Archive for April, 2003
Ooops. I forgot to bring the tomatoes and geraniums back in last night and it was exactly 32F when I got up at 6:30am. I’m not worried about the geraniums but am about the tomatoes… Oh well. We can only wait and see. The squash and peas seem to be doing well in the garden box. Covering them is working. A few of the leaves on the squash have dried spots where it looks like they got “burned” but that’s because one night the plastic slipped a bit and was lying on them slightly. But, the plants themselves seem to be going strong and have more blossoms.
The bears are back. The neighbor called this morning. Said a sow and two cubs spent the night (from about 10:30pm to 8am) in their back yard…the two cubs specifically on their deck. These are year old cubs not bitty things. One even tried to get in the sliding door in their bedroom. We didn’t hear or see a thing…although our two cats were acting “funny” last night and hanging around close to the house rather than going off exploring or mousing. We have bears every year throughout the summer so we were already being wary.
So, although it’s bright and sunny and in the 60’s, the children are inside. I’d let them out as I have been except I need to vacuum/mop/thoroughly clean the dining area and kitchen and the entry over near the garage and I won’t be able to see or hear them real well. I’ll be working as quickly as possible (and enlisting their help as much as possible) so we can all enoy some sun this afternoon! And with that I’ll close and get to it… (Btw, I pretty much finished the raspberry patch yesterday…yay! :-))
ps ~ The tomato transplants are doing well as I’ve been bringing them in from the deck at night. The squash transplants seem to be holding up too…last night was their second night in the box outside covered w/ plastic. We did not put a light in like I wanted…dh want to just see how it went w/out it. It’s about a month early here so there is still time to start more if these don’t make it. While I’m thinking of it, here’s our “garden list” so far for this year:
Front yard - raspberries, rhubarb, irises
Back yard - crabapple tree, strawberries, mint
Garden box (in back yard) - squash, peas
Deck - tomatoes, geraniums
And, of course, we harvest various berries from the wild in the Fall…mainly blueberries and cranberries.
That’s it so far… I’d have to look at my seed packets to see what else we’ll be planting soon.
pss ~ I think I’m going to like this blogging stuff. I’ve always wanted to keep a diary/journal but have only managed it sporatically since childhood. This format just may help me keep w/ it.
Oh, how I love the modern convenience of running H2O!! The water was back on again about 5pm last night and there was a flurry of washing up, cooking, cleaning and washing up again before bedtime. Whatever leak there was is only temorarily fixed…the leak was “slowed down” according to dh…the part he was trying to replace kept breaking and I think he had to go to the hardware store 3x…and, well, he wasn’t a happy man through the whole thing. I don’t blame him. Anyway, the whole basement is unfinished and we are working toward finishing it so there will most definitely be another opportunity for fixing it right…which might mean replacing all the copper piping w/ the new pcv piping…again, according to dh. This morning was cloudy and cool. We were inside doing our usual morning stuff (except homeschool ~ we’ve been on an extended “Spring Break” since Quentin was born 4wks ago). That means breakfast, washing up, kitchen clean up, dining area clean up, etc. Then we colored for a while and played w/ play-dough. Daddy had come home from work for a while as he had a break in between appts. and he did some more work downstairs in the laundry area. This time rearranging/organizing, etc. to make it more efficient for me. Washing machine isn’t hooked back up again yet but he said that would be accomplished when he came back home this evening. I actually can’t wait to start doing laundry again w/ all the “improvements”…I hadn’t been downstairs for a while due to recovering from Quentin’s birth. The family can’t wait for me to be in charge of it again either!!! The children have been outside for about a half hour (the sun is out now and it’s in the 60’s again) while I’ve read email and blogged so I better wrap this up quick. Quentin should be hungry again soon and that raspberry patch is waiting for me still…
It’s partly sunny/partly cloudy today about 64F. Still waiting for water. Still need to finish the raspberry patch. Mosquitoes are out. If you are from AK or know AKans then you know that they (mosquitoes) are jokingly referred to as the AK State Bird…this year is no exception. The extremely mild winter has made the first ones of the year real doozies. Wonder what they’ll be like later… 
Well, despite having no water at the moment (no H20 = no dishes, no laundry, no mopping the floor, no washing anyone up, etc., etc.), I’m off to find something “constructive” to do… Organize a closet or the pantry or drawers or…something! I know, I know. I have that raspberry patch waiting for me…but, the mosquitoes…whine! 
The children are all outside playing and don’t seem to be bothered by them much but then they don’t hold still for long. Maybe that’s what I should do. Run, race my bike around, climb trees… It would make this baby “pudge” go away faster too!!
Well, the squash starts got transplanted into the garden box and the tomato starts got transplanted into larger containers on the deck (where they will stay as it is the sunniest and warmest place for them to really thrive). We didn’t make it to the park…but we did fill the pool for the children (for the second time this season!!!). Between nursing the baby and refereeing the antics in the pool, I didn’t get the raspberry patch done…so that stays on the list for tomorrow. Wayne (dh) worked on our vehicles most of the day and is now fixing a valve downstairs that runs into the water heater or something. Sounds like a late night for him…maybe…never can tell how these things will go sometimes. I’m off to bed w/ the baby. I’ll read and he’ll have a “midnight snack” then it’s lights out!
It’s a bright sunshiny day! After a few busy days and late nights, everyone slept in…except me. I had a couple+ hours of “quiet time” and then decided I wanted to find out about this blogging stuff. Here I am setting up this blog… All are up now w/ morning chores done and rarin’ to go. After everyone is done “brunch”, we are planning to head outside for the day. I have some starts I need to plant although it is still a little early here in AK. The squash starts have blossoms though so they won’t make it much longer in the house. We’ll put a cold frame over the new garden box and a light in there at night as it still gets down into the 30’s. I also have some cleaning to do in the raspberry patch (raking, etc.) and want to dig up some shoots to give away. Then, hey, I might reward everyone and walk to the park! With that plan in mind, I better get moving!
