Month: May 2008

Doing the Spring Shuffle

Marie Haigh5 Comments

It is supposed to climb to 80 degrees F today. I have drug my feet long enough. It is time to put away the long underwear and wool sweaters.

Once I started, it was a joy to see all my summer dresses again. Dan, ever the laid-back man, was just as relieved to have his short sleeved work shirts back. Two crates of summer clothes came out of the cedar closet. Four crates and one basket have to fit back in. Unless I remove some of my wool, they won’t make it.

I am NOT removing my wool from the safety and security of the cedar closet. There are wicked and evil moths flitting about. I have skeins of wool that are OOAK (one of a kind).

I will be as reasonable as a yarn lover can be. I will tuck the hand knit and 100% wool sweaters into the cedar closet. My treasured stoles and shawls will remain tucked away in my cedar drawer. However, the cotton and acrylic clothing will have to make do in our guest bedroom closet.

None of this needs to be mentioned to Dan. If you see him, mum’s the word.

A Vegetable Garden planted

Marie Haigh6 Comments

There is something besides just dirt in my raised bed!

The following seeds or seedlings were planted on Saturday:

9 Roma tomato seedlings
2 Big Boy tomato seedling
3 store-bought Strawberry seedlings
3 wild strawberry seedlings from the patch growing in my backyard (I’m not sure how this patch came to be, but it is starting to take over a large swath of land behind my Sweet Gum tree. I may have to do something about it in the next year or so).
Several bulbs from 1 onion set
1 seed packet of Anise
1 seed packet of Mint (Ostracized in the small container to the right of the raised bed because mint has a nasty reputation)

Though I wanted to plant pumpkin squash (Neck pumpkins), Dan was adamant that I not plant pumpkins of any sort in the bed. He said it would ruin my garden, since they are a hearty and invasive plant. Determined to have enough strawberries to make jam, I opted to forgo fresh pumpkin. I won’t have any other plant undermining my jam efforts.

The amount of tomato plants may seem large, but I have yet to plant enough to make one large batch of homemade tomato sauce or tomato soup without supplementing the recipe with store-bought canned tomatoes. Three years ago, I had dreams of canning my own tomatoes. I assumed that tomatoes were a very prolific plant, similar to a zucchini plant. Alas, it’s not so. Part of the problem, perhaps, lays on my head. I love tomatoes. I am a firm believer that tomatoes make everything taste better. Of course, some of the tomatoes don’t even make it into the house. What sort of a cook would I be if I didn’t sample the ingredients? Rather than try to eat fewer tomatoes, I decided that my only option was to plant more tomatoes. Here’s hoping 11 tomato plants is enough to quench my appetite.

Every morning before I venture into the garden, I have been knitting a few rows on my Happy Marriage lace design.

It is slowly starting to take shape.

Jake’s Birthday Presents

Marie Haigh6 Comments

Yesterday was Jake’s birthday! He is 5 years old now.

Rather than traditional dog gifts, Jake received two chestnut tree saplings and a record player.

In a word – boring.

Ungrateful lout.

Giggle. OK. I’ll confess; the gifts were for me. They just happened to arrive on Jake’s birthday.

The trees were planted straight away. I took care of the digging, watering, and mulching while Jake supervised to ensure everything was done to spec. I have named them Cleo and Mark in the hopes that they will be renowned lovers – as Cleopatra and Mark Antony were – and lavish me with a huge crop of chestnuts every year.

It may take a while for the first batch of chestnuts to be realized. They are awfully small right now.

Later that evening, I played my record player for both Jake and Dan. Enthusiasm waned in each of their responses. I tried to live without one; I honestly did. My old record player died approximately a month ago. I piled up all my LPs and stored them in the office. I pulled out my CD collection and and drug it into the kitchen with the hopes they would help me forget. The trick worked for about a week. Yet, there is no lap over between the two collections. None of my CDs include artists from my LP collection and vice verse. I could, as many people have done, purchase CD versions of all the LPs that I own. Yet, it seems like a waste of good money. I already own the music. Why should I buy it again? Plus, I would lose the sound of the vinyl and the joy I get from finding old LPs for sale.

I caved. I bought a Crosley stack-able record player (model #CR85) from Second Chance Crosleys.

It’s so wonderful to be able to listen to my LP’s again.

Gardening and Knitting Progress

Marie Haigh3 Comments

It is resting right now.

I finished shoveling the topsoil into the beds on Monday. My gardening book, The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith, recommends that the bed be allowed to rest for a week before you start jamming seeds and seedlings into it. I’m too impatient to allot it a whole week. Five days is going to have to suffice. Weather permitting, my tomatoes are going in this weekend. I’ve also added one more plant to my list of veggies/herbs to grow this season: mint. I mix dried mint leaves into several of my daily teas; it is divine in a cup of Irish Breakfast. To be able to grow my own mint leaves and then dry them in the basement would save me a lot of money.

Onto knitting news, my 4th tie in the Christmas Tree skirt is complete. Well, complete is a bit of a stretch. I have finished knitting it – would be more accurate. Ends still need to be woven in. Then, it has to be washed and blocked. Finally, it has to be seamed to the 3rd tie.

Five more ties to go. I’m looking forward to a Christmas in September. You can bet your bottom dollar that my tree is going up the moment I finish knitting the tree skirt. I won’t be adverse to small fireworks being set off afterwards. Of course, fireworks would require a discussion with Dan about what is the proper level of enthusiasm when your wife finishes knitting a large project. I suppose he would want to discuss with me the proper level of enthusiasm one is supposed to have when GTA4 (Grand Theft Auto for you non-gamers) is released. I am ashamed to say that I did not take two days off of work to play the game nor did I stay up till 6 am the morning after it was released. Guess who did?