This weekend I spent some time in the front yard trying to fill in these terrible "bald spots" in the lawn where we had our water main dug up/replaced over a year ago. The grass never really grew back in those trenches, even though I filled them and added grass seed early last spring. Don't get me wrong, the grass sprouted just fine, but it didn't live very long and soon the dandelions moved in...
Meh. I'm trying again this year.
But while I was out there I realized our side lawn consists of exactly 0 parts "lawn," 2 parts dandelions, and about 9 parts other weeds. I think it's about time to admit defeat and just dig the whole thing out.
The question is, what can I put there? We don't have a very formal system of rules for front yards in our neighborhood, but a garden is not really possible. Between the animals (cats, dogs, squirrels, possums, raccoons, birds) and neighborhood kids, the plants wouldn't stand a chance.
Gravel/Rocks? That's ugly and sad.
Sod? Pavers?
Maybe some kind of raised bed flower thingy...
I'd love to just widen our very narrow driveway, but that's expensive to do right, and seems like a wasted opportunity.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
364 more?
Starting a "photo a day" or 365 Photo project is harder than it sounds. Sure, you take a picture every day and then you post it. Easydashpeasy.
But what if you're at work or in the car during the shorter daylight hours we have in Winter in the northern hemisphere? What if you don't walk past anything interesting during the day? What if you are tired of taking pictures of every square inch of the poorly lit interior of your house?
Seasoned (and by that I mean "skilled") photographers, of which I am not one, (obviously) can find something whimsical or dramatic even in their own linen closets. Alas, our linen closets seem to suffer from an extreme deficiency of "interesting."
I know that I'll pick up more skill as I take more pictures and maybe eventually get to the point where I'm able to post something interesting each day. That day has, however, not yet arrived.
But, we did find this thing sprouting in the back of one of our cupboards.
So that's officially my first photo. I haven't decided where I'll post the other 364. Probably on Flickr or something.
But what if you're at work or in the car during the shorter daylight hours we have in Winter in the northern hemisphere? What if you don't walk past anything interesting during the day? What if you are tired of taking pictures of every square inch of the poorly lit interior of your house?
Seasoned (and by that I mean "skilled") photographers, of which I am not one, (obviously) can find something whimsical or dramatic even in their own linen closets. Alas, our linen closets seem to suffer from an extreme deficiency of "interesting."
I know that I'll pick up more skill as I take more pictures and maybe eventually get to the point where I'm able to post something interesting each day. That day has, however, not yet arrived.
But, we did find this thing sprouting in the back of one of our cupboards.
So that's officially my first photo. I haven't decided where I'll post the other 364. Probably on Flickr or something.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Finding Creative Inspiration
Ok, so this won't be a news flash to anyone reading this, but yesterday it struck me that I have my biggest and best creative inspirations when I'm working with someone else -- when I'm interacting with other people. I bet most people do. But why didn't I realize this before?
Odd.
In this case, I was working with someone else on a completely boring work project but in the moments between actual work there was witty banter, shenanigans, and maybe even some sarcastic diatribes. In these moments -- in these work time crevices -- we find glittering, unexpected inspiration.
Like the beachcomber who sets out to a favorite spot to look for agates, following the comfortable and well-worn paths to our favorite spots can lead us to an area nearly picked clean. But if we relax and maybe take a few random turns, we just might stumble upon a real gem.
Alas, in yesterday's case nothing of note ever really materialized, except for this pyrite-esque revelation.
And still I find myself unusually motivated today.
Odd.
In this case, I was working with someone else on a completely boring work project but in the moments between actual work there was witty banter, shenanigans, and maybe even some sarcastic diatribes. In these moments -- in these work time crevices -- we find glittering, unexpected inspiration.
Like the beachcomber who sets out to a favorite spot to look for agates, following the comfortable and well-worn paths to our favorite spots can lead us to an area nearly picked clean. But if we relax and maybe take a few random turns, we just might stumble upon a real gem.
Alas, in yesterday's case nothing of note ever really materialized, except for this pyrite-esque revelation.
And still I find myself unusually motivated today.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Egg Dealer
I still run into some folks who give me a strange look when they find out we have three urban chickens at our house. These are acquaintances who I don't talk to regularly, or people I've recently met. And I don't mind a bit. I love talking about our hens and the coop and the eggs... Maybe I do that bit too much...
Anyway, just before we left for vacation in December I had a friend over to the house to pick up some English Toffee and Biscotti my wife and I made. Our friend seemed eager to come out and see the chickens, even though it was raining. We opened the egg door to show off the nesting box and one of our hens was in mid-lay. The three of us watched as the hen laid her egg. It was the first time I'd actually seen the whole process. Finally, drenched, we hurried into the house.
Because we were leaving for vacation, I offered some eggs to our friend. I really expected a "Thanks, but..." answer; after all, we had just watched an egg come out of a chicken... But our friend was eager to take some home.
I'm not sure I would have done the same even two years ago...
Anyway, just before we left for vacation in December I had a friend over to the house to pick up some English Toffee and Biscotti my wife and I made. Our friend seemed eager to come out and see the chickens, even though it was raining. We opened the egg door to show off the nesting box and one of our hens was in mid-lay. The three of us watched as the hen laid her egg. It was the first time I'd actually seen the whole process. Finally, drenched, we hurried into the house.
Because we were leaving for vacation, I offered some eggs to our friend. I really expected a "Thanks, but..." answer; after all, we had just watched an egg come out of a chicken... But our friend was eager to take some home.
I'm not sure I would have done the same even two years ago...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Sustainability (also "I hate beans...")
We started keeping chickens 1 year ago. I just took a quick peek at my posts from last January. Good times. Part of why we took on chickens was that we decided to start taking steps toward being more responsible as far as our impact on the planet. We're no where near perfect, but we are making progress.
This year we're looking to do more with buying local and sustainable goods. This is something we started on last year, but plan to try to do more this time around. A prime example of this is CSA vegetable boxes. We experimented with these last year and while it was generally a success, we still need to work on finding a better farm/collective.
One of the great things about the CSA farm boxes was getting to try vegetables that we typically wouldn't have thought to purchase. But be warned, dear reader! For every "Rainbow Kale" you happily discover, there's a "golden beet" (shudder) or "regular beet" Bleh!
One thing we're looking at for this year is a CSA meat box. We're only just in the beginning stages of research, but we have a few good leads and I hope to report back here soon with our findings.
SUPPLEMENTAL
Our younger daughter, age 8, is a very picky eater. The other night at dinner she said hopefully:
"I think I know why I don't like this food. I don't want to eat meat because I like animals, and animals are meat!"
We told her she can stop eating meat right now, this very moment, but that she'd have to force herself to eat other things like beans and so on in order to make up for the lost protein and nutrients.
She thought about for a quick second and then went back to (slowly) eating her dinner.
"Nevermind, I hate beans."
This year we're looking to do more with buying local and sustainable goods. This is something we started on last year, but plan to try to do more this time around. A prime example of this is CSA vegetable boxes. We experimented with these last year and while it was generally a success, we still need to work on finding a better farm/collective.
One of the great things about the CSA farm boxes was getting to try vegetables that we typically wouldn't have thought to purchase. But be warned, dear reader! For every "Rainbow Kale" you happily discover, there's a "golden beet" (shudder) or "regular beet" Bleh!
One thing we're looking at for this year is a CSA meat box. We're only just in the beginning stages of research, but we have a few good leads and I hope to report back here soon with our findings.
SUPPLEMENTAL
Our younger daughter, age 8, is a very picky eater. The other night at dinner she said hopefully:
"I think I know why I don't like this food. I don't want to eat meat because I like animals, and animals are meat!"
We told her she can stop eating meat right now, this very moment, but that she'd have to force herself to eat other things like beans and so on in order to make up for the lost protein and nutrients.
She thought about for a quick second and then went back to (slowly) eating her dinner.
"Nevermind, I hate beans."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Now what?
Ok, so my last post may have been a bit misleading. It turns out that we do have some seeds already growing:
Yes, our house-sitters managed to spill some water on the counter while we were on vacation (they must not have noticed as we still had a nice puddle when we returned) and by the time we got back the water had soaked an envelope holding 4 peas of some sort that one of our kids brought home from school.
Now, here's the question. What do we do with these things? They're growing like weeds in the kitchen, but they're already too tall and we don't really have a sheltered/sunny place outside to plant them. Ideas?
Yes, our house-sitters managed to spill some water on the counter while we were on vacation (they must not have noticed as we still had a nice puddle when we returned) and by the time we got back the water had soaked an envelope holding 4 peas of some sort that one of our kids brought home from school.
Now, here's the question. What do we do with these things? They're growing like weeds in the kitchen, but they're already too tall and we don't really have a sheltered/sunny place outside to plant them. Ideas?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Pressure!
I've been delving into lots of gardening blogs lately and the common theme I'm picking up is that most people seem to have a plan already for what they want to plant, when, and how.
That's, uh, not really how we roll...
But now I'm feeling that pressure. I'm asking myself why I don't have a plan for what we'll plant. I feel seed packet envy! I feel like time is running out and I better plant stuff or else!
Of course, it's still January, and I think we'll be ok waiting a month or two.
(It doesn't help that our neighbors just came home with a bunch of seeds...)
Once we get the planting boxes rebuilt, we should more sqfts and, probably at least as important, the ones we have will be better organized with regard to light/soil/etc. We have a place set aside for the taller/vine-ier stuff so they won't block out as much sun, for example.
We have a huge pile of compost and I'm eager to see how this stuff works as it's our first that's got chicken manure as a main ingredient.
I'm hoping that my new-found interest in photography will mesh well with gardening.
That's, uh, not really how we roll...
But now I'm feeling that pressure. I'm asking myself why I don't have a plan for what we'll plant. I feel seed packet envy! I feel like time is running out and I better plant stuff or else!
Of course, it's still January, and I think we'll be ok waiting a month or two.
(It doesn't help that our neighbors just came home with a bunch of seeds...)
Once we get the planting boxes rebuilt, we should more sqfts and, probably at least as important, the ones we have will be better organized with regard to light/soil/etc. We have a place set aside for the taller/vine-ier stuff so they won't block out as much sun, for example.
We have a huge pile of compost and I'm eager to see how this stuff works as it's our first that's got chicken manure as a main ingredient.
I'm hoping that my new-found interest in photography will mesh well with gardening.
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