As promised

I am embroidering this thing. Slowly, as I’m seldom in a mood devoid-of-hate-towards-it-enough to work on it.

She is so perfect. And she looks absolutely nothing like me.

Last month I was driving to school, and this mascot for some local sports team was riding a motorcycle. No big deal.

Little-little (one of her many nicknames) in the newsroom.

And at home. She’s working on her dissertation, so she needs to chew on a lot of pencils. Also, I love that dress.

Kitty kitty kitty. Sometimes Grady almost says “meow;” I’m pretty sure it will be her first word. Except she says it like Winston, and Winston’s meow is more of a nasal “mrrrrrrrrrrrow.”

Seriously. This kid.

Yum, pants! Don’t worry – they’re clean. Also, my apartment is a mess.

Speaking of pants, Grady tries to put almost everything she picks up on her head. And sometimes she succeeds. Too lazy to change the orientation of these shots.

Reading, while wearing a knitted dress! She makes me so happy. Caitlin knitted this dress for Grady for her birthday – and we love it. Caitlin, I’ll get around to editing and sending these pictures to you soon.

remember, remember, remember

via.

I really, really, really love my daughter.

I’ll share pictures tomorrow, I promise.

Image by ecatoncheires via Flickr

Sorry blog. I’m working on coming back to you. The work goes slowly.

Symptoms: lethargy, poor vocabulary, occasional paralysis, occasional mania

The amazing (and great to work with, if you’re looking for a photographer) Randyl Neilson took portraits of several staff members of the UVU Review for an upcoming orientation issue, and I love the photos he took of me and Grady so much, I had to post them here. You can find him on facebook, too.

Obviously an outtake, but I still like it. I’m so happy I had my favorite yarns with me.

The book is James Baldwin‘s Another Country, which I’m reading for a second time. It’s fantastic the second time through.

Oh, I love her smile. She’s such a great 9-month-old.

I’m incredibly awkward in front of a camera – Randyl did a great job with the nervous unweildy poses.

I love this one. If I ever write a mega-pretentious femininist-mysticism-conspiracy-theory book, this will be on the jacket. Or a book about yarn. That’s probably more realistic.

Note: Bubbles taste bad, and they feel weird in your lungs and they make your eyes very … not sad or in pain, just confused.

And a bottle of beer. Sorry mom! (By mom I mean mom/Jennie/Dani.)

On another note, today sucks. Yesterday sucked. Two nights ago sucked. I probably won’t blog about it, because I’d be embarrassed. But will I embroider about it? Of course I will.

The plants will probably start a revolution before I get home.

I like it when other bloggers blather endlessly about their gardens, and I’m using that as an excuse to do the same.

First and foremost, let’s talk about this extremely phallic plant. It is a weed that grew from between the brick pavement outside the barn. It is over eight feet tall. And I just kind of dig it. Those leaves have got to be useful for something. Like stitching together to make a quilt? Probably not.

I am out of town right now, and the first batch of beans and peas were the only rows I was able to weed before leaving. And as you can see, my version of “weeding” is just about eliminating the major threats and letting the little ones live. Until they get big. My garden is so full of weeds – I’ve given up on planting anything more this year, really. Anyway, my beans and peas are doing really well, despite the nibblings of my local squirrell pack.

See what I mean? This picture just makes me shudder. I was busy at work for one week (just one week!) and the weeds just engulfed everything. My peppers, spinach, and 2nd batch of beans are still doing well. In fact I think the weeds have protected them from getting eaten by the local rodents. But still – this is just ridiculous. This succulent-y looking weed is called … I don’t remember. Something that starts with an “S.” It’s nickname is “Mormon Cabbage,” and apparently it can be eaten. But even if it tasted like a cherry Slushie I wouldn’t eat it, because it is just such a bastard. Hate this weed. Hate it hate it hate it. (However, weeding as an activity is pretty fun, I think.)

I’ve covered almost all of the unused space in the back garden with tarps and/or plywood, to suffocate the weeds. These tomatillos were one of the first things I planted, and they’re going nuts. Which is great, because salsa is the only thing I know how to make with a tomatillo. We’re going to have a lot of salsa. If you want any of these pretty little vegetables, let me know. They are yours.

Yellow zucchini! Man, plants are just so cool. Yay science. These are going to be so tasty in a pasta or stir-fry. I should have bought more of these plants.

These blackberries are going to be so tasty. I got these plants from my neighbors, so I know they do well in my area. They’re just taking their sweet time to adjust to being transplanted. Around here, blackberries are weed-like in their ability to spread, so I’m hoping these cinder-block planters will keep them under control. Even though I can’t imagine myself complaining of having too many blackberry plants.

We have a side bed where a few fruit trees (cherry, pear, peach … and maybe another? I don’t remember) grow, and the floor of the bed is filled with these beautiful flowers. I don’t know what they’re called (do you?), but I adore them. The color is perfect. I love perennials – even if a perennial is not as pretty as an annual, I just have more respect for it.

My upside-down pepper plants seem to be growing so slow. Probably because I occasionally forget to water them. These are from a sweet pepper mix – I’m really excited to see what color peppers I get. Fingers crossed for dark purple.

Now on to the front yard, where the plants are even more strong-willed than those in back. The plot directly in front of my house is completely filled with overgrown roses, chamomile, pineapple mint, and weeds. It’s a jungle.

And here we have possibly my favorite flowering plant on the property, clary sage. It’s just such an odd bird.

Are you gardening? What are you planting? I genuinely want to know.

Curious Tuesday, volume 5

I recently got some new toys for Winston, which he has never once played with. But Grady loves them, obviously. She crawled around with this little yarn mouse in dangling from her mouth for like ten minutes. Anyway, now for your favorite part of the week, I’m sure: Curious Tuesday! Woo. This one is kind of lackluster.

1. Where do you find inspiration?
Well, I’m not sure I ever have found inspiration, if we’re going to get technical. But I guess the internet is where I find what’s closest to it. Or books. Or people. I’m failing at this question.
2. Have you got any hobbies or interests you’ve let lapse & wish you would take up again?
Nope. I’ve been able to maintain most of my hobbies. Ask me again in a year, though, and I’m sure my answer will be very different.
3. One tea party. Ten invitations. Who do you invite?
Eleven people? At a party drinking tea? First of all I would dis-invite myself, and then maybe hide under the table and just listen. I’d like to invite ten people who worked at the same company or had the same interests; that’s when a conversation is most engaging.
4. Who was your favorite teacher at school & why?
I never really thought to connect with my teachers, unfortunately. But I think Mrs. Hadley who taught 9th grade English was my favorite.
5. Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship?
Nope. I’ve ended a relationship because I didn’t want it to be long-distance.

Also, look who can climb up stairs all by herself. Yeah. Horrifying.

Thrift haul: Inexplicably cheap

I’m actually pretty proud of this thrift store haul. All of this stuff came in at just under $30. The American Fork DI is quickly ousting Saver’s from the coveted Mel’s-favorite-thrift-store throne.

Plaid skirt with pockets for me, Grey knitted vest for me, white tiered miniskirt for me, plaid wool dress for Grady, and a cotton brown H&M dress for Grady.

A bunch of dresses for Grady.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann; Peace Pilgrim (!! This lady is one of my favorite Christians. I have a bunch of copies of this book – if you’d like one please let me know. A few of her ideas have completely permeated my life.); Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (2nd copy); Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (my favorite book by my favorite author); Jean Anouilh’s Antigone (This is my favorite play, but I’ve never been able to finish reading it. I have such a strong reaction to it that I just can’t bear to continue reading. Someday I’ll finish it and then I’ll probably die.); Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora neale Hurston, The Transparent Self by Sidney M. Jourard (I’ve never heard about it, but apparently it’s about the transition from a closed private life to one of complete disclosure – of course that sounds really interesting to me.); The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck; and Great Illustrated Classics’ version of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (I’m collecting this series for Grady, because I loved it when I was a kid. If you see any copies for under $5, please buy it and give it to me and I will pay you back and give you a kiss on the cheek.)

These “thrift haul” posts seem really forced; of this I am aware. Here are my reasons behind writing them:

• I enjoy reading similar posts on other blogs.
• To keep track of my consumerism
• Because this blog is called “thrifted,” after all, and it has lost track of its original purpose.
• Because I really love books and clothes and stuff.

Edit: I forgot to mention the most important reason! To let people know that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get some great stuff. And that re-using and recycling is cool.

lalalalala

Sleeping Grady keeps waking up and trying to tell me a story. It must be such an important story! She is trying so hard!

Review: The Complete Compost Gardening Guide

See it here on Amazon.

I’m copying Jennie and writing a book review. You should go read her review of Chuck Klostermann’s Eating the Dinosaur. But instead of just listing my recent reads in the side column, maybe I’ll post reviews. Or maybe I just need to type something tonight. Anyway, here is my review of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide by Barbara Pleasant and Debora L. Martin.

This is the only compost book I have ever read. And it is probably the only compost book I will read for many many years. So this comes with no contenders to compare this book with. But it’s like your first kiss – you know whether you liked it or not even though you have no other kisses to compare it with.

The point is: I liked this book. So much. You can tell that the two lovely ladies who wrote it genuinely love home gardening and the earth and dirt and plants and tools and manual labor and earning the rewards of a garden. It was informative and entertaining, and it covered techniques that I had never thought of.

It also touched on the science of compost, which I think is so important – I can’t tackle anything like this without knowing the “why,” or my brain explodes. Not literally.

The book also eliminates the intimidation factor of compost. No project has ever failed, there are simple steps to aid decomposition, and everything your yard produces can be given back to the earth. It’s given me a sense of confidence that I’m pretty happy with.

And now for a few pictures of places in my yard that have benefitted from this book:

I converted an old patch of ugly irises and lilies that was close to my back door into a tomato/marigold patch. After excavating the old plants, I was worried that the dense soil couldn’t support healthy vegetables, so we dug it all out, and replaced it with a soil-compost-sand (5-2-1) mixture, because we had some cured compost and couldn’t think of a better way to use it. And now, this soil is amazing. These tomatoes are going to be fabulous. I planted marigolds in the same patch because, like basil, they deterr common tomato pests.

This is one of six old beds on the shady west side of my house. I neglected them last year, and they became really overgrown with weeds. All but one of them have been cleared out, and I thought this one would be a good place for a Banner Batch of compost. This particular bed was ridden with worms, even more than the rest of them. It is in a shady corner, distant from my house and any neighbor’s homes – so no one would mind the smell. For this batch I used a recipe in the book that called for kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and shredded newspaper. I’m turning it for the first time tonight.

This old CompostTumbler was handed down to us from my grandpa, and it hasn’t been used in years. Everyone who has used it thought they failed in making compost, but this book has made me pretty confident I can make it work. The mixture I have in the tumbler right now is looking pretty good.

This is where the old irises and lilies went – see that bloom? The stubborn plants are blooming from this cart. Kind of cool. But anyway, soon they will be shredded and left in a pile until next spring, leaching their tannins and preparing to decompose.