world. (POOR MINTY-MINT.)

IN OTHER NEWS!

I (or other members of my household) have not actually killed anything, which is mighty impressive. I planted cucumber, okra, and scallion seeds and they came out of the ground a few days later with leaves and everything, just like they're supposed to. I don't know, man. There's something downright MAGIC BEANS unbelievable about this whole garden thing.

"You mean I just put these tiny things in the ground and FOOD COMES OUT?"

Yep. Allegedly, that's how this is going to turn out.

Spiders in my garden! I like to envision them eating bad bugs.

I fixed my ugly fence. Chris bought some actual stakes and I ripped out my sad version and re-did it one Saturday morning. I took before and after pictures and....you really can't tell a difference. This is disappointing only because I spent about an hour cutting wire and crawling around it for almost no reward in aesthetic. (On the plus side, it does appear to be keeping the rabbits out, so there's that.)

Before, with tables holding down the edges:

And, after with stout green stakes and excess wire cut off:

I know, it looks pretty much the same. How very disappointing. Perhaps I should have bedazzled it for true results. Because I know you enjoy seeing pictures of my mood after sweaty garden work, here's how I felt after I re-did the fence. 

PRETTY DAMN PLEASED WITH MYSELF.

I had a bunch of extra seedlings I was saving for delivery to locals, but one day the wind blew them off the table and because I was just tired of dealing with them and I didn't feel like performing seedling CPR, I threw them away. Next year I am for sure planting fewer seeds or starting a seedling co-op of some kind with local friends.

Sad tomatoes.

VEGETABLE STATUS 

California Wonder Bell Peppers

These are doing okay. They were planted all on the same day but they are VASTLY different sizes. I have one that is about 2" tall and another that is close to 8". Four of these, in all.

Cucumbers

One of the things I like to do is to smell my plants. I know, this sounds weird, but just go with me. The leaves of the cucumber plants SMELL LIKE CUCUMBERS! This sounds very "no shit" but it kind of blew me away when I figured it out. No actual cucumbers yet, but it SMELLS like them! How delightful!

Scallions

I have a bunch of thin, needle-like, green things that smell like onions. (Oh, come on, you knew I was going to smell these too.)

Tomatoes 

They're doing well! Getting taller and leafier. I have been pinching off suckers (leaves that grow at the apex of stalk and stems) as I find them, since they won't produce fruit and their leaves will just suck energy away from fruit-producing parts of the plant.

The Whiskey Barrel

Okay, I lied. I think I killed the thyme. BUT. I am still watering it, so maybe it will come back. There is a lone green stem, so I'm hopeful. The basil is getting bigger, so that's good because a key component of caprese salad is basil and the hell if I am going to have to buy any after all this freaking work. (Look how tiny it used to be!) I bought a rosemary plant because I planted rosemary seeds THREE times and they never germinated, so I think I got crap seeds. (Incidentally, these were the only seeds that came from Lowe's. NO JUDGEMENT, LOWE'S.)

Watering

Texas has been in a big drought for what seems like forever. The ground here is already cracked from a lack of moisture, and although this looks bad, I have cousins in west Texas with cracks in their yards big enough for cats to sleep in. The DFW area is faring better than the rest of the state, but it still isn't raining very much.

My yard is thirsty.

I have been SUPER paranoid about not watering enough, so every day I hook up the soaker hoses and let them run until I can see water coming out the bottom of the raised bed. I have no idea if this is the right way to do things, but it's what I do. Sometimes, if I feel like it's extra hot? I run out there with a cup or two of water and pour it on the basil and my favorite tomato plants. 

This sounds like a giant pain in the ass, right? Hauling the hose to that side of the yard and babysitting it for 20 or 30 minutes? It sort of is. Going to check the tomatoes has actually become one of my favorite parts of the day. It's oddly soothing to go through these small motions over weeks and weeks and hope they add up to creating productive plants. Plus, it's something that I usually do by myself (sometimes, Claire will "help") and I like alone time, even if it's only a half hour in the yard.

I'm pretty curious how this will impact the water bill. Last year when we started watering the lawn, the water bill went THROUGH THE ROOF. So much so, we cut waaaay back on watering the lawn. I'm trying to be thrifty with moisture, but I haven't figured out the sweet spot quite yet.

UP NEXT

I need to get some mulch and put it on top of the beds, now that the plants are a little taller. (Manual labor, UGH. I thought I was done with that for the season.) I also need to fertilize the tomatoes as soon as they start to flower and I don't know a lot about that so I'll have to make some garden shop visits. 

For anyone that made it this far (I should really go back to weekly updates because this is WAY TOO LONG), here's a picture of our resident bunny. He's one of at least two and these rabbits have NO FEAR. They don't even run off when we go outside. 

The Many Faces Of Claire

What is it about the age of three that makes children such HAMS?

"Claire, smile!"

"No, SMILE. SMIIIIIILE!"

"Aghhhh. Claire. Claire. CLAIRE. Just smile, okay? A nice smile!"

"THANK. YOU."

One. Charlotte is ONE!

She wasn't born until sometime after lunch, but the entire day is her day. Oh, SIGH. Her first birthday, you guys! How did we get here? How did I get here? I'll save the outer-realm philosophical musings about my wittle baby turning one for another day, but just trust me when I tell you they're swirling in my brain. (SWIRLING!)

And now, a year in The Charlotte.

Newborn (The Smooshy Baby)

Two Weeks

Three Months

Five Months

Six Months

Ten Months

12 months

WHOA, CHARLOTTE! You're only ONE year old, not TWENTY-ONE!

(Let's pretend we didn't see this.) (Also, it appears our resident Fisher-Price sheep has a drinking problem.)

(I TRIED to find a cutesy-smiley photo of her at about now but she's just TOO FAST and always ON THE RUN. It was this or the Dos Equis photo so I just included both. It's fair to say these are a good representation of Charlotte these days: getting into things she should not, climbing onto things she should not.)

Happy First Birthday, Charlie Bear.

We're getting a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Cake for YOU today. (Two-cake birthday!) Not for Mommy. FOR YOU.