Friday Garden

Here we go again...

Establishing shot.  Can't believe how much has grown in one week.  I got out and trimmed back lawn and weeds, for a tidier look.

Tomatoes and melons.  The Early Girls are almost as tall as the Big Mommas.  Melons are doing well. too.

I potted several of the pepper plants, because most of them were getting over shadowed by the tomatoes.  So now I have 'Pepperland'!

Kitchen bed is well.  Two new garlic have sprouted!

Blackberry is healthy !

Onions and garlic!  New garlic sprouts in the lower-left quadrant!

Tiger Lilies and Royal Candles.

Tiger Lilies, and the lost-in-the-weeds blueberry!

Audit The IRS - 6/19 (Updated and Bumped)

More here!

I'd love to go, but the cost of gas is, shall we say, prohibitive.  I'm looking for someone in the York/Lancaster, PA area who would like to drive and split the cost of gas.  (I'll drive and split the cost if you prefer.)

Leave a comment if you're interested.

Thanks!

Update:  I've been put in touch with a group that is arranging buses to the rally.  The pick up sites are relatively close to the York PA area (Westminster, MD, Owings Mills, MD, and near Towson and Bel-Air as well.)

Info and sign-up at: Restore America's Mission

Father's Day, 2013 (Updated)

Had a nice, long chat with the Kiddo.  She was sitting in her car, on top of The Rim at the Billings airport, knitting while we chatted.  She had sent me a present, which arrived Friday.  I told her that I would wait until today to open it.  I resolved to open it when she called.  She called once, but it rolled to voice mail without ringing.  I left a message on her's, and since she had called, decided to go ahead and open it!

To my joy and surprise, it was a cook book holder.  It's collapsible, to the size of a smallish cigar box laptop.  And, it has some storage!  And a conversion chart, from teaspoons to cups, to ounces to milliliters.

The book support has a clip for holding recipe cards and such.

And of course it holds books!

Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man by Steve H. Graham

As part of dinner this evening, Crock Pot Beans!

`

If you're wondering...

1 lb white beans                       1 c brown sugar

1 large onion                             1/3 c yellow mustard
1 lb ham, in chunks                  1/4 c cider vinegar
1 12oz can diced tomatoes     1 tbsp liquid smoke 
1 can tomato paste                   1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
About 20 oz stew run-off (chicken or beef - I'm not sure which.  Smelled good, tho.)

I started soaking the beans Friday night to de-gasifiy them.  (Safety tip!!)

Saturday afternoon, I put everything into the crock pot, and cooked on high for about 6 hours.  I turn to low when I went upstairs, and let it go over night.  Turned down to warm this morning when I got up.

All of the above are "to taste", measurement approximate, since I squeeze and splash instead of measuring.  YMMV!  I neglected to account for heat - a couple of Thai Hot Peppers should probably have gone in, but I can always add some Tapatio if I need heat!

Dinner: planning on grilling a couple of burgers (if it doesn't rain), and having some mashed potatoes. Brownies for dessert!

Update:
I should have added more sugar.  The amount I used was what normally works well when I use catsup instead of canned tomatoes.  Also, some more liquid smoke.  I didn't get around to brownies, but I did grill the burgers outside.  And got beer.

All in all, a great Father's Day.

I May Not Be Spock...

...but I had some cool toys to share!

The Kiddo and me, at the Bird Farm, 2004-ish.

My Dad Is...

...Mr. Spock!

OK, you win.

(Via Post Secret!)

Friday's Friday Garden (I know!!)

Got back from Gettysburg on a beautiful Spring day, with my phone in my pocket, so, pictures!!

First, the top of the stairs establishing shot.  All of the rain and sun have engreenified things tremendously.

The nascent blackberries:

Yellow onions on the right, and 15 garlics in the upper left quadrant. I put some Thai Hot pepper seeds down the middle of the lower left, along with four red onions I salvaged, and the more garlic.

 The Quince, garlic, Early Girl tomatoes and the peppers are well:

The Big Mommas (on the left) are living up to their name, almost obliterating the peppers.  I'm not used to tomato plants this big.

Three buds on one of the Big Mommas:

And two small, green tomatoes on the other!

The kitchen bed is well, as are the Tiger Lilies and the Royal Candles.  Photos I took, not so much.  I've added some garlic and pepper to the kitchen bed, and I have another sprout in the sprouting set that I put together.  I'll find out what it is (looks like maybe a pepper), and figure out where to put it!

Walking The Dogs

I have an appointment with a neurologist this coming Friday, to see if we can figure out what the next step in the drama that has been my partial paralysis.  I have been pushing myself a bit every day, and lately I have been able to walk short distances.

Today, I took the dogs for a walk.  I doubt we went a quarter mile, round-trip.  Up the alley to Main, and down Main past the gym, the big antique store,  the kid clothing consignment shop, the seamstress, to the insurance agency.  We went down the walk there to the alley, and back to the house.

I started to run out of gas before we got home, so I slowed up, and let the dogs pull me a bit.  Sat out on the patio for about a half hour, then came in for treats and Cokes.

Woo-hoo!