The Garden Post

Blog? Oh yes...my blog. Ok, I don't know how much catching up I can manage, but I must write about the garden. I have a new passion. Way back in March, one morning when EB and I decided we were going to buy a house "like, now" I started a teeny little garden in the living room which was eventually moved into larger containers and stuck out on our balcony. On moving day, they were all carefully transported to their new home. Dad rototilled a nice little patch, and mom taught me the right way to plant. (including the "please God, let it grow" prayer over each plant and seed :)


It was a team effort bunny-proofing it the first night. "Here, hold my beer."

5-30

6-26

The prayers worked! This picture is the garden just under a month after being put in the ground. I'm kicking myself for not getting later pictures, it really turned into a jungle. The tomato plants were up to my chest and the zucchini plants were creeping into the grass, we had to mow around them.

cucumber bloom

sprouting basil

lunch

All kinds of tomatoes

Here's a list of our crops:
beefsteak tomato
cherry tomato
amana orange tomato
chocolate cherry tomato
cherokee purple tomato
classica hybrid tomato
purple russian tomato
san marzano tomato
(yes, we had quite the selection of tomatoes, on top of our two regular varieties, a wonderful friend gave us a bunch of fancy heirloom plants from her garden. The cherokee purple tomatoes are the best. Ever.)
acorn squash
zucchini
cucumber
catnip
mint
basil
oregano
chives
bee balm
(mom-in-law gave us the last three plants - thanks mom!)

I could go on forever about how wonderful it is eating your own produce everyday, and drinking mint mojitos on a summer night. Lets just say our garden will be doubling in size next season. We learned a lot this year, and have 'big' plans for next season. Until then, I won't be eating any tomatoes unless they are organic. After eating these homegrown tomatoes all summer, anything else just tastes really...really terrible.

Future is TV-shaped

I just came across this article about Intel's "tv of the future" and frankly I'm rather frightened. With quotes like:

"TV will remain at the centre of our lives and you will be able to watch what you want where you want."

"We are talking about more than one TV-capable device for every man and woman on the planet."

"People are going to feel connected to the screen in ways they haven't in the past."

Helloooo Fahrenheit 451, 1984, anyone? When I think about things at the center of my life, things I feel connected to...tv just doesn't come to mind. Although it's so sad how some people's lives and schedules are impacted so severely by the box. It's an idol. How many living room set ups have you seen that strangely resemble a sort of altar?


Kinda weird. Even the furniture in so many living rooms is arranged so no matter where you sit, you face the screen. Much like pews are arranged in a church. The entire space is dedicated, focused around the center of worship.


Not to mention the fact that everything you see is carefully sensored, controlled, and probably owned by Rupert Murdock. TV's entire point is to convince you to feel the need to spend all of your money. Adbusters magazine is essentially not allowed to have commercial spots on television. Their commercials are repeatedly rejected by NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, MTV, FOX, CTV etc. because their main message is turn off your tv and stop buying dumb crap.

I believe this is from 2006:



Kalle: "Over-consumption is in some sense the mother of all our environmental problems."
Cnn: "Oh come on, environmental problems?"

Can you believe this woman?

best clock evar!

My mom and I got a tip from aunt V that there were some starburst clocks at a local antique shop, we immediately rushed over to check em out. We found this waiting for us all the way in the back room, brass gleaming in all of it's mid century glory.

Lux starburst style electric wall clock
circa 1963 made in the USA

A whopping $7. I came home and looked it up...these sell for better than $200. For the win!
Sorry to any fanatical clock purists out there, but I'm not a collector. This baby was going front and center in the living room. I ripped out the old electric clock guts (didn't work) and replaced them with a battery operated clock mechanism. The original clock hands even fit on the new clock kit! Spray-painted the brass parts silver and hung it up.


I didn't even have to set up the "happy time" it really was 10 til 2. Marketing tidbit: If you pay attention to ads, the hands are usually pointed up, it's subconsciously more positive, kind of like a smiley clock face.

My mid century modern dream home is slowing being pieced together thanks to craigslist and antique shops :)

my new sewing table

I found this desk on craigslist. After a little sanding, a little paint leftover from the livingroom, and new hardware, it's not too shabby!

House!!

Wow it's been such a busy and exciting time! We're mostly all settled into our new little home.

Our first house guest right after closing on the house.

Our moving crew (they were compensated in beer and pizza)
Moving day was such a blast, somehow everything got trucked across town and unpacked in an incredibly (almost unbelievably) short amount of time. We were surrounded by friends and family helping out, and there was just this feeling you get when you realize you're making a memory you'll always remember.

In the days leading up to the closing, I had a lot of mixed feelings about being a homeowner. After changing addresses one or more times per year since I graduated high school, the thought of living in one place for around 5 years kind of freaks me out. And the feeling of being so anchored to a little plot of land..scary. I loved the feeling I had in college, knowing that I could fit all of my earthly possessions in my little two door cavalier and take off. Houses are just so...immobile. But now that we're all settled, it's nice to have our own little home. Really nice. I think 5 or so years will be ok until we save up for our big (and probably last) move. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

The first week we were home, the abstract of title was dropped off at our front door. It gave the complete history of the land and all the people who owned it before us. It started out in an 80 acre plot of land purchased by Henry Johnston from the United States of America in 1826. Reading thru all of the marriages, deaths, inheritances, court records and divorces, it's so interesting to see how it was passed down and divided throughout the years. My favorite story found in the abstract was a couple named Raymond and Lola (Lola was Raymond's third wife) who purchased the land in 1948 from this old man named Carl Pollman. In addition to their payments, the couple was required to "Furnish the seller a room in the residence now located on the above described real estate; also to furnish him with heat, light and water, also to keep said room and the bed linens clean and also to furnish him three substatial meals per day during the remainder of his life."
...I'm glad our house didn't come with an old man!

Portland Arch

So much going on! I wasn't planning on trying to play catch up blogwise, because there's volumes to share, but I can't pass up our trip to the Portland Arch Nature Preserve. It's too much of an Indiana gem. I had never heard of it until happening upon it's teeny little wikipedia page, has to be one of the state's best kept secrets. You drive down a one lane gravel road to get to the parking lot! It's full of beautiful ravines, streams, waterfalls, interesting plants, and of course the state's only natural arch

It looks barely ankle deep, until you step in the mud and sink to your knees
creek stompin
Ua as a hobbit...
...and the master rock-skipper (seriously, it's unbelievable how many times he can make them skip!).



We got tired and hungry and decided to explore the surrounding area. We wandered into this Veedersburg restaurant and were not disappointed.
They have a sign for each section of the dining room. The apple room and the Mustang room
found a flea market......some nicely painted windows..
and decided to get a car wash before heading home.
Rainbow soap?! We got more excited than a bunch of 4 year olds would. It smelled fruity and made for some psychedelic pictures

Featured

My stationery featured on Addtwist thanks Carolyn!