karismar

• Here is a preliminary seed order list for the garden this year. This list is willy nilly and pulled directly from what I want in the catalogs, no fancy organization yet. From the sizeable list that I’ve generated more raised beds are a must. This doesn’t even include all of my herbs, present and new!
• Nichols Garden Fine Seeds                                    Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• asparagus                                                         bulls blood beets
• Oregon 54 bush beans                                         brussel sprouts
• romano pole beans                                              celeriac-giant prague
• mesculun lettuce mix- spring and fall plantings          lemon cuke
• lollo rooso salad-summer plantings                          Boston pickling cuke
• Tuscan Kale                                                       ping tung eggplant
• anaheim peppers                                                 fennel
• aci sivu peppers                                                  giant musselburgh leeks
• fat n sassy sweet pepper                                      red florence onion
• rutabagas                                                           yellow of parma onion
• seneca zucchini                                                   bianci di maggio
• rhubarb                                                              parsnip
•                                                                         sugar snap peas
•                                                                         red marconi peppers
•                                                                         razzle spinach
•                                                                         correnta spinach
•                                                                          yokohama winter squash
•                                                                          delicata squash
•                                                                          butternut squash
•                                                                          rouge vif d’ etemes
•                                                                          connecticut field
•                                                                          marina di chroggio
•                                                                          fordhook giant chard
•                                                                          riesentrause-cherry tomato
•                                                                          crimson cushion
•                                                                          royal chico-roma style tomato
•                                                                          Dr Carolyn yellow cherry
•                                                                          Carolina ruby sweet potato
   

word just came that a close friend of my son’s was in a horrific accident. Seems he was racing upwards of 140mph by the lake and crashed. He was not wearing a seatbelt. His brain is swelling, is in a drug induced coma, speech and motor skills brain damaged, all facial bones broken, broken back, shattered foot, both hands broken, sliced liver, road rash over entire body. The other friend, the passenger, was seat-belted and was released from the hospital…minor injuries. In one second life is changed. I realize he was foolish to not wear a seatbelt but 19 is just too young to have your life ruined. This is just fucked up. This is when life makes no sense.

The weather here is crazy. Current temps have been in the 50’s, a far cry from the 20’s we had earlier this month.  My trees and bulbs are very confused. Buds were forming due to the warm weather early on and then were hit with a short term of winter. Now it’s warm again!  My neighbor has crocus’ about 4 inches above the ground already!  unreal….. I’ve talked about wanting a 4 season garden and figured I’d start that this summer but the other day my friend said why not start it now? Get the seeds ordered and get in an early planting of peas, spinach and the like. Ok I thought. I can do that. So this week I am dedicating to planning the spring garden and continuing to work on my felted bags. Oh, and of course taking care of 10 ever growing puppies!!! They are just beginning to open their eyes so I’ll snap a few pictures once they’re all open. Tell me your plans for spring….any gardeners out there?

A few months ago I wrote about my sudden problem with GERD…how I’d never had any problems and then boom it hit. After much research I’ve learned that many GERD sufferers have had large or continuous usage of ibuprofen. That was when the light went on for me. I had a very severe bone infection in my foot in 2002 and nearly lost my life. Then as I was being taken in for my first of 3 surgeries, was told they’d be amputating my foot. Miraculously, I came out with my foot! During all of that and the months and years to follow, I used Advil a lot. It would take 4 tablets at a time to make a dent in the pain.  I fought very, very hard  to regain my once healthy self from all of that but, as life happens sometimes I regress and stop taking good care of myself. Not for any particular reason, it just happens. So, I’m on the path once again to wellness. I found a natural cure for gerd and I swear by it now. 2Tapplecidervinegar with 1/4-1tsp(start slow and work up)baking soda 3X daily. I tell you, it works!  Yesterday I was in the pharmacy waiting on a prescription lotion for my son’s acne(must try and find a natural remedy for that but 16yrold guys are less than willing participants)and heard this woman behind me say ever since she has taken the vinegar she is finding ailments leaving her. I turned to her and apologized for eavesdropping but wanted to talk to her about the vinegar and how I’d recently discovered it. She then began to tell me about ear candling and the many benefits it holds. How she used to having ringing in the ears and vertigo(dizziness) but they are both gone. I’ve had both of those that come and go so I am very motivated to try it. She also told me about a patch she buys at the same shop downtown as the ear candles, called detoxit. You stick them on the bottom of your feet and they pull out the toxins in your body. She said hers started out black but now it’s down to a light brown, all from the toxins. ick! but imagine that staying in us. Well, now I’m off to the shop downtown that sells the ear candles and the detox patches.  I’d love to hear from any of you who have tried the ear candling and/or detox patches.

It dipped down into the 20’s today(Steph is in subzero temps today so I’m sure this sounds mighty warm to her about now!) and my only desire is to knit and drink coffee and tea all day. I had a terrible sleep night last night due to puppies and their mama and when I stumbled out of bed to the kitchen this morning, imagine my horror when I realized I was OUT OF COFFEE!!!  Fortunately it was still very dark(easier not to be spotted looking like a horror movie) so I threw on some clothes and a hat and drove down to the local coffee shop for more beans. Back home and in for the day. There is plenty to do and I doubt I’ll get my choice of knitting all day. The puppy bed needs changed, washed and dried. The mama goes out to pee every 20minutes and always drags in an insane amount of dirt so I’ll be trailing her all day. If it isn’t swept up right away it just goes everywhere on the wood floors.

Our dear, kind neighbors are moving out of the country in 4 days so I’m having a dinner for them tomorrow, just 6or7 people. Today is a good day to stay in and clean up for them as well. I’m cooking a tip roast, rare with a horseradish sauce on the side, an augratin dish, raspberry vinegrette green salad and toasted bread w/olive oil. Wine will be plentiful! 

my therapist says that my conservative, evangelical christian upbringing was the equivalent to brainwashing me. I so agree with her. I am highly disappointed that I scored this well on the bible trivia test I plucked from Steph. Some things I have forgotten but OBVIOUSLY I have not escaped all of it. Thank the goddesses for therapy!  and as you can see I still have not mastered coding!  sorry…….

today’s temperatures will be in the high 50’s! Imagine that in January! A far cry from the 20’s we had the past few weeks. Feeling the sun warm my face against the window makes me dream of my garden. I am determined, more than ever, to grow enough produce to take us through the winter. I desperately want a 4season garden, one with a few cold frames. I want to believe that if I commit some time to research and planning, I can make this happen. A trip to the re-build it center in Portland is in the near future, hopefully to find some large windows I can use as tops to the cold frames. They also  usually have a good supply of used bricks which I could use some more of for the gardens.  I’ll also be hitting freecycle as the months warm for garding supplies…..I could use some soaker hoses, a wheel barrow and some rain barrels.

As I’ve been working on my felted bags it’s been apparent that I need a class on graph design calculations. There are many designs I want to do but am a little stumped when it comes to charting them out on graph paper….BUT I found this website last night and it is a gold nugget of information. So, for any knitters out there, give this a look.

www.explaiknit.typepad.com

in the local paper this morning was a full page notice from the society of humane treatment of animals thanking the local burger restaurant chain for saying they would only be buying eggs from free range chicken farmers. This company also only buys meat from a rancher who does not treat his cattle with antibiotics or hormones. I say WELL DONE!! It’s nice to have this restaurant here when the craving for a burger hits. No worries on what we’re eating when we bite into their food. Although, I rarely have the burgers…..I’m more of a gardenburger gal and they serve THE best gardenburgers with their special sauce. YUM!