Make Your Own....

New Year! It occurred to me that the past year has been not the greatest and that the troubles started last October:
October – we got bed bugs
December – I had my WORK lap top stolen out of my car around Christmas
June – A particularly awful home visit where everyone was pissed off and disappointed, my son got bitten by my Mom’s dog and my Dad said some especially unkind things about my 18 month old son
July – My Step Dad passed away rather unexpectedly
Sept – My asthmatic cat had to be put to sleep after spending a night outside in the cold and rain and in a lot of pain.

So, in light of all that I have decided to make October my New Year ’s month. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Fall and that October is my very favorite month. It seems like a really good time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the coming 12 months. Also, the traditional New Year has pretty much always been a bit of a let down and coming at the end of the ever stressful and exhausting Holiday Season. It is hard to get excited for the new year when you are facing January and paying off Holiday bills. No fun.
I can say that even though the past year has been a rough one there is still a lot I am so grateful for, a lot that I am looking forward to in the next 12 months and will try to do so with an open heart. I feel like maybe the lesson of the last year has been one of vulnerability. On that note, check this out: (sorry, you may need to cut and paste) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=relmfu

And Happy New Year to YOU! I promise a more festive Halloweeny treat post very soon….

Oh, Captain! My Captain!

We live in a house that was built in 1920….by a Sea Captain so the story goes. I must admit that I find this incredibly romantic. Some of the features of our house would indeed seem to support it being built by a bachelor seaman. The upstairs alone seems to echo the hold of wooden ship and the closet in our bedroom is unlike any I have ever seen and would be right at home in a cabin on a ship. The handles of the drawers below it are also made of sturdy, mariner type rope. Pay no mind to the fact that we live about 2 hours from the coast (but not that far from Shanghai City – Portland ). These ‘facts’ coupled with the extreme abundance of pink flowering things in our yard makes me wonder…. I have a secret fantasy about the Captain. I like to think that perhaps he loved to garden and loved pink and had to move far and away from where anyone would know him so that he could retire in peace with his pretty pink things. Now I realize that the antithesis of a Sea Captain would be a gardener/farmer but I think we all hold the capacity within ourselves to be walking contradictions in terms (I seem to pump up against my own daily). We might keep some of our less obvious, more contradictory traits to ourselves but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t part of what makes us who we are. Maybe even more so in 1920 I would think. It is likely that some of the less expected, more pink characteristics of man might be frowned upon. Especially here in Oregon in 1920. I also wonder what the landscape must have been like around where we live in 1920. There would have only been the 2 houses; our house and the slightly older one about ¼ mile away (now they are both besieged by a seemingly endless sea of 1960’s ranch houses). I can only imagine the views and the pastoral peacefulness of it then. A very fine place to retire in relative anonymity and peacefulness with your pink roses and pink rhododendrons and pink peonies, etc.. Realistically I know that all the pink was far more likely the legacy of a gardening wife who lived in the house after or that it is even possible that the Captain had a wife and she is the culprit but that is no fun at all, now is it? I am also somehow more able to be more forgiving of all the damn pink when I believe it is the legacy of the Captain.

Get back to the gardening already!

So one of the many things I love about the Pacific Northwest is the fact that Spring actually starts around here when it is supposed to, i.e. months before it starts in the Midwest where I grew up. For example, there are crocuses blooming in the yard and the daffodils are about to pop. Can you believe it?! It is not even March yet! While the Midwest continues to get buried in snow and generally really f***ing cold right now we are planning the garden for this year. I have even already gotten to plant some seeds (granted they will be residing in the greenhouse in Colton where the family bee farm is) and will get to start a bunch of "starts" in nary a week. Did I already mention that I am super excited for the garden this year! I have never started from "starts" before and NONE of the seeds I planted directly in the ground grew last year grew - I am hoping it is just because it was bad year in general for gardening, not that I have some kind of black thumb. Either way, I am very hopeful that starting from starts is the way to go this year. My Mom is coming to visit this weekend and we plan to take her to the farm for some greenhouse fun. I am super excited for the flowers I plan on planting this year - getting a little closer to a cottage garden every year is my plan. In my imagination I can see out 'secret garden' already.... On the list this year are more foxglove (love it!), lots of sweet peas, morning glories, something that looks like a green flower from Mars called "Irish Bells", Mexican sunflowers, holly hocks and a few others I can't remember right now and don't have in front of me. We are also planting three rows of vegetables of all kinds and have raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, 2 baby apple trees and 2 baby pear trees. I will be sure to take lots of pictures of our progress.

"What fresh hell is this....?"

Well, maybe “hell” is a bit mellow dramatic but damn! it has been a little rough around here lately! When you are married to a beekeeper you quickly learn that are stretches of time in February and March when your loving man will be running off to California with a few truck loads of females and leave you flying solo for two weeks at time. This is because commercial beekeeping means you transport your bees to orchards and fields and such for them to do their work and pollinate. That is where the real money is – not in honey or wax but in the “sexy” part of what bees do. Which begs the question: did I marry an interspecies pimp?! Okay, I digress (the beekeeping community would also be horrified by me right now). Now is one of those times and it seems that we are cursed! A plague upon our house complete with illnesses and mechanical failures of all kinds. I have been struggling with a flu (which manages to encompass every kind of symptom you can imagine –yuck) for a good 9 days now, our asthmatic cat has been having a marathon asthma attack that has been flaring up for over a week and Little Buddy’s nasty wet cough is back again. My mother-in-law ended up getting sick too which meant she was unable to babysit this week so I had to take more time off work. If the truth be told this was not so bad since I am still trying to fully recover myself; a seemingly impossible task when you have an energetic, willful, dare devil of a toddler to look after all by yourself. The car is also now leaking transmission fluid like a mutha and various minor household appliances have been acting wacky. Now in the face of all this I do recognize that these are relatively minor problems that will all seem terribly small once my Honey comes home but in the meantime: OUCH! It makes me realize how truly amazing single parents are and I commend them. I think we should propose as National Single Parent Awareness Day where free child care and free drinks should be provided along with free massage, free movie tickets and free entry to sporting events to all single parents. Those guys and gals need a serious break a little appreciation! Who’s with me?