invisible apple cake
4 days ago
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
I returned from a week of business travel Friday afternoon to a loving husband full of surprises. What a warm, welcome reception--a dozen roses and the surprise UPS delivery of a variation on a Claddagh ring, which I'll wear on my right hand with the heart pointing towards me ("someone has captured my heart").It's still winter here, with temperatures dipping down to 19 degrees while I was gone last week. This means more time indoors, anxiously anticipating Spring. We spent the rest of the weekend preparing meals for each other, reading, learning, hiking among the volcanoes on Albuquerque's West Side, getting organized for the year ahead with our new desktop year planner, and excitedly choosing seeds from catalogs for spring planting: eggplants, peppers, squash, corn, onions, potatoes, you name it.
A simple, but fulfilling weekend. We hope you all experienced the same! Happy Valentine's and President's Days.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Spring Projects
The weather is warming up here in New Mexico, and while storms are approaching next week, it's a nice preview into what's in store over the next few months. We have so much to do to prepare for springtime:
- Finish our indoor projects: American clay on the walls of our common living areas, replacing baseboards, and finishing a painting or two to hang on our new walls!
- Set up our guest house as my new art studio: we haven't used it since we moved here over a year ago, and the garage was completely uninspiring. The house has heat and a swamp cooler, so it will be more comfortable for artistic endeavors. Plus, there's a bathroom and a kitchenette where I can clean my brushes, etc.
- Set up gutters and water tanks for rain catchment on our detached garage and the house
- Choose vegetable and herb seeds for our new garden area in the back (4x the size we planted last year--we're growing, literally!)
- Read up on keeping chickens (for next spring--not this spring) so we can begin converting part of our horse barn into a roost
- Read up on preserving and canning vegetables so we know what to do with the huge harvest we'll likely have this summer and fall
I planted bulbs in December and can't wait to see them peek through in about a month. Apparently, it's the gardener's secret: sprouting spring bulbs give you some gratification while you wait for warmer weather to grow the rest of your stuff. I like this idea, and can't wait to see the tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths peeping out to greet us.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time....
- Finish our indoor projects: American clay on the walls of our common living areas, replacing baseboards, and finishing a painting or two to hang on our new walls!
- Set up our guest house as my new art studio: we haven't used it since we moved here over a year ago, and the garage was completely uninspiring. The house has heat and a swamp cooler, so it will be more comfortable for artistic endeavors. Plus, there's a bathroom and a kitchenette where I can clean my brushes, etc.
- Set up gutters and water tanks for rain catchment on our detached garage and the house
- Choose vegetable and herb seeds for our new garden area in the back (4x the size we planted last year--we're growing, literally!)
- Read up on keeping chickens (for next spring--not this spring) so we can begin converting part of our horse barn into a roost
- Read up on preserving and canning vegetables so we know what to do with the huge harvest we'll likely have this summer and fall
I planted bulbs in December and can't wait to see them peek through in about a month. Apparently, it's the gardener's secret: sprouting spring bulbs give you some gratification while you wait for warmer weather to grow the rest of your stuff. I like this idea, and can't wait to see the tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths peeping out to greet us.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time....
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