Watch Me Grow!

This weekend, my husband and I accomplished something that I have been wanting to do for years! We finally built our first raised garden. I was actually surprised by how very little work and cost went into it. Anyone can do this and I am so thrilled to see the results.

My Jesus look-alike with all the materials. The lumber totaled $11 and some change. Chicken wire for the bottom to keep out pesky moles was around $7. 

Preparing and leveling the ground.

The chicken wire is under the cardboard. The cardboard will decompose back into the ground and while it's taking it's time doing this invasive weeds are bocked out and it was free and natural. Score!

Filling the bed with compost. Our city has an area for residents to get compost for free. Unfortunately, it was closed for the holiday weekend. My husband and I are not people. We had the time and energy to get the job done, so we paid about double what we would have. After the special topsoil was bought, we spent about $30 on "dark matter". I do have a compost pile of my own, although it is not very well maintained and has no usable "dark matter" as of late. We were both surprised at the quantity of "dark matter" we needed to fill the boxes.

All filled! We chose to go with an organic top soil that is best for vegetables. We learned that the top part should not be compacted to much. You should be able to push your finger to the third knuckle in easily.

 Lastly, came the planting. What a breeze! We have a few herbs, lots of various peppers (we're a spicy family), a few different tomatoes, and my favorite: asparagus. Now the really hard part comes...the wait for nature to take it's course. We're not patient people you'll remember. 

And that's it! I'll post pictures of the progress and harvest as we go! It really is a simple and enjoyable project. It's eco-friendly and will keep us eating healthy all summer long. 

The Day After May Day

It is reported that Red Wing, MN received about 17 inches of snow overnight. With the snow still falling...

In May? You say!

I don't believe it! You say.

Proof. I will show you it!

Heavy wet snow on the roof.

A view from our porch. Snowplows...in May

Heavy snow weighs down trees.

Our neighbor's solider pines bowing down to the snow.

Our back yard. Thankfully all the weighted down trees are not focused on your house.

Spring Wonderland

We lost a couple big branches.

Buds on the trees, covered in snow. 

Shelter from the storm. Thankful we put Elaina's bird house up last weekend!

"I'm taking a snow day with the girls." -Something I'd never thought I'd say in May.

Happy Mayan Apocalypse Day

Every family has that child. That child that just does crazy stuff for no particular reason. Stuff that makes you late or ruins your most prized possession. That child that makes you just want to throw in the towel. That child that tests you in every way just because they can. My youngest is that child and while I love her dearly, more than my own breath, I almost lost it today.

I would like to tell you a story in a series of memes about my own mini apocalypse on this day, December 21, 2012:

Because school is out I had to take my youngest to work with me...

She was really good until it was almost time to go and she stumbled across the bucket of rock salt we keep in the entryway...

And was all:

Then she comes up to me and tells me what she did as if it was as normal as getting dressed in the morning:

I had seen her in the entryway so I knew what she did, but I was angry and baffled so I still had to ask...

I ran to the entry way, which now looked something like this...

Me:

Child #2:

Me: Complete silence. I was so mad I couldn't even yell. That's when she knew it was bad.

Child #2: 

 

So I did. Of course. I cooled off while cleaning up the mess and was even able to see some humor in the whole thing. So I made this post. Why she found it necessary to dump a bucket of rock salt all over the floor and spread it around will continue to baffle generations for years to come.

Happy Mayan Apocalypse Day to you all. Hold your babies close and love them, even when they are mischievous. We are so blessed!

Back to Blogging

I need to get back here more often. Reading too many books lately...wait can there ever be enough books? Time to pimp a series? Okay: Check out "Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher. I had the pleasure to meet Butcher a few years ago. He has wit and he has nerdy humor that carries throughout the series. Harry Dresden kept me company during 7 weeks of bed rest and continues to give me that "warm cozy" feeling you feel when you return to a series. Book #14 "Cold Days" just came out a few weeks ago. Excellent! The series won't disappoint.

ALSO: THE HOBBIT!! FOUR MORE DAYS!! Richard Armitage :g I can hardly contain my glee.

Pinterest Inspiration

Pinterest has inspired me to make many crafty things on my own. It's a fantastic place to get ideas and this year I decided to home make gifts for teachers and our moms.

Teacher Gifts:

I must confess, I'm not an expert knitter. I'm just starting to get my feet wet on this whole new avenue, so I made these pretty simple. It's just a basic knit stitch over and over until it was long enough to fold over. Then I sewed the two sides together and slapped a button on them. For presentation, I got three empty coffee cups and taped a gift card to the coffee place on top!

Mother Gifts:

These are the yarn wreaths I made for my mom, mother-in-law, and step mom. They are thinner than your normal yarn wreath, but I'm happy with the way they turned out. I bought the wreath at the dollar store and then took three different colors of yarn and wrapped around until my arm was about to fall off. Then I followed a very easy tutorial on how to make felt flowers. I can't WAIT to give them to the moms!

I've been trying so many ideas from Pinterest and I hope to blog about all of them. Some have worked wonderfully while others have been disasters. Stay tuned!

Happy St. Nick!!

What a cultural change moving from Wisconsin to Minnesota! One would think since the states our neighbors, that they have a lot in common, but the heritages are very different. I grew up in Southeastern Wisconsin an area a large amount of German immigrants found attractive. Many of my friends and relatives celebrate St. Nick which is on the night of Dec. 5th he comes and fills your stockings with oranges, apples, peanuts, chocolate and little presents. Today, my Facebook page BLEW UP with friends back home describing how St. Nick went for them and their families. My friends in Minnesota are silent, today is just another day to them, and they're all turning their heads wondering what is up with this peculiar holiday.

Minnesota has a large Scandinavian population. So, color me surprised when I found out that next to no one here knows what St. Nick Day is all about and why we celebrate it. It was off to the trusty computer for research in order to gain knowledge on exactly what this day means.

Low and behold! I find out that it is actually a precursor to Santa Claus! In our house the two holidays and gift giving old men were very separate. I think it was my mum's Catholic roots and German influence that kept the holidays separte. St. Nick was just that a saint. He was Turkish and lived from 280-343. He went around putting coins in people's shoes when they weren't looking (hence treats in stockings). December 6th is known as St. Nicolas Day and so even though mainstream has combined the holidays, we keep it separate in our home, and we can explain the tradition to our Viking neighbors.

All I can say is that, "It's about time!" Occupy Wall Street

As I sit in the slowly decreasing temps of southeastern Minnesota, I'm wishing more than anything that I could be in NYC with the protesters on Wall Street. It's about time the voice of the 99% was heard! The 99% has woken up! These are not Hippie slackers with long hair, they are mothers, fathers, grandparents, college students, the old that support the young, the young that have the most to lose!

Ways you too can join in and stand with the 99%:
1. Spread the word. Everyone. Twitter, Facebook, Blogging, Flicker, etc. Don't stop!
2. Donate money to the cause here: Cultural Revolution is our business. Want to join?
3. If you're in NYC or can get to NYC go! Even for a day and join with the other protesters.

The time for change has come!

Word:
"Many tend to forget that Jesus was ordered to be executed because he was confronting both the state and the religious institutions. It was after his overturning of the money changer's tables that the rabbis and Pharisees went to the Roman governor."














Revolutions Invoke Change!