Notes from afar

Okay, not exactly afar. This ain't exactly travel writing. The vacation’s been pretty good so far. Not ideal weather-wise, but I have managed to get some stuff crossed off of the “objectives” list, and when I take the time to reflect on it, I am quite relaxed. For the most part.

The main plot points of the vacation can be summed up thusly:
Golf tournament, reading, spaying, sleeping, painting, construction, windows, beer, money, hammock, mosquitoes, satellite dish collar, turkey cookies, and bad hair.

To elaborate, I have finished my book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, and finished knitting the sleeve of my sweater. I got new windows installed in the living room. Rosie got spayed on Thursday and now is miserable in her satellite dish collar, but is otherwise fine. After a couple of weeks of diarrhea and a morning of vomiting, whatever was in her system seems to have left the building and she’s fit as a fiddle. We’ve learned to feed her more slowly by adding water to her kibble, and have cut down on the green peppers which are apparently hard to digest. However, I did buy some beef rib bones at the butcher and smoked them myself, and she enjoyed those quite a bit. I’m sure the bones are still kicking around here somewhere. The whole house has a sort of mesquite scent to it now.

The renovations are coming along. I’m not too stressed about it, for some strange reason. I’m just picking away at it and somehow it’s getting done, sort of. I guess we’re going to have to start going gangbusters this week – we’ve put up one piece of siding, have stained a few more, and are now well on our way. I spray-painted the patio door red, which was pretty successful.

The flower gardens are popping like mad these days. The yellow iris just faded and the peonies are on their way out, but the delphiniums are opening up and the tiger lilies are on their way. I let the pale yellow cinquefoil take over the garden this year – I usually pull it out since it’s considered a weed – and it’s highlighting everything very nicely. It may stay.

In the veggie garden, the tomatoes and peppers are still small, and the beans are also struggling a bit. We need more hot weather. It has rained every single day since I’ve been off work, which is good for the garden in some respects but not so good in others. I seem to have a slug farm on my hands. I hate slugs so much you have no idea, so this doesn’t make me so cheerful. Last night I got one stuck in my Croc and it squished between my toes every time I took a step – I was not a happy camper.

Yesterday was rainy, so we cleaned out the freezer a bit and made dog cookies out of leftover thanksgiving turkey. We enjoyed a 19-lb grain-fed free-range turkey from hubby’s co-worker, to feed three people, so there was a little bit of turkey left over. We have enough to make cookies for pretty much the whole year. She loves them, so phew, but it was quite a process to make them, and it turned my stomach thoroughly; I may never eat turkey again.

Oh, I also got a dog gate for the car. This was an adventure because when I brought it home and started to set it up, I discovered that it was missing some essential parts, but also contained half of a chlorine testing kit. So we promptly returned it to Canadian Tire and replaced it. I installed it yesterday – it looks very dog-person-y.

I have not been dieting or cleansing. I have been eating beer, chips, hot dogs, cookies, grilled cheese sandwiches, wine, French fries, and a lot of steak. So scratch that one of the list. Construction workers need to eat hearty fare.

I’ve started to finish the inside of the window in the living room. Oh hell, I’m almost done. I am staining the shelf I built, which is taking forever. Reminds me I have to go down and put on a second coat when I’m finished this.

I have seen movies: I’ve seen 2 Days in Paris, which was quite funny, and The Other Boleyn Girl, which I thought was a rushed version of the book and didn’t love so much. Natalie Portman was excellent, Scarlett Johansson looked hangdog the whole time – she literally only had one expression, and in my humble opinion she shouldn’t do any more period films where they remove her eyebrows. It’s not a good look for her. And they should have used the guy who played Henry Percy to be the one Mary ends up with (Stafford?), not the weenie-looking kid they did cast. Disappointing all in all, though it could have been so much more. I think the story's way too long to be a movie.

I’ll post vacation photos when I’m back at work. I’m on dial-up at home, so can’t upload a damn thing unless I’ve got 4 hours to spare. I’m off to stain a shelf.

Objectives

This afternoon I have a meeting with my new boss to discuss my work objectives for 2008-09. I think this is the final step in our performance appraisal process, which is very long and drawn out and has been happening since the beginning of April and with two bosses.

In the spirit of objective-setting, I herewith set out my objectives for 'Summer Vacation 2008'. If you will recall, my objectives last year were lofty and ambitious, so this year I hope to go a bit easier on myself. Let's see what I've got planned:

- Finish reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon;
- Finish knitting the sleeve of the sweater I've struggled with since Christmas;
- Renovations! Get windows installed, do front of house;
- Deep-clean closets;
- Finish some notes for Green committee at work;
- Do work for Green committee;
- Rosie spayed (june 26);
- Go camping?
- Purchase a dog gate for the car;
- Build lattice wall on deck;
- Stake tomatoes, delphiniums, etc.;
- Get a tan;
- Move living room furniture around. Maybe;
- Visit friends - at least two;
- Diet/cleanse. I've been eating a lot of bad stuff lately;
- Make food (granola, ice cream, bread);
- Watch at least three movies;
- Finish off inside of living room window, with a shelf;
- Download music;
- Attend some Bluesfest shows.

I am sure there's going to be more to add, but this is a good start. I have 1.5 days of work left until vacation, and 5 meetings within those 1.5 days. Sigh. I also still have to buy some accessories (earrings and necklace) for the wedding I'm attending tomorrow afternoon. I am a busy girl.

Photographic evidence

I've been trying and trying to properly document my growing garden, but with minimal success. Trust, when you look at these pictures, that either the colours are off or they're invariably duller than they look in real life. With that in mind, may I present "Garden Pairings 2008":

These are the coral bells and jacob's ladder, against growing veronica, with a bit of hosta and peony in the background. Pretty typical stuff, only this time with more weeds.

Columbines showing their stuff to the tulips who'd recently lost their blooms. How rude.

I am in love with these dark-leaved coral bells, especially with that purplish sage, and when the centaurea comes out, as in this photo, watch out! Though the centaurea is a victim of over-exposure in this shot.

And this is my pièce de résistance: the Siberian iris/poppy/marigold combination. Some might find this tacky but I just think it's happy. Those people are not invited to my yard.

Here we have the overall veggie-garden effect, as seen from the deck. Pardon the hose - I give it a quick spritz every morning, at least until the rains come (tomorrow).

And here's a little miracle:

The squash that wouldn't start in my grow op under lights, are doing JUST FINE since I 'discarded' their 'empty pods' in this neglected seed tray. I'm going to leave this out and see what else decides to show it's face. Looks like those pods at the bottom of the shot have something going on as well. See? It PAYS not to clean up properly! Also in this photo: my epidemic of cilantro and borage. Sigh. What the hell do you do with borage? It's so messy.

I'll take more pics as the garden comes up. For right now, I am happy with the progress we're making. My tomatoes seem to have bounced back and gotten hardy and everything else's just trucking along. Now what to do with all these squash seedlings.....

Advance warning

This is an advance warning that lots of garden pictures will be coming your way very soon.

Mid-June is the very nicest time in the garden, I think. The vegetables are all still tiny and manageable and there aren't too many bugs infesting them yet, and the flowers are starting to really pop. Everything's still clean - nothing's gone out of control as of yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Currently, I am enjoying the contrast of my hot red poppies next to my deep purple siberian irises, against the backdrop of the orange marigolds in the veggie garden. My eyeballs aren't big enough.

Today or tomorrow, the yellow iris that I transplanted into my upper perennial bed will bloom for the first time, against the deep purple of the centaurea and, if it sticks around, the hot pink of my gorgeous peonies. Seriously, the camera can't even capture it. I've been taking pictures of nice garden pairings but then when I look at them, they all seem drab on-screen. My brother's girlfriend got a nice digital SLR camera, and takes the most gorgeous flower pictures, so maybe I'll have to hire her out for an evening, ply her with alcohol or something.

In the veggie garden, I am also experiencing moderate success: The garlic's trucking along, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of the neighboring corn yet. Maybe that won't work out, but that's not a tragedy; there's enough corn in the world and I don't even really like eating it that much. The tomatoes are bouncing back, growing themselves some dark green, hardy, outdoor leaves - the nicest ones are the ones I bought off of the little boy at the garage sale.

I think the basil that I transplanted is ok, but it's so tiny still that I can't be sure when looking at it from a distance. I haven't been through the gate since the weekend. 2 of my 3 cucumbers are doing well, the third had it's leaves eaten off by something (sluggy?) but may still bounce back. I had no success with the squash that I started in the grow-op, but stuck the remaining 5 seeds directly into the ground, and they've grown and are happy to be there. The lettuce is coming along, spinach is almost ready to eat, and I have a ton of cilantro. The beans are up, and the beets are doing well, and I may have a nice little crop of strawberries this year as well. My nasturtiums are poking their adorable little leaves out of the ground, and I have mounded up my potatoes already. May have to do it again this weekend, they're growing so fast in this weather. 5 of my 6 pumpkins are doing really well, and even the one that Rosie yanked out of the ground is bouncing back ok. I am considering spreading compost over the rows and then covering them with straw once the plants are a bit bigger - but we'll see. Damn I love the veggie garden in June. August... not so much but in June I am full of enthusiasm.

And the best part is, I've reached the point where there's very little to do aside from management. I've been spending a lot of time in my hammock, just watching the apples grow. Weeding, top-dressing and mounding, staking, bug control, and harvesting, that's about all I have to worry about until fall. I do have to clean up the grow-op though - it's a filthy disaster.

It's been so hot and humid these days (but raining at night - perfect for the garden) that Rosie doesn't know what to do with herself. We've moved her crate into the darker, cooler back room and put a fan on it, so she's ok during the day, but she really doesn't want to play sillybuggers outside much these days in the heat and the bugs. Life's hard for a black dog in summertime. So, we are going to the nearby lake a lot. I got her one of these:

It's called a Wubba and it's a hollow lightweight Kong, covered in neoprene, which floats really well. She LOVES it. I got the bright yellow one, so it's not easy to lose sight of, and the little tassles make it really easy to throw far, even for a klutz like me. She dives in so inelegantly after it, it's worth the $10 I spent on it in laughs alone. I'm an idiot for this dog.

Look at that curly butt! How could you not want to buy toys for it!?

Funny thing: when you get a 9-lb puppy in your arms who's a mix of two breeds, you're never really sure what you're going to end up with. I was convinced she was all lab. Her mum's a golden retriever, and in this shot you can see it. Usually she looks more like a black lab, save for this longer, curly coat. I adore it. I snuggle my face into this coat at least three times a day. I crave the smell of this fur all day when I'm at work. She is so handsome too, just perfectly proportioned, perfectly athletically put together. I would take credit, but I didn't birth this creature - she's someone else's miracle. I just get to watch her grow, which is pure pleasure. Bittersweet though, I do miss that tiny 9 lb pup. She was so damn cute.

I'll post pictures tomorrow... someone has to do some work around here.

Best.Discovery.Ever.

Yesterday, we brought Rosie to our latest favourite place: the doggy daycare 15 minutes from our house.

You may dismiss me as being a crazy dog lady, one of these bourgeouis pet owners who treats their animals like children and buys them all kinds of expensive crap that they don't care about, and you'd probably be at least 35% right (I treat everyone like children ha ha). Sure Rosie gets pampered, and we buy her the healthiest food we can find, and we feed her people food (peppers, bananas, apples, broccoli, yogurt, peanut butter) as snacks to switch it up a bit, but we do that for the cats too. They occasionally get the water from our tuna cans, shrimp tails, and occasionally fish skin or other end bits that we can't stomach. They don't get as many snacks, mostly because they've traditionally had weight issues, and they only really eat meat and dairy. It's much more fun - and tidier - to give a puppy veggie snacks for good behaviour.

Anyway, back to our discovery. This daycare is actually a boarding kennel, and it's run by this supercool lady who also works at the vet's office. She's german, and no-nonsense, and has 20-something sled dogs in a seperate pen in the yard, this neat enclosure outfitted with parasols and christmas lights, where each dog has a little 'fort' made out of overturned plastic barrels, with little wooden decks and stairs. It's very neat. Those dogs seem pretty happy.

The facility itself looks like a cool brand-new house. Inside the doors, to the right, there's a sunroom with about 12 built-in pens for cats, each containing a bed, food and water dishes, a window, and a couple of tiered shelves that they can climb and sleep on.

Down the hall at the back and to the left, you enter a big concrete and chain-link-fence hall filled with barking dogs. Each dog (or family of dogs) gets their own pen, which is attached to their own outdoor dog run, so they come and go as they please. You bring your own bed and toy and food. The facility is very clean, and they seem very conscientious. When we bring the dog in, her pen has been freshly mopped, and she has a little clipboard on the front with her name on it and special instructions (one dog last week had 'needs extra cuddles' written on her instructions - she was an over-nighter). We gave her the container of food and a baggie with treats - a chunk of pepper and two chunks of banana - and she feeds them at the assigned times.

She breaks the dogs into 'teams' based on their personalities, for play time. Originally she was only going to put Rosie in with the little nice dogs, but eventually she was in with the whole gang - she's very social. I was informed that many dogs would be completely pooped that night thanks to my Rosie, who played hard until she fell promptly asleep in the playground. Then she woke up and played again. She was terrified when we dropped her off, but had a great day, and was playing with a 6-month-old Newfoundlander and my brother's neighbor's English Spaniel when we picked her up, minus one more tooth. As soon as she hit the car, she fell asleep.

And she pretty much stayed asleep until this morning.

This wonderful service costs $10 for the day, plus tax. So we figure, for once a week, to have Rosie playing with other dogs and happy and social, and to switch up her routine so she's not in a crate 5 days a week, it's worth it to her. And it's so worth it to us, because we effectively get a night off. I could have done almost anything last night. I would pay double that to be able to nap, knit, read a book, snack, or whatever (last night I assembled our new patio umbrella) for one night a week. Not that I don't enjoy hanging with Rosie in the evenings, but it's hard to get anything done when she's in full week-night mode.

Anyway, best discovery so far. Soon she will go for her first overnight, and I will be scared and sad, but it'll be part of her growing-up that she spends a night away from her humans. I hope that by now, she's learned that no matter what length of time we're away - 2 hours or a week - we always come back for her. If not, this is part of the process.

Batten down the hatches!

This past weekend I put most of the remaining seeds and seedlings into the veggie garden. It rained all weekend long, so perfect weather for a lazy gardener like me - easier to weed, no need to water after planting, keeps the bugs down, yadda yadda. I am no fair-weather gardener.

Now I have to prepare for the onslaught.

My tomatoes were the first hit; I guess I didn't do a good enough job of hardening them off (my problem every.single.year - one would think I'd learn eventually?), and they turned white and crispy a few days after planting them out. They're bouncing back, but some of the leggier ones and the tinier ones are experiencing a real set-back. I will need to give them extra attention and kisses in the coming weeks, and remember to stake them properly when (if?) they get larger.

Actually, the first round of baby bok choi that I planted were the first hit, as they were completely uprooted by Rosie.

Then I did the same thing to a row of beets. (sigh). Rosie comes by it honestly.

I am going to be armed and dangerous this year. I'm going to watch very carefully for cucumber beetles - I've moved everything around and I hope to hell they've been thwarted. I want cukes this year. The past couple of years they have been a crashing failure. I tossed the rotting trellis and flipped everything in the garden over, and changed the location of my cukes, and moved the other squash and melons elsewhere, so I hope that's done some good. If not, I will resort to killing them, spraying with oils, you name it.

I also plan to get on top of the currant problem this year. Every year we have a caterpillar infestation on the currant bush and it affects productivity and makes it a disgusting pain in the ass to pick the berries. I have to spray the base of the tree with vegetable oil, apparently, and I guess I have to start doing it soon.

Yesterday I put out (prematurely?) my little adorable pepper plants. Some barely have a second set of leaves but dammit I am impatient, and it was rainy. As soon as I see flowers on them, I will start surrounding them with diatomaceous earth to deter earwigs - the pox of my peppers. I also stuck a lot of marigolds in and around the tomatoes and peppers this year, we'll see if that scares anything off.

I tried my best to plan the garden using companion planting guides. I think I screwed it up here and there by changing plans, but for the most part, I hope to grow a lot of veggies in a small space well, by making sure they're all compatible with each other. The only things left to go in the ground are the melons, which are going into the perennial bed, and the basils (thai and regular), which are healthy and prolific but still very small. They'll go in very soon - maybe next weekend. But I am happy - the grow-op is shut down for 2008.

Once all of that's done, I go into maintenance mode. I'll weed and try not to pull up the vegetables by mistake, kill insects and try not to kill the good ones, mound the earth on my potatoes but try not to smother them, and try my darndest not to step on anything.

I will post more photos when the garden looks like more than just straw, marigolds, cilantro and weeds.