...okay. This happens to blogs all the time. But instead of lamenting about it, let's just move right along, shall we? I'm back. That's what matters, eh? A few updates:
-Doing Paleo diet, again, only this time, REALLY half-assed. In fact, I'm calling it the half-assed paleo challenge. Or "challenge," more like. I also like to call it the "don't worry" paleo diet. Try to eat paleo, and make it a priority, but if you slip up don't freak out and feel like the whole thing is ruined. Just move right along and get back on the horse or the wagon or whatever the hell.
-Garden went well, although less productive than I had perhaps hoped. Some plants didn't make it. Others did, but produced little or practically nothing. And there was that blossom-end rot issue with some of the tomatoes.BUT. I have to see it as a learning experience, which it REALLY was, since now I know what it's like and how I can change things next time.Hooray, glass half full!
-Found a new rec center to frequent, and I love it to death! Now to save up money to actually JOIN it. It's pretty great and will be worth every penny.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Back in Business
Well, almost.
All the topsoil is in now. We've been given the go-ahead to put the veggie garden back together, and that's just what we started to do tonight! We've got it level, and tomorrow we'll put the dirt back in. After that? Plants!
During the whole waiting period, I finished a kind of fun/creative project for the garden: these plant markers.
Thrift store spoons + hand-drawn labels on paper + mod podge = these heavy duty garden markers that happen to be quite cute. Maybe a little TOO cute for me.
All the topsoil is in now. We've been given the go-ahead to put the veggie garden back together, and that's just what we started to do tonight! We've got it level, and tomorrow we'll put the dirt back in. After that? Plants!
During the whole waiting period, I finished a kind of fun/creative project for the garden: these plant markers.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
State of the Yard Address
A lot of my hopes for the yard have been dashed lately. I know that in the end this will all be for the best, since we'll be getting a topsoil layer to help make our rocky terrain more useful for growing stuff. But right now...
THIS is my poor garden. It had to be moved out of the way when the yard was being excavated. Hopefully it will be put back together by the end of the week, at which point we can FINALLY plant these guys:
The garden wasn't the only casualty of the landscaping work. Our poor little trees were subjected to some stress as well. Look at the oil left behind by the machines!
There is some good news, though--while inspecting the fruit trees, we found that some of them had fruit beginning to grow:
Sadly, many of the little fruits fell off thanks to the machinery, but some still remain and now we are looking forward to some fruit from our own yard!
Oh, and that rock area we created? Gone, too. Well, I guess it's all to make way for bigger and better things, so it will be worth it. Right now, my back yard is quite desolate. At least all of the weeds are gone!
THIS is my poor garden. It had to be moved out of the way when the yard was being excavated. Hopefully it will be put back together by the end of the week, at which point we can FINALLY plant these guys:
The garden wasn't the only casualty of the landscaping work. Our poor little trees were subjected to some stress as well. Look at the oil left behind by the machines!
There is some good news, though--while inspecting the fruit trees, we found that some of them had fruit beginning to grow:
Sadly, many of the little fruits fell off thanks to the machinery, but some still remain and now we are looking forward to some fruit from our own yard!
Oh, and that rock area we created? Gone, too. Well, I guess it's all to make way for bigger and better things, so it will be worth it. Right now, my back yard is quite desolate. At least all of the weeds are gone!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Side Yard Plan
I've been really, really lacking any kind of motivation to think about or work on the yard. And, since the whole project is kind of floating in limbo at the moment what with landlords and landscapers still working out what will be done with the property, it's no wonder I have no desire to commit to any ideas right this second. Yeah, I'm feeling beaten down. BUT...I have still been daydreaming, and lately it's been about the side yard.
This is the only area that it seems we'll get to have much control over what happens, so I've developed a plan for how I want to do it. Yes, I know that at any moment plans could change and it could be covered in grass or something, but I really have high hopes for what it can become...through OUR hard work and planning.
So here is a basic plan I've drawn up for the side yard area:
I will give more details about the different areas I've drawn:
A: Flower beds, most likely full of wildflowers, some ornamental rocks/pavers, and perhaps some nice ground cover or moss:
B: A dirt or gravel path, possibly including stepping stones:
C: A "lookout" or relaxation area with a bench and possible firepit:
D: Bark, with intermittent shrubs/bushes:
E: Vegetable garden area. Will have a raised garden bed, planters, a gravel path, and some kind of fence (picket?)
F: Rocks, to make the bark borders a little less boring...maybe with some decorative grasses?:
This is the only area that it seems we'll get to have much control over what happens, so I've developed a plan for how I want to do it. Yes, I know that at any moment plans could change and it could be covered in grass or something, but I really have high hopes for what it can become...through OUR hard work and planning.
So here is a basic plan I've drawn up for the side yard area:
A: Flower beds, most likely full of wildflowers, some ornamental rocks/pavers, and perhaps some nice ground cover or moss:
B: A dirt or gravel path, possibly including stepping stones:
C: A "lookout" or relaxation area with a bench and possible firepit:
D: Bark, with intermittent shrubs/bushes:
E: Vegetable garden area. Will have a raised garden bed, planters, a gravel path, and some kind of fence (picket?)
F: Rocks, to make the bark borders a little less boring...maybe with some decorative grasses?:
Monday, May 7, 2012
Even the best-laid plans...
...can turn into a pile of meaningless trash in an instant.
Over the weekend, we learned that we won't be able to landscape the yard the way we had wanted to. The city has a nice list of rules regarding how yard landscaping must look, and even though not all homes in our neighborhood adhere to these rules exactly, we have been targeted by the city because we've lived here a year and by law must have a landscaped front yard by the end of the month. And they are telling us how to do it.
The front yard must be mostly vegetation...what they really mean is they want grass. Oh, grass...just what I was hoping to avoid. I'd dreamed of xeriscaping most of the front yard--perhaps even all. A landscaper came to look at the yard, and he said that the easiest way to quickly satiate the city is to put in a bunch of grass. And so, the front yard that I wanted to be mostly rock and bark will now be about 80% grass.
The landscaper claimed that grass was the best choice as far as saving time on yardwork goes. He may be right, in some ways. But I was completely willing to work a little harder to have what I had dreamed of.
I guess that part of the back yard will still be left for us to create as we wish, but not until after the landscapers scrape away about 6 inches of dirt and rock and replace it with topsoil, effectively erasing all the plans and outlining we'd started. Our garden will be uprooted. I'm not even sure when I'll get to plant my seed starts at this point.
So our plans aren't totally worthless, but right now it feels that way. Like all the stuff we were willing to do doesn't matter. And I guess we'd better get used to the idea of mowing a lawn Every. Damn. Week. All. Summer.
So a lot of stuff is on hold right now, and gardening might not be a reality until June. I'm hoping that I can still make a lot of my projects work out despite the setback.
 |
| What we started. |
The front yard must be mostly vegetation...what they really mean is they want grass. Oh, grass...just what I was hoping to avoid. I'd dreamed of xeriscaping most of the front yard--perhaps even all. A landscaper came to look at the yard, and he said that the easiest way to quickly satiate the city is to put in a bunch of grass. And so, the front yard that I wanted to be mostly rock and bark will now be about 80% grass.
The landscaper claimed that grass was the best choice as far as saving time on yardwork goes. He may be right, in some ways. But I was completely willing to work a little harder to have what I had dreamed of.
I guess that part of the back yard will still be left for us to create as we wish, but not until after the landscapers scrape away about 6 inches of dirt and rock and replace it with topsoil, effectively erasing all the plans and outlining we'd started. Our garden will be uprooted. I'm not even sure when I'll get to plant my seed starts at this point.
So our plans aren't totally worthless, but right now it feels that way. Like all the stuff we were willing to do doesn't matter. And I guess we'd better get used to the idea of mowing a lawn Every. Damn. Week. All. Summer.
So a lot of stuff is on hold right now, and gardening might not be a reality until June. I'm hoping that I can still make a lot of my projects work out despite the setback.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
From My Library: The Woman Warrior
New blog feature: sharing some books from my beloved library with the world. I don't want to write a big synopsis or review of these books--just talk a little bit about them.
___________________________________________________________
The Woman Warrior
-Maxine Hong Kingston
"Night after night my mother would talk-story until we fell asleep. I couldn't tell where the stories left off and the dreams began..."
A beautiful and complicated story. I've heard people say that they dislike the narrator, but I somehow find myself entranced by her, her story, how she tells her account of growing up in a strange place (amidst what it is to be American, Chinese, and Chinese-American) that can't be easily explained. It is a study of relationships, primarily between the narrator and her mother, but it contains so much more.
This is not an "easy" book, and I understand why some dislike it. For me, though, it pierced me, hitting some part of me that wouldn't stop bleeding once it had been touched. It made sense, although it was disturbing. Perhaps it is best described this way, from a New York Times reviewer: "it is dizzying, elemental, a poem turned into a sword."
It is tough for me to name favorites, but I would say that this is probably my favorite book. I don't love it for a warm fuzzy feeling or satisfying resolution. I love it for its confusion, beauty, and layers of depth.
"Be careful what you say. It comes true. It comes true."
___________________________________________________________
-Maxine Hong Kingston
"Night after night my mother would talk-story until we fell asleep. I couldn't tell where the stories left off and the dreams began..."
A beautiful and complicated story. I've heard people say that they dislike the narrator, but I somehow find myself entranced by her, her story, how she tells her account of growing up in a strange place (amidst what it is to be American, Chinese, and Chinese-American) that can't be easily explained. It is a study of relationships, primarily between the narrator and her mother, but it contains so much more.
This is not an "easy" book, and I understand why some dislike it. For me, though, it pierced me, hitting some part of me that wouldn't stop bleeding once it had been touched. It made sense, although it was disturbing. Perhaps it is best described this way, from a New York Times reviewer: "it is dizzying, elemental, a poem turned into a sword."
It is tough for me to name favorites, but I would say that this is probably my favorite book. I don't love it for a warm fuzzy feeling or satisfying resolution. I love it for its confusion, beauty, and layers of depth.
"Be careful what you say. It comes true. It comes true."
Monday, April 30, 2012
Potential Yard Plan
 |
| Bad picture...still gets the point across |
There are different elements that will be part of the yard. Here are the different parts, along with the supplies that I expect we'll need:
-Bark. This will make up a fair amount of the yard. It will line the edges of the fence on the north and west sides. There will be patches of it in other places as well, potentially with shrubs and stuff planted. Needed supplies: weed barrier, bark.
-Rock. This will cover a lot of the front yard. Needed supplies: weed barrier, rocks.
-Grass. Trying to keep this to a minimum so we don't go crazy trying to maintain it, but we do want a little in some strategic spots. Needed supplies: topsoil, grass seed OR sod, sprinkler system.
-Dirt/soil beds. For areas with flowers/plants/garden/etc. Needed supplies: topsoil, organic matter, rocks for border, plants.
-Gravel. For areas where nothing needs to grow and should be kept very low-maintenance. Needed supplies: gravel, weed barrier (possibly).
-Dirt/gravel path. We'll probably just leave it as dirt for now, then add gravel to it later on. Needed supplies: gravel.
Next project is to estimate how much each project will cost...
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Skinny Snickerdoodles
Oh my giddy goodness.
Amazing. So amazing.
Found a recipe for Skinny Snickerdoodles from Chocolate-Covered Katie, the Healthy Dessert Blog. Because I don't have a lot of patience, I didn't bother to refrigerate before cooking. I also just added some cinnamon to the dough instead of rolling the dough balls in cinnamon/sugar mix. Amazing.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
State of the Garden Address
Ok, so as of today here's how things are progressing.
Seeds I've Started Indoors (and how they are doing):
Tomato, Gourmet Heirloom Blend: 3/4 sprouted. They seem to be doing quite well :)
Tomato, Bonny Best: 1/2 sprouted. Doing okay :/
Pepper, Golden Treasure: 0/2 sprouted :(
Pepper, Sweet Golden Cal Wonder: 0/2 sprouted :(
Eggplant, Black Beauty: 2/3 sprouted. Only 1 seems to be thriving, however. ;/
Lettuce, Salad Bowl Red: 7/12 sprouted/thriving...originally more sprouted, but they dried out. Still, the majority are doing well :)
Pumpkin, Orange Smoothie: 2/2 sprouted and thriving...I think starting this indoors was a mistake since they are already big-ass sons of guns. Doing great :)
Winter Squash, Delicata: 0/2 sprouted...they may need more time? :(
Melon, Casaba Golden Beauty: 4/4 sprouted, 2 of which are already thriving :)
Seeds I've Started Outdoors (and how they are doing):
Pea, Dark Seeded Perfection: Planted 16. These have finally, just BARELY, started showing their lovely little faces! About three little sprouts are now visible, so I'm quite joyful :) I'm going to try to keep them pretty wet and hope they keep on growing like a boss. :/
Carrot, Danvers Half Long: Can't remember how many I planted...but regardless, nothing yet :(
So far, not too bad, right? If nothing else, I've got tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkins, melons, and peas to look forward to! Next step is, I think, to move the thriving/larger plants to bigger containers, and soon I'll start hardening them off.
Seeds I've Started Indoors (and how they are doing):
Tomato, Gourmet Heirloom Blend: 3/4 sprouted. They seem to be doing quite well :)
Tomato, Bonny Best: 1/2 sprouted. Doing okay :/
Pepper, Golden Treasure: 0/2 sprouted :(
Pepper, Sweet Golden Cal Wonder: 0/2 sprouted :(
Eggplant, Black Beauty: 2/3 sprouted. Only 1 seems to be thriving, however. ;/
Lettuce, Salad Bowl Red: 7/12 sprouted/thriving...originally more sprouted, but they dried out. Still, the majority are doing well :)
Pumpkin, Orange Smoothie: 2/2 sprouted and thriving...I think starting this indoors was a mistake since they are already big-ass sons of guns. Doing great :)
Winter Squash, Delicata: 0/2 sprouted...they may need more time? :(
Melon, Casaba Golden Beauty: 4/4 sprouted, 2 of which are already thriving :)
Seeds I've Started Outdoors (and how they are doing):
Pea, Dark Seeded Perfection: Planted 16. These have finally, just BARELY, started showing their lovely little faces! About three little sprouts are now visible, so I'm quite joyful :) I'm going to try to keep them pretty wet and hope they keep on growing like a boss. :/
Carrot, Danvers Half Long: Can't remember how many I planted...but regardless, nothing yet :(
So far, not too bad, right? If nothing else, I've got tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkins, melons, and peas to look forward to! Next step is, I think, to move the thriving/larger plants to bigger containers, and soon I'll start hardening them off.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
And the results are in!
Here's how I did today diet-wise:
So now I have a basic idea of how I eat on any given day. To be fair, though, I think I ate a lot more sugar than normal. I know I eat a lot more sugar than I should...but today it seems like I went way overboard...like 5x more than I should have had (!). I am also concerned with the amount of fat I ate. I don't think I typically consume that much. Maybe I should try this again tomorrow, then kind of take the average of the two days? Or maybe I should do it a few more times...I'm not sure yet.
I dropped the ball today. I may have come in under 2000 calories, but I sucked at how I chose those calories. Clearly I need to set some boundaries for sugar and fat consumption. Maybe I'll start with that--reduce sugar and fat.
I'm making a tentative goal here: eat less than 50g of sugar and less than 65g of fat each day for the rest of the week. We'll see how I feel.
Once I get my diet "on track," I'd like to revisit this and see how I'm doing then compared to how I did today. I really hope that I'll be pleased with the results.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to ward of Wilford Brimly and insist that I'm not in the market for diabetes testing supplies yet.
"Red Flag" foods that I ate today:
*Winco Cranberry Almond Mix (26.6g of sugar)
*Bridge Mix Candy (61g of sugar...oops)
*McDonald's Hot Fudge Sundae (48g of sugar)
Good Food Choices I ate today:
*1/2 Turkey Sandwich (lunch)
*Baby carrots
I dropped the ball today. I may have come in under 2000 calories, but I sucked at how I chose those calories. Clearly I need to set some boundaries for sugar and fat consumption. Maybe I'll start with that--reduce sugar and fat.
I'm making a tentative goal here: eat less than 50g of sugar and less than 65g of fat each day for the rest of the week. We'll see how I feel.
Once I get my diet "on track," I'd like to revisit this and see how I'm doing then compared to how I did today. I really hope that I'll be pleased with the results.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to ward of Wilford Brimly and insist that I'm not in the market for diabetes testing supplies yet.
Organizing Jewelry
Looking for a cheap but visually-appealing way to organize your jewelry? Years ago I discovered that a simple mug rack:
could be easily transformed into this:
with just a few nails or tacks in the wall.
I love it!
I love it!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Dialogue
Brain: Hey stomach! We're going to lose weight.
Stomach: Whatever. I don't care as long as I don't have to do anything.
Brain: Well, actually, that's part of the plan...
Stomach: Screw that.
Brain: Look. If you'll just try to enjoy healthy foods instead of junk, I'll do my best to supply the willpower to make this possible long-term.
Stomach: But I like junk food! I LIVE for junk food! In fact, me getting junk food is one thing that makes YOU happy, remember?
Brain: Well, yeah...for a few minutes. Then I'M the one that's stuck living with the guilt later on! And what about YOU? You just keep stretching out and then you want MORE food and I just feel worse and worse!
Stomach: Well, you over-analyze everything.
Brain: YOU DON'T SAY! That's my !@#$*&% JOB YOU !@#$ GUT!
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....
Stomach: I'm not speaking to you anymore.
Brain: I didn't even think it was possible for us to speak.
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....
THE END.
. . . . .
I kind of wish that the above WERE just some silly thing I came up with, but there is some real truth to it. I want to lose weight, but it's quite difficult in part because I've grown up using food as a band-aid. It's like, "I feel upset. I'll have some chocolate because I deserve it since I'm upset. Then I'll feel better." And I do. For a few minutes. How long does it take to A.) be excited with the anticipation of the chocolate; B.) actually enjoy eating the chocolate; C.) feel content because i just ate chocolate? Not very long. And after that comes the guilt where I wish there was more chocolate, then realize I should never have eaten it at all because of how caloric/fatty/sugary it was, and soon I wish I could un-eat what I'd eaten to make me feel "better" in the first place.
It's a bad system, worse paired with my recent sedentary lifestyle. I don't work cleaning or running around a warehouse or anything like that anymore--I am sitting or standing most of the time. I do try to get some exercise in daily, but that's not enough. And since I live in the middle of nowhere, getting to a gym or whatever is a pain because it takes time to get there and it costs extra gas money. Thankfully I've been getting into walking/jogging outside with D. since the weather got nice. BUT...I think there needs to be more, and losing as much weight as I want will start with figuring out what I'm doing wrong NOW and get rid of it, for starters.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to keep track of everything I eat. I am also going to check my gym/rec center options again and just make some comparisons. It seems like it will be super inconvenient to change anything, but most major things don't come about without a bit of change and sacrifice. Right?
Stomach: Whatever. I don't care as long as I don't have to do anything.
Brain: Well, actually, that's part of the plan...
Stomach: Screw that.
Brain: Look. If you'll just try to enjoy healthy foods instead of junk, I'll do my best to supply the willpower to make this possible long-term.
Stomach: But I like junk food! I LIVE for junk food! In fact, me getting junk food is one thing that makes YOU happy, remember?
Brain: Well, yeah...for a few minutes. Then I'M the one that's stuck living with the guilt later on! And what about YOU? You just keep stretching out and then you want MORE food and I just feel worse and worse!
Stomach: Well, you over-analyze everything.
Brain: YOU DON'T SAY! That's my !@#$*&% JOB YOU !@#$ GUT!
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....
Stomach: I'm not speaking to you anymore.
Brain: I didn't even think it was possible for us to speak.
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....
THE END.
. . . . .
 |
| Sometimes you just feel like a cow. |
It's a bad system, worse paired with my recent sedentary lifestyle. I don't work cleaning or running around a warehouse or anything like that anymore--I am sitting or standing most of the time. I do try to get some exercise in daily, but that's not enough. And since I live in the middle of nowhere, getting to a gym or whatever is a pain because it takes time to get there and it costs extra gas money. Thankfully I've been getting into walking/jogging outside with D. since the weather got nice. BUT...I think there needs to be more, and losing as much weight as I want will start with figuring out what I'm doing wrong NOW and get rid of it, for starters.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to keep track of everything I eat. I am also going to check my gym/rec center options again and just make some comparisons. It seems like it will be super inconvenient to change anything, but most major things don't come about without a bit of change and sacrifice. Right?
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Idea: Gravel Path and Garden Area
We have a big-ass yard. It's a huge task to even make a final decision about what to do with it. So imagine how fun it will be to actually start the process!
The north-east section of our yard is especially a puzzle for me. There's nothing out there besides a dinky little tree. What else should be do out there?
Well, at this moment I'm thinking of doing something that's a mix between an English garden and a desert landscape. Yeah, I know, those two things really go hand-in-hand, right? But I just mean I want a nice gravel path that winds through some lovely bunches of native plants. Kind of, although not exactly, like this:
Oh yeah. Maybe a little of this:
...and this:
aaaand this:
You get the idea.
The north-east section of our yard is especially a puzzle for me. There's nothing out there besides a dinky little tree. What else should be do out there?
Well, at this moment I'm thinking of doing something that's a mix between an English garden and a desert landscape. Yeah, I know, those two things really go hand-in-hand, right? But I just mean I want a nice gravel path that winds through some lovely bunches of native plants. Kind of, although not exactly, like this:
Oh yeah. Maybe a little of this:
aaaand this:
You get the idea.
Ideas: Patio
This project here pretty much exemplifies how I want to do our future backyard patio. This particular one is for a garden path, but I'm sure it would work as a patio with just a few changes.
Obviously we'd need to make it wider, which would be no problem. Also, I'm thinking that, although flagstone is lovely, we might use stepping-stone tile things, like this:
The process is pretty simple. Lay down weed-block fabric:
Then dump some sand on there, get it wet, and press it down:
Place the stepping downs down in the sand where you want them:
Shouldn't be too complicated, right?
I'm really excited at the idea of finishing this over the summer...maybe even sooner. It's all of matter of how much funding we can dedicate to the yard, you know? Anyway, just some thoughts.
Then, fill in the gaps with some fine gravel:
I'm really excited at the idea of finishing this over the summer...maybe even sooner. It's all of matter of how much funding we can dedicate to the yard, you know? Anyway, just some thoughts.
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