Friday, April 30, 2010

Garden Update

Here's the garden with the fence and trellis installed. I still need to add netting to one of the trellises, but the peas and beans haven't sprouted yet, so I'm not in a big hurry. My only concern now is the realization that our best chance at a veggie garden may not get nearly enough sun. I watched today, and it gets about three to four hours worth rather than the required six to eight. We grew tomatoes, peppers, and herbs on the deck last year, so I'm hopeful that it will work well enough. We shall see!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Piedmont Farm Tour

We've talked about going on the annual farm tour for a couple of years now, and we finally got around to it last weekend. We toured two farms that offered meat, eggs, and produce. We picked up maple sausage at the first, and the kids gathered eggs at the second. (They loved the experience and both the eggs and sausage were delicious.) One of the farms is in Hillsborough, five minutes from our house, and it has an on-farm market every Saturday morning. Lucky for us, it also has friendly dogs and baby ducks to sweeten the deal. We'll go back again very soon, I'm guessing.

Another stop on the tour was a dairy farm (with yummy cheese samples and a horse drawn carriage ride!) and the last farm we visited wasn't really a farm, but instead focused on harvesting and producing alternative energy. From what I gathered, interns work and live for free in platform tents, eat together, and use the composting toilet when required. Although I've done it before, and willingly so, the idea of sleeping in a tent for more than two nights in a row along with communal anything was incredibly unappealing. (It made me feel old.) And I have to admit, we went there more for the pony rides than the biodiesel fuel. (I do appreciate the work and was quite impressed with the field of solar panels - thank you willing interns!)

Saturday, April 24, 2010

New Additions

We've been busy the last few weeks - some of which has been time spent creating new additions in the yard. First, we have a fort for the kids, which was underused until I threw some towels down. Now they very happily play house in it for extended periods of time, exactly what I had hoped would happen. I've added some vines on the sides, and maybe one day the trellis will be covered. Note the neon green string - doesn't blend in so well does it? The color was Sarah's suggestion. She thought it looked pretty at the store, but later decided it looked better on the spool than on the fort . . .


Next, we added two raised beds, with one currently used as a veggie garden, including peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, beans (Dad - take note - I'm trying them, even though I probably won't like them!), herbs, watermelon, and cantaloupe. (I may be a little ambitious/naive, but we'll see what happens!) The other will house sunflowers, just because they're pretty and we like them. I'll add pictures when we add the fence and trellis, which may or may not get installed tomorrow, depending on how much fun we're having doing other things!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Photo Op

Last weekend, we took our annual trip to the sisters' garden. We had the garden to ourselves, which was great, but the solitude didn't allow for help with a family photo. So we took our own. Maybe not the most flattering, but it certainly makes me smile.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Catepillars and Inchworms

We found some cute bugs today. After Sarah told Eric about how to get the inchworm (take hold of the string that it's hanging from), he (very gently, I'm proud to say) held the inchworm for awhile before giving Sarah a turn.

Sarah named the two tent catepillars "Tenty". She explained that they have the same name because they're twins. (Works for me.) We gave them a drink with the spray bottle and fed them some cherry tree leaves. They must have been hungry because they started eating immediately. Very cool to see. I'd prefer the bug box over the tree, but I'm sure Tentys' friends will eventually find the tasty leaves.

Sarah's Houses

Recently, Sarah has spent a lot of time making houses - like these. I love how she gets really intent on one thing. It reminds me of me. Brian likes to call it "being obsessed". I like to call it "being focused". In Sarah's case, I think I'll call it "being creative"!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

he did what!?!?

Eric outdid himself today, and that's saying quite a lot. It started out innocently enough. We were playing outside and it seemed like Eric had to go to the bathroom, so I asked him, "Do you have to go potty?" He said, "No." I accepted his answer and returned to what I was doing. The next time I looked up, he was standing naked in front of the compost bin, where he had relieved himself. "Me need privacy," he said when I asked why. He seemed quite pleased. Like anyone would, I suggested that the toilet might be a better place next time.

Fast forward thirty minutes. Because he'd gone on the compost bin, when he went upstairs for a nap, I didn't push the required bathroom visit. I read him a book, closed the door, and went downstairs to pay the bills. Ten minutes later, Eric called to me, "Mommy, come her. Me need to show you something." I went up, annoyed that he wasn't sleeping. "Eric," I started, "you should be napping." And there he was. Naked. Smirking. He said, "See," and pointed to his toy basket which had been emptied of toys, and instead had pee and poop in it. "WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" (I couldn't help but yell. It seemed an appropriate response.) He tried to defend himself. "It was by accident. Me no mean to do that. By accident." I knew better. I'm thinking that the cold shower I used to clean him up sent a clear message . . . along with the toy-depleted room . . . and no television for the rest of the day . . . and no treats either.