More Growing Room

The story of our new raised bed starts with a spinning wheel...

A pre-loved Ashford Traditional purchased from a woman in the Pinellas Weavers Guild. 

When I brought it home and began to spin I decided I wanted to go to the Florida Fiber-In to learn more. I made my hotel reservations, and put it on my calendar: September 21-23... not my birthday, we were not out of town, seemed to perfectly fit.

Then life happened. Kirk became unemployed the last of July. As we work toward becoming self employed (that is a whole 'nother story), we are finding ways to accomplish what we want to do, and not spend much. As gas prices rise and food becomes more expensive for all the calamities of the seasons, I decided that I would really rather spend funds on more growing room instead of a vacation away from my guys.

We searched for leftover patio pavers on Craigslist and the Restore. No luck. Then realized we had enough 24 inch pavers to make a 48x72 inch garden. Decent size. Kirk brought home a couple 2x4s of wood which we sealed and combined with some leftover trex, built frames using the leftover bits from a Lee Valley Hardware kit purchased previously for the last raised bed. We used angle iron to fill in the pieces we were missing.

Yep, that's me, reading the downloaded instructions in iBook... and can you see the pavers in the background behind me? Wacky because we levered out the big ones and made a path for the moment with the "smaller" ones.

Together and Empty and needing a good cleaning

And here it is together, magically filled with dirt and with the wing of the "smaller" pavers to make a path around the edge for easy access and harvesting.

So what happened to the space we took the pavers from? Leftovers from the front sidewalk job...

Third Monday of the month

Back from a busy weekend:

• Dropped a few things at the local weekend Household and Chemical collection.
• Attended a class on Urban gardening. Nuggets of information.
• Attended a class on Permaculture (kind of). Nuggets of information.
• I think I was hoping to attend and come home to find my backyard transformed by my thinking about it. Oh well.
• Stopped by Ikea to pick up an Expedit to organized the rest of my fabric and yarn.

So then today brought:

• Sorted out the last fabric bin from the garage into an Expedit bin.
• Built the Expedit system.
• Mow the lawn.
• Moved the edging pavers to create a movable path along them.
• Trimmed the Oleanders.

I'm seeing a trend here. I'm better at outside projects right now...

Catching up

Lost the week in Blog-shere. And really haven't accomplished much in terms of house.

• I helped with our food co-op for the first time in a year. Clearing my schedule to make this a priority.
• Finished Iced Marlin knitted sweater. Yummy. And started sorting out the spare room and the pile-up of crafts and ideas.
• Signed up for 2 classes this weekend regarding urban growing, different places & teachers.
• Ironed my monthly allotment, really need to do this more often and not have so much to do at one time.
• and more I'm sure I can't remember...

Friday and Saturday

Saturday:

• Discovered the drain for the A/C in the garage is dripping onto the floor. Cut off the insulation that was installed and will watch for further drips. I did vacuum out the drain pipe, no clogs.
• FlyDaddeo got up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters.

Friday:

• Gardened. Not sure this counts... but it is what I did.

Thursday

• Gleaned the last of the grapefruit and delivered them to HS Co-op. Hopefully the tree can produce not as many this coming year.
• Wrote and mailed the Allstar Animal Dispute.
• Sold and delivered some of Kanga's books.
• Measured for cabinet door fronts for bookcase.

Wednesday

• The fan and tool came for Kanga's Mac. It is now installed and he is a happy camper.

Tuesday

• Balanced the washer and cleaned under both washer and dryer.

What to do for Monday

• Hemmed the curtains for the bedroom slider. 4 feet of floor space revealed.

Sunday at home

After our breakfast date, Flydaddeo made these refried beans for dinner. They smelled like garlic all day long as we were in and out and around. They are the best! I've tried many recipes unsuccessfully. Not these!

So what did we do today?

• Cleaned the lanai gutter drain after the storm last night.
• Cleaned the pool filter, again.
• Took apart Kangalord's Mac and cleaned the left fan in hopes that it would stop being noisy. It didn't. But the fan and tool are ordered and will be in the mail tomorrow hopefully. Should see it by the end of the week.
• Freecycled the modular stacking units that we had stored in the attic (and most recently in the garage). Off to their new home.

Working together

Mar 3

• Flydaddeo and I put the attic stored stuff back into the attic. We had taken it all down to sort through and then Christmas happened and then life happened. Now we have reclaimed 15 sq feet of garage floor!
• We raked and bagged the oak strings and leaves in the street gutter in preparation for rain tonight (crossing my fingers for it - maybe I'll go wash my car for insurance).
• Prepped the bin of books and magazines going to ARGH for the swap.
• Flydaddeo sorted the cleaners and crate of misc from NC cleaning and determined what needs to go to the HEC drop off and stored the rest.

Yea Us!

A new March

Been a year since I posted last... where does that time go? Signed on to start my list for March and now I'm wondering if I should update or just move forward. I think I'll head on. I'll grab a cuppa and start my list.

Yesterday I started thinking about all the "house projects" and other things I've left hanging as I pursue other interests. And I realized that those things that I have left undone take energy even if I don't "see" them. In celebration of the Ides of March, winds of change, I'm attempting to SEE what is around me and DO something (create change) every day. And since I am a list maker, even to the point of doing something and adding it to the list so I can cross it off - yes in that order - I'm going to track the process here. What have I done so far?

Mar 1

• Mowed the lawn in freakin' 80 degree temperature on the 1st and a small amount weed-eating.
• Cleaned the pool filter to remove the pollen and oak string bits.
• Fixed the toilet seat that slipped. Yup small thing, big difference.

Mar 2

• Dug up the jasmine and climbers from the side fence where they were buried by the layers of traveler palms and j... trees (have to look up the name). Moved them to the white fence at the back of the yard, did I say white? I mean WHITE reflective vinyl fence. I'm hoping the trellises and the jasmine do okay, but I'm not above replacing as the roots didn't come out completely and I need a feeling of shade.
• Used the blower to push the oak strings and leaves off the lanai screening.
• Put away the camping gear that got sorted for Flydaddeo's trip to NC.

Perhaps I am ahead of myself by doing more than one thing a day, however I am sure there will be busy, less noticing days. And who knows, I might run out of things to do...

Settling into spring

After a long cooler than usual winter, we are having our Florida spring with leaves coming down as well as pollen. I suppose it gets it all over in one season!

We changed the front yard to native plants and pine (!) mulch. No growing ground cover yet as we still have to go after the strays bits periodically. But much less yard work in the front and we like it visually! Plus the wildlife should like it and we like butterflies, etc.

Left and right views of our back yard. Rubber tree stump is still there, but working on that. I think a lemon tree will go into that area. The banana tree on the right, far right, looks like it will produce again. We had bananas growing in October, but the frost of Nov/Dec put the brakes on that. The grapefruit tree produced this year and I am enjoying a fruit after yard work every day, trying to clear the tree so the flowers that are setting get their full attention.

Conscious Eating

I found a recipe that spoke to my soul. I had checked out The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper on the recommendation of a friend (thanks Laura) and was reading the recipes and side bits when

Coriander-Orange-Scented Red Lentil Soup spoke to me. (Coriander = Cilantro). It was SO GOOD!

Some of you might be familiar with Splendid Table on NPR. I enjoy it when I catch it. This book lets me catch it on my time.

Learning the craft of knitting (better)

Check this out! I have joined the ranks of "those sock knitters". I finished a pair and they came out relatively the same size (with a needle size change between the two). Grandmother W taught me (many) years ago and I dabbled in the back and forth making a few scarves. This winter I decided to take it further. I knit a few doily-type hot pads, and a set of training socks to understand the concept of the parts, then got to work. Kirk is enjoying them, says they are warm and comfy. A new set is now started on the needles... hoping they fit me :-)

Garden Update

I was out weeding and realized how long it has been since I sent a garden update. January brought freezing temps that finished our tomatoes and peppers, unfortunately they were loaded with vegies at the time. But the great news is that the radishes survived, along with the onions, carrots, garlic, oregano and garlic chives. So we have herbs to cook with, radishes in our salads and soon the onions and carrots.

This week I cleaned out the weeds and added new mulch. A few tomatoes and pepper plants went in (they are little so I figure I can cover them if it freezes any time soon). And beets and nasturtium seeds, along with trying my hand at growing garbanzo beans.

The sad looking potted plant is the gardenia, which really does not like temps under 60. It does have new growth, so I remain hopeful, as I love the flowers. The hibiscus also looks pretty sad, but new buds and I'm sure red flowers are just around the corner.

Happy growing!

Turtle Square 3

Here is my latest and last square for inclusion in the 2010 Turtle Breast Cancer (Bead) Quilts. Turtle designed by my mom Dottie using large beads and background is triangle stitch with bugle beads. If you are snowed in... got beads? Get busy!

Wide Open Spaces

We travelled at the beginning of November. Along with visiting family in Bay City, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah, we took an overnight trip to Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah. It was a walk down memory lane for me, but it was a whole new experience for hubby and son. We ate lunch at Mom's Cafe in Salina and made it to the park in time to hit Sunset Point for sunset, at about 8000 ft elevation. We spent the night at Ruby's Inn just outside the park and then spent the next day visiting many different view points and walking some of the trails. Filled my soul.

OOPs there goes...

Our rubber tree coming down. Our neighbor asked us to trim it as it was hanging over their shed door on the other side of the fence. Once we started... we decided to take it all down and put in something that is not 25 feet tall and wide! This will give our small back yard more visual space, but I will miss the shade.

One thing connected to another thing and that thing connected to..

Once upon a time there was a family that decided to do some home remodeling. They took apart the ceiling and changed it a bit, then they started to put things back together. They realized if they want to do that then the walls are connected to it and if they want to bead board on the walls then the baseboard coving needs to be changed. And if the coving needs to be changed then the flooring has to go. Next thing they know, they dumped the old vanity and the toilet and are scraping the vinyl off the floor. Thinset and tiles and tools later the rebuilding starts.

If you think it is not all connected, think again.

Pulling crepes

Yummy... Blueberries, yogurt, and a bit of juice.