C’est la Vie Garden

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That there to the right? Yeah, that’s my weather. Thankfully we live at the top of a very large hill, so we’re not going to get flooded out. (if the river ever rose that high, we’d have a lot more to deal with than our house flooding, like zombies or something)

This makes for crappy difficult gardening. During two recent dry spells I’ve managed to get both gardens in. Kinda.

My home bed was first. I tilled under the foot-high weeds that have been in their glory with all this rain (think insta-humus). The next day my little helper and I put in 20 tomato plants and seeded the beets and carrots. Maybe two hours total over two days, and done! (He was so fricken cute, BTW – he was separating tomato cages and throwing them in the garden for me! And he weeded one edge, including five tulips, lol)

Then, there’s the community garden plot. This, I’ve decided, is my C’est la Vie garden.

Full of our county’s trademark clay, my 20’x20’ plot has been under water for most of the spring, and when it does dry out it is rock hard. It had a layer of straw covering it which kept the weeds out (the only good point). A few weeks ago I dug trenches in the mud every four feet, leaving me with four 4’x20’ relatively dry rows. Wednesday it was hot and dry – no transplants that day, the trowel wouldn’t stand a chance. I spread two bales of hay over three of the rows, and spread three wheelbarrows of compost on top. (That’s not a lot of compost, but when the pile is 75 feet away and all you have is a shovel and a wheelbarrow, you do what you can.) At that point I was sooo done for the day, but I had to get those seeds in.

As I watched the neighbor rototill his garden and envied his fluffy soil (the community garden opted against rototilling this year, grumble grumble), I looked at my carefully drawn out plan, and said, “screw it.” (or something along those lines, probably involving expletives as I wiped drips of sweat out of my eyes) I sprinkled the entire contents of all my seed packets in the approximate areas outlined on my plan, ruffled the compost with my hands to get the seeds more or less covered, and called it a day. Once my transplants are big enough to stand the elements I’ll bring them over for row four.

I’ve decided that this garden is going to have to mostly fend for itself. The seeds are in so late in the season (as are everyone else’s) that many likely won’t even sprout. My potatoes, which are supposed to be hard to kill, only sprouted 6 out of 40 starts. But with the hundreds of seeds I scattered, if I get a 10% growth rate from my seeds I should be ok. Not great, but no one can expect great with weather like this. (except for my grandmother, she can grow anything anywhere in any weather)

My c’est la vie garden = scatter pattern plantings and a shrug attitude.

How’s your gardening going?

Frugal Luxuries: Cloth Napkins

I NEED this tablecloth!

Who out there owns cloth napkins? Raise your hands please. (pretend I can see you, and for those of you who are super paranoid, I do see you)

Those of you that own cloth napkins, good for you. Now answer me this: Do you use your cloth napkins?

Uh huh. That’s what I thought. Not many of you have your hands raised on that second question. (I’m looking at you, paranoid person. Really. You might want to double check your monitor.)

I have a set of gorgeous napkins by Vera Neumann that I got at an antique store. I LOVE HER DESIGNS. Wait, I need to say that again, this time in bold. I LOVE VERA’S DESIGNS. There, that’s better.

I love those napkins so much that I was afraid to use them because I knew they’d get stained, ripped, the edging would fall off, etc, and I didn’t want to ruin them. So they sat in my linen drawer for years. That’s just sad, folks.

So, I broke them free of their drawer and started using them. Yes, they’re a little frayed around the edges. But, you know what? I enjoy them so much more when I use them than when they’re stored safely away. If I can do it, you can too. Free those napkins, let them see daylight and food! (though you may want to avoid rib night)

Besides the obvious uses – wiping your fingers and mouth (and shirt front) while eating – there are other ways that you can use your napkins. Is your sandwich or snack not too drippy? Use a napkin instead of a sandwich baggie for lunches. I’ve seriously cut down on my sandwich bag use since I thought of that bright idea. Ideally, I’d like to make some reusable fabric baggies, but for now a few folds of a cloth napkin and the occasional rubber band do the trick.

I also use them at work - a cloth napkin wrapped around my utensils and stuffed in a cup looks relatively attractive on my shelf. I've had coworkers compliment me on my Vera napkins. (If only they saw my placemats and pillowcases!)

The benefits of using cloth napkins instead of paper? Well, let’s see. They’re reusable, and don’t take up much room in the washing machine. You can get them used, giving them a longer life and most likely keeping them from a landfill. I’d like to say they use less resources to make, but that could be argued. They’re pretty. They don’t fall apart and get little white paper bits all over your hands and face during especially messy meals. You can wet one down, wipe off a baby’s face (or your own), rinse and repeat.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money either – do you have a fabric stash? Break it out and make some napkins. If you don’t want to do tiny little hems around the edges, use pinking shears and/or do a zigzag stitch around the edge. If you have a serger, you’re golden (and you’re my current envy).

Antique stores and yard sales are other good sources, especially for everyday napkins that you don’t mind being stained. Ebay in particular is good if you’re like me and looking for a specific designer. (Have I told you how much I love Vera? Oh, I did mention it? Well, I just want to make sure I’m being thorough.) As with any fabric purchase, make sure to wash it, and I recommend using vinegar in the bleach rinse.

How do you use your cloth napkins?

Book Review: The Penny Pinchers Club

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Book Review: The Penny Pinchers Club

By Sarah Strohmeyer 

So normally I wouldn’t post a review of a fiction book – but this one has an interesting premise. The main character, Kat, is a spender. A super-spender, sending her into super-debt. Then she joins the Penny Pinchers Club, a local group of people who have monetary goals that they try to achieve by spending less.

Overall, it’s chicklit. If you don’t like chicklit, don’t bother. But if you do there are a few good tips in there if you look for them. There’s the obvious: Stop buying all of your coffee at Starbucks. Then the not-so-obvious: Unplug your electronics when you’re not using them. That little reminder in that book actually spurred me to plug all of hubby’s game devices into a power strip and turn off the strip. Interestingly, he hasn’t used the Playstation since then…

It’s a light, quick read, good for sitting outside and watching the kids play. Or, in my case, sitting inside and watching the kid play since it rained so much the last few months. (Knock on wood – it’s been a few days without rain! It’s like summer actually decided to show up!)

Have you read anything interesting lately?

Dentist Appt

Ugh - dentist appointment today to replace two fillings. No matter how good looking my dentist is, or how soft a touch he has, that much drilling sucks. See you tomorrow.

A Letter From Myself in 2009

carefree college days (I'm a dinosaur in this one)

I wrote this letter to myself in 2009 at the start of the recession.

Had someone told me five years ago that I'd be married, living with my parents and working in an entry-level job at the age of 26, I would have laughed. Not about the married part, but the rest would have sounded pretty ridiculous.

I graduated from a very good Boston area business college in 2004 with a BS in Information Design and Corporate Communication, concentrating in public relations and marketing. I worked through college so I already had a nice resume, lots of computer skills, excellent references, and that fancy degree.

That fall my boyfriend of three years and I moved to San Diego where life and my career was moving along - by 2006 I was working in the pharmaceutical industry as a senior admin with an eye on junior management marketing positions. Then the company hit a bad patch, sold all but one of its assets, and laid off over 75% of its employees. I moved to the architectural industry, got a significant raise and work in marketing, and got laid off due to the economy. Back to pharmaceuticals with a management level promotion in sight, and then - surprise surprise - company wide layoffs. That was at the end of 2007.

Very qualified people that I'd worked with were struggling to get interviews, as I was, and the job offers for them were few and far between. I got no offers and resorted to temp work. The whole county was suffering - people were being laid off all over the place, companies were closing, and people were losing their homes. The news was talking about a possible recession on the horizon, but we were already seeing it up close and personal.

That same boyfriend and I got married in the courthouse while it poured rain outside, which I counted as a good omen in the desert of San Diego county. That was a bright spot amidst the depressing job situation, and I was able to sign up for his health insurance plan.

A few months into 2008 we decided to move back to Vermont where we would have the support of our families and the cost of living was lower. We both got steady jobs after about three months of searching, though I took a 40% cut in pay and accepted an entry level position. It was hard to swallow my pride and accept the job offer, but the job market was and still is stagnant, the company is secure, and it is unlikely that my position will be terminated.

We moved in with my parents to save for a down payment - which to be honest wasn't as much of a nightmare as I was expecting, they have been great housemates and landlords. We have yet to make an offer on a house as most of the homes in our area are listed at their inflated appraisal prices from 2007, or even more. Even our real estate agent is impressed with how much people are asking for houses. One we looked at was easily $30,000 overpriced - it was appraised three years ago for $20,000 less than the current asking price. We're so frustrated with the inflexibility of sellers that we're considering renting for a year and trying again. Though we hate to lose out on the low interest rate and tax break, it's not worth paying more than a house is worth like so many other people did in the last ten years.

Overall, though the recession seems to have handed me a big "Return to Start," sign and I was pretty angry, I've come to terms with how it's affected my life. It was a big wakeup call for me - my career was surging ahead, but it was also very stressful and kept me up at night; I took a huge cut in pay, but I enjoy the industry that I'm in now, I'm no longer working in "cubicle land," and I enjoy my coworkers; I'm living with my parents, but our relationship is better than it ever was; and, well, there's no downside to marrying my sweetheart. He's still angry about the economy, as many people are, but that's his story to tell.

We now have a house and a child, and I'm making a bit more money, though not nearly what I did in 2007. I consider myself one of the lucky ones, the recession has been so much harder for others - family and friends included. If you had written yourself a letter in 2009, what would it have said? If you wrote yourself a letter now, what would it say?

Demo in the Yard

It's amazing what you can get done in less than one weekend! I hired a little muscle (a young man who I used to babysit once upon a time) and we hauled it big time.

Before - Note the drunken fence (leaning heavily and rotting away), and the dock leading to the pool hole (we had the above-ground pool removed as part of the purchase agreement):

ignore the blue-ness

Here's another view of the dock:

No more dock!

The fence went also:

the pool hole has gotten a little overgrown...

All of this area was fenced in to house the propane tanks, which have since been moved:

This is just the beginning...

Gardener’s Friend – Copper Nail Polish

someone else's fingernails

Contrary to what you might think, given the natural living, gardening, clean your face with oil from your kitchen, blah blah tone of this blog – I like makeup and looking pretty. (most of the time that is, unlike this weekend when I totally wore a spring green top and sage green pants and didn’t give a hoot)

I try to wear “safe” makeup and such according to the cosmetic database. But I’m totally as sucker for polishing my toenails. I LOVE toenail polish.

My fingernails on the other hand (har har, other hand) don’t get polished regularly. With all of the abuse that I put my hands through, there’s no way that polish stays pretty, especially during gardening season. After a few hours in the garden my nails and any polish are stained all sorts of interesting shades of brown. Soap only goes so far, and frankly as long as the grit is gone I’m going to stop scrubbing.

This is where the copper nail polish comes in. It’s one of the cheaper brands (read, thinned down), but that works great for me. The light sheen of copper covers up and blends in the stains, and I can put on another coat to cover chips without having that weird spotted effect.

Since copper was a hot color this last fall/winter – I got the polish in the dollar days bin at the drug store for 40 cents. SCORE.

I suppose I could wear gardening gloves, and I do sometimes, but that takes part of the fun out of it. I mean really, it’s mostly about playing in the dirt, right?