new addition to our household

It's been an eventful couple of days around here. For the past little while I've been mulling over the idea of having my own computer, something I can dink around on without monopolizing our main computer, a pc that's hooked up to our gigantic screen television. It's really nice to have a 42-inch monitor, but not always necessary or convenient.

I recently started talking to Byron about my this yearning of mine, and last night we went out and bought me the cutest little netbook--a wee tiny 10.1" Acer something-or-other. I think I got a fair deal on it, and I'm sure it's capable of doing far more than I would even think of asking of it. I've been using it for oh, 40 minutes now, and love it!

Byron has pointed out, it's unusual for me to splurge on toys or gadgets--this is being billed as a birthday gift to myself. :)

My birthday was last weekend, and Byron knocked my socks off by having a load of my friends and coworkers come over for a surprise party. Byron took me out shopping for my birthday gifts (a new pillow and some plants and related garden gear) and when I came home all jazzed about staking my tomatoes, I was stunned to find some of my favorite people hanging out in the backyard. I think I was stunned for a long time, I just couldn't grasp why all these folks would be hanging out on my deck without even having called first.

It was a lovely, lovely time. I lay awake for hours after smiling at the thought of all of these folks taking time to help me celebrate my birthday. Byron and his pals handled the food, my dad brought a cake, and everyone made me feel special. There aren't any photos from the birthday party, you'll just have to take my word for it that it was probably the best birthday I've ever had.

10,000 snowmen, falling down, and the spring garden

"I have found your army of snowmen," wrote Scott, "and it is here." It may or may not be 10,000 snowmen, but I think the 24 or so that I made over the past couple of years brings it pretty close. Thus ends the quest for the snowman army, which, according to ancient legends, would signify an era of peace and joy and personal responsibility. Huzzah! Long live the snowmen!

In other news, I fell down yesterday while walking in a parking lot. Trippd over a wood plank on the ground and down I went. Skinned both knees, got a nasty bruise and have been gingerly tottering like a penguin all day.

Tonight I doddered down to the garden to have a look and within minutes found myself first leaning, then stretching, then crouching among the plants, weeding and inspecting. These days, the garden has blooming violets, trilliums and poppies, and lots of so-far-unknowns.

I'm indoors again, feeling a little sore and scabby, and am marvelling at the curative effects of outdoor therapy (also known as mucking about in the garden).

rainy day garden research

It's been a dreary, blustery day here on my day off. Considering the daylong torrential rain, I spent a surprising amount of time outdoors, wandering out at various times to poke at the composter, examine my newly emerged crocuses and prepare my lasagna garden bed. I also got a bit of cleaning done, and managed to do some reading about companion planting.

It seems that some plants have useful properties that can be put to work in the garden. Some repel pests, provide shade or support to neighbours or help enhance flavour of veggies. Basil and chives help flavour tomatoes and peppers, strawberries benefit from being planted with thyme and spinach, garlic and marigolds help to keep bad bugs at bay, and tarragon apparently encourages growth and flavour of most veggies. Who knew? The internet knew!

I'm planning on making the garden a lot more productive this year, not necessarily in terms of actual food harvest, but in terms of managing our green space wisely. We live close enough to the Don Valley that it's possible the TBC bees may forage in my own backyard, and that's inspired me to try to make our yard more natural and self-sustaining.

Armed with about 50 packets of seeds and about 100L of compost, I'm all atwitter to start season 3 of the garden, and it starts tomorrow, once the rain is done. Pictures to follow eventually...

BEES!

Just when the mid-winter bleariness seemed to have set in, I got a delightful email telling me to go here: www.torontobees.ca. It's just a shell, at the moment, but it's the future home of the toronto beekeeper's co-operative website. If you're a bee nerd, this is terribly exciting. Over the past year or two bees have really come into the spotlight and last summer our co-op had a huge membership and was involved in getting hives on the top of the Royal York hotel in Toronto (the Royal York's honey won second place in their class at the Royal Winter Fair!)

This year, with increased funding and the support and permits and approval for some huge new projects, we're looking at a lot of work and a lot of fun. Keep an eye on the website if you're interested in seeing what we're up to, what the bees are up to, or what you can get up to to help our little stripey friends.

the bundle buggy lady

We had ventured out this morning, on a brunch-Sayal Electronics-Lee Valley tools expedition. It was bright out, but too full of that mid-January-no-fun snow, and we saw more snow starting as we got home.


While enjoying the wintry neighborhood view from the porch, I glimpsed the bundle buggy lady trudging into the wind in the corner of the landscape. Dressed in a beet red coat, she was slowly pushing a buggy of groceries and carrying a cane up the snowy sidewalk. She made slow but sure and steady progress, sometimes taking a moment or two to navigate a challenging patch of sludge or ice. I was happy for her when she discovered that pulling is easier than pushing, and I felt guilty about our own sidewalk. When we got home from our vacation we found it had snowed in our absence, and then apparently rained. We'd cleared as much as we could but...


By the time I had gotten dressed to go out she was nowhere in sight. Too bad. I love winter, and I'm certain the experience would have been worth the effort.

home from vacation

We returned from Puerto Vallarta recently, where we spent a relaxed week in the sun. We were in the old part of the city which had lovely cobblestone roads. It also has very hilly streets, which makes navigating the very tall sidewalks a an exciting challenge in some parts of town.

We spent some good time with Declan and Yujung, who came from Korea for a month to visit Declan's family. Yujung and her capable helper Declan cooked dinner for a bunch of us, and it was a nice start to our trip. We also ate at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian Steakhouse, which everyone should do at least once in their life. I asked Byron to go on a banana boat ride with me, to which he good naturedly agreed. It was an exhilirating ride but left us sore and battered, and required a day's worth of therapeutic naps and Mexican television to recover from.

We ate some local junk food and tried to find a lucha libre match to watch. We declined invitations to see bull fighting, a fiesta and time share meetings. Some whales surfaced just off the beach one afternoon while we were enjoying drinks along the Malecon one day, and a few nights we stopped by the stage in the square to watch local entertainment. A mime, a clown, some jugglers. This place drew lots of people, and I enjoyed the atmosphere.

I've recently been ok'd to resume my regular composting and gym activities, which is exciting news. I've missed the tranquility of the compost yard, and think I'm ready for another run at becoming healthier. I'm crafting myself some composting gear and we seem to have found a solution to our tiny fly problems, all in all, 2009 has been pretty good!

Christmas at our house

It's finally feeling Christmassy for me these days. We had a terrific snowstorm today, the Christmas shopping and crafting is finally all but done, Mario Lanza is singing his own special brand of fire'n brimstone style Christmas songs, and Byron and I recently put up our Christmas 'tree'.  

As a kid, I'd always gone out with my family to pick a live tree and cut it down and then hang out drinking hot chocolate and not being able to feel our toes.  The tradition continued into adulthood. My sister and her family and I and my dad would go out tree hunting, and after I met Byron he too joined the brotherhood of tree hunters.  It officially stopped being fun when we realized a few years ago that not a single member of my sister's family could take a snowball  well. The highlight of this discovery was my brother in law Ray being a wet blanket about getting one in the back.  Anyway, we opted out of this arbicide last year, and decorated our cd rack instead.  This year we did the same, and it makes me giggle with glee every time I look at it.

I've gotten an  early Christmas present, I must've been good this year :)   Byron installed a light in our bathroom so that we can try to be better houseplant parents.  The plants are definitely responding well, although we seem to have also established a thriving fruitfly community :(

I've been thinking about how people are approaching Christmas this year, and I'm pleased that so many people believe Christmas doesn't need to equal spending lots of cash or giving stuff for the sake of having given stuff.   This Christmas cheer stuff, however is great--random acts of kindness, time spent, company enjoyed,  experiencing the wonders of the season. I'd rather have this all the time and have that be enough than get a bunch of stuff just because it's Christmas.

My plant light is 'stuff', I suppose, but more than that, it's going to allow me to keep gardening thoroughout the winter, and start my garden earlier in the spring, two things that I'm really looking forward to.   Thanks, Santa!