Update Post (because you can never get enough of those)

So yeah, where the heck have I been?  Apparently not on here, updating all three of my followers who actually read this.  I will set that to rights immediately...

Master J:  Well, the child is his own worst enemy.  He's enjoying his new school and sixth grade immensely.  Homework however, is the bane of his existence.  If his grades were solely dependent on his test scores, he would be a straight A student.  Because they are at least 40% dependent on his homework, he has two Cs.  Which kind of sucks.  Because the kid is in 7th grade math and reads at a 12th grade level, but he struggles to get his homework turned in on time.  And the worst part?  It's not that he doesn't do the homework, it's that he doesn't remember to turn it in.  Yeah, my brilliant child can't pull it together long enough to turn in the homework he did so he takes a 25% deduction in the grade.  Part of the issue is he is visual like me, if he can't see it he doesn't think he has it.  So we're trying a new thing where instead of putting his completed homework into the "turn in" folder, we've paper clipped it to the outside of the folder.  Voila!  Friday's homework got turned in.  We'll see if it continues.

Mister C and I are trying to do a real estate deal with my parents.  We want to buy their home that sits on over an acre and sell them our home that's low maintenance and would be extremely cheap for them to live in once my dad retires in a few months.  It's a win-win for both of us, if it all works out (knock on wood.)

At this point we're just waiting for the appraisal to be returned in order to qualify for the loan.  I was really hoping to hear by Monday, but the lender sent Mister C an email yesterday saying she expects it around October 10th.  I'm not sure in what universe it requires a full three weeks to get an appraisal report back but that's her version of events. 

Our gardens from this most recent season worked out well in some respects, not so well in others.  I finally harvested the last of the cantaloupes and pulled the vines out.  It looks a lot bigger back there all of a sudden.  I got rid of the cucumbers a few weeks ago, they pretty much sucked.  I only got two cucumbers that were edible, the rest of them went huge and yellow almost from the moment they appeared.  The watermelons did well and produced quite a few melons, but the heat got to them and they started rotting on the vine before ripening.  I pulled them all out a few weeks ago, but one new plant has started coming back.  The cherry tomatoes did really well, and one of them even reseeded itself so we have a new plant growing.  The red and green peppers really took off once we removed the dying tomato plants.  So far we haven't had any harvest ready peppers but I'm hoping we will soon.  The strawberries got pretty well overwhelmed by the cantaloupe and stopped producing, but the plants themselves look good and are continuing to vine out and get stronger.  I'm hoping they'll start producing again soon.  Still no luck from the berry patch.  The blackberry plants look fantastic but they haven't produced but one actual berry.  The raspberry plants look less good, they've struggled the entire time they've been back there.  They did produce three rather sour berries that did not please Mister C.  The blueberry plants are mostly not robust.  I pulled one of them out and potted it in the hopes of saving it.  It seems to be surviving, but not thriving.  The two grape vines are growing like crazy, they're all the way up the trellis and starting to curve over the top of the pergola.  There are currently five tiny bunches of grapes on one of the vines.  They are so adorable I want to pinch them, but I suspect that will not be a good thing.  And finally, we went ahead and planted two apple trees and a peach tree.  They are too young yet to be producing anything but they seem strong and managed to survive our brutal summer so I have hope.

In anticipation of our next growing season down here, I have started a bunch of seeds in my kitchen.  I am highly disappointed with the green bean seeds I bought as they have yet to start growing.  Since it's been a few weeks, I'm pretty sure they're duds and I'm going to have to restart some different ones.  Having said that, everything else seems to be trying.  The peas are at least four inches tall and the spinach, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes and onions are several inches high.  I have high hopes for a productive season.

The Jeep diet is still working, slowly but steadily.  I've now lost fourteen pounds and after sitting at a plateau for at least six weeks, I think I'm back on track.  I did a six week challenge of push ups, dips, squats and crunches that wrapped up about a month ago.  I was aiming to hit 100 push ups, 150 dips, 150 crunches and 200 squats.  The last day I did the challenge I managed 125 push ups, 175 dips, 175 crunches and 300 squats.  And then I went and whimpered about my hip hurting for the next two days.  I now try to incorporate a more moderate 25 of each exercise into at least three days a week.  And I've just started a couch to 5k running program.  It's ugly.  I suck at running big time, but I've found a walking trail that runs in the greenbelt and dead ends.  Nobody is ever on it because it doesn't go anywhere and all the houses that line it are one story.  So basically, nobody can see me dragging along and stumbling on air while I make my pathetic attempt at running (think zombie on meth and you have the general picture.)  I'm pretty sure the running will be a boost to my fitness quest, no matter how I look doing it.

I think that about wraps it up, I'm heading into get some breakfast. 

The Garden of Impending Doom

We have several gardens that we put together last fall and planted this spring.  Prior to our vacation in July, the gardens were producing beautifully on a daily basis.  At least as far as the cherry tomatoes go.  Those things were crazy prolific.  I'm talking three or four dozen tomatoes every day.  And they were awesome.  I don't know about you but I've never thought store bought tomatoes were all that great.  They're okay, but they're fairly nondescript.  But these things were downright spicy (comparatively speaking).  Long story short, Mister C was thrilled with his daily allotment of cherry tomatoes and I was eating them every time I walked through the kitchen (which is apparently a lot since my weight loss is at a standstill, but that's another story.) 

Anyway, other than the cherry tomatoes, the only other pre-vacation producers were the cantaloupe and watermelon plants and there were just a few of those.  The strawberries had been fairly choked out by the cantaloupe vines from hell by this point.  The red and green pepper plants were about three feet tall and had several small peppers on each plant.  The day before we left on vacation I had decided to pick the sole cucumber even thought I didn't think it was quite ripe.  My assumption being that since we were going to be gone for nine days it would go to waste if I didn't pick it.  It was actually pretty good, although fairly small.

Upon returning from vacation, the first thing I did was head to the garden to see what remained.  I gleaned several dozen cherry tomatoes, two cantaloupe and several watermelons.  The peppers weren't doing well at all, most of the fruit had rotted on the plant.  There were also several cucumbers.  Or at least what were supposed to be cucumbers. 

Instead of the cucumbers being a nice, dark green and of reasonable size, they were huge, yellow, slug-like things.  I'm not even kidding, I was looking at those things trying to figure out where their eyes were.  They were downright horrifying.  So I pulled them off the vine and brought them into the house for an autopsy. 

I've been watching a lot of "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" on the Discovery channel and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing here.  So I take my alien cucumber and I make the classic Y incision in it's...chest...in anticipation of figuring out what went wrong with the little bastard.  Instead of nice, firm, cucumber flesh, I have mushville (it's a word.)  An "off" scent came rolling off the deceased (I can only assume the cucumber was using some sort of illegal fertilizer) almost knocking me off my feet.  And then my beautiful Y incision kind of collapsed on itself due to the mush factor.  I'll be honest, I didn't see a need to continue the autopsy at this point since the end result was that this particular vegetable was uneatable (and that actually is a word.)  So, into the compost it went.

We've now been home for just over three weeks.  I've pulled a few more cantaloupes and watermelons off the vines and they've been awesome.  Nothing else seems to be producing right now (no berries, no grapes.)  The cantaloupe plants current have a half dozen more melons getting ripe which is great, although their vines have gotten much more aggressive.  Several of the vines are aiming for the air conditioner (it has been consistently over 100 degrees lately) and one pioneering vine has made it's way over to steal nutrients from my orange tree.  But that's not all...

This morning I went out to see if anything was available and after picking another dozen cherry tomatoes, I thought I would check to see if any new cucumbers have shown up.  They have...

Thank goodness we have them caged!

So This Was A Nice Surprise

A while back I finally got around to planting some bulbs that had been in my pantry for way too long.  They'd been in there so long that I wasn't sure if they would even grow, let alone what what they actually were.  Well they did start finally start growing.  Turns out they were lavender calla lilies.

Avocado Chicken Salad on a Tortilla

 

This is my lunch today.

 

As part of my move towards a healthier lifestyle, I've determined that I need to greatly reduce foods from the White Group.  Now, my White Group is probably not your White Group.  Usually when I say this I get "Yeah, I avoid potatoes and white rice too."  Yeah, that's not what I mean.  My White Group consists of the really good stuff, like mayonnaise, sour cream, whipped cream and butter.  You know, the REAL White Group.  Anyway, in trying to reduce the aforementioned foods, I need to replace them with something comparable.  Or, in this case, something even better.  

And so I bring you my new version of the chicken salad sandwich.

4 oz white meat chicken, chopped or cubed

1/4 cup mashed, fresh avocado (NOT guacamole!)

Dash of sea salt

5-6 fresh, raw cherry tomatoes

Tortilla 

Mix the chicken and avocado together with a little sea salt.  Put on a flour tortilla and sprinkle with the tomatoes.

That's it.  Eat it.  Enjoy it.  Revel in it's awesomeness.  And know that it's really not unhealthy.  I've put together a quick comparison...

Typical chicken salad sandwich (made with 4 oz chicken, 4 Tbsp mayo, on 2 slices bread):

Calories:  640

Fat:  45

Carbs: 28

Protein:  32

Avocado Chicken Salad on a Tortilla:

Calories:  378

Fat:  15

Carbs:  35
Protein:  31

I do lose one gram of protein by going this way, but I also save 262 calories and 30 grams of fat.  I'm pretty sure that's a good trade.  And it really does taste a lot better.  Additionally, the cherry tomatoes came from my own garden and the avocado came from Bountiful Baskets (so they're local).  I'm going to try and find an avocado tree the next time I'm near a garden center so I can grow those myself as well.

So there you have it, good food that's good for me.  Can't beat that.

Where did the time go?

It looks like I somehow missed the month of May, hmm, wonder where I put it?  Ah well, I guess I needed a break from my ever so busy life of loafing around reading the internet.  That's not entirely true, I've also been reading a big stack of library books.  And working out at the gym.  And making trips to California to visit friends.  So yeah, pretty busy.  Much too busy to check in with my blog.  So how about that eclipse?  That was something right?  Yeah, couldn't look at it.  I started thinking about the viewing possibilities about two hours ahead of time.  Evidently most people planned better and bought up all the special glasses.  We improvised and did the pinhole thing to project it onto a piece of poster-board.  I tried to take some pics with my pinhole camera but have yet to drop them in chemicals to see if I got anything.  Probably not, I think I left the shutter open for too long. 


Our gardens are going gangbusters.  I'm getting at least a dozen cherry tomatoes every day, usually much more.  The biggest issue with them is that I didn't cage them so I had to leave the chicken wire up around the garden to keep them upright.  Which means I am either reaching over the top or scrounging around underneath with my face pressed into the wire.  It's a look.

Here's a picture of the first real day of cherry tomato harvesting:

The strawberries finally started producing as well and when I can get them ahead of the birds they are quite good.  We've gotten two (tiny) raspberries that Mister C said were "okay".  The lone blackberry wasn't as good.  I have eight sugar babies (mini watermelons) that are about the size of softballs and several smaller ones.  I'm really excited about those, cannot wait for them to be ready!  The cantaloupe vines are taking over more than their half of the garden they're in.  I have to keep untangling their spindly runners from my strawberries to prevent strangulation.  I am finally starting to see little bulb like things that I think are future cantaloupe.  Another one I am really excited about.  The cucumbers have four little (about two inches) babies starting to grow.  And the grapevine is all the way up the trellis and heading for the overhang.  So, gardens are going pretty well and we've learned a ton.  Next year the tomatoes will be caged and the cantaloupe will have their own garden.

On other healthy fronts (see how my segues have improved in my absence?) I've been working out.  I work out no less than five times a week, usually at the gym, but sometimes I do it at home.   Mostly I do it at the gym though.  And I've been logging everything I eat for the last month.  That was sort of eye opening.  Not in a good way either.  Anyway, through the magical pill of diet and exercise I've managed to lose nine pounds since May 5th.  So, about 19% of my total goal and just under 5% lost off my starting weight.  And I'm starting to look a little better in my Jeep, so that's a positive.

So speaking of the Jeep (damn these segues just keep coming!) I still have the doors and hard top off and am driving around with just the bikini top on.  It was 111 degrees today.  Sitting at stop lights is kind of like sitting in a convection oven, the heat comes from all sides.  But you know what?  I don't even mind for the most part.  So long as I'm moving, it's fine.  And, I don't have to deal with it being 150 degrees when I get back to my car and it's been sitting in a parking lot for an hour.  Whatever the temp is outside, it is inside.  I also think it makes me more appreciative of air conditioning when I am in it.  And also, the disbelieving look on people's faces when I pull up next to them is awesome.  So for today, the doors and hard top stay off and I'll put up with the heat.

I'm all out of segues.  And I'm all out of updates.  I'll try really hard to be more on top of this blog in the future.  And I promise I'll get some more pictures in the next post.   

From the Garden

I got the first food from our garden today. Unfortunately, the birds (or something) had gotten to the first strawberry before me so it doesn't look great and will be going to the chickens later today or tomorrow. However, the cherry tomato looks awesome and I suspect Mister C will eat that in about .005 seconds flat when he gets home today.

The cherry tomato came from this plant and it looks like there will be more tomatoes soon.



The grapevines are starting to look viable finally.

A few weeks ago they looked like this...



And today look like this...



Here's one of my raspberry plants starting to leaf out nicely...



My blackberries are as well. A few weeks ago this particular plant was just starting to leaf out.



It now looks like this...



Here's a couple of cantaloupe plants...



A few cucumbers...



Our strawberry patch...



And last but not least, here's something starting to push up through the soil in one of my pots. I'll be honest, I don't know what it is other than that it's not a fruit or vegetable. It's some kind of bulb that Mister C and I purchased through Master J's school last fall that I never got around to planting. There were two different kinds of bulbs and when I found them while cleaning out my pantry a few weeks ago I just threw them in the pot and have been watering them since. Should be interesting to see what we get.

Garden Update

After leveling the gardens (again), watching Mister C adjust (and re-adjust) the sprinkler heads, and one last trip to Home Depot, I finally planted the strawberry plants today.

Up until now, they've been sitting by my kitchen sink, in the plastic bin I had planted them in two weeks ago when they arrived. It's probably good I could finally plant them in the ground though since they were already outgrowing the bin. Also, it turns out the nursery in Georgia, Willis Orchard*, gave us extra strawberry plants so I ended up with twenty eight to plant. Which is awesome. As a side note they also tossed in an extra blackberry and an extra raspberry plant in the original order as well. I don't know if this is standard practice for them or what but I can tell you that I was impressed that they did it.

After the planting, I spent a little time moving rocks from the piles in our side yard to around the raised garden beds. I managed five wheelbarrow fulls before I decided to hang it up for the day. That's hard work shoveling, moving, dumping and raking rocks. My hat's off to those that do this on a daily basis, I sure don't love it.

SO at this point we're really close to being done with the backyard. Move some more gravel, plant some vegetables and eventually put in two apple trees and that should be it. Oh yeah, I also ordered some grape vines today from the same company. I had to order six because they are so cheap that the two I really needed didn't add up to the minimum order amount. Luckily for me, Miss Lee said she would like some to put on her grape arbor so she'll be buying the other four. We will need to help her and Music Man reinforce or rebuild her arbor since it's been sitting empty for awhile, but helping family is always a good thing anyway.

Some day I might get to hang out on my patio with a no guilt about what I should be doing in my yard. In the meantime, I'll do a little bit every day and hopefully reap the rewards in a few months when I have my own bountiful baskets growing in my backyard.



*I am not in any way affiliated with nor compensated by Willis Orchard, I just really liked my dealings with them.