another harvest

Here is a picture of this weeks harvest. I can’t believe how much I’m getting this year! Compared to last year this is like striking gold!!! Another 3 zucchinis from my 2 plants. The summer squash isn’t doing quite as well. It produces fruit but the fruit doesn’t mature well. My Roma tomato plant is going crazy! We have two cherry tomatoes that are doing well, only about a quarter of all those plants tomatoes have turned red. There’s a lot more fruit there! I have another tomato plant that should be making larger tomatoes but I think it was put in too late and doesn’t look very happy.
My banana peppers are doing extremely well. These I got from Mom and both plants are happy and have about 5 peppers on each. Chris loves these peppers, he’ll put them on anything! My green bell pepper probably won’t give us anything.
The small white bulbs toward the top are my garlic harvest. I had just bought a bulb of garlic from the store and planted the individual cloves. I think they needed a longer growing season which I can do next year by planting them closer to the house. They did double in size though and we’ll probably eat them next time I cook.
I’m absolutely loving harvest this year. I’m learning tons and making plans to what to do next year.

wine, sushi, and wii

This weekend was the only weekend in August that we will be home, it was also our birthday weekend. For our birthday’s we planned a nice relaxing weekend at home w/ the kitties. Friday night we packed up a picnic and headed out to the Mackinaw winery. There was a large party there under a tent so we got to enjoy the music that was playing from there while we ate our picnic dinner on the porch of the winery. We bought a bottle of our favorite wine and sipped on it all evening. We watched the sunset as we walked in the rows of grapevines. The vines had this years crop maturing and getting ready for harvest. I love going to this winery, it’s in a beautiful setting and I find it very peaceful walking through the grapevines.
Saturday the Dude came down to hang out with us. He bought us the Wii for our birthdays! We still can’t believe it. We hadn’t played it much except for a few minutes w/ my friends 8 year old. But now we’re hooked. We played the little games that came with the wii plus the wii sport which is kinda fun. I actually enjoy the bowling most. Then we headed out to the video store and rented some games. We rented MarioKart which has always been a fav of the three of us to play. And we rented Mario galaxy which is a bit disorienting but a lot of fun. That night the three of us went out for a nice big sushi dinner…oh that was good. We’ve become so hooked on sushi lately, we can’t seem to get enough of it!
Sunday was spent playing Wii and relaxing. We met some friends out for lunch and beers. Nothing too eventful, which is what we were looking for. This week we’ve been busy making lists. We have a million things to do before we leave on our two week road trip. Unfortunately beading doesn’t seem to be on the list…although packing beads to bring with is on the list! We’ve been doing searches to see what hikes interest us, and where we might want to camp. I have to take my car in to get a tune up and make sure everything is in working order. We need to start packing or at least piling up what we’re taking. We need to clean out the tent and waterproof it. Lots of things to do! And Friday we leave really early to head down to Memphis for a wedding. It should be a blast!

our part

About a month ago or so Chris and I went to see Wall-E. I love Pixar films, there’s a humor to them that is perfect for adults and entertaining for the kids. Wall-E had that but had a much deeper message to it. It takes place in a future where humans have virutally destroyed the Earth and now live on a space ship completely run by robots. It was a disturbing thought to see…and mostly because how far off from that are we? Robots like Wall-E were designed to clean up the Earth. There is no dialog during first 20 minutes of the film, instead we hear a barrage of beeps, squeeks, and gear shifts as we get to know Wall-E’s character. He’s a lovable character as are his companions EVA and MO.

This movie was a kick in the butt for me. I’d been thinking about ways I could be more green. It’s all over the news now and it’s an issue that really shouldn’t be ignored…and yet I never really got around to it. Until now. Peoria area doesn’t require recycling like the Chicago area does, so I did some research and found a nearby recycling center. Today after work we’re going to drive by and check out the drop off. I want to see if it has hours and days that it’s open. I’m hoping to be able to recycle glass, plastics, and cardboard. This would take a huge chuck out of our garbage load.
For mother’s day/Mom’s birthday this year I bought her some canvas tote bags she requested. She takes them to the grocery store and fills these instead of the plastic bags they offer at the store. For my birthday Mom got me 5 of these bags. I love them! 4 bags alone will hold as much as 10 of the plastic bags. Plus those plastic bags we all throw away b/c we get so many of them never degrade. Think of the hundreds of bags you get each year it’s insane to think where they are all buried slowing the natural bio-degradation process.
We’ve also made some other minor adjustments. We’ve started using the fluorescent light bulbs to save on energy. I realize these have mercury in them but they last so long I’m going to hang on to the few that go bad until we start recycling them. We’ve also started reusing lunch bags and sandwich baggies. They hold the same thing each day and work just as well after three days as they do getting a new one each day.
It might not seem like much, but baby steps are at least little steps in the right direction. Plus I get a good feeling knowing that I’m contributing to making a world where we will only need Wall-E in a movie.

Ozarks part 2

Saturday morning we woke up to a light drizzle. I’m not sure if it ever quit raining in the night, but we were glad that we only had a slight dampness in the tent. It could have been much worse. This was our big day on the river. In years past we’ve done the river both days while camping, but last year it just seemed like too much. The river tends to be over crowded with drunken people acting crazy. This year was a different river, a bigger, and deeper river…which also means a more dangerous river.
Chris and I decided to kayak and a few people in the group canoed. It’s a little more tiring to kayak b/c you are the only one propelling the boat along, but I like the independence. We went on a fairly long trip, about 11 miles, which turned out to be about 6 hours or so. We took some breaks along the way to enjoy the scenery. We saw lots of turtles. There weren’t too many people on the river and most weren’t too crazy…minus the pink hatters we passed by. Most of the trip consisted of splash fights and threats to tip each other over. We did have a bit of excitement when one of the guys in our group got caught up in a swift current that rushed under a fallen tree. It knocked him out of his kayak and rushed him about 50 yards down stream. He was ok although it gave us all a scare. Another guy in our group saw him flip and tried to paddle over to help but the current flipped him over as well and even pulled him under a bit. He was also ok. It took three attempts to free the stuck kayak against the river current. It was very fast and very deep there, and turns out very dangerous. I’m sure there were other places similar to this on the river we passed right by. We’d have never though anything about it if the first guy in our group hadn’t hit that current just right. You certainly couldn’t tell how strong it was by looking at it.
I was exhausted after finishing the kayak trip. It was a hot and muggy day and after 6 hours of kayaking even the cold river water wasn’t helping to make it more comfortable. We stumbled back to the camp ground to sit around and replay the days events. Our campsite was next to the loose rock that let up to the river’s edge. That night it was apparently popular to take your truck out into the rock and spin around in the rock. I don’t quite understand the fun in it, but lots of people were doing it. One brand new truck was out there having fun and got a little too close to the water-flipped the truck on its side in the water. We didn’t see it happen but some of the people in the group saw it in the water. Next thing we know a tractor goes on into the rocks and both a dripping wet truck and dripping wet tractor drive out of the rock and back to camp. That night we took it easy and went to bed early.

Sunday we were both tired. We didn’t sleep well because the humidity didn’t lift until after 1am and then it got chilly. We were the first of the group to get all packed up and leave. It was a long weekend full of lots of adventure and good memories. Even the trip home was exciting b/c about half way there we stopped to gas up and we saw a burglary. Well we saw the guy running away and jumping into his bright purple get a way car and taking off. We also saw the girl chasing him on the phone with the police. Once back on the highway I could see the get away car (bright purple isn’t the best choice) a head of us. Next thing we know a cop flies by us w/ his lights on and pulls over the purple car. Three cheers for the police! It’s nice to know they got the bad guys.
The top picture is of the group kayaking/canoeing. Then the other two are from Friday…it’s Chris and I doing our Steve Zissou poses.

Ozarks part 1

We’re back, safe, sound, tired, and yes it was a great time! We left Thursday morning on a 6 hour trip down to the southern end of Missouri. It’s so pretty out there in the Ozark Mountains. They aren’t quite the mountains I’m used to….more like giant hills or baby mountains. But they are covered in trees and with the sun shining through them are very beautiful. This year we camped on a different river, this year we were on the Current River. Turns out to be a bit bigger, deeper, faster, and with less people on it, which worked out well for us. Thursday night was spent getting the campsite organized, exploring the area, and catching up with friends.
Friday morning Chris and I separated from the group and went hiking at the nearby Big Spring state park. There are several springs in the area and Big Spring is the largest natural spring in the world. It was really cool to see the water coming out from the rock. Apparently rain water absorbed in the mountains trickles down through the rock and absorbs different minerals. Then when it comes out of the rock it looks bright blue. All the water in the area was very clear so that you could see bright green moss growing on the rocks under water. It was really awesome to watch the green flowing back and forth in the bright blue water. In the picture you can kinda see the blue, the bright green is the moss growing on the rocks under the water. There was a small cave area just above where the water comes out of the mountain. We thought it was a spectacular view looking out of the cave at the blue water and green forest behind.
We hiked for several hours straight. We followed all the marked trails and then ran into a ranger who was nice enough to fill up our water bottles (it’s really hot and humid down there) and she suggested a few trails that were no longer marked but still were cleared enough to walk. These were awesome trails b/c no one was really around, and we climbed at least two of those mountains. After 3 hours I was exhausted and by the time we made it back to the spring we devoured our lunch and headed back for the campground. We had one goal in mind that afternoon… ice cold beers and the river.
We brought our chairs out and sat in the river while drinking our beers and watching the fish. We saw tons of wildlife, some turtles, lots and lots of spiders, a water snake swam by us while we were in the river, lots of fish, some huge birds. Chris saw a salamander but I missed that.
That night it stormed and stormed hard. There was a down pour that seemed to last forever. Much of our campsite had small rivers through it or decent sized puddles. Luckily our tent didn’t flood. We did get a little damp but nothing like we thought it would be like. If we hadn’t been camping it would have been an amazing storm to watch. The lighting was gorgeous and lit up the sky for over an hour.

portraits

These are the best pictures yet of the kitties.  Mom took these and a few others that can be seen here.  Orion is in the top picture and I have the hardest time getting a decent picture of him.  Either he looks ratty or his eyes are glowing weird colors.  Here you can see his pickle colored eyes, and in them his sweet demeanor.

Mira is also looking sweet in this picture.  It’s a hard part of her personality to catch.  Normally she’s our little trouble maker and likes to give us looks similar to this one.  Every now and then we get to see this innocent little face and with it comes a tiny little motor boat of purrs. 
This weekend the kitties will have the house to play while we drive down to Missouri to camp and see friends.

wine in the storm

The best glass of wine you’ll ever have is the one you’re drinking now

Chris told me that the other day and today I realized what he meant.  I took my glass of wine out on the deck this evening to watch the summer storm roll in.  I sat so that my feet could feel the cold drips of rain and that the rest of me only felt the breeze.  I listened to the crickets quiet down, and watched the birds find shelter.  I watched the lighting strike and crack the sky into millions of pieces.  The bolts directly above me turned the sky purple, not wine purple but crayon purple.  Like something out of a sci fi movie or a photo-shopped picture.  I heard the rustle of rain in the leaves and the pitter patter of it on my gutters.  I could smell the cool in the air mixed with the zucchini bread baking in the oven.  And I tasted the best wine I’d ever had at that moment.

whats in the garden

My coneflowers are almost done blooming as well as the Shasta daisies, but the brown eyed susans are still glowing yellow and are quite beautiful right now.  Last weekend I moved some peonies around and planted the irises Mom gave me.  It’s started to really get hot and humid outside so I’ve been having to water everything as regularly as I can.  So far I’ve had one bloom on my eggplant that didn’t produce any fruit, but I have two more buds for flowers.  I have teeny tiny banana peppers starting to grow and more flower buds about to bloom.  I have tons of green tomatoes on my 4 tomato plants, some are just now starting to turn red.  I’ve picked 6 zucchini from my two plants and am hoping to get more from the buds on the plants.  Today I picked my first yellow squash. I have a row of onions that will probably yield small but yummy bulbs.  The bunnies have eaten all the greens off my carrots so not sure how many carrots I’ll get this year.  My garlic isn’t looking great either. There are blooms all over my pumpkin but no fruit yet, although I have a mystery squash in the back part of the garden that my neighbor planted in that is making small round fruit.  I’m not sure if it’s pumpkin yet or maybe some gourds.  Already this year has been a much more successful harvest than last year.  I’ve been having fun watching everything grow…and eating the profits.  This week I’ll make a couple loaves of zucchini bread to take camping with us. 
I also worked on the beaded garden a bit this evening.  I’ve been working on a project for a wedding that Chris’s cousin asked me to help with.  I’ll have pictures in the next week or two.  I’m taking another set of colors camping with us in hopes I’ll have some time now to string up some beads.  It probably won’t happen but better to be prepared. 

anxiously planning

Thanks for all the comments on my retro flower. It’s really lit a fire under me with ideas! I’ll post a final pic and add it to the gallery once I figure out the best way to hang it!

Over the last week or so Chris and I made the final decision to throw caution to the wind and embark on a 2 week road trip this summer. And we are pumped! The last couple days our free moments have been spent in front of google maps deciding on which states to visit and what parks to stay at. The plan is to make it all the way to San Francisco and on the way camp at several national parks. So far we plan to stop in Utah and see some of the dessert landscapes, and we know we’re definitely going to spend a chunk of time at the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. We’ve been talking about a quick visit to Denver as well…but that’s still up in the air. Now that we have somewhat of a game plan my head has shifted to ideas of how to prepare for this trip. As well as foods to bring, and of course which beads to stow away! ahhh, I do enjoy day dreaming about vacation!
With all my day dreaming I had forgotten how far into July we are. Next week we leave for a long weekend camping trip with friends down in Missouri. We will be camping in a group of 13-15 people. Chris and I plan to spend the first day hiking in the area. There is a state park not far from our campground. Then the second day we’ll join the rest of the group for either a float trip or kayak trip down the Current river. It’ll be hot but I think very fun.

beautiful summer

Today is one of those beautiful summer days where you look out the window and just wish you were out there….lounging by the pool w/ a beer, or out on the river front drinking a pina colada, or even just at home on the deck soaking in the sun. Can you tell I’m day dreaming? This weekend was fun, Mom brought down Gram and I think she had fun. We beaded a lot, and then watched some Planet Earth episodes and Juno. I worked on several different projects.. the one pictured is the one I got the farthest on. This retro flower doesn’t have a name yet and it’s not quite finished. I want to do something different w/ this and hang it on a wall…so now I get to do some experimenting! I started this flower back in early early spring. I also worked on the newer funky flower I’ve mentioned earlier, I dabbled w/ a bracelet idea I had back in February, and started a separate little project. So yeah I was jumping between all that this weekend. It worked out well though b/c I’d get an idea and go try it out, get stumped, jump back to what I had going before, think of something to get farther and jump to something else. Sounds crazy and chaotic…but I had fun with it.
I’m hoping to keep making time to work on these ideas. I need to get a couple things beaded in the next couple weeks, for a gift. Then I’ll have free reign to bead what I want. =)