Daisies

Daisies

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Gardening and Yarn Along

Today I found some sunshine in the middle of the day to transplant some of my plants to larger pots. I am trying out these fabric pots and hoping that they work well. The soil should be aerated nicely, but I am worried that the black fabric will mean very hot soil, which equals more watering time. We will see. I moved; strawberries, watermelons, peppers: sweet and hot, lots of different tomatoes and I think that might be all I moved today before it started pouring rain again. I am hoping to get some more gardening time in the morning before I head to work, which really means I should be sleeping right now and not writing this blog or thinking about reading some more before bed...yep, a bit of a night owl. We also spotted some random mushrooms growing in the yard, no wonder with all the rain recently. I did end up going back to Villagers to pick up that oil lantern that my husband told me to get and I am enjoying the warmth of the glow as we speak. I so do love old style lighting and the idea of "doing" according to the daylight. Did any of you ever watch 1900 house? I can't remember if that was on TV when I lived in London in 1999 or if that was a US show. I absolutely loved this show and the idea behind it. A family was placed in a house to live their lives like they were in the 1900s, a much slower pace of life without the conveniences of the modern world. Don't get me wrong, not all modern conveniences are bad, but I think purchasing some oil lamps may be in the right direction for us to lessen our carbon footprint and to try to live more of a life in tune with the rhythm of the day. Along . with gardening and new lamp pictures, I am also joining in with Ginny over at Small Things for her weekly Yarn Along. This week I am working on my Gaptastic Cowl...some of you may remember that I was working on this same cowl quite some time ago, well I did end up having to rips it out about three times due to a mistake here or there, so I am on my fourth attempt and so far, so good. The yarn is Malabrigo, can't think of the exact name, but it is their super bulky. The book I am reading is really a delightful one. It is called "Little House off the Grid" by Michelle and Cam Mather and it chronicles their journey the self-sufficiency. It is one of those book that is totally honest with the hard work it takes to become more self sustainable while inspiring you to become more so. More than half way through the book and I am loving it. Ok time to go get that sleep that I need.




Peace,
Yasmin

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Downtown Outing


Hello, hello friends...long time no post. A whole lot has happened since the last post. I survived finals week of the spring semester, and have now started a new class for the summer semester (just one class mind you). We went to Great Wolf Lodge to fulfill a promise for a belated birthday trip for the 8 year old boy. We kept it a total secret from the two kiddos and you should have seen the excitement in their eyes when they caught sight of the indoor water park. One of my sisters got married this past weekend (no I was unable to attend this somewhat last minute affair, but the plan is and was for the whole family to meet in August for a reception/rehearsal for some kind). I have finished a couple of knitting projects, which makes me so happy (yes the shawl for the 11 year old is finished and just needs to be blocked). I believe that is pretty much all that we have been up to. It has been quite rainy here and combined with my pretty heavy work hours, not much time in the yard has been spent. I will try to fix that soon enough, with a little bit here and a little bit there. So, about today...I had to run to the co-op for a bit of grocery shopping and decided to wait till the kids got home from school to run this and other errands around town. I really wanted to take them to a store that is all about bees called Asheville Bee Charmer, which apparently is still not opened even though their facebook page states that they opened earlier in the Spring??? Then we headed out looking for this supposedly great fabric store called Kitsch Fabrics which also apparently closed although I didn't see any mention of that when I googled the store. Bad luck in the finding places I wanted to go today. We did finally make it to Villagers though, which is a really cool store with gardening, fermenting, brewing, canning, bee keeping, and all sorts of other products. What a fabulous little store, I really enjoyed browsing the store and can admit that I so wanted to leave with so much more than just the Tatler's reusable canning lids and rings I left with. I did mention to my husband that I saw an awesome oil lantern there and after disclosing the price, he said I should go back and get it. So, there is a possibility that I might be visiting that store again tomorrow by myself while the kids are in school, which means I can browse in a leisurely pace and take it all in, yay! After the Villagers, we headed over to Farmburger for dinner. Vegan burgers, housemade pickles, housemade beet and potato chips...what else can we ask for, yummm. This time I brought home a vegan burger and sweet potato hushpuppies for my husband, which he almost totally devoured cold before I reminded him that the burger might be better heated up. Being downtown is pretty fun sometimes and if I do go to Villagers tomorrow, I might have to visit some other favorite spots of mine. Let's talk about the planting going on in the house. I planted quite a bit of seeds, but it seems to be slow going in the growing department and I'm afraid that maybe the seeds or soil I used were too old, or maybe I am being a bit impatient with the growing. I want to plant a whole lot more seeds, but have been restricted my the rain, work, and resurfacing of decks by the landlord. I will eventually get it all in though. Speaking of planting, we got our first strawberry...it isn't a pretty thing, but the kids are so excited about this first strawberry and what exactly we are going to do with it. One strawberry, two kids; hmmm not sure if that is a good thing. Anyway, back to sipping tea, knitting, and listening to the rain.









Peace,
Yasmin