Fathers Day

Twice this year we've convinced our parents to volunteer themselves to doing yardwork. Do I sound like a horrible person if I say they worked on Mother's Day and Father's Day? Somehow we convinced them that they should be doing yardwork instead of relaxing and letting us pamper them.

To be fair, I did ask my dad to bring his rototiller when he visited over the weekend, but I'm pretty sure that he volunteered to do the tilling. I think he wanted to make sure we knew how it worked.

For us, the purpose for the rototilling was really just an attempt to get rid of weeds. There's a back section of our yard that we just can't manage. I don't know how so many weeds propegate there - they just do. I don't know why I thought loosening and blending the dirt around the weeds would make them go away. Have I mentioned I'm new at this gardening thing?

It was sort of a wet and gloomy weekend, but we made the most of it by having a Father's Day picnic inside with my sister and her family, who had also come to visit. Dad managed to get a small section of the yard tilled in a couple of hours and we all had an opportunity to get a little muddy.
While Dad was tilling, hubby dug up the massive tree root left by the cherry tree we'd had cut down in the spring. Ella watched for a bit while we all worked in the rain, then decided she wanted to get in on the fun.

Our goal is to flatten out the back section of the yard, re-seed, and put in some nice border plants. At some point we'll have a chicken coop and a stone patio area with a fire pit. This all seems like such a slow process, but someday it will be a nice little oasis.

Balance

I'm not trying to get all motivational poster on anyone, but as I was trying to figure out how to get caught up on old blog posts, I realized there's a fine line between a being able to juggle a lot and total chaos. It's all about balance.

I'm currently trying to fight my way out of the land of chaos. I know people have methods of keeping everything in life nicely organized - but these days I can't figure out how to do it myself. I feel bad even complaining, but with new work projects, existing house projects, and an attempt at a social life, this once overly organized human has turned into a scatter-brained zombie. I don't remember where I've put something I moved 10 minutes ago.

I started this post in April (It's almost November). Sad, I know. My goal is to take 30 minutes each day, for 30 days to get completely caught up on my posts. Fingers crossed...

Inspiration

I love getting together with hubby's Minnesota friends. Whether it's a Tuesday night out in Minneapolis with grad school buddies or an impromptu visit with high school friends passing through Seattle - I'm constantly inspired by how creative and interesting the group always is.

Don't get me wrong, my friends are pretty rad, but the friends I've gained because I got lucky and met a charmingly handsome down-to-earth dude from Minnesota, it's like I hit the friend jackpot.

Some background. Last weekend, Sully, who lives in San Francisco was in town for a quick visit. Sully, Cramer (who lives in Seattle), Lindsay and hubby are all high school friends. Lindsay and her husband Bob live in Port Townsend. For living as close as we do, we don't see them as much as we should.

The night of the Super Moon, Sully, Cramer, hubby and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and met Bob and Lindsay at the Harbor Public House. It was such a great night. Lindsay and Bob talked about their latest adventure in PT which includes going 'off the grid'. People say this, but these guys mean business. Their blogs chronicle their life and adventures, including renovating vintage travel trailers, making bagels, and living off the land. They make everything look fun and easy!

We spent the evening sharing stories, catching up, and laughing lots. It was a great night with good friends, but one of the best parts of the evening was at the end, as Bob and Lindsay loaded us in their car for a ride back to the Ferry landing, Bob handed us a bag of his famous bagels. They are SO good, I'm half tempted to move to Port Townsend just to have these once a week!

Garden: Year Two

It's year two of the garden and I don't feel any more experienced this year than last. I probably should have tended to my dirt a little better, added some amendments or compost, and stuff.

Seattle Tilth has a few yearly sales of veggie and edible plant starts. I have found that starts are SO much easier than trying to grow seeds (especially considering how little warmth and sunshine we actually get here in Seattle). I went to this year's early sale with my friend Whitney. I'm pretty sure we planted our lettuce and other starts at the same time, but Whitney's lettuce grew like GANGBUSTERS and mine looked like it was shrinking! I've learned my lesson - next year I'm using a cloche.

I don't mean to make it sound like the entire garden was a bust. A couple of things have grown really well. I planted garlic in October and kiwi vines last summer and they both are looking great. Apparently they like the cold Spring.

After this year's crop is done I'll really need to do some research on soil amendments and how to help things grow a little better next year. I picked up a great Tilth book that tells me what do to every week throughout the year. My dad told me to buy it and it's awesome! Speaking of Tilth, one of my favorite gardening websites, DigginFood, is by a Tilth volunteer and master gardener, Willie Galloway. I learned about Willi and her blog listening to KUOWs Greenday. There are several gardening experts on Greenday - but there's something about Willie that makes me feel like gardening is cool. Even though this year's garden didn't start out spectacular, I'm still going to keep trying. Growing your own food is pretty cool and I can't wait to get better at it!