Lordy Lu: What’s new

Such days, such busy days. Been reading, working in the garden, taking care of chickies, cats, birds, people, and self. Weather, projects, house, life. Busy days, I tell you. Biggest project has been the raised beds. Here come the photos, my little chickadees.

So here’s the chicken coop with a new green corrugated roof. That took us a weekend day to repair. The coop still needs a solid door, as we discovered last night — either an electric fence or steel spikes dug down at least a foot into the earth. Yes, our raccoony friends were here overnight and dug underneath, into the coop. Luckily, the chickies still sleep in the garage, and now we know the gambit. So that’s on the list.
As for the raised beds, we had 3 from last year that were still good, but the large bed had rotted. It has been merely a pile of worn-out topsoil, seen at the right of the photo.
Another view of the dirtpile, and a large shipping crate (at right) that we got from my dad. We’ve been using it for 3 years as a planter box but it was never much good, since it wasn’t completely sealed. The dirt was pretty worn out, too. We tore that sucker apart and used the boards to build our new raised beds.
Here’s Mr. Husband at work, knocking rusty nails out of salvaged wood, some of which included pieces from a broken park bench, leftover scrap lumber from getting our sliding glass door fixed, random plywood and the salvaged shipping crate. Also used sections from our daughter’s broken Ikea dresser. Note gorgeous weather!
Here’s the power tools in action, along with my favorite construction worker. Note laundry hanging dry in the sun. *Solar power* = love it!
Look at this dynamic duo! He’s drilling/screwing and she’s sitting patiently, holding boards steady, wearing appropriate protective gear, and offering completely unsolicited advice. We used stuff from Mr. Husband’s garage stash, meaning nothing new purchased for the project. That’s my power drill, btw. He loves him a woman with power tools…
Salvaged French doors from Freecycle make a lean-to greenhouse where we will grow our melons and peppers this year, with luck. It’s too chilly where we are, right on the water, so maybe the glass will help. The barrel (salvaged from Napa winery) was my former water garden-fishpond, that became a dead zone because raccoons were always eating anything alive. It became a mosquito-hatching nursery after a while. Now it’s holding soil, compost and beet seeds.
End of a LONG day shows us dripping with sweat, enjoying a well deserved fountain beverage from the local quickie mart. We were good and drank water and sun tea all day. Six new boxes, total of 10 inside the fence, with raised beds outside the fence as well (eminent domain). Still need some dirt to fill them (they are halfway full with dirt and compost). All materials salvaged, found, from stash or collected from Freecycle. Total cost: $0, unless you count the soda drinks.
Here’s a gratuitous chicken shot, because they are so darned cute, enjoying the sunshine, grass and scratching for insects. They are even larger than this now. Will post new pix soon (when it stops being rainy).
Here I am, planting seeds in little six-packs. Have started seeds for leeks, tomatoes, various peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and other squashes, eggplant, canteloupe and watermelon, pumpkins and…must be forgetting something. They have mostly sprouted, even the peppers and eggplant. Leeks are 2 inches tall already. In one of the raised beds I have green beans, yard-long beans and sunflowers, and those are all 1 to 2 inches high. Slugs have already been a concern, but chickies LOVE slugs, so one of my fun daily activities is slug-hunting to hand-feed to the girls. They love their slugs and go nuts when they see me coming. Slug Mama. Yep. My new nickname.Ain’t we cute? What’s not to love? I need a shower…note yoga gear which also works well as garden gear. I also have a dandy base tan.
Next on the chore list:
  • Chicken coop door, moat with crocodiles, and a mounted guard.
  • Dirt. The good kind. In a large load, preferably without plastic on it (bagged).
  • Planting stuff. Corn should be knee-high by the Fourth of July.
  • Mulch. Keeps weeds down between the boxes and keeps the mud out of the house, too.
Loving this simple life.

tick tock: happy thoughts

Waiting for Mr. Glass-fixin Guy to show up. Tick tock. In the meantime, here’s a short list of happy things:

1. The gardenia brought to me by my daughter Ana. Sweet scent fills the room. It was a birthday gift that truly has kept on giving.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. Bought seeds for the garden yesterday. Mostly American Seed Co., not the world’s greatest seeds, but they do the job. I grow them organically. We eat them for months. I like my garden. Seeds = spring.


3. Ophelia, aka Fifi. What’s not to love? She rules my heart.
 
 
 
 
 

4. Hair salon appointment today. Walk in like a mouse, walk out like a babe. Again, I ask you: What’s not to love? (No photo available of mouse or babe, sorry.)
5. That satisfying feeling of paying bills, of saving a little money for a rainy day, of cooking good food, and of living well without completely raping and pillaging Planet Earth. Maybe counting piles of gold is your thing. Not mine. I’d rather count the tomatoes off the vine, the finches on the fence, and sunny days so I can hang my laundry out to dry in the breeze.
 
Simple life? I wish it were more so. One day at a time.

my morning in pictures

Photos from a well examined life. This is my dining room work-station.

My avocado plant is awe-inspiring. To me, anyway.
Breakfast of scrub jays.

Kitchen windowsills.

Look who came for breakfast? A Cooper’s hawk (left). Finches at the feeder (right) could be his b’fast.

And this is mine. Grapenuts and milk. Ju-u-u-u-u-st right.

ta-da!

It drives me crazy how I can’t get these to line up, but what do I expect from a free blog program? Grrr.
But anyway — ta-da, here is Ana in the satin sheath from wedding dress number 1 and the cummerbund from dress number 2. (Click on each photo for a larger view.)
Note the pretty red satin roses on the back of the cummerbund, and she chose flowered accessories for necklace and rings. She was going for glamour and drama, hence the red lipstick. She also has full length white opera gloves to wear, but she planned to wear them later. Or maybe not.
It’s junior prom. Like, whatever. 😉

Me. Reading.

Note the snappy attire. Note Bionic Boots, recently fixed with Super Glue.

Note snappy artwork on the walls. Note ‘tweens on the couch being inspired by the spoken word. Good time had by all. (See next post below for more pix).

Thank you, family and fiends, for being there.