Weekend

I was very busy this weekend! My Fitbit was not at all impressed, it is not possible to make it understand that "errands" and "housework" or viable exercies. It does not help that I forgot to put it on Saturday morning and I lost all those steps I accrued on my errands.

But it was not all for naught. I got stuff accomplished and I feel really good about it.

First

After much sweat and tears I got the handles attached. It was hard! They don't just pop on! "Oh, just paint it out and replace the hardware! Fix it right up!",  Now I know why people buy new furniture, because painting it and replacing the hardware is hard! and the project becomes progressively less and less fun as time goes on and its work, lots of work. HGTV lies to us a lot.

I spent a lot of time shoveling out the room and making its lone, tiny closet useable. I found magazines in there that pre-dated my moving into this house! Some were, in my defence, issues that came out immediately after 9/11 and those do have some significance. The many, many issues dedicated to Ben & Jen, not-so-much.

I did a lot of throwing away and recycling and that always feels good. I found the curtains that had hung in the attic that I took down because they are ugly

But I never did anything with them. Now, I think I'm going to take them to a hip, downtown Collectables store and see if they are interested in them. I know there is some over monied Hipster out there that would be all over them, So Kitschy! So Vintage! . If not, they are going to Goodwill where a smarter Hipster will find them. Either way, they will be out of my life.

The room is not where I want it yet, and there are projects in every corner - I think Its Time to get rid of the computer that I haven't turned on in three years and the desk it lives on, both could get taken down and put in the attic - along with everything else I have consigned there and not yet put in there - A huge project in itself. But it is time,  and its taking up valuable real estate and I'm not using it for anything, I do want to get the stuff off the hard drive though but I don't know how to do that. I have an external drive thingy I bought when I got the lap top but I haven't been able to put the two together. I need help for that.

There are a lot of things up there that still need to be either re-homed or  put away or gotten rid of. Its a lot more than I had thought it was going to be. I need to get the ten thousand tee shirts out of the brown dresser up there and into the dresser down stairs so that I can keep my seasonal clothes together and have room for my larger, bulky winter clothes that are homeless at present.

The Great Tee-Shirt move and Dresser Clean Out are an entire thankless project in itself and I'm not ready for that yet. Soon, but not yet.

But, that being said this is what the upstairs looks like now, in its not-entirely-finished state

And then I blanched and cut up all my available vegetables! Yay! Boo for all the tomatoes that got eaten on the plants before I had a chance to rescue them! Something or someone has been feasting on them. I got some though and that is more than I had expected following the dismal summer harvest. Those plants that did not die over the summer are due to come out of the garden themselves very soon, The pepper plants are still happily producing and they can stay where they are.

Reaping what I sowed.

I  sat down to watch a few minutes of shark week, because shark week and the next thing I knew, hours had passed and I was watching some pseudo documentary on a no-show giant shark. Then I watched another hour on a different giant shark that also never showed up.I'm not sure what they do on Shark Week anymore, but it's not teaching  us about sharks.

But before I could be hypnotized by absentee sharks, I made dinner. I am, I should tell you that I am the most locavore locavore who ever locavored.  My dinner was peppers from my garden, tomatoes from my garden and venison harvested down the street from my parents house.

I made stuffed peppers.

Aren't they pretty! So nice and boxy! So much better than peppers of years past. Much joy. I cut two of these from the bottom because they were flatter on  the top end and stood up by themselves without leaning, it was harder to get the seed pod out but it was manageable.

They had to be blanched first, because I'm like that. Then I stuffed them with the local deer and a smaller pepper and some nice tomatoes from the garden and spices.

I topped them with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.

 So good!

I had two for dinner, the very largest and the smallest one, they tasted divine!

After dinner I watered the front patio plants and I found

A baby ear from my first Elephant Ear plant! The one I thought was dead! It isn't! I has risen! I am so excited!

Garden Update 5 2015

Time has marched on!

I think the peppers are very happy in there new bed. They seem to be doing well and growing tall. I thank the rain we've had and the cooler temperatures for being so kind to the baby plants. If it was too hot and there was too much sun, they might have been burned  and cooked in the ground! They love the sun but they need some over cast days too. The rain has been my friend. I have noticed some bug nibbles, but not enough to pull out the  pesticide - yet. So far so good. I think they are doing better here than they did in the other garden because they don't have to compete with the taller, faster growing  tomatoes for light. In this space the only competition they have is with the leeks and its really no contest.

I thought I planted a lot of leeks, but I either didn't or there has all ready been some bad days. I've never tried to plant onions before and if this doesn't work I'm going to leave it to the people who know what they are doing - like Alphagal, who can plant and harvest onions successfully.

The tomato's! They are doing very well! The rain has been very very good to them. They are all growing, even a little puny plant that I almost threw out when I was planting because it was  hardly an entire plant, it was mostly just roots and a shoot. That was all it needed! Its still very small and looks  a dwarf next to the other, taller plants but its getting there.

The taller plants are also further along with their development, I have flowers! It sreally early for these buds and they will most likely fall off, but it s start and the real bloms with show up when the plants are a little more mature.

The corn is growing well. It doesn't seem to mind being in containers as yet. I keep them fertilized with alfalfa pellets and coffee grounds.

The blueberry bush I decided to let live seems to be living the good life. I would be good if I even got some of those berries before the birds take them all. Hopefully they will actually A) ripen, and B) not get eaten by birds.  I have tried using bird netting but it also served as Diana Netting and it was more trouble then it was worth.

This is this years Elephant Ear. I moved it out of the more direct sunlight into the more indirect sunlight and I think it is happier.

My long awaited Huneysuckle! I tried and tried to get a huneysuckle plant to take and I finally got a a cutting to grow! I love the scent of honeysuckle and I really hope this does what the plant is supposed to do, I can cut it back as necessary but I really like huneysuckle and it will look great around my door as it matures and gets more flowery.

 My door. Clearly, there is work to be done but the plant is reaching over and meeting up with the Non-Blooming Ever honeysuckle variety I bought at the store, hopefully it will take over and be nice.

Every year I say I'm going to take this out and every year it just saves it self.

Last years Elephant Ear. It is not a happy plant. It was gorgeous last year but its not very interested in growing and developing this year.

 The rose plant. I also always say that this is its last year and it always fools me and comes back. I really do want to get a better plant, this one is really aging out. It makes very pretty flowers though and it has a lovely scent.