Our backyard landscaping is finally completed for now. We've put in a row of wax myrtles which will soon enough block the house behind us. We have our garden, as you know. And we finally completed the walkway around the waterfall - our recent night time project. It's like our own mini oasis back here!
Mateo stole his daddy's water jug and was very excited about it.
Somehow we always end up doing landscaping at night. That's how our tree got planted, too. Hopefully by the end of this week I can unveil our project fully. You know you were productive when your legs look like this at the end of the day.
This is Deanna and me after a night out. We're looking a little tired but not as tired as my feet felt. We hit The Good Knight (reminiscent of a British pub) on the east side and then walked to Uncorked (a wine bar). Lots of low key fun. I think we talked about books and movies mostly. I didn't have much to say about movies, as the last movie I saw was Space Chimps! Anyhow, thanks, Deanna, for the night out!
When is the last time you enjoyed the respite of a hammock? If it's been a while, then you must run, RUN, I tell you, to your nearest sporting goods store to get one. Rafi and I have had a beautiful handmade hammock we bought in Panama stashed in a closet for the past 6 years. For his birthday this April my mom bought him a hammock stand. And now? That hammock is up in our backyard promising a comfortable reading headquarters and lazy afternoon naps. A little boy we know enjoys making it rock. It's even better when you've got your laptop and pillow out there with you. Technology meets nature = AWESOME. So next time you feel the whim to get yourself a hammock, do it. Kick up your feet. Enjoy the breeze. Now where's my cocktail?
Recently we celebrated Earth Day. Rafi and I try to be conscious of our waste, but we could do so much better. We do have a compost bin in the works (still choosing one) as well as a rain barrel. (Need to get gutters for that last one.) We're growing our own vegetables organically. I clean with cloth rags instead of paper towels. (The Sham-Wow works well for that.) We primarily use non-chemical cleaners, but once those run out I was considering making my own with lemons, vinegar, and baking soda. I always bring my own bags for grocery shopping, and I very, very rarely use paper plates. So overall we're making some effort.
Now here's where I'm struggling, people. I have an addiction to plastic Ziploc freezer bags! We buy in bulk at Costco, and I sort out the meats into smaller portions. Or I repackage items in a freezer bag to cut down on the cardboard bulk in our freezer. I use sandwich bags for Mateo's snacks. I know this is so wasteful, but it's so eeeeasy! I've seen online the oilcloth-type alternative, but I really can't see how that will keep my Veggie Booty from getting stale. And if I freeze things with plastic containers, the insides get burned or the lids pop open. Or both!
So if anyone has some good suggestions, let me know. Oh, and don't bother recommending to wash them out. I don't mind rinsing snack bags, but I'm not washing out meat bags. If it can't stand up to ultra high heat in the dishwasher, then forget it.
Until I find a good solution, I suppose I'll keep doing my part if only to counteract the devastation my freezer bag addiction will cause.
The garden has been growing nicely. We're still having issues with pill bugs eating the strawberries. I have a shallow dish of beer among the strawberry plants that seems to help, but those guys just wait for me to forget to refill it.
The onions are looking great. We should be set with onions for a good while once they're harvested and dried. I need to build a drying rack for them.
The tomatoes are staying strong despite the odd freezes we've had. We also have some peppers growing. I have high hopes for lots of salsa this summer - can't get any more homemade than that! My herbs are all doing well. I planted more basil. I seem to use that frequently. I use my cilantro all the time. I doubt I'll end up using my lavender though. The carrots are looking nice, too, even though I didn't have the heart to thin them. I don't like playing God. :)
The flowers in our yard are all abloom. I still wish I could keep a fern alive. Every few years or so I give it another shot. Well, I failed again this year. Sorry, fern. I'll keep watering you just in case.
Three Easter egg hunts make a 26 month old a pro! Our first hunt was with friends. The second hunt was at his "school" (the only time he didn't cry was during the hunt itself). And the real deal was at my parents' house. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate at all - thunderstorms all night. So my dad hid the eggs in the house. I don't think he realized what a pro egg hunter Mateo is, though, because they were very obvious. So when he (and we) woke up at 8am, we had to get him dressed to do his egg hunt first thing before breakfast. He quite enjoyed all the little toys, but he really enjoyed those eggs. I reduced the amount of candy in them (talking about his school eggs here since my parents put healthy treats in theirs - yay!) and have them hidden in the cookie jar where they wait for special occasions. He gets just as excited about three jelly beans as he would to an entire snack pack of them. :-) He also gets excited about broccoli, too, though.
When it wasn't raining Mateo enjoyed playing outside. He especially enjoyed the pile of leaves my dad swept up for him. That kid would stay outside all day in the rain if you let him - something I've actually done before. Okay so we have a nice big patio under which to stay dry, but seriously he'll walk out there if you let him. Which I have also done. You know a kid has had fun when they have dirt stuck to their knees.
Over Easter weekend we adults worked maniacally on a globe puzzle we gave my dad for Christmas. Would you believe that when we finished (well, technically my mom finished it after we returned home) the last two pieces were identical? So my mom emailed the company. They are supposed to be sending the last piece. Very important. No really. It is. REALLY!
The year started off with so much promise. On January 2nd I ran the Resolution 5k. I completed the race. I resolved. Unfortunately I didn't do much more than that. I did, however, complete my first duathlon in mid March. My friend/neighbor Deanna and I finished the Tough Cookies Duathlon in Copperas Cove. It was a 2k run, 10 mile bike, and another 2k run. I really did not train at all, so the fact that I finished 35th out of 75 with a 1:19:27 time was very pleasing to me. The bike course was much hillier than I expected, but thankfully I had borrowed my other neighbor's road bike. My mountain bike would've been.... disasterous. I doubt I would've finished. My biking time was really great, but my running time was pretty sorry. I'm way out of shape.
So now that I've publicly established I'm out of shape, I guess that means I should do something about it. But I'm not that motivated. Yet. Hopefully the coming warm weather will help.
So next time you feel the whim to get yourself a hammock, do it. Kick up your feet. Enjoy the breeze. Now where's my cocktail?
