THE LAST STRAW

Today it is finally raining after two weeks of dry, sunny weather. That’s ok, we really need it. This winter has been very mild. Even the Cascade Highway (rte. 20) is opening early, the earliest it’s opened in the history of Washington State. We welcome the rain because part of the straw bale garden involves soaking the bales daily for about a week.

Speaking of the garden, I’ve included the latest pics. The straw bale garden is now constructed, painted and filled with straw. First we dug out the grass. Neighbor G took all the slabs of grass to fill in spots in his yard that his dog destroyed. Next, J measured and cut the wood. It’s shaped like a kite. Not quite on purpose but more because that is the shape that fits best. I painted the boards a lovely, psychedelic purple and then J joined them with hinges and screws (wood, screws and hinges provided by a generous grant from Underthehouse).

Next we placed the bales inside, cut side up. We added the bale we purchased last fall. You will notice in the photos that the old straw is already soaked and dark from sitting around for months. It had broken down nicely and plenty of worms were visibly working away underneath and inside. This is exactly what we want. After filling the structure with the straw, we lined it all with plastic. We don’t expect this thin plywood to last very long but this plastic lining might give us an extra growing season.

Keep in mind that any part of the garden at this point in time is a work in progress. None of it will look as pretty as it will once there are plants shooting up from the soil.
In other garden news, we repainted some of the garden beds to brighten them. Did lots of weeding and raking. Planted spinach, arugula, white onions, peas, thyme, marjoram and yuen sai, a Chinese parsley similar to cilantro.

With the weather so nice we spent most of the weekend outside. Aside from yard work we walked to our favorite co-op and Trader Joes’s and filled our backpacks with tasty items. The co-op, Madison Market, has a superb bulk section. We can bring our own containers and leave with plenty of great food and spices. We also just sat on the deck for a while. It’s nice to just sit there and relax after digging and hauling for two days. You feel sore but it’s the soreness of accomplishment. Much more satisfying than the soreness of sitting on one’s ass all day. Enjoy the photos. And don’t forget to check out the archives if you’re bored and want to catch up.

As the cat sunbathes, J and I dug out the plot. 

I begin painting the boards. 

J assembles boards. 

Finished bed with old and new straw. 

KIND, GENIUS BLOGGING STRANGER!!!

THANK YOU KIND STRANGER FOR HELPING WITH THE HTML QUESTION!!! Your suggestion worked. Now that I know where to paste this pesky code, I can pick a completely new format from a different website (now that I see the book list, I'm not entirely smitten with it). For now, I'll leave it. I can't thank you enough. Perhaps this weekend I need to pick up HTML for Dummies at the used book store. Couldn't hurt. Yay! Bloggers are friendly!

WHAT THE BLOG IS GOING ON?

Holy cow I thought this would be easy. Anyone have knowledge of such things, please contact me. I'm trying to create some lists to add to the blog. You know, stuff like books I'm reading or movies I've seen. Something that would appear under the profile and archives stuff. So I go to myMediaList.com and you can create lists and get the html code. It's really easy. Then add the code to the website/blog of your choice and every time you update the list of books, movies, etc., on myMediaList.com, your webiste/blog is automatically updated too. Sounds great. But now that I have this string of code, I don't know where to put it. If I insert it into a "post" it shows up as a daily entry. I've emailed the Blogger.com folks, but if anyone out there is wise to this, please let me know. It seems that these "add ons" are easy to get, the code is easy to get, but what do I do with the code?

GIFTS FROM FAR AWAY

I want to thank Jeannie for the fabulous gifts from Nepal and Tibet! She travelled there in November of 2004 as part of the Spencer, WV Rotary Club. I had no idea I had gifts coming. I had purchased some very cool, hand-made pillow cases from her and the gifts came for the ride. I received two rocks from Everest Base Camp, a roll of Tibetan prayer flags, incense, a change purse from Pokhara, Nepal and a bracelet from Shigatze, Tibet. I also received a CD containing all of the pictures from her trip. I've included a few shots here. Thank you a million times for these great gifts! I also love the pillow cases (sorry the payment has been delayed...it's actually been in my bag ready to be mailed for a week...today for sure!) I was going to use them as presents but screw that - I love them and they are already stuffed (with two of our current couch pillows) and are gracing the couch. The pouch is great too. I plan it to be filled with fine-point Sharpies, man! I've got ALL the colors they make.

Flower vendor in Patan. 

Poinsettias and marigolds. 

Long path to Dip Jyoti. 

Harvesting dal. 

Harvested rice. 

Boys in Bandipur. 

Potala Palace. 

Dalai Lama's living quarters. 

Everest! 

COO COO KA CHOO

The guys at Aki’s did a wonderful job on my car. I wish the pepperoni bread had come out better. I have a plan for the next time I make it. A secret weapon. Tom said all the guys really liked it but I told him I would make it again and it would be better.

Received my permanent crown yesterday afternoon - from a dentist, not a monarchy. It’s gold. I feel like a rap star. Actually, it’s not visible since it’s the last tooth in the back on top. Gold is no more expensive than porcelin, it requires less removal of the original structure, and it’s the most biocompatible with the body. It looked like a shiny new hubcap while the D.D.S. was polishing it. After my crowning, I walked home (trying to stay humble even with the gold). I was really moving. When I walk alone I make better time (no offense, Erin. It’s just an observation). When I walk with Erin we chat and grocery shop and chat. We shop like old ladies. Erin will get a cucumber for salad that night and a can of chili for Bruce’s lunch. I’ll get a bag of baby spinach and a pot scrubber. And we always know which store has the deals. It’s a talent. We get it from our grandmothers.

On the way home yesterday some enterprising young man hit me up for a donation to his Tsunami relief fund. He was selling his stuffed animal collection out of his driveway and sporting his martial arts uniform. I tried to talk him out of soliciting me, untruthfully claiming that my animals would eat the toys, but he was persistent in a friendly way. I ended up buying a walrus for $1. I also unloaded two Sacagawea dollars on him that I was tired of carrying. "Wow. Can we use these in America?" I hope so; it was the damn government who coughed them up at the post office. I forgot what school he claimed he attended. For all I know he’s a martial arts-con man-midget. I hate stuffed animals anyway.

PICASA IS SU CASA

In order to post pictures onto this blog, I utilize two different programs. If I'm at work on my PC, I use Picasa. If I'm using J's Mac, I go to Flickr.com. These are the photo programs that Blogger.com is connected with. I prefer Picasa. It's well laid out and very easy to use. I've used both today to post the photos you see. If you have a PC, check out Picasa. The download is free.

Well, the cats didn't help at all. They prefer the lounge chairs. Here is the red bed finally installed.