Greenhouse/Garden update

The "Greenhouse", though not fancy, has been a constant source of enjoyment for me these last couple weeks. Right now I have planted Chamomile, Thyme (sprouted this morning!), Catnip, Chives, Oregano, (2) hot Peppers (the boys really did those), and for fun, the beginnings of a couple each Summer and Winter Zucchini for the garden. The Baby Sage plant also resides among the seedlings.

Making my own potting soil has been the most rewarding. I took a few bucketfuls of raw soil out of the garden when I planted the peas and potatoes, and have been mixing it with old dry potting soil, fertilizer, and slightly composted leaves from last fall. Then I spend a while breaking up all the little chunks and making it fluffy and dark and beautiful.

Sunday the boys helped me plant a small row of lettuce in the herb garden, which gets a little less sun than the main garden. I will probably put the cucumbers out there as well when they are ready to go in.

And honorary mention to the little pea that sprouted overnight. So, with Thyme and Peas leading the charge, greenness is on the horizon.

Vernal Equinox

And under the direction to Make A Funny Face

Yet again

It is 3:30 am and I hear banging in the other room. I wish now I had stuck with my first instinct which was to roll back over and go back to sleep, but I remembered that I had those pesky responsibilities as an adult and parent to investigate such things.

It was Mike, moving storage containers and laying down towels. All that cementing and work we did on the basement walls was dying little by little under the new rains on already soaked soil from all the melting snow. Six hours later we finally have it under control. Luckily, the ironically unlucky gentleman that got the 6 am Saturday shift at Lowe's seemed very knowledgeable about such issues and found a product that is (so far) working exponentially better than the last cement mixture. And then about an hour ago, the heavy rains slowed for the foreseeable forecast, and we have a complete rain break for at least a few hours.

Even more lucky, the boys slept through the worst of it and got up at their normal time. So I decided, now that their getting old enough to retain more of such things, that we would have a special out of the ordinary day. They are to pretend that they woke up and there was some sort of unknown emergency, and they were alone in the house with no one to watch them. We talked about it for a few minutes and their first order of business was to find something to eat for breakfast, and problem solve how to handle the situation.

I left them alone for a bit and they played their normal games in the morning before breakfast, but were supposed to be thinking about what they might find to eat. After awhile, Brent proclaimed he was hungry and managed to scrounge up a healthy bag of Oreos. Which he promptly asked me to open.

"I'm not here, remember?" I said. "You have to find something to eat that you can safely open and will be as healthy as possible"

45 minutes later:

Brent: "Mommy, can you seriously just open the oreos for me, I'm getting hungry".

Alex: Still playing Mario Bros.

Me: "Well, if you are really hungry, then you'll find a way to open it, or you'll find something else. Aren't those rolls over there in an easy-to-open container?"

Brent: "But I don't want rolls."

Me: "Okay, I guess you're not going to survive very long in this kind of situation" And I went back to water containment.

Another 45 minutes later, I walk in and find them both chowing down on goldfish crackers. We took a few minutes to go over their game plan, which involved, at this point, calling 911 to tell someone they couldn't find their parents. Assuming they just needed to wait for someone to come rescue them (I'll explore other situations another day), we talked about finding things to do to keep safe (like playing video games or the computer, or quietly with their toys) and not being scared.

Brent: "Mommy...this is boring. Can you get me a glass of milk?"

Me: "No, I'm not 'here' today. And drinking is very important. What are you going to find to drink?"

So he goes over to the fridge and drags the milk to the table - barely. Not wanting to find a cup, he just drank some sparkling juice water on the table. "Can you just put the milk away for me?"

"No, Brent... we're trying to learn about safely surviving for a few hours alone, I'm not here to put it away for you." So he went back to his computer game, and we had a talk about what happens to milk if you leave it out. He's so annoyed at this "Emergency Day" that I was so proud of implementing finally that it's all I can do not to laugh at him.

Meanwhile, Alex is vegging out to Mario still and verbally planning his course of action should he come across a scary evil squirrel while no one is here. -Back Away Slowly- is what he finally came up with, before picking his next level on World 7.

So far everyone is using the bathroom without being reminded, and my only worry is that the police will have to manually pry their hands from the Wii controllers. It's 9:40, and Brent is back at the goldfish, finally bored with playing games and just watching Alex. Oblivious to their plight, they strategize together about fire flowers and level shortcuts.

Lunch updates to come...

Garden Update 1

Since the nice weather started on Saturday, I've gone out every day and hand tilled the top layer of the garden to dry it out for Tilling (I capitalize it because it demands respect).

After a quick trip to fill the gas can and a picnic lunch on the finished portion of the new deck, I Tilled all of the vegetable garden. Then I raked out the clods of grass from the extended area that we added this year. Which didn't like being Tilled. At all. But I persevered.

The boys re-evaluated their plot now that it looked more like a garden, and were still unmoved at this point. They placed their rocks in the middle of their section again and managed not to run through the freshly Tilled garden on their way out. A major victory in itself.

The herb garden is coming along. It is more shaded, and still too damp to Till, but I worked it by hand some more and got a few more piles of rocks out. The big surprise yesterday was the baby sage plant that had seeded beside the one from last year. I gave him some special soil and a new pot, and he is viewing life from the greenhouse now. Last year I got enough leaves from the main bush that I was able to make 5 or 6 sage bundles for incense, as well as crumble enough to use in cooking over the winter. I'm SO happy to see the baby sprout and hope that it grows as strong as the first.

With any luck, peas and lettuce and potatoes will be in the ground next week. And maybe by then the gods of the Roto-Tiller will see fit to let my back straighten up again.

The Great Thaw

I was too busy enjoying the day outside yesterday to take any pictures. But the faces on those boys when they got to go outside in short sleeves was amazing! I worked on hand tilling and picking rocks out of the garden while they ran around it (and through it, to my many protests), rescuing princesses and defeating nameless bad guys with their wooden stick 'light sabers'.

Each of them is getting their own section of the garden this year for planting a few things. Alex chose carrots and strawberries, and Brent wants a cherry tomato, two lettuce plants, and strawberries. There is an abundance of quartz on the property, so we searched until we found two nice sized chunks, and they put their best energy into the rock they chose and placed it in the middle of their small plot of land. Part of their morning studies this summer will be to go out every day - weather permitting - and take care of their plantings. I would love to say they are excited, but for now it leans toward indifferent. Hopefully they will enjoy and learn from it as the summer wears on.

We also cleaned off a picnic table and brought it up to the house. Right now they are out there eating their lunch, and this evening we're having a Taco Bell Picnic to cap off the day.

Quick side story:

Last weekend when I was taking Brent up to see his dad, we started talking about birthdays (yes, he's already began a countdown on his). I told him mine was only going to be in 3 months, and inquired about what he was going to get me.

Without hesitation, he said "I'm going to get you a NEW TV.....(perfectly timed pause)...remote control. Then a bathtub, and a new car." He closed his eyes and nodded for emphasis, pleased with his choices. He may have skimped with the remote, but the car will make up for it. Not sure where I'm going to put the bathtub. Maybe it will make a nice planter for some flowers. :)

Fun with my new computer

Rest in peace, little partner...