Green Days

My plants from Logee's arrived and I am just on cloud nine. Two days and countless hours before I could get my order down to a respectable size (meaning price). I wanted everything, but settled on Giant Papyrus, Passion Flowers(2 types, one is fruiting) and these.

If you decide to order, be prepared things are small and dainty when they arrive, but according to everyone they grow like wildfire and are giants by mid season. I unpacked everything and nestled them in one of the terrariums in my office.

I planned to garden tonight but ended up walking a few doors down to my friends to covet and drool over her lovely front yard. She has a Eucalyptus to die for and tons of lavender. Plus a rose that looks like it is on steroids... *dreamy sigh*

Prior to this, I made an amazing dinner.. as follows:

• Scallops and Prawns with leeks and butter
• Asparagus risotto with spring peas (recipe from here)
• Wild greens salad with strawberries, walnuts and balsamic vinegar

In keeping with our healthy eating, most vegis were organic and portions were tiny (by my calculations) and lovingly arranged on the plate. Tomorrow we are having Yum Yum Turkey Curry ( A Bridget Jones inspired creation) with roasted Cauliflower. Totally loving this healthy eating thing....

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie....Unless you have your camera handy

Cruel, I know, but our little pup Milo is so cute when he sleeps I just can't help but snap a picture. Coincidently, sleeping is the only time he is even remotely well behaved. What can I say, we love the bad ones.

I have never seen this much personality in one dog… perhaps because there are probably 2 or 3 of them in there. My favorite look I have yet to capture on film is when you call him or tell him to get off the couch and he gives you this look, like “Milo isn’t here right now”. Just as quickly the look will disappear and Milo is back… Where he goes and who is looking out from his eyes at that moment I really don’t want to know. Then of course there is the staring thing he has recently combined with a complete lack of personal space. (He likes sit very close to people)

Isn’t love grand? Anatole France said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

If you would like to awaken your own soul I recommend Petfinder (this site is currently prohibited in our house). If you want your very own Milo, I recommend searching for pets described as “special” or pets on their third and fourth homes. (At 10 weeks of age we were Milo’s third owners and the people at the pound waived all the fees, because we promised to never return him.)

I really believe that there is no such thing as a bad dog, just good dogs who make bad choices. And no matter what the choice, every creature just wants to be loved and cherished.

Craft + Tech =

Craft + Tech= http://www.creativetechs.com/tips/quicktips_73.html

Cut paste and fold your own Apple accessory....

Political Humor for Your Ipod

Looking for a little fun political humor to grace your MP3 player? Check out the Capitol Steps http://www.capsteps.com/


PS: Awesome Card Generator at http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/

Best use of an appliance to create a web site

All these years I have been using my appliances to cook on or store food, when I could have been using them to create amazing web sites....
http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

Everything but the pink flamingos

There is something so amazing about the act of planting. Perhaps it is one of the few chances we have, to give something back to the earth…

Last weekend, I started a vegetable garden; a small part of my larger Peace Garden. I prefer to grow edibles in containers and raised beds, but I will also be using edibles as ornamentals in the front yard. The raised beds will contain a rotating crop of beets, kale, chard, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, carrots, garlic and edamame.

The metal containers are from the local chain hardware store and they are excellent at reflecting light and keeping the soil hot. They will be home for raspberries and strawberries. I am still scouting locations for my tomatoes. Not completely sure which part of the yard gets the longest amount of sun.

I am most excited about the front yard. The color scheme is hot pink, orange and chartreuse. In addition to euphorbia, roses, bamboo, New Zealand flax, Green Envy zinnia, pampas grass, Heuchera, honeysuckle and this really cool shrub with pink tinged leaves, I am also using rhubarb, Swiss chard, runner beans and lettuce.

Am I going a little overboard..? Most definitely…but how often does one get their spouse to agree to a hot pink, orange and chartreuse front yard.

Something Alarming is Happening to Me....

You know how they say big changes start small and then one day you wake up and you are different…? I am afraid it might be true.

So today…

• I started my morning with a flax seed, strawberry yogurt shake
• ate an energy bar before happily tackling my lunch time training session
• did 30 minutes on the treadmill even though I had forgot my IPod and there were no good magazines
• thanked my trainer for a great workout instead of calling her a sadist under my breath
• selected my sandwich at lunch based on the calorie and carbohydrate count
• went to Starbucks and left not with my favorite Frappuccino with extra whip, but with a Venti Passion Fruit Ice Tea without sugar (just a little Splenda)
• worried on the drive back to office that Splenda might be the devil
• left work on time to go to PCC (local food coop)… at the market, I
• Selected organic strawberries over the perfectly good on sale strawberries from Venzuubekpakistan or wherever…
• purchased 9 pounds of organic sweet potatoes for the homemade dog food I make for our dog (he’s allergic to gluten)
• Bought organic fair trade light brown sugar, because “if I am going to eat sugar it is going to be the best!”
• Came home and cooked a vegetarian Mexican casserole with brown rice, sweet potatoes (not just for puppy), corn, salsa, guacamole, organic black beans and cheese… (super amazing and like a million servings of vegetables in every bite)
• enjoyed the meal even though it had no meat or corn syrup
• finished cooking for the night, by making organic blueberry muffin loafs with (the really good fair trade organic sugar) yogurt and assorted healthy stuff

WHO IS THIS PERSON?????

Exercise, organic healthy food… If it weren’t for the fact that I also had an Easter Peep and diet coke I would swear I had been replaced by some pod person…

On the good side in the six weeks I have been exercising, even thought I have only lost 2 pounds, I HAVE reduced the indicator levels for my blood sugar, lowered my blood pressure to normal and can do 30 minute of cardio without puking… Plus I am totally eating better and actually like some of the exercise stuff…

Big changes start small…