Month: April 2009

My Garden, Photography

Wildflowers

Shelly

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Wild Columbine

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Wild Geranium

So the mystery flower turns out to be wild geranium. It only has one bloom at this point, but when the rest of the buds open, it’s going to be pretty impressive. There are probably 50 buds on that one little plant.

In other garden news, the four pepper plants I got from a coworker survived their separation and transplant to a larger container. I don’t have enough soil right now to put them in the Uberpot, so I moved them to an intermediary container. I don’t like having to move them twice, but they should be strong enough to handle it.

No sign yet of the tomatoes or peppers that I planted from seed, but it’s still really early. It’s been nice and wet, though, so hopefully they’re germinating their little heads off.

This is Mr. Columbine in all his glory. I counted 15 buds (some are hiding in this photo). I think that means he’s happy.

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My Garden, Photography

Garden Report (Illustrated!)

Shelly

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Wild Geranium

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Coral Bells

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Wild Columbine

What looked like bleeding hearts yesterday has today revealed itself to be wild columbine. Which means that the bleeding hearts didn’t make it through the winter. I’m sad about that, because I really like them, but I can plant more.

Those silly coral bells are deliriously happy where they are, though. The dumb things didn’t even have the sense to die off over the winter. Same with the wild geranium.

Crankypantsing

Dear Freecycle People

Shelly

If you send me an email with the subject line stripped and nothing in the body but “Interested!” then I have absolutely no idea what on earth you are, indeed, “Interested!” in. Would you like a crappy-assed resin table with two mismatched resin chairs, or a laser printer from the paleolithic era? Not that it matters, because both items have been claimed, and I posted messages to that effect about three hours ago.

Reading is Fundamental.

My Garden, Photography

Garden Report

Shelly

I finally got around to planting tomatoes and peppers. Just seeds, though, which makes me a little nervous. Hopefully, they’ll sprout.

I also bought four o’clock, zinnia, and columbine seeds. The columbine is a white variety, which isn’t very interesting on its own, but it was the only kind they had. Hopefully they’ll make a nice contrast to the wild columbine I already have.

I haven’t seen any sign of bud stalks on any of the irises or lilies yet, but they’re in deep shade, so it might take them longer than normal. Everyone looks pretty happy, which is encouraging. The coral bells, bleeding hearts, and somethingorother I got from Ms. Lea that I can’t recall the name of, all have buds, though. I should be able to identify the mystery flower after it blooms. (This little web tool has come in handy for identifying flowers in the past.)

Addendum: According to the Wildflower Identification guide, the mystery plant may be a Celandine Poppy or Wood Poppy. That would make sense, as it seems to be thriving in deep shade.

Pets, Photography

Saturday Dogblogging

Shelly

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It’s Saturday, which means it’s laundry day, which means that Miss Brown made herself comfortable on the just-changed sheets.

In other news, it’s Little 500 weekend, so I’m trying not to leave the house unless I absolutely have to. The only exception is that I’m cat sitting, but it’s northeast of town, so there shouldn’t be too much extra traffic.

I’ve been sitting for this client for a couple of years now. One of their cats has been in kidney failure nearly the whole time. She suddenly went downhill and was put to sleep last weekend. I didn’t think it would bother me much, but it did. Mostly, I think it was upsetting to see the remaining cat all by himself. He’s an awfully affectionate and gregarious boy, and the owners plan to get a second cat as soon as they feel up to it, so hopefully he won’t be alone for long. For now, though, he is full of pathetic sadcakes.

Uncategorized

Quorn Acquired

Shelly

I went ahead and joined Bloomingfoods last night. On my little shopping list, in addition to Quorn (two packages), were oatmeal, milk, and farina. I was irritated with myself for forgetting oatmeal when I went grocery shopping on Friday, but now I’m glad I did. Target quick oats are fine, but they really do not taste as good as Irish oatmeal. With milk and brown sugar. Yum.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Bloomingfoods, and I’d forgotten just how hippie-granola the place is. It was a very nice change from Kroger.

Crankypantsing

I Am a Bad Person

Shelly

I’ve been waffling back and forth about calling the office to complain about the neighbors in No. 5. I’m really irritated by their complete disregard for other people, but at the same time, I’m not okay with being vindictive. I figure the folks in No. 5 have enough problems without me adding to them. I finally had enough on Friday, though. Every morning last week, the wife’s minivan was parked in the fire lane, and several nights in a row, the husband woke me up with his car stereo. I’m telling ya’, people, it’s all fun and games, until someone wakes me up!

So I called the office and tried to explain the problem. It’s kind of complicated, which is one of the reasons I’ve been waffling. The husband lost his license a couple of years ago, and so his car has been unregistered since then. It doesn’t even have plates anymore, so they park it right in front of their apartment, facing out. That way, you can’t tell it’s unregistered. Our lease says that all cars must be registered, and that you can only park one car in the front sections. If you’ve got more than one car, the second car must be parked in the middle section, so that you don’t hog all the good spots. So far, so good, except that the wife thinks she needs to park her car close to the apartment. And who can blame her? I prefer to park close, too! The difference is that, when all the front spaces are taken, I park in the middle, NOT IN THE FIRE LANE!

The easy solution would be to move the husband’s car to the center section, leaving a spot open for the wife’s minivan. They can’t do that, though, because then people will notice that the husband’s car is not registered. Oopsie! Even worse, the wife’s minivan has a handicapped hang-tag. I assume the management company would gladly give her a dedicated handicapped spot (they’ve done so for other tenants), only, they’d use the space the husband’s unregistered car is parked in. Oopsie again!

So, I tried to explain all of that to the office worker when I called on Friday. The property manager was on vacation, but she’s supposed to be back in the office today. It’ll be interesting to see this evening if the husband’s car has been tagged for towing.

Uncategorized

Bloomingfoods

Shelly

We have a local food co-op in town, with three storefront locations, one of which is just a few blocks from my house. I’ve been intending to join, but I assumed (stupid me) that it was kind of pricey. Their website says membership is $90, and that it can be split up into monthly or quarterly payments. Okayfine. But what it doesn’t make clear is that that’s a lifetime membership fee, not a yearly membership fee, so it’s just a one-time $90 investment (or $7.50/month).

I R dum. Also, I R joining tout de friggin’ suite.

Mmmm… Quorn…

Photography

Ginger Cookies

Shelly

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These are chewy right out of the oven. After they cool, they harden around the edges, but they should retain a bit of chewiness in the center.

2 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (The recipe called for 1 tsp, but the ginger smelled so good that I wanted to use more; I think it was a good choice.)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 C soft butter
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 C dark molasses (I used mild molasses, which suited me; use darker if that’s what you like.)
1 tsp vinegar

In the first bowl, combine first four ingredients (the recipe calls for sifting, but I just used a whisk to make sure any lumps were broken up). In the second bowl, cream butter until shiny. Add sugar and cream until thoroughly incorporated. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add molasses, stir, then add vinegar and stir. Add half the dry mix to the wet mix, combine, then add the second half and stir until thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be fairly stiff.

Preheat oven to 374F. Grease cookie sheet with butter, then with buttery hands, roll dough into walnut-sized balls. Place on cookie sheet, about 2-3 inches apart (it will depend on how large you make them, but I fit 16 cookies on a 14 x 15 inch cookie sheet). Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove from oven and let set for about a minute, then move to a cooling rack or paper towels.

(Recipe adapted from Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking, 1955, volume 1, p. 476-477.)