Brightening my day

We interrupt this lack of posting with some delicious end-of-summer colors. These photos can pull me out of even my most recent grump funk. Enjoy!

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The garden bug

Hey look! I found a post from the end of May. :O) Since I'm about to do two posts about my garden this year, I figured I ought to at least publish this one to get it started. You'll have to use your imagination since I don't have access to any photos from May, not until my computer gets a lobotomy.

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We've caught the gardening bug around here. Okay so it's not HERE, but it's at my uncle's, and it's a beautiful yard.

Last year we arrived in November and by spring I myself was ready to pop, and there was no way we could imagine tending a garden. This year we dived in head first, starting everything from seeds. Mostly we're working with raised beds, but they are not set up in Square Foot Gardening standards. They're big and long, and since they were put in twenty (?) years ago, the fruit trees all around them have grown considerably. They are no longer in the full sun part of the garden. So, we're doing a little bit of everything and hitting a huge learning curve in the process.

I started in the winter (the ground doesn't freeze here) by turning all the dirt over at least a foot deep, taking the green over grown plots back to dirt, but most of all, I was trying to dig up as many morning glory (and raspberry) root systems as possible. I got a lot, but I get to this garden every other day and I spend about a half hour each day pulling out morning glory. If you let ONE PIECE of root, leaf, or otherwise drop to the ground, it will sprout. It cannot go in the compost pile, either, since this one doesn't get hot enough.

Anyhow, all that work and a few things are now starting to come up. Here's life in the garden:

Ups: Bella's in the garden and playing with nature.

Downs: Keeping Bella out of the sun. And trying to weed or collect slugs with a baby in tow. And keeping her from pulling plants up. Or tossing rocks in the grass where my uncle will run over them with the lawn mower.

Ups: rhubarb! My uncle put in rhubarb well over 20 years ago, and it's still coming up ("like a friendly weed" says he).

Downs: slugs and morning glory. Morning glory may strangle everything, but at least I can see it before it damages the tops of plants. I spend another half hour plucking slugs out of the garden (they're never-ending!) and I have soda cans with yeast in them to trap the ones I can get while I'm away. At one point they were so bad I couldn't even get my lettuce to sprout before they at it off. I guess that's what happens in such a lush climate after 10 years of being ignored.

Ups: radishes! We love them, which is lucky since they're an ego boost. I'm learning that they need to be planted deeper, so that the red part is underground as seedlings. But they're nice an hot and so rewarding when nothing else survives. (Plus, who cares if a few get eaten away?)

Downs: WHAT IS EATING MY STUFF? It could be rabbits, though that's less likely than slugs around here. They wait until seedlings get to a hopeful recognizable size, and then LOP off the tops! They're doing it on my porch, too. I'm starting to blame squirrels and blue jays, but I just don't know. I haven't been able to get a single head of lettuce started.

Ups: My uncle had to take out some trees last year, so now there is an empty full sun section of the yard, away from the lawn. I'm looking forward to putting tomatoes and squash there (if someone STOPS EATING THEM!).

Downs: Uh, the soil is less than desirable there. I should have dug in some manure and potting soil, because at the moment the area is dubbed "the desert". I have yet to grow a plant more than 4 inches tall before it dies or is eaten.

Ups: Potential. Of course, the fruit trees will always bear fruit. But this year we already have strawberry buds, carrot tops, radishes, and hopefully much more. I am NOT patient, though. I don't want to wait til fall!

Downs: short hot season

Ups: Sunshine. Wow, we've had two full weeks of sun. Sun sun. Like no clouds sun.

Downs: Sunshine. What the heck Seattle? The sun comes out in July here. Where's the rain I need for my transplants to take?

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There you have it, a very sunny May garden in Seattle. Stay tuned for the exciting end of summer conclusion!

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How do you learn to let your child shine on her own? How do you keep your own good judgment from squashing everything she tries to be?

I am lucky to have grown up with a family that never completely fit in. I think we're a great family, it's just that either we were new in town or we did things a little differently, or *gasp* my parents are still married. (Okay mom, you could have warned me about how much work that has been. You make it look so easy.) I was the girl who obstinately dressed herself at age two, who wore pants to a tea party, who made myself a giant house costume for Halloween, who (garishly) decorated my own clothes, who wrote twenty page papers because ten wasn't enough, who had verbal diarrhea, who spoke everything on my mind, which let me tell you does not always seem like a great gift. But it is now.

Because now I can nurse Bella wherever I want, I can tell people we don't use diapers and not feel weird, and I can stand up for my own choices because I have had to stand up for myself my whole life, and have always had my parents standing right behind me to show me how. And while there are days that I still feel awkward doing things (like being the one picking berries on a random roadside, or standing up for my opinions in the face of a customer), I usually don't realize how odd some of my lifestyle choices are simply because I'm used to being the odd one out. And now I have a darling baby who also likes doing things her way, and thanks to my parents, I can be there for her every moment of it.

It'll take some time to learn to appreciate this shared trait of ours, to not to be too obvious when biting my tongue for her sake, to not insist she do things my way, to not take it personally when my suggestion goes unheeded. I know from experience that every suggestion my parents make (which I then ignore) is filed in the back of my head, and whenever I get down off my high horse, they come in very handy. As does the ability to ignore suggestions and pave my own road. What a fine line that will be. Teaching humility (which I, my stubborn self, am still learning) and independent thinking. Bella's going to take me on the ride of my life, but it's going to be worth every moment.

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rainier sunny

is that an oxy moron?

Obviously since it was sunny, I took a million and a half more photos on this day to Mt. Rainier. Oh, it was gorgeous. I'll just post a few here, but if you click on them you'll find even more in my flickr.

This was the view as we arrived and headed down onto a new trail.

The meadows were in full bloom and were absolutely beautiful.

And of course again Bella insisted on hiking herself, and had us hopping around trying to keep her from wandering off a cliff.

Once she fell asleep, I was able to crouch down and get a few close ups of the flowers.

Then the mountain came out in all its cloudy splendor on our hike back up. The clouds were just gorgeous in the sunlight, and totally brought out the icy sides of the mountain.

When we hiked out, we were really surprised to find clouds had overtaken the lodge. It was downright misty.

As we drove out, Dave snapped a few more shots. I liked the warm feeling of this one, so I processed it a bit to bring it out. Please ignore the fingerprints on the lens. I had no idea until I got home, but I should have guessed since Bella likes to play with lens caps.

This brings out exactly how I felt driving out in the sunset. And you can see how low the river is. We've only had a few days' rain this summer, and this was after two days that it rained. It's almost twice as full as it had been 6 days earlier.

As usual, we had a great time, took too many photos, and can't wait to go back!

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the catch up letter

Dear Bella,

So I skipped a month. I skipped a month because, wow, things have been busy, and you've been a trooper. I have asked so much of you over the past month, and you've been right with me, hanging in there, taking it like a champ. Last month I was supposed to attend our friend MJ's birth. Help her out and take photos. She finally had her boy 15 days after he was due, and you spent the weekend with Daddy. The whole weekend. It kind of messed up our night weaning, and you certainly showed me how much you missed me when I got back, but your willingness to try a weekend without me, and Daddy's big help let MJ's baby come into the world in a peaceful, healthy way. I can't thank you enough.

And then what did we do the day after Thomas was born? We flew across the country. Guess it was a good thing you got so much Daddy time. We flew, then drove, then drove some more, then a bit more, and holy cow, just a bit more for the fun of it, and then we flew back home. You're used to visiting people. In fact, if we don't go out every day so you can flirt with someone else, you get quite grumpy.

I would never have put you through a trip like this if I didn't think you'd enjoy meeting with 20 or 30 new people every day. Twenty people who know you, but who(m) you have never met. People who say hi and want to hold you and already love you, and you will never know how much you brighten their lives. You do. And you beam and let them love you and soak it up and learn to wave bye-bye which you've never done before, and then let me throw you back in the car. Some cheerios, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, a few songs playing on our roadtrip soundtrack, and we're off. You are amazing, child.

And while we were in Massachusetts getting you baptized, you got that last bottom tooth. Then I took you home and it was over 100 degrees all week, and you decided this would be a great time to get your molars. We've been home for two weeks and you now have all four molars. Just in time for another heat wave to hit. Please keep the rest of your teeth underground a little longer, thanks.

I feel bad writing this, like I probably forgot something. You're growing so fast and two months is everything and a blink. You're in love with your stuffed animals and you're realizing with squeals that everyone has toes. You point to your butt when you need to poo, you use the sign "more" to say you're hungry, then snub your nose at food, say nyo... and turn on your heel and go. Because you can. There's so much you can do. You have so many wonderful quirks right now. And I can't think of any to tell you about. I'll write them down as they come. That'll be for another day, I'll make up for missing a month, I promise.

Love, mama

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