Tuesday Garden Party June 21st 2011

June 21, 2011 6 Comments

Wow I have been away a long time…not really away, just busy and coping with my new diagnosis.  I am finding it harder and harder to do the things I would like to do so my garden is not going to be as lovely as everyone else’s, but it is my garden and I like it!  My sweet granddaughter was here for the past week and she liked to “help”. 

With the diagnosis of lupus I must stay covered and wear hats outside all the time along with a light long sleeve shirt.  Luckily Humboldt County does not get that warm really so a light long sleeve shirt is comfortable most of the time.  Ally had to wear one of my new hats  as she “helped”.

Yes she still has her PJ’s on!  Those are miniture calla lillies she is watering. 

My peony actually bloomed this year.  I think it needed fresh soil and a slightly bigger pot, which DH took care of and we have been rewarded with:

Funny it is the same shade as the rose it sits next to, I guess I could have DH move it.

I changed out the primrose with new plants on my driveway planter, transferring the primroses into new containers to hopefully show them again next year:

My columbines and foxgloves have put on a nice show:

Lastly this week, my bleeding heart is blooming, it never really seems to do more than the year before, I am wondering if it is in too shady of an area in our entryway area:

It is surrounded by pots with baby Japanese maple trees from the 40-year-0ld one we have in the back yard.  It is interesting each year to see how far the seeds go and start to grow about the back yard.  I found one this year in our half wine barrel where we grow our herbs.  I must try to go get a picture of it!

Check out www.anoregoncottage.com for other inspiring posts (not that mine is inspiring!) haha.

We have had several bird nests in the trees in the surroundng yards and have found several babies that didn’t make it and the other day a real bird (as in not right out of the egg) was lying on our new patio.  We figure it must have ran into the sliding glass door.  It makes me sad.

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Tuesday’s Rainy Garden Party May 31, 2011

May 31, 2011 1 Comment

See previous post if you wonder where I have been!  However, I have to admit I spent a lot of time outside when DH was sick, just so I did not have to listen to him moaning…..

Finally dug that sucker out!  Saved a small piece and planted since I knew DH’s heart would be broken, but it was taking up prime gardening real estate!

Here it is in the southwest corner of our lot up against a fence area.

My poor blueberries have still not been planted, but I am trying to keep the area weed-free.

There is my companion, Landon, who I keep telling to keep out of the garden areas!  He doesn’t listen.

Here are some impatients I planted against my house. 

 

It is raining hard here today in Northern California, but I will have more pictures next week hopefully, now that DH is well (more or less) and my lupus drugs are working fairly well. 

Check out everyone else’s progress at http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2011/05/tuesday-garden-party-some-highlights.html

I get lots of inspiration there!

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52 Weeks…..Starting again…

May 27, 2011 7 Comments

 

I could go into great detail, but let’s just keep it to:

1.  Trip to San Francisco for Giants game.

2.  DH gets sick and after a week is admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.

3.  The day he is admitted I am diagnosed with Lupus.

4.  Middle daughter, Emily, is driving cross country from Reno, Nevada to her new job in Charleston, SC.  So I have to worry about tornadoes and strangers.

Here are a few highlights, but the main point is I have not organized a thing.  Just taking care of DH has been a full-time job.  However, I did take 2 hours away from the hospital (when DH had a friend visiting) to watch Bridesmaid’s after Iris’ hilarious review.  My older daughters were seeing it that day and I just spur of the moment thought I have got to get out of here.  I told DH I was going home to rest after all I do have lupus….., but veered into the local theatre on the way home and the movie was just starting.  Just what I needed!

Me so happy to have not just one, but 2 Websters, the gold one with an extension to reach the highest points of my house so I don’t have to wait for DH to come and get cobwebs down (I am talking outside).  We have a terrible spider web problem here in Northern California and you house can be as messy as you want, but for some reason I HATE seeing cobwebs around a front door!  I confess I am very judgmental when it comes to that.  But hey if it looks like a storm went through your house, I have no problem with that.  At this point I had no idea what the next 2 weeks would hold for me….. I was just blissfully envisioning a cobweb free zone…..

Are we having fun yet?

Well these two obviously are.  MD asked an Arizona player as they were on the field warming up if she could “have his balls”, which apparently cracked up everyone around her.  First he gave one to a little boy and then to her…of course….she is a fake blond by the way, but was a sweet little blond 2 year old who caused people to ask who her father was….DH did not find that amusing…how did I get off on that.  She is 30 now and is acting like a 14-year-old!  I have to admit my girls are a lot of fun.  Just watching all the men look at them and make remarks as we walked a distance behind them into the pregame sports bar for dinner was pretty entertaining. 

This was parked outside our hotel.  I think it was a BMW, but I just had to take a picture and share. 

The view of the city after the golden gate is beautiful:

Oh wait, that’s Sausalito….

Aah there it is…San Francisco.

So life has been rough as evidenced by:

My former lovely dining room table that was even featured one of Laura’s 52 weeks posts (www.orgjunkie.com) :

Ooh that Mother’s Day orchid does look pretty though doesn’t it!  I have missed keeping up on everyone’s progress and hope to get back to my habit of reading every single entry of this challenge.  It really does help keep me motivated.

And for all you Southerner’s ahem (coughirsiscough) this is what a real taco shell is:

Taken at a Walmart somewhere south of us since our county will not allow one.  Here are a few closeups in case anyone is confused:

and our favorite:

Also I have discovered at Costco a delightful new adult beverages for those of you with children out of school or soon to be.  It can be disguised as lemonade.  Just make sure you have real lemonade when the kids want some. 

You can even pretend to me one of those totally together fabulous Italian women like DH’s TV girlfriend Giada:

2 parts Lemoncello

1 part San Pellegrino

Squeeze of lemon

Perfection!  If you are feeling really elegant, slice a lemon and put on the side of your glass!

Happy Organizing.  Hope to see you next week with someting accomplished!

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52 weeks—-I did something!!

May 6, 2011 6 Comments

Photobucket

I figured after semi-sort of organizing the past couple of weeks I needed a real problem area to fix.  One cupboard I open every day is my coffee cupboard which also holds my most used leftover containers and the containers I use or DH’s breakfast and lunches that I pack for him every day (excet this morning when I dragged myself out of bed only to realize he had left already, I’m telling you that new drug regimen is helping me sleep really well!).

Anyhoo during my time of figuring out what I was going to do I used my last paper towel and was left with this:

 I wondered if I should start saving them for Iris….http://www.thebeardediris.com/2011/05/03/pootorial/. I mean does she have enough for all three of her kids to have fun?  Besides I love being the person that my neighbor knows I will have whatever she needs like foil, cooking oil, sugar, ketchup and yesterday zit medication!  Yes I found some Oxy spot treatment in my cabinet as little Paisley used Ally’s potty.  Then I gave her some whipped cream:

Okay enough chit chat onto the cupboard:

Not sure why some of my pictures are blurry, sorry…anyway here is what was in the cabinet:

We also had 2 big bag of Costco sized Starbucks French Roast beans.  I am not one of those “I hate starbucks coffee” people…..obviously we  love it:

Well I cleaned out the garage cupboard that held the large bags of coffee, put the cereal up with the other 8 boxes, the pasta with the other pasta and ended up with:

Wow look at that….empty space!!

The garage cabinet went from:

 to this:

Omgosh more empty space!!   See the coffee on the second shelf?  I am only keeping one at a time in the kitchen.  As I was moving all my food around I started to understand why those extreme hoarders, er I mean couponers keep rearranging their food stash.  I felt like I needed to rearrange mine to get all my beans and marinara sauces together:

But I have way too much stuff going on in the next week to deal with that now.  I had a flat of impatients to plant.  My DH’s brother and SIL are arriving Saturday.  We are having brunch here on Sunday.  Monday I have a quilting class AND an appointment with an attorney for a consult on my comp claim.  Then Tuesday we are driving to San Franciso to meet our older daughters for a Giant’s Game.  Before Tuesday I need to finish the quilt tops I bought as kits for them.  I finished one yesterday and will work on the other again tonight during sit on our butts and watch TV time.  Here are the fabrics:

And then just for fun, what do you think is beneath the pillows of our quickly made bed?

It’s this:

Yes he actually did not move as I made the bed around him.  What a lazy ass dog.  The only time he gets to sleep in our bed is when DH is gone, as he was that night/morning since he had play-off tickets for the San Jose Sharks.   He is so smart, that night he jumped out of his usual bed and jumped right up on our bed.  He knew somehow that daddy was gone and he got to sleep with me that night.  Obviously the next morning, he wanted to enjoy the bliss as long as he could!

I know I said I would print my freezer inventory, but I will save that probably for next week, when I will have even less time than I did this week to accompish something.  So my typing it into a list will look like I accomplished something next week!

This week’s questions:

  1. Do you sometimes use limited funds as an excuse not to get organized?  Not really, I’m pretty cheap so I always look for bargains…like my 41 baskets from Kohl’s I got for 80% off!
  2. What’s on your list to organize this week?  I have a busy week with a quilting class on Monday, driving to San Francisco for a Giants game on Tuesday, driving home Wednesday….so it will have to be something quick and easy!  Like this week!
  3. What one task do you notice yourself continually putting off?  Why do you think that is?  Organizing my pictures because I have 32 years worth unorganized and it is a daunting task!

Keep on keeping on everyone who”s participating in Laura’s 52 weeks challenge over at www.orgjunkie.com

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Tuesday Garden Party-Thursday May 5, 2011

May 5, 2011 1 Comment

Whoever said “A woman’s work is never done” should have said, “A gardener’s work is never done”.  I have been working so hard and I swear it is never going to look like some of the beautiful gardens I see at www.anoregoncottage.com Tuesday Garden Party. 

Since my fibromyalgia has been renamed immune disorder and I am on some drugs that are working, I am finding I am back to my old self….sort of….I also have to remember I am 53, not 33 or even 43 anymore.  Okay having said all that, if you are not a regular reader of my blog…and let’s face it who is??, you will have missed the most exciting news of the past week which is our new patio!

We have waited over 10 years for something to go here:

 which now looks like this:

Why did we wait so long?  Well DH and I argued about whether to replace the deck (what he wanted) or have a patio (what I wanted).  Along with that was raising 3 daughters, the youngest who had us away from home so much with all her sporting activities.  Seriously we traveled so much with her, I could retire on the money we spent….only for her to up and get married a year out of high school….So then there was the new roof, the new car (paid for with cash), the wedding, and then of course the granddaughter…..and all the money we spent the six weeks I spent in North Carolina…..

Any excuse to show this favorite picture of me and my girls…..(Oprah I know your show is ending, can I please have a makeover so I am as beautiful as my daughters?)….

As usual I digress from the topic at hand.  Okay I have been working hard this week and just came in from planting the impatients that DH brought home from his trip to the bay area:

I also planted some sunflowers and bachelor buttons today and weeded our strawberries in one of our raised beds.  DH also brought home from Home Depot (we don’t have one in Humboldt County, nor a Walmart for that matter), tomato cages for our  tomatoes that I am feeling very hopeful about:

The strawberry patch area is in the far back that you can see in this picture.  I have weeded the closer bed and pulled out the overgrown arugula along with a huge flower that I thought DH was going to kill me for getting rid of.  It just took up too much of the raised bed.  I stuck a piece into the pot to the right of the far right tomato pot.  I hope it will grow, it was a nice flower, but had gotten completely out of hand:

My Lily of the Valley plants are reproducing.  I started with two from my elderly neighbor (who I miss so much), who moved to Minneapolis to be closer to her son and DIL after her DH passed away in November of 2009.  She was such an inspiration to me as is my own 81-year-old mother who spends her days in her yard, happily passing away the time.  I need to decide on an area for the Lily of the Valley plants soon, probably by next year:

This plant popped up in the area I planned to plant my sunflowers, but have no idea what it is or where it came from.   I did plant the gladiolas that you can see, but am curious as to what this is.  My DH thinks it is a weed!

My last picture is an Iris that I bought at http://www.sunvalleyfloral.com/thesunvalleygroup/index.cfm

Each year Sun Valley has a sale and plant show.  I did not go last year, but bought several bulbs over the years. 

I also planted impatients in my hanging baskets in the front yard, and a flower mixture my neighbor gave me along with my new gardening shoes.  I gotta take a picture of them!

I find all the posts very inspiring and even though I am not even close to some of the beautiful gardens, it is something I am striving for…I figure I have at least another 30 years to garden right??

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52 weeks… still going strong….kind of….

April 29, 2011 10 Comments

Two weeks ago it was an MRI, last week it was a colonoscopy…this week a pneumovax shot that has rendered my left arm pretty useless.  I had my annual exam Monday along with a pneumovax shot.  Because I have asthma, my doctor, Dr. Beth thought I should go ahead and have it, especially before my good insurance runs out at the end of September (COBRA). 

My older bossy fun sister challenged me to a month of buying nothing but perishables from the grocery/drug stores.  I have to admit that once I realized I was not going back to work I began using coupons and hoarding er stocking up on stuff.  So I inventoried both my pantry and freezers (large stand alone and two refrigerator freezers)  to get started.  I made an excel spreadsheet myself after spending way too much time surfing the net trying to find one.  My inventory consists of unopened jars/boxes/etc.  It does not include what is already opened or spices, etc. 

So here it is:

Baking Items    
Chocolate Chips Mini chips 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Butterscotch 1 1
  White Chocolate 1 1 
  Regular semi-sweet  12 oz 1 1 1 1 1 1 + 1 gallon
Hersheys Kisses-dark chocolate 1 1 
  M&M’s peanut butter 11.4 oz 1                                                                               
White sugar 5 lbs 1 1
Brown Sugar pounds 1 1 1 1 1 
Powdered sugar pounds 1 1 1 1 
Canned pumpkin 15 oz 1 1 1 1 
Splenda lots!  
White flour 5 pound packages 1 1 1 
Gourmet cocoa powder 1.54 cannister  
Crisco sticks 1 cup 1 1 1 1 1 
     
Jello  assorted flavors 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  chocolate pudding 1 1 1 1
  vanilla pudding 1 1 1 
Beans Navy beans 1 pound 1
  Pinto beans (dried ) 25 pounds
  Bush’s grillin beans 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Pinto beans (canned) 1 1 1 1 1 
  Black beans (canned) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Garbonza beans (canned) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  S&W Carribean 1 1 1 1 
  Hormel Chili 1 1 1 
Beverages Crystal Light 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Lipton Tea bags 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  TJ’s straight Cranberry Juice 32 oz 1 1 1 1 1
  Apple juice 64 oz 1
  Light Cran-Rasperry 64 oz 1
  Blueberry Pomegranite 64 oz 1
  Cranberry-grape 64 oz 1
  Shasta Lemon-Lime 1 liter 1
  Diet Pepsi -12 packs 1 1 1 1 1 
  Pellegrino 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Pomegranite-Blueberry 64 oz 1
Cereal Assorted cold cereals 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Oatmeal 1 1 1 
     
     
Dessert Choco covered almonds  3 lbs
  Brownie Mix 1 1 1 1 
  Cake Mix  1 1 1 
  Jello 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  ice cream 1.5 qts 1 1 1 
  Chocolate syrup  
  Whipped cream  
Canned fish Salmon 1 1 1 1 1 
  Tuna 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Fancy albacore 1 1 
Coffee Starbucks instant 24 pack 1 1 
  singles 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Starbucks French Roast Beans 2.5 lbs 1 1 
Condiments Spicy Chipolte Relish TJ’s 1
  Best Foods Mayo qt jars 1 1 1 
  Heinz ketchup 40 oz 1 1 
  Heinz Relish 26 oz 1
  Kikoman soy sauce 10 oz 1
  Tobasco 2 fl oz 1 1 
  El Pato 4 oz 1
  Barbecue sauce  1 1 1 
  Weber Black peppercorn marinade 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Brown Gravy mix pack 1 1 1 1 1 
  Lawry’s Mesquite marinade bottle 1 1 
  Lawry’s meat marinade package 1
  McCormick Chili packet 1 1 
  Mongolian Beef Stir-Fry packet 1
Cooking Oil Canola Oil (Wesson) 1 1 1 1 
  Olive Oil (2 liters) 1 1 
  Flippo (16.9 Oz) 1 1 
Canned Fruit Peaches 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Pineapple 1                                                                                
     
     
Jelly, Etc 1/2 pints of apple butter 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  1/2 pints of strawberry jelly 1 1 1 
  quarts of applesauce 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Hot sauce 1 1 1 1 1 1
     
Pasta    
  Spaghetti 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Lasagna 1 1 1 
  Medium Shells 1
  Gnocchi 1 1 1 
  Mini Piccolini 1 1 1 
  Fun shapes 1
  Linguini 1 1 
  Garden Rotini 1
Pasta Sauce    
  Marinara 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Butternut 1 1 1 
  Alfredo 1 1 
     
Peanut Butter    
  Skippy 1 1 1
  Smuckers 1 1 
Salad Dressing 1 1 1 1 1
  Nut toppings 1 1
  Croutons, etc 1 1 1 1
Salsa La Victoria 12 oz 11
  Pace 1
  Herdez 1
  hot sauce 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Enchilada sauce 28 oz 1 1 1 1 1 
Soups Cream of Chicken 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Cream of Mushroom 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Chicken Broth (1 qt) 1 1 1 1 
  Beef Broth (1 qt) 1
  Progresso assorted 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
Side Dishes Stove Top Stuffing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Instant Potatoes 1 1 1 
  Rice a Roni 1
  Grits 1 box
     
Tomato products Bruschetta TJ’s 1
  Sundried Tomatoes TJ’s 1
  Italian Style 14.5 oz 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Mexican Style 1 1 1 1 1 
  Fire Roasted 1 1 1 1 1 1 
  Stewed 1 1
  Tomato sauce 6 lb, 2 oz 1 1
  Tomato sauce 8 oz cans 1 1 1 
  Tomato paste 12 oz 1 1 1 1 
  Plum Tomatoes TJ’s 28 oz 1
  Rotele 10 oz cans 1 1 1 1 
Vegetables Beets 1 1
  French cut green beans 1 1 
  French friend onions 6 oz 1
  Olives 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  Chopped green chilis 4 oz 1 1 1 
  Chipolte peppers 7 oz 1

I think I listed hot sauce twice…oh well you get the picture.  There are only 2 of us in the home…me and DH!  I do need a few items, some ww flour, some brown rice and quinoa which we are low on all of those.  I also have some coupons I want to use before they expire tomorrow.  So I am going to go shopping today to get a few more items.    Next week I will post my freezer inventory. 

Also in an earlier post I talked about DH’s man cave bookcase and how I needed to get it organized.  Well using 2 of the bins it went from this:

to this:

The bottom two rows hold bins with my granddaughter’s books in them.  We also had a busy week that took our backyard from this:

 to this:

 with a small misshap outside the back door where a small landing was poured:

which was done by:

I was switching some laundry from washer to dryer when out he goes through his doggy door in the garage to the outside onto the new landing.  Poor thing had been going nuts looking and barking at all the strange men at our house this week.

I also managed to finish this:

So I stayed pretty busy even with my arm pretty painful.   Now let’s go through our fearless leader’s  (www.orgjunkie.com) questions of the week:

  1. Do you rotate your seasonal clothing?  If so, have you done it yet?  Sort of.  We live in a very temperate climate so I don’t actually pull out really summery clothes unless I am going on a trip somwhere hot….like South Carolina….or the Sacramento valley… or the weather calls for it.  I have a rubbermaid container in the garage with shorts, capris and sleeveless tops in it.  I should probably dig it out, but I am afraid I will look like a fat cow in everything!
  2. Are you celebrating your accomplishments as you go?  It’s so important no matter how big or small the task is you complete!  Every day at home is a celebration, seriously, after working outside the home for over 30 years, I am just so happy to be a homemaker.
  3. What’s on your list for this next week?  My list…well I did write down two things while reading everyone’s posts from last week.  One is washing my teapots that are above my cupboards in the kitchen, the other I cannot remember, but will when I find where I wrote it down….

I also plan to get another quilt done, between today and tomorrow hopefully.  DH left this morning after stopping at our business, to go to another Sharks game tonight.  So I will be alone today and tomorrow and hope to get a lot accomplished on the quilt for my middle daughter, who is moving to South Carolina about the middle of May.  She requested it after I posted the picture above on facebook.  I ignored her, so I am hoping it is a surprise.

So happy week everyone, both organizing and just living!  And prayers for all the people who are suffering from the tornados!

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Tuesday Garden Party-Slug, Snails and Rolly-Pollys oh my!

April 26, 2011 5 Comments

I feel Jamie’s pain over at www.anoregoncottage.com, because here in Humboldt County they are ridiculously prolific!  They also hide in overgrown arugula and swiss chard all day long because of all the lovely shade such an overgrown garden provides.  I started cleaning out our raised bed and probably found 15 snails and 10 slugs.  I have been using Sluggo this year with some success, but did not think to put it out in the back, just mostly in the front yard where I had planted some flowers.

I went to a growing tomatoes in Humboldt County seminar at Pierson’s Building and Gardening Center in Eureka on Saturday morning.  I figured it would be about 1 hour, well no it was actually 2 hours, but those 2 hours flew by!  Steve Goto from www.gotomato.us.com was fascinating, funny and full of great information!  Being on the Northern Coast where temperatures rarely even reach into the 70s in the summer makes growing tomatoes a real challenge.  We tried 2 years ago and did not have much success.  Last year we didn’t even try, but both my husband and I, after seeing the article about the seminar decided we would like to try again.

So much interesting information and an organic method to try in our pots.  We put the pots on the south side of our home, which is the warmest since it is also about 9 feet from a fence between us and our neighbors.  However, since we are having a new patio poured today (yippee, yippee, yippee!), we are also going to lay black ground cover fabric and get a new truckload of gravel to make our side yard once again look presentable without all the weeds, etc that grows after 23 years of doing nothing over there.   Plus that is where the bobcat came in to grade the patio area and where the cement truck thing will be going:

 Here is the set up patio area:

Okay back to tomato growing, Steve recommends Joe and Bob’s organic products and introduced us to grafted tomatoes.  So we are trying grafted tomatoes grown organically and see how it goes.  I admit I have used Miracle Grow for years and have had beautiful flowers with it and may continue until I have used up the large box from Costco purchased last year, but I am going to start moving towards organic and see how it goes.

For the pots (even though I have used Miracle Grow in them previously) you start with 1 oz of Optimize, follow with 1 cup of Maximize and 1 cup of Biosomix.  Add your soil admendments (in my case composted chicken manure and some composted garden and grass clippings that has been growing and composting for 23 years (we use it every year though, we just don’t have formal composting bins…just a huge pile on the side of our yard that is hidden really from the back yard view, you have to go around the side of the house to see it…., anyhoo then plant your grafted tomato up to the graft line.  If you are using regular tomato plants purchased from a nursery you can take off the side stems and any flowers and plant it with just a bit of the tomato plant sticking out.  He says that no plant is really any better than another if your soil is prepared correctly, they should all do well.  In other words if all that is left are plants with yellow leaves, etc.  Not to worry, buy it anyway, pull off the leaves and flowers, put it in your prepared soil and there you go!

Here are my pots and the products:

The Optmizer you use just a little.  This is how much I used for all 3 pots:

This is a container from ricotta cheese that I measured the 3 oz into:

Here is a prepared pot with all 3 products:

Here are the grafted tomato plants:

They were on sale for $9.99 for the seminar.  They will be well worth it if we actually get some tomatoes off of them!  I am so looking forward to my first garden season where I don’t have a job and can spend as much time as I want in the garden.  I will have to be careful not to overdo too much though!

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52 Weeks and I am channeling Laura

April 22, 2011 7 Comments

 

I can’t believe it.  I am on topic again!!  I think Laura from www.orgjunkie.com has some sort of mental telepathy going with me….  Well I had the “welcome to middle age exam” (otherwise known as a colonoscopy) this week.  So Tuesday prep day (otherwise known as I will never eat orange jello again day) and Wednesday were out for organizing projects.  I knew I needed to do an easy project quick!

Well you know where you have your eating utensils, probably in some rubbermaid type organizing thing?  If yours is as old as mine it is even in avocado green!   Have you ever noticed how little bits of stuff fall into the nooks and crannies until you are totally grossed out and wonder how in the world are you eating with those forks and spoons?? 

Well I finally used the PROCESS and got them all cleaned out.  I dumped everything on the drainboards:

Then I threw the organizing containers in the dishwasher.   Luckily it was full and needed to be ran:

Then I rearranged everything back into the drawer:

I ended up getting rid of this stuff….well not getting rid of it, but putting it in a plastic shoebox and sticking it out in the garage:

I have another drawer where our cooking utensils are next to the stove and a container next to the stove where the most used things stand up.  I did not take a picture of those, but they are looking pretty good.

I spent most of my time this week working on a quilt for a great-niece and great-nephew.  I will post pictures when they are done. 

I also decluttered a lot of weeds from my yard…does that count??

Check out everyone’s posts to get inspiration for your own projects to whip your life into shape!  It’s really working!!

Also since all I talk about is my granddaughter, I thought I would post a picture of my oldest daughter and my husband (they are the two in the middle) at a recent San Jose Sharks game.  We live about 7 hours north of San Jose.  My daughter lives in Reno.  They had a great time even though the Sharks lost….badly…..

She is single if anyone has any single 30 something year old available good man in mind for her!  She is an ultrasound tech in Reno, Nevada, but is probably moving to the South where my youngest lives and my middle daughter is moving in less than a month!  Please submit resumes and pictures to me!   HAHA!

What do you think it means that all 3 of my daughters are moving about as far away from Northern California as you can get and still be in the continental US???

Ooops forgot the questions!:

1. Have you got a drawer that needs a little organizing?  Will you tackle it this week or something else?  I have lots more drawers that could use some help!
2.  Was last week an organizing success for you?  Yes, a small success.
3.  Has the habit of just doing one thing at a time helping to keep you from feeling overwhelmed?  Totally!  I can’t believe I am sticking this out.  I am terrible at follow-through generally, but vowed this year would be different.  So far it is working and I am very happy!

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Fibromyalgia or not???

April 16, 2011 1 Comment

I had my second visit with my rheumatologist after having an MRI of my cervical spine and the prednisone taper.  First of all may I just say having an MRI is AWFUL!  I managed to get through it praying something like this:

Hail Mary Full of Grace, Glory be to the bang, bang, bang noise…….um….Glory be to (oh my heart is beating so fast), Glory be to …..who?    Oh yeah Glory be to the father, son and (oh I need a drink of water so bad)Holy spirit, as it was …..bang, bang, bang, Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee, Blessed art though, bang, bang, gang…Our Father who art in Heaven, bang, bang, bang…yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil….wait that’s not right.  Hail Mary Full of Grace…..Crash, bang, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the wings of the almighty, whoops that the 91st Psalms…..okay that’s it I am getting you out now.  Seriously that is about how the entire MRI scan went!! I am proud of myself for not screaming to get me out at anytime during the entire process, but I did have a few close calls! 

So the doctor (she is a she doctor) thinks I have a connective tissue autoimmune disease…we just don’t know which one yet.  So I will be having more blood tests and was put on two additional meds and discontinuing one I am on.  So I will let you in on a little secret on how to get a good night’s sleep, take 20 mg of amitriptyline and 5 mg of Valium.  Yes that’s right she put me on Valium along with Plaquinel.  Personally I think it is best not to read any of the drug literature that comes along with new prescriptions.  I mean who in their right mind would take anything if they read all the possible side effects?   I slept great!

I am having a small amount of pain and will keep my pain journal going another 4 weeks until I see her again and report how these meds are doing.  My MRI showed 2 bulging discs, no wonder my neck was bothering me!   I don’t know which is better, fibromyalgia or autoimmune disease?  Which would I rather have….neither!

Oh well…. life goes on……

 Here is DH and granddaughter making guacomole.  Ally loves to help hairy grandpa cook!  What did I tell you Iris!

4 men in a kitchen (including Landon the dog, who is obviously hoping for some dropped treats).

This is my husband and son-in-law Christmas 2009.  Eat your heart out ladies! HAHA.

Filed under Fibromyalgia.... who me?

52 Weeks…not a good one.

April 16, 2011 6 Comments

 

Okay it’s official, I get nothing done when I have an appointment.  I know it is mental.  The appointment only takes a few hours out of a day, but I can’t seem to start anything or accomplish anything on those days.  Unfortunately this week I had an MRI one day, started a new pain group on another day and had both a recheck with my rheumatologist and an appointment with my physical therapist who made my shoe inserts!  So okay I admit it I didn’t get anything new done this week.  I had a feeling this would happen so I decided to share some more cheap Kohl’s bin pictures and what I am doing with them.  If you don’t know about my great buy on bins you can review here:  https://allysgrandma.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/holy-canvas-bins-batman/

So without further ado, adu???

I think my camera is on the wrong settings, but this is our closet that had sweaters and sweatshirts falling out of these shelves.  I put the bins in to make it look nicer and I think it does (I guess I should take the price tags off).  I don’t have a before picture but you can imagine I’m sure.  Our closet has no door.  We took it off and DH built this closet himself.  I was very proud.  No one really comes in our bedroom other than family and I don’t care that the clothes are not covered, actually since it is on the north side of the house, it prevents dampness and mildew by having no door on it.  For some odd reason we have the smallest closet in the house.  Well the 4th bedroom also is this small, but the other two bedrooms have normal big closets. 

I used one large bin to put DH’s hunting clothes, hat and gloves in.  It fits on the top shelf of the closet.  

I can’t believe my post fits right in with Laura’s questions this week.

1.  Will you be tackling a closet this week?  If so, don’t forget to follow the PROCESS to make it quick and simple.
2.  Did you run into any road blocks last week?  See first paragrah.
3.  Since starting this challenge can you name one habit you’ve been able to develop that has stuck?  Keeping my drainboards cleared off for the most part! 

 Pop on over to Laura’s fabulous blog at http://orgjunkie.com/2011/04/52-weeks-15-organizing-closets.html for lots of inspiration!

 So that ends this week’s organizing feature!  I am hoping to do better next week!

Filed under 52 week organizing challenge

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