Been Busy...

It's been awhile since my last post....sometimes life is like that, you know, taking up ALL your time and everything....The kids had the whole week (23 thru 27) off, something called "midwinter break"--how inconvenient. Having them all home, all day, every day... was draining physically, mentally and emotionally. Anyways, I had a birthday on the 26th . The same day Pakman got me (2) brand new trash cans (not for my birthday, just on my birthday, mind you) which I made short work of thanks to these instructions for a home made compost tumbler, complete with a Youtube video demo. I just couldn't bear the thought of spending hundreds of $$'s for basically a plastic holding bin for organic waste, so this fit the bill nicely. I knew it was time to do something about my previous compost pile situation when a trail of eggshells and old bread suddenly appeared from the torn out corner of the badly weathered cardboard box I had been using since November. Here is the new compost bin collecting rainwater for the past 3 days. I just hope the chipmunks that left that trail o'refuse across the yard don't figure how to gnaw through the fiberglass screens covering the holes. Well, I'm pretty sure it's chipmunks because one of the kids told me they saw one running out of the box with a chunk of something the other day, and plus if it were something like a raccoon or possum or skunk the mess would have been a whole lot bigger and the box would have been more destroyed, that is my scientific opinion.

Since the kids were off school, we invited ourselves to my Dad's and then to my brother's Friday and Saturday. Grampa volunteers at the Michigan Historical Museum so I thought it was a good opportunity to indoctrinate the young'uns with some culture (plus they'd have something of substance to write about the following Monday in the requisite "What I did during my Vacation" essay, besides the usual "slept alot and watched TV"). There was pizza and another cake at my brother's house, after which we all totally embarrased ourselves playing the Wii American Idol Rewind. But the best was yet to come because Saturday they showed us Lansing's premier pet supply emporium where the kids got to touch a real live tortise and I saw an exact replica of my future backyard koi-pond.

But the fun just keeps comin' because March 2 was another important birthday at our house (No NOT Dr. Seuss), but the one I call Junior Gardener turned eleven. And I had to go to 3 different stores to find the DS game she wanted. Whew. But wait--Two more birthdays are coming at the end of March...hope I won't be too sick of cake....I sure didn't plan this right.

More stuff...that single shelf in the laundry room, of which I am immensely proud, is not nearly enough seedling space, so I dragged in the plastic shelf from the garage which was storing mainly empty pop cans and ancient half-empty jugs of (automotive?) mystery liquids, to it's new temporary home in the dining room, and purchased 4 more shoplites. I just got done yesterday sowing another flat of brassicas and herbs, and a few flowers. Main crop tomatoes will be sown next week...can hardly wait!! In case anyone is wondering, this is what damping-off looks like in a flat of celery (notice the bare patches; they were covered with green just days ago)

and this is what an extremely low germination rate looks like in a flat of long red Florence Onions: (there were 60+ seeds in each of those containers!!! bummer.)