Choices, Choices, Choices.......

Is Spring here already?!?!?! The rhubarb thinks it is!

That means it's seed ordering time!

 I told myself I was going to be conservative this year....but I wasn't. I just can't help myself. They should give the guy that writes up the descriptions in these catalog a raise....he does a good job.

Some of my picks....

Green Magic Broccoli
Partenon Zucchini (self-pollinating)
Sub-Arctic Plenty -World's Earliest Tomato
Pelleted YaYa Carrot seeds
 Frizzy Headed Drunken Woman Lettuce

And...........A BROADFORK!!

I can't wait!

Sticking A Toe In The Water

If finally stopped raining, and I started to feel like I really should go outside and start working in the garden. But I was afraid!  It's cold out there....and it might rain....and I'd rather stay inside on the couch and crochet. Besides, I'm out of shape, it might hurt! But I made myself go out there. I picked a project that wasn't too strenuous and got started. Sort of "testing the waters", so to speak. See if I'm able to still garden.

I decided to work on the net fence that surrounds the garden. The leaves from all the neighbor trees have a tendency to blow into our yard and collect at the base of the net....and if I don' t clean them out they eventually turn into dirt. Since the base of the net is in the gravel driveway this is not a good thing.

 BEFORE:

AFTER:

I didn't die. And the sun even came out for a few minutes!

This particular job need to be done twice a year. Fortunately, all of the problem trees were cut down this winter, so maybe it won't be a problem anymore? That would be nice....not to mention all the additional sunlight the garden will now be getting now that they're gone. Cutting a tree down makes all the difference!
While I was working on the fence I also repaired some erosion damage in the driveway from the last monsoon.

Here's a funny one on me. I had to quit to run into town to meet some gals for lunch, so I ran inside to take off my raingear and grab a few things to take with me. At the last second I decided I should look in the mirror to make sure I looked half decent.....and burst out laughing....

Note to self: Always look in the mirror before heading into town!

Now THAT'S funny!

Coming Out Of The "Crochet, Computer, Coffee Creamer Coma"

Well, it took some work, but I finally got one of my crochet patterns written, edited and posted for sale on Ravelry.com

It meant many, many hours in my desk chair at the computer. It got to the point where I wasn't going out, wasn't cooking, wasn't getting dressed....wasn't doing alot of things! I was totally obsessed. I have a tendency to go full-on with whatever it is I'm doing, and not want to do anything else. I think Newton's First Law of Motion pretty much sums it up....















Sir Isaac gets me.

When I am working outside I don' t want to go in. When I'm inside crocheting I don't want to go out. When it gets late I don't want to quit what I am doing to go to bed. When I am in bed in the morning I don't want to get out from underneath the cozy covers. Etc, etc, etc. And since there is noone here to tell me what to do....I just kept at it.
Finally, at some point this weekend I looked out the window, took a deep breath and said, " I have got to snap out of it!"

So I headed outdoors....."Hello, coats."

"Hello, boots."

"Hello, cold, gray world".

First, I hauled some firewood....

And then I had a little look around.

 

"Hello duck footprints."

 "Hello, ducks!"

"Hello, unfinished projects."

"Hello, LIFE."

 Now, I just need to work a little bit longer and get those mitten patterns online!!!!

10 Random Tidbits

1. The weather is pretty mild here right now, but a month or so ago we had some snow, and I couldn't help but notice how pretty it looked in our wrought iron door mat.

2. The steroid injection did not seem to help my shoulder. The general consensus seems to be that it's a torn rotator cuff. A second visit to the doctor resulted in another injection.....

...and a referral for an MRI.

3. If you don't cut back all of your primrose foliage before Winter sets in, and the temperature drops below freezing, and it thaws back out again, the ones you missed will turn to mush and look like this....

Gross. Cut back your primroses in the Fall.

4. Leeks don't seem to mind cold weather. These leeks have been in this pot for months, through freezing weather and rain, and they still look great!

5. Levi's bear came back from the tannery. The hide looks great, but I think the face looks so hilarious and goofy at this stage! It's on it's way to the taxidermist now.

Oh my, I just noticed that in this photo it looks like the bear has horns.......HA!

6. Sometimes when I crochet my knees get really hot

I wonder why?

7. And speaking of the cat, the other day he found the cozy Alpaca baby sweater I had just made, and he claimed it for the rest of the day.

8. After suffering another rejection by Leisure Arts, this time for my crochet mitten designs, I decided to write up my own patterns and try to sell them online at Ravelry.com . It takes quite a bit of work to write up a crazy person's methods in madness, so I am feeling quite overwhelmed. When you write up a pattern, every stitch has to be accounted for and you can't just hook into random places at a whim... every stitch has to make sense. Today I spent the whole day in front of the computer.

Crochet is math, and math is not my strongsuit.

9. No matter how long you garden, every gardening season there seems to be a new random, weird thing that shows up, either an unusual bug or weed, or some strange plant formation. This last year there were tomatoes growing on our potato plants (seed pods)....

.....and these strange brown mushrooms.......everywhere...all over town!

10. Mr. Adams and Levi each asked me to write my recipes down in books for them for when they are cooking away from the house....

Easier said than done. Once again, it takes quite a bit of work to write up a crazy person's methods in madness. I am not a very precise cook. I remember one time I was showing Levi how to cook something in the kitchen and he said sarcastically, "I just love how you don't measure ANYTHING!"  

Wish me luck.

Balaclava and Baklava

bal·a·cla·va

ˌbaləˈklävə/

noun

1. 1.

   a close-fitting garment covering the whole head and neck except for parts of the face, typically made of wool.

ba·kla·va

ˌbäkləˈvä/

noun

1. 1.

   a dessert originating in the Middle East made of phyllo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in honey.

It's Levi's 18th birthday today!!!!  Happy Birthday, Levi!

Sparklers are fun, no matter how old you are, right?

Mmmmmm, to celebrate the occasion I made him some yummy, homemade Baklava.....

And served it to him in his new, skull and crossbones bowl......

And then, there were the gifts.....  From Aunt Brenda,

From us,

Texting mittens....

They work!

And from Gramma Roth,

Oh dear, maybe not this one....

 There seems to be a trend here.....