• Gardening

    The Onion Harvest

    Forest and I pulled onions about two weeks ago. I’m trying to remember the last time we had a really great harvest, maybe this one 5 years ago? I think we’ve had one or two since then but I know for sure last year did not give us much of anything due to you know, floods. Forest had been itching to pull them for weeks because they were already starting to become ready to pull, easily liftable from the dirt. So when I told him one evening we were going to pull onions he was ecstatic. I barely had to pull them because he was lifting them out by the…

  • Gardening

    Glorious Gardenias

    Nine years ago my mom and I were in a hotel breakfast room in Longview, Texas when we smelled something glorious. It wasn’t the waffles on the iron or the coffee brewing but something wafting from another guest nearby. After mom and I were done falling over ourselves at the smell, we asked the woman what she was wearing and she replied that it was Estée Lauder’s Tuberose Gardenia. Mom bought a bottle not long after that and a few years later I was gifted a bottle for Christmas. Every time I walk by our gardenia in May I’m reminded of that perfume and that time. Ah, 9 years ago—we…

  • Creative,  Reading

    April & May 2017 Book Report

    Completed Appalachian Odyssey by Steve Sherman: This Appalachian Trail memoir was written in the 70s and I both loved it and thought it could have been developed much more. What was most fascinating about this book was how it showcased the changes in the trail from 40 years ago versus now—it wasn’t completely off roads then! Not only that it also routed through towns that it does not route through now. Some of the sentiment was similar—the hiker hunger, trying to avoid unscrupulous people, etc. It actually reminded me of hiking the Florida Trail to some extent in how few people were hiking the AT in the 70s and the…

  • Baby Teddy,  Family,  Forest Friday,  Memes

    Mud Boy | Forest Friday

    One evening about a month ago I was on the side yard garden taking photos. The light was getting good over there, a mix of darks and lights from the filtered evening sun, and I had been filling up one of Forest’s watering cans for him to water plants, or as what usually happens, his feet. Letting him play solo, in eye and ear shot, for a few minutes I wandered around the garden. When I came back to see what he was doing I found him making a muddy mess in a half filled planter that wasn’t being used by the potting bench. It was nearing bath time so…

  • Baby Teddy,  Family

    Beach Boy

    Forest and I are here at home this morning and I’m listening to a PBS cartoon and some eggs boiling before we head off in 30 minutes for a doctors appointment. Some inconsolable crying resulting in Forest finally telling me that his ears were hurting this morning at 6am. *sigh* Last September for his 2 year checkup at the pediatrician, the doctor was fairly certain one of his ear tubes had fallen out. Now I wonder if the other one is out and we’re back into ear infection territory. After some Tylenol was administered and some cuddling on the couch he is now acting like everything is normal but I…

  • Music

    Summer Songs Round 2

    The last time I did this was back in 2013 and I only put a few songs on there—there were four but it looks like one was taken down from YouTube so it isn’t on there anymore. I’ve been listening to Spotify in the afternoons at work—podcasts in the morning, music in the afternoon is my mood these days—and I’ve got some songs that are making me really get the feel for summer. The humidity is ramped here and while it is spring on the calendar we might as well call it summer here. 1: Tom Petty Learning to Fly 2: The Head and the Heart Shake 3: Don Henley…

  • Baby Teddy,  Family,  Outdoors

    Evenings in the Yard

    Six weeks have almost gone by since I took most of these photos. I’m so far behind but spending evenings outside is a good reason to be behind, right? After dinner we hoof it outside, where we wander the yard or head to the vegetable or flower garden to inspect what’s going on. These days it is almost a necessity to drop by the vegetable garden because there is undoubtably something to be picked, even if it is a handful of cherry tomatoes. Sometimes we head out to a spot in the yard that I know something interesting is going on, such as when we had the orange dog caterpillars…

  • Gardening

    Caterpillars

    I can’t remember when I last mentioned the monarchs in the garden, maybe back in late March or early April? I think I said that I’d just seen a few monarchs flitting about the yard but hadn’t seen any caterpillars yet—of course a few days later I found several caterpillars crawling all over the tropical milkweed. Keeping up with where they are has been a challenge, mostly because I think the birds might be eating a lot of them. Which is fine, that is nature’s duty, but I do feel like we really should consider the butterfly tents to raise them. Chris was concerned about having enough milkweed in pots…

  • Memes,  Thoughts

    Life Lately | Early May 2017

    +In My Head Loving the weather right now, though we could use a bit of rain! I finished an actual book made with paper this weekend—that felt good! I’ll talk a little bit about it in the reading section. I’m thinking of dipping my toes back into the political realm again. I listened to a Pantsuit Politics episode and got a little bit of information about what is going on in the world but I’m not sure I’m completely ready yet. I have also started trying to listen to NPR and Democracy Now a little bit, but we will see how long that lasts! +Watching Not a lot these days.…