June 12, 2013

Dear Jellybean,

Today we have owned a house for a full handful of years. I wish I could say I hadn't aged a day.

In that time we have reworked nearly half of our yard, become honeybee keepers, vegetable growers, grain-grinders, bread and cheese makers, preserve your store canners, overall adequate farmers.

Oh, and I basically learned how to sew!

We got met Zumo and Gilleon. Lyla was born. Your granddad went on a permanent golfing vacation. I got a new school. We got new cars and discovered the joy of Groupon.

We have painted new colors, added crown moulding and window sills. We remodeled a kitchen.

I have lines on my face that weren't there before. I smile when I get carded instead of feeling annoyed. I recon we are both five pounds heavier, but maybe in someways we are five pounds lighter, too...

We'll forget years from now, but today we went to breakfast, we had pedicures, we bought a passion flower for the yard. We sat for just a few minutes in the sun and talked about the changes we've seen. And, wondered at the changes still to come. In five more years will we have finished the yard? The bathroom? The garage? How about master's degrees. Will we be done with those?  No doubt we will see other people (and perhaps pets) come and go. We will no longer get carded. Ever.

When we have reached two whole handfuls of years we'll be nearly 40...Just think of that (or don't if it's just too depressing and scary). We will have seen twice as much. I intend we will be twice as thankful for it.

Happy Houseiversary Kylene-KMQ-Jellybean-Kumquat. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Love and a big hug-it-out,

J.

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Tonight for dinner we had broccoli, lettuce, and strawberries from the garden with our pasta. Nice! Also, the peas are coming on and they taste delicious. 

Bad News: Aphids ate nearly all of the pepper plants under the grow light. Decimated them. Decimated.

Good News: The orange blossom has rebounded. It's a beautiful, fluffy, shape...Just like Kumquat promised.

Bad News: The bees seem to have lost their queen. Without the queen they have no direction. Without direction they will die. The backyard bee colony is simply days from collapse. Tragic.

Good News: We have cauliflower! Which we've never had before. Also, the potatoes have flowered, Lyla ate our first ripe raspberry, and baby there are fireworks. The artichokes number somewhere around 20 and the squash are in the ground.

Bad News: Gilleon will have to live out the rest of his days indoors. He's being punished for killing birds and bringing live rats and birds in the house. None of us are thrilled about the current situation, but it seems essential in the wake of his terror.

Good News: We're counting down. 6 1/2 more school days until SUMMER!!!

Happy

It's 7:20 and I'm pretending it's not a Sunday evening. It's not so hard to do. Pour yourself a gin and fizzy beverage. Mix up some guacamole. Take a walk with your friend through the neighborhood. Enjoy the sun. 

Monday means back to work, new assignments due, responsibilities that can't be ignored. But, for just a few splendid minutes this evening there were none of those. No chaos. No frustration. No angst. Just the sun and the garden and me. Happy.

Yesterday, I cleaned the windows. Just a few weeks behind schedule. These were a welcome treat!
The strawberries are so amazing this year. Prolific and delicious! You just have to get them before the
slugs find them and much their shining tips... 

The honeybees are so happy, buzzing about the poppies. They emerge with the deepest, black pollen sacks.
It makes one appreciate the complexity of these flowers even more.

It's not easy being green...

These days all I have time to write is a review of the difference between Behavioral and Situational leadership styles, juxtaposed against a backdrop of Stephen Covey and Earnest Shackleton...

In the meantime we glimpsed summer come and go...For a moment it seemed as if spring would blend into summer with an ease that could make us all breathe deeply. But, the nice weather vanished as quickly as it came and has been replaced by weekend after weekend of rain...

I guess the plants seem to like it...

There were a few new additions this weekend to the yard. This one came from the V.V. for the bargain price of $14.00. Can you believe the find! It needs a little bit of fixing up, but in time it's going to be adorable...

These two came from Daddy-O and K.___. They made them for me. Aren't they remarkable?!

Gilleon poses for his holiday card photo...

Aphid Invasions (and other tales from the dark side).

There are going to be so many bugs this year. Little insects with giant chompers all set to devour my fruit and veg. It's beginning with the irises and a major aphid invasion. This will be #1 on the after school to-do list this week.

I was lame and didn't go to school at all this weekend. I'll be frantic in the morning, but who could pass up the chance to enjoy this beautiful 83 degree Seattle day. I'm in love with the weather. It makes me long for summer with every inch of skin that can remain uncovered. It smelled like summer, looked like summer, and except for the fact that Kylene is currently picking out outfits for the week to come, it could have been summer...

We majorly tackled the task of edging today. And, as I said to my roommate: "It doesn't look good, but it does look better." The backyard in fact, is almost starting to look good. It depends a lot on where you stand, but if you pick just the right place, where you can see the pretty parts and hear the bees buzzing, life looks really good.

As for the front yard, if you look from far away, it almost looks good. I'm dreaming of apples. At least AN apple. Fingers crossed. As for crossing unnecessary, check out the carrots...

The over-wintered ones worked so well, I'm going to plant a whole bed next year! All the carrots are ready for eating, at least a month before the seasonal ones can even go in the ground. Hooray!

Potatoes are surfacing, peas are trellising, marigolds have been planted. See, summer?! I'm ready!

Who says you can't do it all?

On Thursday Jellybean and I found ourselves with a list. I can't remember all the things that were on it. But, some were:

1. Bake a cake.
2. Prep ingredients for souffles.
3. Make curry and have Kelli to dinner.
4. Make and write birthday cards.
5. Pack for an overnight on the peninsula.
6. Organize for Friday at work.

And...there were many more...Including, dig some soil for a colleague who got the cool science kit and gets to teach about worms. It was when I found myself digging the soil into a classy 5-gallon bucket, in my RED FLATS that I decided I might have bitten off more than I could chew. Or, maybe I bit off just enough to enjoy it. All the jobs got done in the end. Maybe thanks to the shoes?

New Friends Arrive!!!

First...I drove all 10,142 of my newest friends from Silverdale (where K.___ & Daddy-O got for me these new buddies) to Seattle. They enjoyed most of the ferry ride except for the one part where this pilot-jerk and his girlfriend mocked the idea of bee-ownership.

Second, I left my friends alone in the backyard while I drove Kumquat to get her car.

Next, I suited up in the really awesome make-shift suit you're soon to see pictured. I did not get stung even once, so I give it five stars on the fake-suit-a-meter.

Finally. It was time. Here are the newest family members at 726. All 10,142 shall be called: Elizabeth (I jest, boys are not called Elizabeth).

Now, you will see how I squirt the bees with delicious, calming sugar water and open the food-trap very careful like:

Now, you will see how remove the queen and discuss the process with her. "You will stay nicely inside this box until your future lovers eat through the marshmallow to get to you. Isn't that romantic? They are so in love with you they will consume an entire-fluffy-white-cloud to be by your side!" 

This part is very delicate. The queen must be carefully inserted into the hive so the other bees can find her and eat her marshmallow. It is very tricky when your hands are shaking because you're worried you will injure the queen. 

Now...There are lots-o-bees-a-buzzin'.

Bees are going into the hive...

They are sealed up tight.

They are making themselves at home. 

I am so happy about my new friends!

Here are a few other things happening around the yard, here on this first weekend in May. 

Lilacs are blooming:

There's a new pot-tower in town:

The first iris has bloomed:

The raspberries have become a jungle:

Artie is barely contained:

Strawberries have doubled in size:

The tulips and daffodils are on their last legs:

T

The tomatoes are creeping out of the greenhouse:

Happy Bee Day!

Almost time for the reveal...

We've been working hard in the back bedroom and it's almost time for the make-over reveal. But, since there are still a few more things to complete, I must hold off. In the meantime...

Potatoes have been planted. And, so much changes in the yard in a week it makes me want to shout "Hooray for spring"...