Garden 2014 - Post 01

I've had a container garden of some form or another for most of my adult life.  Gardening is something that feels like an extension of myself.  On occasion it feels like a chore, but for the most part it is something I constantly itch to do.  One of the bonuses of owning a house with a yard is the prospect of having a legit garden where I can grow my own vegetables.  Not just a tomato here or there and a few herbs, but a serious crop that could help feed us throughout the summer.

In pursuit of that goal, I spent quite a lot of time last week researching raised beds, where to find good dirt that will deliver, and sorting out which vegetables to grow and how to arrange them.  I had a very elaborate plan made within two days, thanks in large part to the site Smart Gardener, which is amazing.  Then I compared the projected cost of materials to what was available in the bank and became disheartened.  I thought I would have to wait a whole year again, and I had been so excited about all the plants that were going to fit into the little space I had planned.

DS was in full support of this garden, and so he helped me come up with a solution for this year that was easier on the wallet.  Last summer I had attempted to put a couple of green bean plants in the yard, and they were quickly eaten by bunnies.  So I knew whatever I did would need to be protected.  Our solution this year is some very cheap chicken fencing.  It was just big enough with two rolls, with enough left over to have a removable bit on bamboo poles that acts as a "gate".  I think I'll still need to use some tent stakes or something to pin down the bottom, because a determined critter could probably weasel its way underneath, but it seems pretty sturdy otherwise.

The start of one of the new garden beds

We also picked up a 2-sided garden tool for hoeing and cultivating.  I've spent my limited free time this week painstakingly removing the grass from what will be my beds.  For now I'm just scattering this around the areas of the yard that dip and flood during heavy rains.  I should probably get some grass seed at some point.  This is some serious labor right here.  As of today, I have one 12x4' bed done, and one more to go.  I've laid them out exactly where I had planned to build the raised beds, so hopefully next summer those will be easy to install.  After the grass is gone, I'll work in some compost and good gardening soil just to beef up the yard nutrients a bit, and then hope for the best.  I haven't seen any evidence of moles or anything that would come up from below to eat the plants, but I guess we'll find out.  For now, I have seeds sprouting in little containers, just waiting for their new home.  I'm planning to grow a lot of plants that are new to me.  We'll see how it works out.

Today was a bit chillier than the last few days, but here are some of the things we've been up to with the boys.

Practicing some stair skills.

First day it was warm enough for the water table.

Curled up on the couch playing with the LeapPad.

The boys' new bird feeder.  Monkey has already learned how to sign "bird".  It's very exciting.

Behind the Scenes of a Mobile Commission

Last November, a friend commissioned me to make a custom hanging mobile for their yet-to-be-born child's room.  I was given a photo of the crib set, which was "jungle" themed (with the exception of a giraffe).  Other than that, I was given free reign.

The thing with the giraffe is that I have problems with these themed sets that like to combine animals that don't really make sense.  I'd be fine with it if they didn't say it was a jungle theme.  Giraffes live in the savannah.  But this eventually got me thinking that I had an opportunity to make the mobile both awesome to display and educational.

I was told the child was expected in May, so I had "plenty of time."  However, inspiration was slow.  Very slow.  A whole year slow.  I worked on it in spurts, creating an animal here and there with months in between as I struggled with what to make next.  I probably could have worked much faster if someone had said, "I really love X, please make me something with these items in it."  Coming up with it on my own, I just have to wait until it feels right.

So it's about 5 months late, but in the end, I am glad I waited until I had something worth sending.  I decided to stick with the jungle theme, but make sure that all animals included would be something actually found in a tropical, wooded climate.  Not all of the animals would have to be from the same jungle, just so long as they had similar habitats.  I also wanted them to be animals you'd be likely to encounter at a zoo, but not necessarily the most famous ones.  And I wanted the animals to be removable for some kind of interaction.  My thought was that they could be used in story time, or something along those lines, with the idea being that the child would get to know the names of these animals and what they looked like.  Then visits to the zoo would be more exciting, and hopefully with less mindless screaming and banging on enclosure glass...

I ended up making the three larger animals first, and they were also the most spaced out.  Hand-embroidering the tiger stripes was probably not my best idea in terms of feasibility.  The final structure came recently, when I decided to hang the bigger animals as if they were walking around the base of a tree, with smaller animals hung higher as if they were in the canopy.  This idea was what finally triggered the creative juices, and it was mostly downhill from there.  I believe the last three animals and the tree all came together in about 5 days.

Each animal is roughly to scale with the others; the elephant is a tad small, but I made it as big as my single sheet of felt would allow.  They are all made of felt, hand-sewn and embroidered.  The smaller ones have a touch of marker for shading, since the stitches were pulling through the felt once the pieces passed a certain size.  There are wires in the leaves of the three, with loops for hanging.  To keep it light, the tree trunk is made of straws that are wired together, wrapped in paper, and then covered in felt.  I've never done anything like this before, so I just sort of made it up as I went along.

Because it was so late, and we hadn't talked about it in so long, I packaged everything up and quietly sent it along for my friend's birthday.  I included a little packet that said how to put it together, as the tree is actually two pieces, and the animals can be hung from various points depending on what looks good.  The packet also gave mini-bios, with pictures of live animals, for each of the animals included.

Now that the package is safely delivered, I can share the photos with you.  Soon I should have photos of it hung in the baby's room, but for now, here are the ones I took before shipping.

If you can't see this, visit my actual blog or get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Minneapolis Zoo

Yesterday, I made to yet another zoo I've never before visited!  This time it was the Minnesota Zoo, which is located in greater Minneapolis.  Specifically, Apply Valley.  We are in the great city of Minneapolis visiting friends. Well, I'm visiting friends.  DS is visiting a conference, and so he is staying busy doing other things.  It's always a lot of fun for me when I get to experience friends' local zoos, and lucky for me, Beth and Brian were happy to tag along even though it was hot.

This particular zoo does not have an amazing selection of animals.  However, the exhibits for the animals they do have are just fantastic.  The grizzly bears has geysers.  Every animal there had just a massive amount of space that they were often hard to find.  It must be a really nice place for them, which makes me happy.  Fun zoo facts: the decor is themed around Dr. Suess; first zoo I've been to with a dolphin!  Unfortunately, the zoo closed and we were scooted out before we got to see the Medtronic Minnesota Trail, which had a wolverine and a cougar.  This probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't spent forever entranced by the coral reefs.

So a quick note about these photos.  Apparently the animals thought it would be fun to keep their butts towards the onlookers, so the three of us made it into a game.  Goal: Take as many butt photos as possible.  We were quite successful, though for your viewing pleasure, I tried to throw some good photos in here as well.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Kuro and Swiss

Our friends in Salt Lake City just got a new puppy named Swiss, and I spent some time photographing him with his big brother Kuro.  Are these some handsome dogs, or are these some handsome dogs?

If you're seeing this message, you either need flash, or to visit my blog because your reader doesn't support it.  Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Wookie

I wish I could say that I took this, but alas, I did not.  This is Wookie, Matt and Sam's lovable cat, and Sam took this with DS's new lens.  Wookie showed up one day, looking disheveled, and decided to stay.  All he wants is love.  All love all the time.  It's so different than my cats.  We curled up together on the futon bed while I recovered from a bit of drinking the night before for Sam's birthday.  Isn't he so handsome?  He is one of the many treats that await us when we visit our friends in New York.

Raccoon

There is a momma raccoon that lives around our building.  I can hear her sometimes at night, but other than a flicker once while DS was grilling, I've never actually seen her.  Tonight I heard her, and managed to see her running along the fence that separates the little patios for the downstairs apartments.  She was out with one of her kids.  I grabbed the camera and went out to see if I could catch her from a distance, but was surprised to find them in the tree running up the front of the apartment.  I guess she thought if she came down and walked away some, she would get me away from her kid, which she left in the tree.  I kept my distance, got a couple of shots in, and vamoosed.  I certainly don't want to run her off, nor did I want to risk rabies.  Check out that stance man.  She's like, "I don't want to, but I will eat your face if I have to."