Found Food - 2

I got so excited to see Jen post about "found food" because this is one of the ways I have started saving money as well.  I have a freezer full of "bits and scraps" that are actually very useful.  I think this might be a continuous topic as we continue to find food.  My husband sometimes looks in the freezer with exasperation..."Seriously?  Broccoli STEMS?  Where is the pizza?"

Three days to a better house.

We did a blitz on the house this weekend. It was a mess. Two years without a big spring cleaning and purge had caught up with us. (Coincidentally, my Personal Assistant showed up about two years ago. Weird.)

Weed Killer!

This entry will be brief and to the point.  I have weeds.  I hate them.  I kill them.

BUT!

I do not want to kill my child with Roundup.

Potato Kale Curry

We used to live in Minneapolis.  We adored the place.  It was far from family but it was alive, it was busy.  It was full of people and colors and ideas that were exciting to two corn fed hicks like my husband and I.  Let's not forget the people...we made our family of choice there.  We quickly became used to our limitless choices.  For us, it was a virtual Eden of entertainment, and delicious food.  Unfortunately, five years ago we had to leave everything and move to a rural New England town for my husband's job.  We went from:

 To:

Gardening in dry shade.

I have a confession to make. I am, by trade, a Landscape Architect. When people discover this, I get a lot of questions. And that's cool. No really, I don't mind. But I can't tell you what to plant in your back yard at a cocktail party, because I am at a cocktail party and not in your back yard. I need to experience a space to know what it needs. And while I try to always maintain a professional attitude when the plant questions start, when you tell me that you can't have a garden because you have shade, or horror of horrors, dry shade, you might need to give me a minute because I am mentally rolling my eyes and picturing this:

That's my shade garden. My dry shade garden. Smashed between our cement walk and the neighbor's. Under a giant hemlock on the west end and a giant cedar on the east end (that's right, acidic dry shade). My house and porch almost completely block the southern exposure. My neighbor's side gets sun between oh, noon and 1 pm. My side gets almost no direct light. And I never water it. Isn't it lovely?

Yeti Support Group

When I came down stairs Saturday morning with my hair down The Personal Assistant said "No Mommy! Brush your hair! Put your hair up! Go be right back!" And backed up to hide behind the Hubster. Apparently he does not like my hair down. Not. One. Bit.

Weekend Project - Face wash

I think I'm going to complain a little first and then I'll get to the face wash.  This describes the past two weeks:

I just sleep in the house.

Yup. That about sums it up.

I wish I had been the one to come up with this graphic, or that I could track down who did, because I think we could be besties, but it was one of those bad pins on Pinterest that goes nowhere.

This time of year don't bother calling. I'm in the garden. And I'm not taking calls. Visitors, yes. Calls, no way man.

Our local "Frost Date" is anticipated around here like Christmas. By me if not by everyone else. But even before it is "safe" to be planting out tender seedlings, I find plenty to do in the garden. Like creating a natural play space for my Personal Assistant. And setting up my portable greenhouse for seed starting, and constructing a fence/tomato cages to keep the Personal Assistant from sliding down the hill and over the wall.

It actually came it pretty great and cost a fraction of a regular fence. I think it would be perfect if you need a fence around the veggie garden for keeping critters out. The blow by blow is after the jump.

Flowers for Monday

Sunday evening makes me sad. The weekend is over and a new work week filled with busy-ness is about to begin. About four years ago I started a summer Sunday evening tradition of walking through my garden, choosing a few blooms and making a nosegay for my desk on Monday. I often made a second one to share with someone at the office. I no longer leave home to work, but I still enjoy the tradition, and sometimes drop off a little bouquet for a neighbor. What is the point of growing flowers if you don't pick them?

Band Name Game

I'm not sure who started the "Band Name Game" in which ridiculous phrases are turned into pretend band names.  I mean, Green Jello?  Someone played the game there.  My son heard my husband and I joking about this and he's now committed to the name Metal PROCLAMATION!!

Dear childless, you are selfish and you rock.

Daisy started this, not me. So before you go getting all offended, take a deep breath and read her post first. I will wait.

Without going into quoting research or opinion pieces, like Daisy did so well, let me summarize and totally oversimplify the argument: Married childless couples are selfish for not having children. They are shrinking the US reproduction rate, potentially burdening future generations of workers. They are opting to spend more money on themselves and pursue careers. They are speaking up about children in "adult" restaurants and getting them banned.

Apparently this is upsetting both "breeders" who feel defensive, and the childless who don't want to be labeled as selfish. Let me be painfully clear: it is selfish, and that is totally ok.

Why I am "still" in my pjs.

So far my morning has consisted of getting up with a teething boy at 4:30. Coaxing him to at least lay down in his crib and watch Thomas while I crashed for a few more hours. Getting back up at 7:30 to screaming which lasted until 9:00 when he decided oatmeal would be acceptable (I loaded it up with peanut butter to help dampen the noise). Calling in a Rx refill to the pharmacy, answering work email, monitoring a call from The Personal Assistant to DiDi and Papa while clearing the dishes, then suddenly rushing a pooping boy up the stairs only to have an accident which resulted in a mess that took 1/2 hour and a dreaded bath to clean up.

Weekend Project - Skin Care Product Purge

 

One day the sun was streaming through the windows in my bedroom.  My adorable son walks in and initiates a game that consists of tickling, hugging, pretending to run away, and  making silly faces.  My favorite kind of game!  

Choice or "Childless"

A friend of mine posted a link to a piece on Babble called The Problem with Married Couples who Choose to Have No Kids on her facebook wall.  The person who wrote it sounds angry.  He sounds bitter.  Maybe he is dissatisfied with his choices.  My friend has chosen, with her partner, to not have children and was hoping that the sentiments expressed in the piece were not rampant among other "breeders".  I am curious if the author's sentiments are shared by a large group of parents or not.