Winter motivation

I've been trying to get motivated to write for a few days now--I actually started last week but decided what I wrote was just whiny so this is take two.

It is officially winter here but supposed to be 60 degrees today, unlike the rest of the country, I guess. I heard that as of today all 50 states have snow on the ground for the first time in 50 years  The radio announcer said that he though Hawaii would be the "hold out", but that it was actually Florida.

I had a birthday last week-We aren't going to mention which one. Mr. IM and the kids took me out to dinner and my much-delayed Christmas jewelry arrived (it is very pretty).  They also picked up a set of books written by a Park County writer (and sold at the Al-Mart in Alma!).  Then they all disappeared for the evening and I got to read my books and talk to Liberty about personal space. ("One hundred ten pound dogs don't get to sit on people's laps.  Fifteen-pound cats do if they behave.  You are a one hundred ten pound dog...back up, back up, back up....")

My greenhouse experiment continues to go well-we had a cold snap earlier this week, but it looks like the beets have survived.  The potatoes (round two) haven't sprouted yet...but I always have sketchy potatoes so I can always plant more. I don't know if I'll ever get anything from these plants, but it is a fun experiment.  I planted cucumbers inside (and celery and basil, but I always have those inside).  My spicy oregano (from two summers ago) finally gave up, so I harvested and froze it--I need to find a fun recipe that uses spicy oregano!

We tried a couple meal service plans during December and decided that we just need to be better at making a menu, shopping, and prepping ahead of time.  Neither of the services we used cut down on prep time, just made sure we had ingredients.  Since Mr. IM and The Boy are in the mountains every weekend, it makes life interesting to plan.  The Girl has had SAT Prep class, so we've been staying at the Suburban Ranch, which I think makes Liberty happy, she is not a fan of car rides these days.

Thanks to all of you who included a note or letter in your Christmas card--we love the pictures, but it is always nice to have a letter as well and not have to remember what was on Facebook!

Spring planting is getting closer...stay tuned!




 

December Garden Update--Really

As you may remember, I'm conducting a complicated, scientific project in my greenhouse this winter. And by complicated I mean I planted stuff and am hoping for the best.

I am nothing if not cheap, so my heating system is water bottles, lots of water bottles, some covered with a black trash bag.  In theory, they hold warmth and since they are on the ground the heat rises.  I also have an automatic watering system made up of watering spikes and old soda bottles.  I go out every few days (in the dark, because I'm never home in the daylight) and switch out the bottles.  I haven't been able to check the temperature well with the flashlight, so I'm hoping to take a look during daylight this weekend. I would really like to have a solar-powered ceramic heater out there, but they are all expensive.  And a watering system, but that requires plumbing.  And maybe a greenhouse made out of something other than plastic sheeting...someday...someday..

Let's see...
Potatoes--fail.  I don't know if they froze or if my terrible potato growing skills just came through again, but, sigh...no potatoes from this round.  (Don't worry...I have a bunch in my pantry that are growing legs...I'll try again).  I put them on the top shelf of the greenhouse, you know, because heat rises, but apparently not so much. 
Although..when I went out today to plant the new ones, I harvested 3 (Three!) baby potatoes, even though the greenery above ground was dead!

Three tiny potatoes and two tiny onions...an exciting winter harvest!

Beets--optimistic--although they are on the middle shelf, I'm thinking this is working to their advantage and they are more protected.

Kale--it was kind of on its last legs when I put it in the greenhouse, and there's not much to harvest, but it's not dead, so I'm counting it as a win so far.

Onions-- ready to harvest

Mint--growing from the ground--dead.  Hmm.  I'm sure it will be back with a vengeance in the spring.

Hurry up and wait...

There was at least one episode of MASH when the main characters talked about how life in a MASH unit was all "Hurry up and wait"--that there were periods of crazy rushing around surrounded by a lot of sitting and waiting. 

This week at school has been kind of like that for me--moments of utter chaos surrounded by time spent sitting and watching my kids write final exam essays.  There is, of course, that never-ending mom and teacher "to do list"...but in many moments this week I have just sat and done, well, nothing.  I have felt guilty several times and invented things to do(and been interrupted by "emergencies" several other times).

I think that is God's way of reminding me to observe Advent--to wait quietly and listen for "what next".  To remember that sometimes we are to just wait.  What a great reminder in this crazy, busy world...

Now if I could just grade all those essays in a speedy manner.....

A Garden Update? In November?!

Yep...we have things growing in November....

I'm still working on a better mechanism to keep the greenhouse warm..if I could find a solar powered, ceramic tile chicken house heater I'd be done. The current system is successful enough though that it tempts me to build a bigger greenhouse in the current garden location and have growing things year round (that would require a better heating system though...probably one with actual wires and so forth.

Here's what we have:

 Not in the greenhouse..and not growing..but still pretty!

 Kale and green onions

 Potatoes (from potatoes in the refrigerator drawer that grew legs)

 Beets! (Yes, they need to be thinned out)

 Onions (from onions that grew feet in the refrigerator drawer

 The heat conservation system (bottles and jugs of water covered by a black plastic bag) and buckets of dirt, being kept warm for additional projects)

Outside, low 60's, inside greenhouse, 70...that will work for now...

The December Birthday Dilemma...Chapter 12

So the Boy's birthday is this weekend.  When he was born, I had only accumulated about 4 weeks of leave. That combined with two weeks of Christmas Break and notes from both my doctor and the kids' pediatrician saying "keep that child out of daycare for one more week" meant that I ended up with just short of 7 weeks of leave--which made me very thankful that he was an "almost Christmas baby".
However, as he gets older, his holiday season birthday has created some interesting situations....like the year only one friend appeared at his party (because all the others had last minute visits to Santa, holiday events, etc.), or the year that 27 kids attended his Harry Potter themed party at our house (advertised as "We live 3 miles from the Outlet Mall....drop off ALL your children at The Boy's party and get your shopping done!!!").  Often he is a victim of "here is one big gift for both Christmas and your birthday" (I am guilty of this....) Every year we debate how many Christmas decorations are appropriate before his party (also influenced by if the birthday party is at our house or somewhere else).
This year since snowboarding is happening on both Saturday and Sunday, it may be months before The Boy actually gets a party (although there is a motion on the table to do something one day during winter break with one of his friends, who hasn't had a birthday party yet this year either...). And the Christmas tree dilemma...do we get it before his birthday? On his birthday?  After?  One year we picked up a tree for 75% off on December 19 because we had the party at our house that week and didn't want a bunch of little boys with lightsabers and a tree with ornaments together...
This year we will celebrate early with the family, before the boys go to the mountain apartment (The Girl has finals to study for...) so I made a cake tonight--it certainly isn't as impressive as some other birthday cakes (the jewelry box, the pirate ship...) but it looks like it is going to be delicious.. (and if I did it right, there will be a surprise when we cut into it...).  And I tasted the reject pieces and frosting and can attest that it is very tasty no matter what....

Mother's Day in a winter wonderland

Saturday we went on a lovely hike with the Cub Scouts (more on that later) and then came home to prepare for a spring storm.  Hard to believe, but up to 20 inches of snow was predicted for the Denver area by Monday morning.  I was kind of skeptical that we really would have snow, but I'm not taking any chances with my tiny plants.

The tarp covers the lettuce, spinach, and asparagus quite nicely (the peas and radishes haven't come up yet)

The various buckets cover up the plants in the side yard--lilac bushes, hostas, and a couple others we weren't sure were hardy enough to handle a snow storm.

Sure enough, Sunday morning brought a dusting of snow/sleet.

The kids helped make a mother's day breakfast--I'd be a little worried if Alice was looking at me like that...

But it didn't keep The Girl from her task of chopping strawberries!



Creepy cat...

Yummy--crepes!

Tigger wanted some, too!

As the day went on, we had a little more than a sprinkling...in fact, the last time I checked, despite the melting, we had almost four inches on parts of the patio.

Mr. Ranch went out a couple times to brush snow off the apple tree--we were a little worried about the branches holding up to a few inches of heavy snow.  He also spent an hour or so in the garage putting snow tires back on his car--it's not accumulating too much on the roads, but enough that snow tires may be useful tomorrow morning!

It seems like every time I look out we have more snow--reminds me of the May snow storm in "The Long Winter" (Wilder) book--just when they thought winter was over, they had one more storm.  Hopefully, this is it for us!  The moisture is great though--add some sunshine, and this yard should go nuts!

The Winter Garden--outside

There's not a lot going on in the outdoor Ranch garden these days--here's the view from the deck the other evening though..reminds me why we put up with "the drive".

The garden is very bare--The Boy said yesterday, "Can I plant a tomato plant?"  Um, maybe inside buddy..

 Liberty doesn't mind the lack of foliage though, she just wants to lie in the sun.









My gnomes don't seem to mind either..they just keep on "gnoming"...

 And this, of course is how it looked last weekend...little styrofoam snow  balls--yuck.

 It should only be a few months until the apple tree starts blooming, right?

The Ranch Winter Garden--Inside...

I'm always jealous of people who have a viable, real outdoor winter garden.  Someday (maybe not at this house) I'd like to have a greenhouse, or even a small "green box" so that I can grow spinach and tomatoes year round...but at the moment our winter garden is limited to what lives inside.  Not much food growing inside at the moment, maybe that is a project for this weekend.  I did impulse buy a packet of spinach seeds at Target the other day...thinking that maybe I can plant them outside in a few weeks?

This is my aloe plant.

I bought it, as a 2 inch tall, sickly, clearance item at home depot for about $1.  He has outgrown several pots and is well on his way to being sacrificed to the yard.  Although, since he is next to Liberty's kennel, occasionally Liberty helps by nibbling off branches.  Alice The Cat also likes to eat the aloe...maybe that is what makes her coat so silky.  Those are Mr. Ranch's ski racing gloves from high school by the way.  Yes, he does still wear them. Yes, they are held together with duct tape.  Yes, I have purchased many "replacement" pairs over the years.  Yes, he continues to wear the high school pair.

In the same category of rescued plants are these cacti and this ivy..both rescued from the clearance bin and dragged home--the cacti have actually outgrown their original containers and had to be replanted into the larger pot.  The pink flowered plant was a birthday present from the family.  I noticed after I took these pictures that the cacti are blooming--you can't see it in this picture, but they have pretty little yellow flowers now!

This container of dirt is actually cilantro...really.  I just planted it this week.  Last winter I had a decent crop, but when I harvested it realized how little there really was...but a nice addition to a bowl of guacamole in any case.

Then, we have this mysterious plant.  It is supposed to be a Christmas snowball plant, or something like that.  The first year I had it there were gorgeous (smelly) flowers.  Every year since then the green part has grown, but not flowers.  This year I wasn't sure that I would even get greenery, since it didn't even start to sprout until after Christmas.  We'll have to wait and see what happens, I guess.



And finally is my little pine tree...he was on sale at the grocery store right before Christmas, complete with little Christmas bulbs and a little star on the top.  We used to have a slightly bigger tree of the same kind, but Tigger kept using it as a litter box.  I'm hoping this one survives better on the counter. Tigger, you better stay away from this one or you might not survive to write another Christmas letter.  Seriously.