Howard and Rainy Days

Have I told you about Howard? Howard is the groundhog or woodchuck (am still a bit unclear as to what the difference is between the two) that lives somewhere on our property. I decided that Howard was a good name for a groundhog. The only other groundhog that I've heard about is, of course, Phil, from Pennsylvania. I'm not always a big fan of Phil, prolonging winter just because he sees his shadow. What a self-absorbed little bastard! Anyhow, I officially discovered Howard a few weeks ago during a windstorm. The trees were blowing fiercely and I was looking out my front window watching them sway. As I was looking, I saw something crawl up the front steps to the porch. It was a brown animal, about the size of a cat- I quickly looked away, freaked out. Then, I decided to look again and see what it was. It wasn't a mole, too big. It wasn't a raccoon, wrong coloring. It wasn't a rat- Thank God! I thought, oh my gosh, I think it's a groundhog! He paused for a few seconds before making his way across the porch and hopping down. I went to the computer to google groundhogs- that's where I ran into the woodchuck vs. groundhog debate. I think it's the same thing. They are basically a large rodent (gross), most closely related to squirrels. Yes, people, squirrels are rodents! For some reason, I kind of think groundhogs are better than squirrels. Maybe it's just the novelty of groundhogs, having never seen one before. I guess they aren't too big of pests but they do like to eat plants, flowers, and vegetables. So- if I spot Howard anywhere near my gardens- all bets are off and I will officially hate groundhogs, aka woodchucks, too!  

I haven't seen Howard since then but I think I found his little tunnel or den on the side of the house. And, over the winter I think that I spotted his footprints after a snowfall. There were peculiar prints on the porch that I couldn't identify- now, I'm thinking it was definitely Howard. Hmm... I wonder if he lives under the porch?  Anyhow,  I will keep you posted on any Howard sightings and/or engaging developments.

Today was very drizzly and wet. We haven't had much rain over the spring so the grass and plants definitely needed it. My little patio project, however, did not. See photo below:
I started excavating the dirt yesterday and now we have a moat in our backyard! I cannot believe how hard it is to shovel out all that dirt. I worked for several hours yesterday and made only a small dent. Here is a picture of the dirt I have left to dig up:
It's going to be gorgeous when we are finished. It will have a nice curve with perennial gardens surrounding it. Honestly, my back aches just looking at that picture and thinking about all the work still to be done. It was nice to have a rainy day as an excuse to rest. I made a pot of tomato bisque and caught up on some indoor chores. It turned out to be a somewhat relaxing day. I'm sure that Howard spent his day nestled in his little den or whatever they are called. Hmm... children's book idea... Howard, the groundhog. We might have an award winning series folks! HaHa!

Jenny, Jenny, How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm sure you've all just been dying with anticipation wondering how my little vegetable plot is doing!?!? It's been so much fun to play around with different ways to trellis and I've switched a few things up since I last posted pics. I decided to have the sugar snap peas grow on a trellis instead of the teepees. It's working out beautifully- they are about 12 inches tall now. The butterhead lettuce is growing in between and I'm becoming more convinced that I just might be making a salad before long.
Here are all kinds of different sprouts! Carrots, iceberg lettuce, spinach, onions, leeks and peppers. Honestly, it is kind of a cluster - I think the wind blew some of my seeds around and the birds haven't been helping my cause either. My neighbor brought me a Flying Saucer Squash- it looks pretty cool so I added it to the collection.
Below is my trellis for the cucumbers, which I finally planted out today. I had started quite a few plants inside so I gave some away to my neighbors. It's easy to get carried away with this hobby. Behind the cucumbers are my tomatoes- I have three different varieties. I cannot wait for a fresh tomato, mozzarella salad.
I also changed up how I am doing my pole beans. I had two teepees constructed but after further reading, I realized that I needed it to be 6 feet tall and extremely sturdy. It's going to look really cool when it's covered with vines. I just planted the bean seeds today- should start sprouting in about a week. You plant the pole beans on little mounds around each pole. 
Below is a shot of the whole garden- I've got a lot growing. I am hoping that by growing some of the stuff upward, it'll control some of the chaos. Adam put up a fence around the space to keep the beagles (and Gavin) out of there. This is turning out to be a really fun hobby!

A Rant about Grocery Shopping

I just returned from going grocery shopping. I am filled with dismay about how overly complex this errand has become. It seems like nearly everyday a morning show will have some piece about those awesome "coupon moms" who bought $130 worth of groceries for just $38. It has gotten my attention several times and I think to myself, "Ok, let's see what we can do about taking advantage of sales, etc."

I have found that I can do pretty well in the meat department, utilizing my Foodsaver. If I see that pork tenderloin is on a two for one- I'll get it and put one in the freezer. I will take advantage of sales in produce but find that most of the coupons are in the processed food category. I am pretty much against dieting- the rule I stick to is limiting processed foods because they are highly caloric and generally unsatisfying. Well, with exception being Doritos, in which I can down an entire bag in one sitting. I just won't buy stuff like that because I have no self-control when it comes to salty foods. I try and avoid the center aisles of the grocery store, except to buy stock, canned vegetables, crackers, and maybe some Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. Which brings me to my first part of my rant- I had a coupon for the rice so I stocked up. I got to the checkout stand and was told that the coupon was only good for the instant boil rice or something like that- not the rice that I had selected. The clerk goes on and on about why and how... and I just want to yell, "Is the EFFING rice on sale or not!?!?" I apologize for the expletive, but I feel like it's necessary in getting my frustration across.

She then asks me for my Price Chopper Advantage Card, which of course she does, all the stores have their own cards these days. I keep my card on my key chain for simplicity. I hand it over to her and she informs me that beginning June 1st- they are going to require the actual card to receive promotions. Well, I don't have that card. "Oh, I guess you'll need to apply for a new advantage card," she offers. Are you freaking kidding me with this? How efficient is that? Let's just generate more plastic because some genius decides that the key chain card is not good enough for promotions. Why can't we just know what's on sale and everybody gets the sale because they shop there every week? Or- how about just figuring out what an appropriate cost is for goods? I am just sick of this - I open my wallet and I find all these ridiculous cards that are intended for customer loyalty, yada, yada, but all it does is PISS ME OFF!

I don't really know where I'm going with this rant- I'm just annoyed. I miss Costco. You get your membership card- and that's it. Everything has its price and you feel that you get a fair deal. Price Chopper is so stupid- "Have you chopped your food bill lately?" Seriously.

A Weekend of Pilates and After-Parties...

I spent the past few days in Alexandria, VA for the Beginner Mat Certification for my big pilates endeavor. After months (ok, years) of talking and debating the teacher training, I finally decided to take the plunge. I chose Power Pilates for my training program. The classes are not offered in Albany so I have been waiting for a class to be offered in a city nearby and a weekend that would work with Adam's schedule. I found a course in Alexandria, which was perfect as my friend Melissa lives there. I had a place to stay and a wonderful host that took me out to fun places after my class each day! She even let me practice teaching her which was very helpful!

I arrived Thursday night with one request- to revisit the speak-easy that I raved about a few months ago. I snapped a photo this time- as you can tell, the blue light was on so we rang the bell. It is just such a lovely bar. It's beautiful inside and cozy. We had just driven through a powerful thunderstorm prior to our arrival so it seemed particularly inviting. There is just something about the intimacy; the dark wooden bar, the rain dripping down the outside window panes, and watching the bartender mix up something magical right before your eyes. I obviously can't say enough good things about the PX in Alexandria. You'll just have to see it to believe it!

The certification program began on Friday afternoon and went through Sunday evening. WOW! Learning to teach movement is really like learning to teach a foreign language. It was extremely intense. There is a lot of vocabulary to learn in order to set up proper technique for the 18 exercises that make up the beginner mat workout. We spent 6 hours each day practicing drills. First we had to learn the correct terminology. We then had to learn to make it flow together with energy- i.e. "and kick, kick! and kick, kick!" "and switch! and switch!" "Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5 and exHALE!!!, 2, 3, 4, 5!" It was craziness! We even had a take-home exam filled with anatomy questions! Even though it was way harder than I anticipated, I feel like I progressed pretty well through the weekend. I should have the results in a few weeks. In the meantime, I will be offering practice mat classes at my home for a few of my friends! Poor suckers!

I finished the course Sunday evening and Melissa took me out to a wine festival at Mount Vernon to celebrate. It was so beautiful! The evening was magnificent- watching the sun set over the river and touring the mansion. I still can't believe that I walked through George Washington's house! It is so cool! The beds are all very small and short! He had the tiniest desk in his office. It was just a perfect way to end my trip- although, I must say that Virginia wines are really not very good. As my friend Toyin says, I'm a west coast wine snob. The growing season for grapes just isn't long enough in the Northeast. The wines are all very sweet- we tasted quite a few and I think there was just one that we liked. It didn't matter, the venue more than made up for it. Here are some pictures but none of them do Mount Vernon any justice. Sometimes it's hard to capture atmosphere with the camera. Aren't you just enticed to go visit Alexandria now?!?


This is the side of the house- the place is enormous!
Cheers to a perfect spring evening!
What a view!

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought I'd write about motherhood today. I don't necessarily give much thought to the subject outside of my daily parenting activities, i.e. bathing, feeding, playing, etc. But last night, I had a couple of girlfriends over and they made several comments about how I talk to Gavin like he's an adult and that they don't think they could be so patient. I tried to explain that once you have kids, you kind of fall into your own style. This morning I revisited the conversation in my head as I fed Gavin breakfast. 

I guess you really don't know what kind of mother you're going to be until you reach that point in your life. There are the ubiquitous cliches about learning what it means to love- blah, blah. I am not minimizing those commentaries, but, it's just more than that. I have learned a lot about myself through Gavin. Oddly enough, my crazy toddler makes me calmer. These little people are just young enough to get a free pass on some of their antics. For example, last night Gavin chucked one of his toys and it hit me squarely on my cheekbone. It was thrown with all of his might and it freakin' hurt! While I was upset, I knew that he had not intentionally tried to hurt me so I just calmly explained that he needs to be more gentle. (Oh, and then I held my chilled glass of white wine up to my face for 30 minutes!) If kids don't teach you patience, I don't know what will. However, I do not let him get away with some of his games. You know, the super fun ones like put the shoes on, kick them off, want them back on, etc. I will tell him, "Gavin, you cannot manipulate me." He will then proceed to throw himself on the floor in such a show of rage that it's almost impressive! I find that if I ignore him, he eventually picks himself up and moves on. 

When I'm cooking in the kitchen, I will explain what I'm making. I know very well that he does not know what I'm talking about but language is important so I converse with him like he's one of my friends. And that's just it- this little 20 month old is becoming just that- a little friend. We have inside jokes and games. He listens and chatters about. When songs come on the radio that have a catchy beat, we'll dance. I could be having the crappiest day but his giggles are so contagious that I can feel my mood rebound quickly. It's a relationship that makes me laugh because as much as we teach our kids-  it turns out these little people have a few lessons to teach us as well. Happy Motherhood!

Horticulture and other things at Camp deMars

Germination! HaHa! I feel like I'm back in junior high working on a science project. There is a lot to be learned in the field of horticulture! It's been a little over two weeks since I began planting so I thought I'd show off the progress.
Here are the sugar snap peas- they are about 2 inches tall so I had to thin them out. It was actually a little sad to pull perfectly good seedlings out of the ground but it was necessary to ensure proper growth of the other plants. They needed to be thinned to 6" apart.
Here are the little butterhead lettuce plants... I seriously don't think these little things can actually turn into full on lettuce, but we'll see. Once they get bigger, I will thin them out to be 8" apart.
Here are the snap peas that didn't make it... poor little guys!
I started my cucumbers by seed indoors. Aren't they cute?!? I have to harden them off before they can be transplanted to the garden. I moved them outside today so they can get exposure to the cooler temperatures. I will plant them in the garden probably towards the end of May.
I planted some leeks and onions today. I have a friend here who is also planting a garden and she went a little nuts buying plants so she gave me some of the onions that she didn't want. This was not part of my original plan, but we'll give it a shot. I also constructed 5' teepees for where I'm going to plant the green beans. I am going to attach some chicken wire and then grow the beans upward to save space.
I also began work on excavating our grass where we are going to put a brick patio. I'm about half way through removing the grass and then I will dig up all the dirt. Isn't home ownership a blast? At least I get to knock out my workout while accomplishing projects...
Here is my little herb garden- I planted rosemary, oregano, lavender, chives, thyme, and sage. I am going to add dill, tarragon, basil and cilantro to my vegetable garden later this month.
I also decided to paint my wooden chairs and table sets. It all started when my neighbor offered me some old planter boxes that she was going to throw out. I took them and painted them bright green and that led to me painting my chairs, etc.
Wow, do I need to check myself into home improvement rehab? Nah, just imagine how awesome it's all going to look when it's done! I can't wait!!