Double the dirt, double the fun

It took almost 3 years, but I finally convinced the Hubs to rip out a portion of our giant lawn to expand my garden-canvas.  

 Well hello, this year's home for corn; beans; squash; cukes; and tomatoes.  

Bonus: my lawn-mowing time is now down probably about 8 minutes.  I do like mowing the grass, but I HATE watering it.  So I don't.  And then it dies by the 4th of July, further cementing our status as the neighborhood hillbillies.  Which on our block, I assure you, is a title for which there is very stiff competition.
 
I love this pictorial because I was at work when he did this project.  I didn't even know he'd taken photos as he went until I just now found them on the camera.

And after all the work, he read my mind and got some shots of the flowers alongside the house.

And THEN, he stopped reading my mind, and went kind of a weird direction...

Thank you for the new patch of dirt, handsome!  We will feast on corn chowder this winter.


Love, J

T-shirt critter quilt

For the hearts behind the sanctuary.

This was maybe the most hours I've ever logged on a single craft project.  I started it just after Christmas and worked on nothing else (outside of plant starts in the greenhouse) right through when I finished it a couple weeks ago.

It's entirely hand-stitched, entirely from old t-shirts (and backed with a thrifted sheet), and entirely the way I'd hoped it would turn out.  If it wasn't so perfectly suited for its new owners, I would have kept it for myself.

Love, J

5.17.12

 

Source: modernhepburn.tumblr.com via Jessica on Pinterest

 

She did not need much, wanted very little. A kind word, sincerity, fresh air, clean water, a garden, kisses, books to read, sheltering arms, a cosy bed, and to love and be loved in return.

Starra Neely Blade

 

Love, J

5/12/12

So, I have a real, grown-up job.  Finally.  And it is just the best.

It dropped in my lap on March 1st, and I started it right away.  I haven't written about it because I'm still a little self-conscious of the flighty, deadbeat, one-thing-to-the-next way I've spent the last few years.  So I needed to settle in first, and make sure it stuck.

I absolutely adore the work (civil rights stuff); the people (it's a tiny non-profit, so hippies like me!); the location (downtown, I can even take the bus); and all the little extras (4 day work week, yay!)  Seriously, the Hubs set the job-satisfaction bar in our household so very high, I thought I'd never find something that was as good a fit for me as his job is for him, but this totally is.  The only drawback *was* that it was funded through a grant set to run out a year from now, and there was no guarantee for any funding beyond that.

But this week, my boss happily told me that the next grant came through, so my position is all set and funded for another year, which means I'm good to go until May of 2014, which means yay!  Having been unemployed for such an embarassingly long time, I'm less concerned than most would be at the prospect of my position eventually ending, but because this job is pretty much the shit, I'm very happy that I get to keep it for at least two whole years.

Speaking of the shit, have you READ the Hunger Games?!  Go ahead, I dare you to finish the trilogy without winding up majorly crushing on Katniss Everdeen.  What a rockstar; the anti-Bella, if you will.  It's about time adolescent girls had a ruthless, badass survivor to emulate.  I finally got out to see the movie this afternoon, and it pretty much rocked as well.

Love, J

5.5.12

G's been watercoloring up a storm at school (she's kind of amazing at it, but that's hardly news, because what isn't she great at?).  

She wanted some good animal pictures to work from, so we took a little day trip to River's Wish, where she proceeded to show me that she's also got a knack for photography.  

(She took every picture that she's not in.)

 

 

 Love, J

5.4.12

We went to River's Wish

To help Vinny find a new friend

The Hubs goofed off with the goats

He and Nancy may have fallen in love

Vinny played in the pipes

Vinny likes the pipes

Vinny says, "Pipes are my favorite"

Yay Pipes!

And despite the distracting, awesome pipes, Vinny found a new friend.

She is lovely.  Her name is Freya.

We liked her too, so we all went home together.

Vinny and Freya got along right away.  Outside.

Inside.

(Sorry, I'm out of photos to illustrate the rest of this journey.)

Then one night, all of a sudden, they stopped loving each other, and instead tried to kill each other.  Luckily, their brawl woke me up in time, or I may have found some seriously maimed rabbits in the morning.  Now we can't have them together at all, or they're at each others' throat.


So, okay, we thought, we'll start all over, and we put them next to each other, with an x-pen separating them to minimize the damage they could do to one another.


And still, Freya managed to reach through the pen and lacerate the Vin-ster's nose so deeply, he's now sporting a row of stitches.  

They're hot pink.  
He looks funny.  
I'll get a picture before they come out (in a week or so), I promise.

We've been up to more than just living through one bunny drama after another.  Here, some gardening:

And soccer games:

 Oops, and here's Freya again.  But she's modeling my new, pretty chair, so it's not just a gratuitous rabbit pic; this one has a purpose.

Life without Lily still bites the big one, but we're all slowly adjusting.

Love, J