Puttering 'Round
I almost forgot how great it feels to work outside in the garden. This weekend, I gave the garden a good cleanup. Look at those carrots! The purple ones are Cosmic Carrots. They are bright purple inside, but taste like regular 'ol carrots. This is definitely the best batch of carrots for the year. Tonight I'm going to serve 'em up with a little butter. Mmmm.

We also got the last of the green peppers and some tiny onion bulbs. This marks the end of the season for my first veggie garden, and I think the whole experiment worked out well, morning sickness and all.

More clean-up tasks await. There must be a vole wrecking havoc along the back boarder. Little holes have popped up all through the bed, and the plants don't look too happy. I'm not sure how I will catch the critter.

And the drought still lingers. We've gotten some rain this fall, but not as much as I'd like to see. I need to continue watering so my shrubs and perennials will make it through the winter.

There's leaves to be raked, more weeding to be done, and beds to be tidied up. Plus the compost pile needs a good turning. I'll probably need some help with this particular chore. Oh Randy!
- posted by Laurie @ 5:17 PM |

 
My New Excuse
What's my big excuse for not blogging lately? I'm pregnant. Does that count as a good excuse? I'm about 15 weeks along, and now that the nausea's pretty well behind me, the exhaustion has really set in. Yawn.

We've been trying to get pregnant for a while here at PrairieTide, but it was still a surprise when it happened! In fact, at my first doctor's appointment, I thought I was about six week along. After getting an early ultrasound, I discovered I was a whole month further along than what I'd calculated. This means I was pregnant for about two months without even realizing it.

So back in August when I was sick and miserable, what was I thinking was going on? Well, it was a busy time, what with the new semester starting. I was helping a lot with New Student Orientaion at the college, plus I was gearing up for my debute teaching English 110. I thought the nausea and allover ickiness was due to stress and stage fright. In fact, I even stopped by the nurse's office at my school to get my blood pressure tested. Before it occured to me I was pregnant, I figured my miserable state was due to something more predictable, like a heart attach or stroke. Of course!

With the misery in full swing, I became a very reluctant gardener. All summer long I looked forward to fresh summer tomatoes. In late July and early August, I ate a ton of tomatoes. Then just when my plants hit their productive peak, the morning sickness really set in. I couldn't bear the very idea of tomatoes. Even the smell of the tomatoe plants made me gag. Since this date, the tomatoe plants have been woefully neglected.

The rest of our square foot garden has been chugging along, even with less-than-perfect care. We've had a great batch of pole beans. They came in really late this year, because I had a false start with the beans and had to replant back in July. I'd heard that pole beans were better than bush beans, but the bush beans were pretty terrific, so it was hard for me to imagine something better. Wow, was I surprised when the pole beans turned out to be absolutely dreamy. Pole beans have a wonderful melt-in-the-mouth, almost buttery texture. We're still getting a few each week here in October.

Right now, the garden needs some serious weeding. I need to turn over the mulch pile and put the strawberry bed to sleep for the year. Instead, all I feel like doing is staring out the window at the changing fall leaves. Sigh. I think it's nap time again.
- posted by Laurie @ 12:11 PM |

 
More Wallaby
One more Wallaby sweater to add to the family gallery. This one was made by my sister Mary, and it's a snappy little number, knit in vibrant purple WoodEase.

The Wallaby is being modeled by Lindsey, who is showing off the special hood feature like a pro runway model. Lindsey is almost one year old, and she looks just adorable in her big girl sweater.

Mary included one row of purl stitches around the yoke, adding a distinctive touch to this Wallaby. This is Mary's first hand knit sweater, and I bet it is not her last. Go Mary!

- posted by Laurie @ 10:17 AM |