Prelude to Summer

Bleck, it this what we have to look forward to? No thanks!
It's nearly 6:00pm and it is just now cooling off. And cooling off is relative.

Muggy Mo

Today feels like May in Missouri. Muggy and still and sticky. It is not actually hot, but the air is so still and heavy that it seems hotter than it really is.
I'm still surprised that made it this far into May without more days like this. It has been a strange Spring.

We have been weeding the yard, mowing and trimming and basically trying to put everything back in place after the past few days of rain. It is amazing how fast the weeds, plants and grass grow in this kind of weather. I may be drooping but the garden looks great. The new Roma seems to be adapting well - hopefully it will catch up with the others soon.

I've been watching the crookneck squash and I can almost see it growing. Yesterday there was just the first hint of a blossom and today you can see three tiny squash. Every time I go back - even just an hour later I can tell that it has grown. It really is shocking and wonderful.

Now if only it wasn't so terribly muggy out.

The Roma Has It!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the replacement tomato. I'll search out a good Roma plant today. My mystery heirloom plant is growing like gangbusters. We put up the tomato cages last week and I think it likes it. The Green Zebra is still looking puney, but I think if I wasn't comparing it to heirloom it would be fine.
Rabbits have been invading and eating my swiss chard. It is strange to go out there one day and see lots of leaves and the next its been nibbled down to the stalks. I'm not too worried though, they seem to be leaving everything else alone and the chances of getting Michael to eat Chard was slim at best. The lettuce is getting huge, so we will be eating lots of salad. The crookneck squash and zucchini have put out little blossom nodes, so in a few weeks we will have squash. Oh, and there are tiny carrot sprouts! I just tossed some carrot seeds in the empty spaces in the garden and they have taken off. Now I regret not planting them in rows - oh well, live and learn.

Dinner Is Served

And the salad was grown in my garden.
I have 6 lettuce plants and they are all doing well. I even tossed some baby chard and cilantro leaves for kicks. Paired with some grilled asparagus and chicken it was a delightful meal and the first of many that involves home grown veggies.
Visit Grow Your Own for more people eating what they have grown themselves.

Rainy day

Yesterday I put in the paperwork to take today off. It had been a long week and we have a very full weekend planned so I knew that nothing was going to get done around the house so I took the day off to get things done. I was hoping that is in addition to gettign things done I could work in the garden or sit out on the patio and knit. But the weather is against me. It is cold and rainy and all plans for sitting outside have been shot. I guess this means I really will have to get some work done. Here is the list:

• Hang Photos that have been sitting in frames with the hammer, nails and level next to them for the better part of 6 months. Seriously - 6 months. Though it was only in the last month that they moved from the guest room to the room where we plan to hang them.
• Photos hung! The one on the left is one of my favorite wedding pictures, the top right is me and my brother and bottom right is Michael and his brother and sister. We are all very cute. David is surprisingly blond in the picture which throws me every time.
  
  
• Clean Hall Bathroom. I cleaned the Master Bath last week, but the hall bath could use a scrubbing.
• Bathroom Scrubbed! I love my bathroom floors. The grey and yellow tile just makes me smile. And after a good scrub they look even better. I have decided that we need a shower curtain liner - no amount of scrubbing will save this one. I've been using seventh generation free and clear all-purpose cleaner - some say clean smells like lemons or pine, but to me you shouldn't be able to smell clean, so I love this product.
  
  
• Sweep Floors. I love having wood floors, but you can tell when they are dirty and they are dirty all the time. I sweep at least once a week and it still always looks like a fur ball exploded and with all the ins and outs from the yard there are little peices of grass that just have to go.
• Floors Swept. And once again I am shocked and appalled by the amount of dust and dirt that is tracked into our home over the course of a week.
  
• Vacuum. Only two rooms have carpet but there is Tallulah hair everywhere. I'm telling you Goldendoodles shed. They may be sweet and wonderful, but they shed - don't let anyone tell you they don't - they are lying.
• Carpet Vacuumed. So much dog hair over so little floor.
  
• Put Clothes Away. We have 2 baskets of clean laundry just sitting in our bedroom. But to put these clothes away I need to pack-up my winter clothes. Something I'm having trouble finding the motivation to do.
  
• Finish Baby Wrap Dress. All the knitting is done, yippee! All that is left to do is sew on the ribbons, block it and add some optional embroidery. I might skip the embroidery.
• Dress Finished! It looks so cute. I can't wait to see it on a baby instead of just a ruler. Now I just have to decide which baby shall wear it. There are so many out there right now.

• Sew Up The Test Bag. I fear I have lost all steam for this project. I really hate making muslins and this was definitely that. But I need to finish it up before I move on to making the real one so I can make sure that I like the size and strap width and length.

• Pay Bills. Technically this is already finished. I just need to track down a few stamps.

• Run My Outside of the House Errands: I'm going to map this out to take the most energy efficient route. Something I never do - I'm a backtracker.
  
• Turn in my CSA Application at the Hen House. $25.00 a week = 2 bags of farm fresh fruits, veggies, milk and meat. You never know what you'll get - but it will always be what is in season and what is locally grown. The trade off for this is that I have promised to stay away from the Farmer's Market this summer. I think it will be a fun experiment in "cooking with what you've got". I'll also get a cook book when I sign up so that will help.
• Swing by Prydes of Old Westport. They seem to be the only place that carries non-plastic food storage containers. I'm on the run from BPA. Before we even think about bringing a baby into this house (and we are not even going to think about doing that for at least another 4 months) it will be as BPA free as I can make it. Luckily we don't have too much plastic to begin with - but what we do have we will be saying "farvel" (that's good-bye in Danish).
• Visit Michaels or JoAnns for another skein of yarn. I'm making a caplet for myself and I'm short about a 1/2 skein. Sigh.
• Pick up Milk. I can alway tell when Matt's been swinging by the house - we go though milk much faster than normal. That and the big bowls are in the sink - the bowls that Michael and I never use because they are too big.
• Errands Run. Mattie joined me. At Prydes I picked up gifts for the three weddings I'll be attending at the end of the month and one small BPA free container. Then we went to the Hen House to sign up for the CSA. I like the CSA program but a HATE the Hen House. It is dark, the people are mean (seriously everyone who works there is unpleasant. At the Hy-Vee everyone is nice. They've even run to the back of the store to get cream cheese for me and did it willingly and with a smile.) and it is expensive. I'll just be running to the market section on Saturdays and getting the heck out. Plus the cookbook that came with the membership is the "Cattlemen's Guide to Healthy Beef". Seriously. Beef? I need to know how to cook the million veggies that will be coming our way this summer - not beef. Also - I didn't find the yarn..boo.
  

Thunder

It's Spring and Spring means storms. The thunder was so loud a few nights ago that sleep was impossible. IMPOSSIBLE!
It is on the brink of storming again - grey skies and the occasional drops of rain, a distance roll of thunder. I'm just waiting for the deluge.
I do like a good thunder storm, but I was really hoping to plant some flowers this evening and our sodding keeps getting pushed back due to the weather. Oh well, April showers bring May flowers.

The deluge has begun - fat raindrops that leave large puddles in the yard. Even with the recently installed french drain it cannot be absorbed quickly enough.

(photo taken in 2006 by Michael - Storm Rolling In)

Graden Bed #1

There are 5 garden beds planned for our little backyard. Today we planted the first one. I'm tired, sunburned and really pleased with how it turned out.

Michael, laying the ground work.

Holes dug and plants placed.

FINISHED!!

It only took ALL DAY to get this done.
It will look so much better when there is grass.

Close up of the plants. We have 3 Hydrangeas, 2 Peonies, 6 blue-green Hastas, 1 veragated Hosta, 2 Columbines and 1 Minnesota Faux Orange tree. Whew!

Blossom Time

Cherry Blossom
Originally uploaded by Imaginary Sea

I walked outside and noticed blossoms on our trees for the first time this year. The Cherry Tree is particularly lovely and the plum is also nice. They are still tiny tree-letts, but I'm so glad to see they survived the winter.

Worlds of Fun

Michael and I went to Worlds of Fun yesterday. It is the only real amusement park in Kansas City and we only went because Michael's company provided us with free tickets, free parking and $10.00 "beagle bucks" each. That is the only way we could ever afford to go. Plus there is the issue that Michael and I both do poorly on rides. The V factor.

We arrived at about 10:30, took some time to get our bearings and then proceeded to ride a total of 4 rides.
1) The Viking Voyager - Really it is just a log ride through an elevated water way with one big drop at the end. I hid behind Michael and managed to stay dry.
2) The Fjord Fjarlane - A spinning ride where your car is lifted extra high sometimes for extra fun. (There was actually a baby on this ride. A baby! She had a great time - I clung to Michael the whole time. Who's the REAL baby?!)
3) The Sea Dragon - Nothing more than a giant swing shaped like a viking boat. Still it had me curling up like a little girl and freaking out a little more than is appropriate for someone my age.
4) Fury of the Nile - I remember this ride being scary and very wet! We manged to stay dry and un-afraid. It was easy and a rather pleasant trip around a man made "river"

Worlds of Fun is broken into regions. Scandinavia is where we spent the most time - in honor of my heritage - that and the other regions have "real" roller-coasters and we don't do that sort of thing. There were a few more rides that we could have done, but really we were happy with our 4 rides, our $20.00 worth of BBQ and a day of terrific people watching.

Clearly we were prepared for fun.
also, I'm kind of freaked out that the lip can stretch like that. gross.

dog park day

We took Tallulah to the dog park today. It was this first time I have been to the dog park this year. It was nice to be back - so much open space - so many dogs.
Tallulah found a ball right away and spent most of the time fixated on this ball. She didn't play with too many other dogs, which is a bit unusual for her. But I think that she just really wanted to get into the lake. While at the lake we were met by another black goldendoodle. Come to find out this new GD, Clark, came from the same breeder as Tallulah. We think they even had the same dad. They did look a lot alike, Clark was much taller and curler but their faces were similar. On the way back from the lake we ran into yet another goldendoodle - but this one was actually golden, large and bounding.

It as quite a goldendoodle day.

And my sweet little girl is now clean, smelling good and sleepy. As nice as the other dogs were I still think Tallulah is the best out there!

puddles

I should just warn you now that the next week or so this site will be devoted to freaking out about the never ending rain.
I know it has only been a day - with at least 4 more to follow. And I know that I should just be grateful that we don't live in Greensburg, KS where a tornando wiped an entire town away.

But the basement is full of water. I just spent 30 min squeegeeing it down the drain and it's still full of puddles. Puddles in places we don't normally get puddles.

Rain, rain go-a-way!

Standing Water

Seriously - There is water everywhere- EVERYWHERE!!

The yard is nothing but a giant puddle. Places where we don't normally have standing water are now under inches of water.

I don't think we will be able to take much more of this.

We may float away.

It's Raining Again

That kind of hard constant rain that comes down too fast for the ground to absorb.
Rain the puddles in the grass and seeps into our basement because the earth that surrounds our house is nearly entirely clay. Clay that I could throw a pot with if I was so inclined. This thought was confirmed as we (and by we I mean Michael - I watched and gave helpful tips) dug a large hole and planted a weeping willow tree yesterday. After the first 3 inches of nice black soil came up we hit clay - thick and grey in parts, reddish in others, but always heavy and dense and not great for water absorption.
SHIT!!

That was some loud thunder - My heart is still racing a little.
Now the rain is coming down even harder. It's flooding out of our neighbors drain-pipe and right into our yard. Perfectly aimed at the already waterlogged foundation. There are big plans for digging French drains this summer.

The Willow tree has been planted in the soggiest part of the yard so hopefully it will do well. There was a Willow tree in the backyard of the first house I ever lived in and it had a tire swing. Not the kind you see in school yards but one like this. (Not the real swing, but the closest I could find with a quick image search) I have very fond memories of time spent in that swing. I think this is why Michael so readily agreed to Willow when something more like a Maple or Redbud would have suited the area better. But the Willow should look nice. It is very tall and straight and I can't wait for the branches to arch down, creating a magical little hide-a-way, perfect for dreaming.

I know that Michael and I will not live in this house forever. That once children arrive we will want a bigger place - one with more than one shower. But I still can't help thinking that this house, our first house together, will be the place where our children plant their first memories. And I want them to have a Willow tree...and a tire swing...and a yard filled with flowers they can pick and wear in their hair. So grow Willow tree grow! You've got til 2009 before we start trying for babies!

And it's still raining...and the water is coming in though the window. I've got to go clean that up.

It's Cinco d'Mayo!

Normally that calls for margaritas and spontaneous dance parties.
Today it calls for running errands, sanding trim, painting baseboards and general house fixing...and spontaneous dance parties!

I went tot the Royals game with my co-workers and Scott and Tricia last night. Michael stayed home so he could draw. Crazy. We had lots of fun. I wore my big pink sun-hat because you can never be too careful about UV rays, especially at a 7:10pm game on an already overcast day. Still I rocked the hat!

Katie, Tricia and I were all about the people watching and making fun of the a-hole who thought it was a really good idea to walk around without his shirt on - showing off his nipple rings! He kept trying to start the wave, but no one wanted to join in his shirtless antics. Twice he almost got in a fight. It was exciting.

It was also Fireworks Friday. They were cool, and at the end seemed a little too close. The three of us all leaned back simultaneously to escape the intense fireworkiness.

Here's to friends, fun and fireworks!
Oh, and the Royal's lost. Making me believe that my streak of never seeing the Royals win is stronger than Scott's - who has been to almost every home win they have had this season.

PHOTOS! (Enjoy Dad!)

Okay, Here we go.

First - this the the room BEFORE. Nothing special, nothing really wrong with it either. Except that it is so bland. Really, really bland and who puts carpeting in the room that leads out into the muddy backyard? Seriously people?!

This would be why someone carpeted this room. It was the easiest way to cover up the horrible tile that previously lived there.
This is the bright blue and about halfway through the scraping up the glued on carpet pad phase.

And the room now. I softer blue-green, grey tiles that are cool to the touch.

We will grout them this week, put up the baseboards and move in the furniture! Yippee.

So Sore

It only took 7 hours, but we have tile in the sun porch. it's not grouted yet and we can't walk on it for another day, but the tile is down as far as I'm concerned. While Michael prepped the sun porch I worked on planting the remaining pots that have been sitting around. It looks good, but I'm too tired to go take pictures.
Whoo!

Cold Snap

If you live in the Mid-West, East Coast or even the South, then you too are experiencing this freakish cold weather. A few weeks ago it was 80 degrees (which I admit is too hot for March) but now it is dropping below freezing at night and not getting much warmer during the days. This cold is killing my beautiful flowers; even though we have wrapped them in blankets every night. It is also killing my drive to do anything aside from snuggling in bed (or on one of the three couches that now reside in my living room) with my crossword puzzle book.

I haven’t been a total slug though! 8 panels of white sheer curtains have been hemmed and hung in the sun porch.

Sideways view of the curtains and the torn-up floor with some of the tile laid out.

I need to make one more half size panel for the far wall, but that might just have to wait a while. Once the sewing machine was out and the dining room had been completely taken over as project central I decided to start sewing up a yellow dress using a pattern that I found on my desk.

Vouge #V7848 (dress C) and it made me realize why I hate patterns – the sizes! I made a size 4 sizes bigger than I would buy at the store – the biggest option for this pattern set and it really looks too small. Seriously people?! Pattern sizing is just cruel. Plus it has a zipper – I’m afraid of zippers. Not once have I successfully put one in. So the yellow dress was packed up and I started on the next project. A tote bag to use when shopping at the Farmers Market (the Brookside market Opens this weekend – April 14^th baby!) made from some kind of vinyl that I’m not really excited about using due to the plastic texture of it, but it will be easy to hose out/wipe down and the design is really cute. This bag is so strange as I am not following any kind of pattern. Just giving it a try and if it works, it works and if not then that’s one less piece of fabric in my stash and that is okay.

On the knitting front it seems that the needles have gone into hiding. I really need to sit down and finish the pair of baby socks I’m 75% through…especially since the baby is due in 3 weeks! I should really also make a little baby jacket to go along with it. And I want to knit a shrug to wear with the yellow dress that I may or may not finish.

The sun porch...continued

Last weekend we painted the sun porch blue. And while we thought it might take some getting used to we realize now that it is just way too blue. Blue like the inside of a swimming pool. Or more precisely the same shade of blue that they paint the insides of the fountains at William Jewell. Clearly too blue.

You can't really tell from this picture, but the blue is really very bright!

So we have decided to re-paint. But before we re-paint we decided to pull out the carpet and prep the floor so we can lay tile on Friday.

Upon pulling of the carpet we discovered that it was glued down. Carpet glued to pad which was glued to linoleum, which is some parts of the room was glued to a second layer of linoleum then glued to the floor. YIPPEE!! So I ran off to Lowes for new paint, a giant floor scrapper and a dangerous solvent that removes many layers of glue. Dangerous solvent. I do like such things so I decided to just scrape the heck out of the floor in hopes that the "ds" would not have to be used! And as luck would have it 4 hours later our 8x9 ft room is down to the smooth(ish) concrete and the dangerous solvent remains unopened and ready to be returned. VICTORY! I am, how ever, sore in the entirety of my body and may have to spend the rest of the day lying down watching Hugh Grant movies.

The new paint color is called "Greek Sea" and is much greener, much greyer and looks much better with rest of the house. I'm not sure if we will get around to painting tonight as Michael is in there right now pulling up the baseboards which appear to be installed with 4-inch nails that make up for being unnecessarily long by being rather flimsy and breaking off leaving part of the nail in the baseboard and part in the wall. Good times.

Also we discovered mold (which I plan to tackle using the tea tree cleaner found in my new favorite book "Better Basics for the Home" - Thank-you Aunt Gail!) and 50+ years of dust. So even with my Allegra D I'm still feeling a bit like crap. This post has become a bit whinnier than intended, so I'll stop now saying that this room will be super-awesome even if it kill us!

Spring Cleaning Phase One (or maybe two)

Yesterday it was sleeting when we woke up and barely got above 30 all day. Today we were working in the yard enjoying the sunshine. I love Kansas City. The weather makes no since at all.
But this bought of nice weather has sent up on a spring cleaning rampage. We've cleaned out two closets and for the first time in months I can see the top of my desk. It's not super clean, but it is progress. We have also started a garage sale pile, it is amazing the amount of junk we have after only living here for two years. Admittedly much of the junk were things that moved with me from my parents house. I have trouble giving things up, which is why I have purses that I bought and jr. high and a jacket I bought with my first babysitting paycheck (when I was 12!!!). And now because this is my house and I can no longer stand the clutter I am getting rid of it! Really it is quite refreshing.
Michael did a fabulous job installing shelves into the guest room closet, which now holds all the junk I couldn't part with yet, but have no real use for. Maybe next spring.

I'll leave you with some pictures.

The daffodils in the front garden

Out regal puppy, looking much better now that she has a little more fur.
(Notice how well she is sitting? Thanks DW!)