Sunday Snapshot - It Got Dark Early Today

We had a great opportunity to watch the solar eclipse this afternoon.

And yes, we did use the appropriately safe pinhole camera technique to view it.

And it totally works!

I did take a picture of the eclipse, but it was with my phone... not the best.

But the heat map turned out pretty cool.

Maybe the best thing we saw was the shadow of our maple tree on the house.  Can you see the eclipse shaped shadows?   Fantastic!

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Wordless Wednesday

Well, OK, a few words.  This was last Sunday when my cousins joined my sister in a Race for the Cure on Mother's Day.

Look at that smile on my little sweetie!!

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Tuesday Garden Party - Experimental Lettuce

I've heard about growing things in water.  Hydroponics, from the Greek hydro (water) and ponos (labor) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.

Records show that ancient Egyptians were probably the first hydroponic farmers, and some suppose that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have used hydroponic technology.  Though the Romans used hydroponics to grow out of season plants, there is little evidence of the technology until the 1600s, where European farmers began to grow plants and vegetables in greenhouses using hydroponic methods.

The growth rate on a hydroponic plant is 30-50 percent faster than a soil plant grown under the same conditions!  The yield of the plant is also greater.  And hydroponic gardening uses considerably less water than soil gardening, uses fewer pesticides and requires about 1/5th the space of a soil garden.

That's the hype anyway.  I thought we would try it and purchased a Hydro-Dome kit to grow lettuce.  And this is what I got:

Here's the results so far:

After two days -

After 7 days -

Not too bad for a week (especially considering my tomatoes took 2 months to grow that much... though under admittedly different conditions...).

I'm kind of excited to see how this experiment comes along! Check back next week to see what another week in the garden brings - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

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Harvest Monday - May 14, 2012

The start of the harvest season is here!

We have kept our planting this year to peppers (sweet and hot), corn, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and peas.

Well, some experiment lettuce as well. 


And a couple of new berry bushes. 

 And while everything else is still just getting going in growth, our peas are flourishing! Which is great, since they are basically leftovers from last year and a few plants that grew where The Mr threw some seeds. Hardy plants are they. And don't they have beautiful results?

Total Harvest for the Week:  10.5 ounces
Total Harvest for the Year:  10.5 ounces

I should have a tomato or two this week, and maybe some strawberries. Possibly some hot peppers. And I think more peas - yum!

Linked up with Daphne's Dandelion's Harvest Monday... hop on over and see what else is being picked this week.

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Happy Mother's Day!

To all of the special moms in my life...

A Mother… When you’re a child she walks before you, To set an example. 

When you’re a teenager she walks behind you To be there should you need her. 

When you’re an adult she walks beside you So that as two friends you can enjoy life together..

I'm lucky to have some wonderful mothers in my life.  Happy Mother's Day!

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Saturday

For a busy day, it sure didn't seem like we got much accomplished.

I did bake some cookies.

Peanut butter.  Yum.

And The Girl had a fantastic piano recital!

 And we chatted with relatives in from out of town.

 In a dark room.  On a really gorgeous day.  Sigh.

 But it was a fun day chatting.

 And a got to wear a new outfit.

 With fun shoes.  Who doesn't like red shoes?  ;-)

Did you have a good Saturday?

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Blockbuster Hit!

Are you in the mood for some good Hollywood entertainment? Good vs. Evil? Super Heroes? You should check out the The Avengers!

 The cast of characters….

 The Incredible Hulk – brilliant scientist with some rather startling anger management issues which manifest in a huge, green monster.

Captain America: WWII vet who was genetically transformed to the peak of human physicality, super-strong, old-school super hero.

Thor – god of thunder from Asgard, super-strong with a big magic hammer.

Iron Man – genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist with a sarcastic toungue and a bad-ass suit.

Add a couple of master assasins, a one-eyed super spy and an evil wanna-be king from another planet and you’ve got a recipe for a great adventure! I liked it a lot - I saw it last weekend and am going again tonight!  It is fun, action packed and funny.  A great escape for an evening!

Have you seen it? What did you think?



 

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Morning Routine. Cat Style.

Whoever said cats don't need people never met cats.

Take for example, these very needy cats and their morning routine.  

They need us to get up (no later than 6:30 but not earlier than 5:00) and turn on the water in the sink.  Only one of them used to need this, but now all four line up.

To watch the water flow.

And have a drink.

Shortly afterwards, this cat needs his mousie.

Every day, and in the same spot.  New mousies are optional but appreciated.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get long to enjoy it because this little pest comes along.  And he finds her very annoying.

Then comes the circling.  Circling circling and circling.

In anticipation of this.

Which doesn't take long.

And then it is back to what they do for most of the rest of the day I think.  Lots of sleep.  I think it would be nice to be a cat.

What goes on in your house in the morning?

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Cancer sucks.

This kind of thing hits me harder these days.  You might want a tissue.  I did.




My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009.  She had surgery, radiation and chemo and it went away.

Last November, she found out it came back.  It had metastasized to her liver and abdominal lymph nodes.  Folks who know about cancer know what that means.  I think even if you don't, "metastasized" doesn't sound good.  Stage 4 cancer fighters aren't the ones in the forefront of the press, but there are many of them.  And many of them live a long time.

She got the genetic testing to find out if she has the breast cancer gene.  She did that so that I will know.  We find out Friday and I frankly hope that the results and negative (that she doesn't have any genes).

My sis is super-strong.  She's gone through another course of chemo and is now doing a round of hormone treatments.  She's got this little pumpkin to make life fun:

And she's got a great support system with her family, friends and her work.

But it's still hard for her.  And hard for us.  We all hope for many more years of good days.  And we'll take each day as it comes and enjoy each and every one that we get.

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Tuesday Garden Party - A Little Sun Helps a Lot!

I feel like we are gaining some traction in the garden this week.  

Tomatoes... growing and growing! 

We planted seeds of a lot of different varieties - I look forward to seeing how they all do.  I think the tallest ones (so far) are the banana legs.  A funny name for a tomato I think!

We planted more hot peppers this weekend.  Hot peppers have done very well for us, and now we've got even more!

Herbs too - and we even planted some for the cats.  They LOVE catnip!

This is one of the plants I found growing in the marigold/4 o'clock pot.  I don't think it is either a marigold or a 4 o'clock.  Do you?

And I know that this is not a rose growing in my rose garden....

This is, however, corn!  Yea corn!  That was one of my favorites last year, and we are doing more this year.  I hope it does as well!

 And one more shot for the sweet peppers.  We had so much trouble with them last year I nearly did not plant any, but since we eat so many of them, I thought we had to try.  One last time.

The sun and warm weather sure help the plants grow! Check back next week to see what another week brings - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

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