Haiku Friday

I am truly the
Luckiest employee, to
look out and see this:

(I really am the luckiest woman in the world, Readers, to be treated to this view every day!)

Moon Cosmic Snowflake! Make Up!

Readers (and fellow Moonies), if you really want to get into the nerd spirit of this snowflake, please play the music linked below. And feel free to sing along!

Readers, one of my favorite guilty pleasure TV shows has been digitally restored and put on Hulu.

While I don't count myself among the "Moonies", I will say that I have a very soft spot in my heart for Sailor Moon.

Growing up, I would joyfully set myself in front of the TV if I was lucky enough to catch the show before heading out for school (the show aired at 6:30 am where we were living), and partake in whatever fabulousness Serena (aka Usagi in the Japanese version) and her friends were up to. This was a rare treat, though; my mother wasn't exactly a fan of the show, so the channel would get routinely get changed to the morning news. She'd tolerate the show on a few rare occasions, but she'd never miss a chance to remind us that "this cartoon is the dumbest thing I've ever seen!"

Usagi, you are (and always will be!) my main animated girl, but my parents were right. You were dumb as hell. We still love you though! Image found here: http://sailormoon.wikia.com/wiki/Sailor_Moon_Wiki

Well, yes. Yes, it is dumb. Sailor Moon (at least the American version) is probably one of the dumbest shows ever put on television. But I love it anyway. It fills me full of nostalgic feels.

So, Sailor Moon wasn't a show that I got to watch all that often, along with Muppet Babies, Ren and Stimpy, Sonic the Hedgehog, Captain Planet; any show that annoyed either of my parents was generally avoided at our house. And if any of us whined enough to be allowed a temporary viewing, both of my parents would take every possible opportunity to remind us WHY they thought the show was beneath our family's dignity.

In Sailor Moon's case, my parents weren't necessarily bothered by the concept or characters (although my Dad would point out on more than one occasion that he thought Serena's Sailor Senshi outfit was stupid: "It doesn't even hide her face! It's not like she's hiding her identity! What kind of superhero is this?!"), more than anything else, it was the voice acting that set them over the edge.

Before any of you ask, yes, I'm talking about Cloverway's terrible English dub.

Anyways, my latest crochet snowflake is based around my favorite guilty-pleasure cartoon! The larger spokes are loosely based off of Usagi's Cosmic Heart Compact (I put more hearts on it), and the crescent moons are based off of her Moon Stick. To the Moonies reading this: I am well aware that Usagi never used the Moon Stick and the Cosmic Heart Compact at the same time. I just thought they looked nice together :-)  I hope you guys enjoy, Readers!

"Moon Cosmic Snowflake"

Materials: Size 10 crochet threat
Hook: 1.5 mm
12 smallish glass beads (optional)
white sewing thread (optional)
sewing needle (optional)

Special stitches: Crescent Moon
Ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in next 2 ch. Sc in next 2 ch. Ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and in next 2 ch. Sc in next 2 ch and in next sc. Sl st in base of "moon".

Ch 7, form ring. 

Rd 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc) 17 dc in ring. Join w/ slip stitch to first dc. 

Rd 2: *Ch 11, work 2 dc cluster in 3rd ch from hook. Ch 3, sl st in same ch as 2 dc cluster. Ch 16, sl st in same ch as 2dc cluster to form ring. In ring, work 3sc, 2hdc, 2dc, 4tr, dc, hdc, sc. Ch 6, dc in 3rd ch from hook and in next 2 ch. Ch 3, sl st in 2nd ch from hook. (ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch from hook) twice. sl st in first ch of previous ch 3 and in top of last dc worked. Ch 4, dc in 3rd ch from hook and in next ch. Ch in top of 3rd dc of 1st dc group made. 1 sl st in same ch as 3rd dc of first dc group and in next ch. In ring, work sc, hdc, dc, 4tr, 2dc, 2hdc, 3sc. Sl st in same ch as previous 2dc cluster. Ch 8, sk 2 dc, sc in next dc. Ch 8, work 2dc cluster in 3rd ch from hook. Work Crescent Moon. Ch 3, sl st in same ch as previous 2dc cluster. ch 5, sc in same st as previous sc, repeat from * around. join with sl st. 

If using beads, sew the beads in the middle of the crescent moons, and in the middle of the heart spokes. Starch using 6-point star. Stiffen using any method you like!

Crocheters, you know the drill! You can do whatever your hearts desire with the snowflakes you make from this pattern, but as for the pattern itself: Please don't change it, please don't sell it, but feel free to share it all you like!

Haiku Friday

Arrogance is the
plastic badge holder swinging,
besmirched coffee lid

Betrays the sharp dressed
hipster typing on his Mac
as the bus rumbles.

Child, your latte cost
twice what the man in grey is
asking you to pay.

Child, if you could buy
your double shot extra foam
Vanilla latte,

Then you could afford
Two dollars and fifty cents
fare to ride the bus.

(Pay your bus fares, people).

New snowflake coming soon!

A good evening to you all, my dear readers!

I'm putting the finishing touches on a new snowflake that I am VERY excited about.

Plus, I'm going to preemptively put out an uber Nerd Alert.

The flake itself is about halfway there (and it's probably one of the most convoluted snowflakes I've ever designed...so much for my mantra of "less is more"!), and should probably be ready to show in a week or so. But, here's a little hint of what you can expect:

Until next time!

Haiku Friday: It was the salmon mousse.

That's disappointing.
Well, off to the afterlife.
Shall we take the car?

(Readers, this is my favorite bit from Monty Python's Meaning of Life. The casual and nonchalant way these characters react to their demise cracks me up every time. Happy Halloween!)

What I've been up to: Autumn edition!

Hi Readers!

It's been a while since my last blog update, so I thought it would be a good idea to let you all know what I've been doing for the past month:

First, I finally finished up and blocked this sweater...

 Pattern found here, btw: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sweetheart-sweater-5

...and I have to say that I am delighted with how it came out! The yarn is a mite bit itchy, though, so if I were to knit this again I'd use something different.

But my word. I love this sweater. I wore it for two days in a row after it was completely finished.

I've also been working on building up Lace Mountain 2014...

...which is considerably smaller than last year's Lace Mountain. I'm aiming to have at least thirty flakes, though.

I haven't had a chance to crochet as many snowflakes as I'd like; my inner ears are acting like divas so I can't crochet on my bus commute like I usually do. I'd make more time to crochet at home, but I've been distracted from my crochet projects because WE GOT A PET!

 Readers, meet Carl Sagan the Angry Fish, the newest member of our family!

Here he is showing off his gorgeous fins <3 He's his most impressive when he's hacked off. 

FISHY LASER BEAM POWERS ACTIVATE!

...thus named because the very first thing he did when we put him in his bowl was to attack his own reflection.

He's also known as Carl, Sagan, Fish, and Fishy (depending on our moods).

While it has been noted that there is the possibility of this little guy developing an identity crisis, Carl Sagan the Angry Fish doesn't really seem to care one way or the other about what we call him.

Because...you know...he's a fish.

It's been a lot of fun having a pet for the first time in goodness knows how long. Cats and Dogs are strictly forbidden in our rent agreement (And keeping Carl Sagan the Angry Fish is...kind of toeing the line on what exactly is allowed), so it's nice to be greeted after a long day.

Even when that greeting is coming from a homicidal Betta fish; swimming out with his gills and fins all puffed out in an attempt to destroy any and all who try to intrude on his fish bowl.

I caught a nasty head-cold last week and had to stay home from work for a couple of days. Carl isn't nearly as comforting as a furry kitty cat, but he did come out of his favorite hiding place (behind a large, flat rock) and followed my finger around the fishbowl glass.

Then he puffed his fins out and swam/crashed into the side of his bowl in an attempt to kill my finger.

He shows his affection in his own 'lil fishy way.

So anyways, that was my October, Readers! I'll try to be better about updating this blog, although it may be a little while before I have anything to report apart from Carl Sagan the Angry Fish's murder attempts.

Until next time!

A spider-y Haiku Friday

With skill in her heart,
Makes jeweled gossamer threads
Little lace master.

I love how the morning dew on spiderwebs looks. Almost like tiny diamonds. <3

Until next time, Readers!

Haiku Friday

Soft, lullaby sheep
Sweet berceuses, "Baa Baa Baa",
Have you any wool?

I finished up this sweet little sheepy sheep sweater for a friends' baby shower tomorrow, Readers!

You'd better believe that when Mr. Orb Weaver and I have our baby, I will be knitting one of these in every color.

Until next time!

Good News and Bad News

Hi, Readers!

Well, I suppose I should start with the good news.

The parasol got First Place/Best in Category!

Wooo, but why did they put ribbons on it?

The Rocket Ship Blanket and Crocus Doily didn't place, but both did get honorable mention ribbons!

I'm VERY happy with my first "enter something in the fair" experience! The hubs and I had a fantastic time all around!

Now for the bad news.

We WERE going to go to the fair again this weekend with our buddies in tow  (I asked my husband if it as okay to do one trip with it being just us; since I didn't want our friends to witness me descending into a puddle of nervous feels), but...


(This is the bad news)


I went and sprained my ankle yesterday while running to catch the bus. So walking around the largest fair in Washington State isn't going to fly.
Urg.

I was hurrying down a set of outdoor stairs (we live in a very hilly area) when I tripped over my own feet. Luckily, I was able to catch myself before I fell all the way down the stairs, but I still twisted my ankle pretty badly, and heard an audible "pop".

It hurt so bad I nearly threw up.

I called my husband, my boss, and my mother (for good measure). I sat down there on those concrete stairs and waited for my husband to come by and take me to the ER.

So after the triage, the waiting, and the X-Rays, the doctor diagnosed me with what is probably the least dignified sounding injury in existence:

A mild sprain with a bony contusion.

Heh.

So, I get to sport an ankle splint along with this fabulous thing (which I am TOTALLY going to bedazzle)

 along with a set of crutches to use "as needed".

If there is a silver lining that can go along with yesterday's adventure, it's that I'm going to have a LOT more time to knit and crochet! I'll keep you guys updated, Readers!

Until next time!

<3

Washington State Fair: Entry Etiquette

You know, Readers, one would think that by now our society would have come to a generalized consensus about acceptable standards for civilized behavior.

Especially when it comes to participating in competitive exhibit entries at the Washington State Fair.

I mean, seriously? SERIOUSLY, KNITTERS/CROCHETERS OF WASHINGTON STATE? DO I REALLY NEED TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU?

*snort*. I guess I should start from the beginning.

As my regular readers may know, I've decided to enter some of my knitting and crochet work into the Washington State Fair for the very first time. The deadline for dropping off items for judging in the Home Arts/ Textile division was last weekend, so Mr. Orb Weaver and I packed up my entries and drove down on Saturday.

Ooh! Ooh! Let me shamelessly show off my entries before I launch into my rant!

I re-did the lace parasol using a merino wool/silk blend in charcoal grey:

...and I am VERY, VERY happy with the end result! The yarn I used (Juniper Moon Farm Findley) ended up making the lace quite a bit smaller than my first go-around, but it had a lovely stretch to it; shaping the final parasol into a glorious bell when opened. The picture doesn't show it (and all of my attempts at getting a close up shot did not do the yarn justice, because my camera is terrible), but the yarn also has a lovely yet very subtle shine to it.

I had a bunch of the Findley left over, so I whipped out my lace working hooks and made a doily, which I also ended up entering:

It's nothing special, but I thought it would be worth a shot.

So, I packed these guys up along with the Spaceship baby blanket...

(which I'm posting again because I just love it so much!)

...and drove down to Puyallup on Saturday with the hubs to turn in the entries along with the paperwork.

It wasn't too busy by the time we got there, but the volunteers at the main pavilion (where they were collecting and organizing the entries) all seemed to have their hands full. The woman who helped me enter my crochet lace items looked absolutely exhausted.

She took my name, I signed the papers, and all that jazz. When I handed her the clipboard with all the t's crossed and i's dotted, she looked at me and said,

"Thank you, THANK YOU for being so nice and polite."

At first I thought nothing of the comment. I told her she was welcome, and then made my way towards the volunteers sorting the knit items.

After I was done entering the baby blanket, the volunteer from the lace area stopped me and asked if I could specify which side of my doily I wanted to be displayed, since "many participants get very upset if the doilies aren't shown correctly."

Um...I can understand feeling mildly peeved, but getting very upset?

Seriously?

For the doily I made, it really doesn't matter which side is which, so I just told her to display it however she liked.

But for other crochet pieces that incorporate cables, clusters and such, one would think that it was obvious what is right-side up. And even then, the judges inspect all of the entries BEFORE they are displayed, so in the grand scheme of things in really doesn't matter that much.

Readers, if you find yourselves getting very upset at a poor, over-worked fair volunteer because your doily is upside-down, you may need to re-examine your priorities in life.

Plus, on our way out, I witnessed some ridiculous behavior: as I left the main pavilion, I saw a woman scream at a poor security guard because the guard wasn't able to escort her to the pavilion personally.

Admittedly, I may be a bit of a Pollyanna when it comes to the culture surrounding competitive fair entries, since I've never done this before. But holy hell, knitters of Washington State, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT?

Is this a thing? Is it expected for participants to treat fair employees and volunteers in this way?

Perhaps I came in on an "off" day. I dunno.

But still, one would think that by now our society would have come to a generalized consensus about what's acceptable behavior when participating as an exhibitor at the state fair.

Anyways. Thanks for sticking with me through the above rant, Readers! Wish me luck!

Orb Weaver out!

Apis

"One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care. Such is the quality of bees."
                                                 -Leo Tolstoy

I've got a new snowflake pattern, Readers! I hope you enjoy!

"Apis" snowflake

Materials:

Size 10 crochet thread

1.65 mm crochet hook

Chain 6, form ring (or make magic circle).

Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), 11 dc in ring. Join with sl st in third ch of beginning ch 3.

Round 2: Ch 1, sc in same st. *ch 8, skip next dc, sc in next dc. Repeat from * 4 times. Ch 3, dtr in first sc to form last ch-8 sp.

Round 3: Work beginning 4-dc cluster in same sp. Ch 9, *work 4-dc cluster in next ch-8 sp, ch 9. Repeat from * around, join with sl st to beginning 4-dc cluster.

Round 4: ch 12, sl st in same sp. Ch 20, sl st in 20th ch from hook. Ch 1, 8 sc in next ch 9 sp, *Ch 21, sl st in 20th ch from hook. Sl st in next 4-dc cluster, ch 12, sl st in same 4-dc cluster. Ch 20, sl st in 20th ch from hook. Ch 1, 8 sc in next ch 9 sp. Repeat from *4 times. ch 21, sl st in 20th ch from hook. Ch 1, and sl st in first ch of beginning ch 12.

Round 5: sl st to the center of first ch 12 loop. Ch 1, sc in same loop. *Ch 10, sl st in 2nd ch from hook; hdc in next ch. ch 1, skip one ch, tr in next ch. Ch 1, sk next ch, dtr in next ch, ch 1, skip next ch, ttr in next ch. ch 1, sc in same ch 12 space. Ch 9, insert hook into 10th ch of next ch-20 space, yo and pull up a loop (2 loops on hook), insert hook into 10th ch of next ch-20 space, YO and pull up a loop, YO and draw through all three loops on hook. (Ch 6, sl st in same st just made) twice. Ch 9,  sc in next ch 12 space. Repeat from * 5 times, omitting final sc. Join with sl st to first sc. Bind off.

Pin and stiffen using whatever method you prefer:

Crocheters, you may use the flakes you make from this pattern in any way you like, but please do not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks!

Haiku Friday

A true pianist
Warms up his hands, has a snack,
And licks the keyboard.

(This video cracked me up to no end, Readers! So adorable and funny!)

Haiku Friday

Bass is great. Tenor
is Gorgeous. Alto is Fab.
ALL tones are lovely.

Readers, I love this song. I love the tune, I love the bass line, and I love the singer.

However, I am disappointed that Ms. Traior decided to use the term "skinny bitch" in her lyrics.

All women are "Real Women", Readers. All body shapes and sizes are beautiful.

SPACESHIP!

SPACESHIP!!

Hello, Readers!

Wow! This weekend was probably the most productive one I've had in a LONG time!

We had a lovely dinner out on Friday, saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (a cliched but quite entertaining film), completely finished the Starship baby afghan, AND put up six pints of homemade barbecue sauce to boot:

Readers, please forgive me for the crappy photography. My fingers were covered in sticky spicy sweet goodness and I didn't want to muck up my phone's screen

Now that Starship is all finished, I can focus my attention on lace parasol 2.0! I'll be sure to post more pictures as the parasol progresses!

Here's hoping that the blanket does well at the fair! Think Purple Ribbon thoughts for me, Readers!

Until next time <3

Haiku Friday

The Norovirus
should never be included
with my six inch sub.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/sick-subway-worker-elizabeth-taff_n_5593377.html?utm_hp_ref=business

To my Dad, who hates the Care Bears

Yikes...did he hate those bears. Image found here: http://www.mibepa.info/bb/bb009.htm

Ah, Father's Day. A day to celebrate fathers and fatherhood.

I hold countless memories of my Dad: afternoons spent fishing on Lake Julia, ridiculously long road trips, the failed experiment that was smelt spaghetti sauce (don't ask).  But, one of the most striking memories I have of him during the early years of my life was the intense white-hot loathing he had for the Care Bears.

My first memory of my father's Care Bear hatred stems from way, WAY back in the day; back when my family lived in central Wisconsin. I think I was between the ages of 4 and 5 at the time.

Before we dive deeper, Readers, some background:

I was born into a very, VERY large family. I have nine aunts and uncles on my fathers' side, and five on my mothers'. I have an army of cousins, and most of my extended family lived within a two hour drive of one other. I have to say that this was FANTASTIC growing up! I was never a lonely child, since all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were present for nearly all of our major life events.

So, when we found out that one of my older cousins was about to give birth to her first child, my parents packed us up and we drove to Rhinelander (my cousin, her parents, and my Grandparents live there) so we could be present when the baby was born. EVERYBODY on my Dad's side of the family was there!  The older family members decided that we, the younger cousins, might be a bit too overwhelming if we were to visit the hospital (plus, many of us  were too...impressionable to witness the miracle of life),  so we congregated at my Grandparents's house while we waited for the new arrival.

And it was then that my father's hatred of the Care Bears began.

A few of the older folks stayed behind in order to keep an eye on us munchkins. I think that there were around eleven of us little ones who stayed behind. My Dad was the only adult that I distinctly remember being present, along with a few of my uncles/aunts. Dad opted for phone duty; staying awake by my Grandmother's phone (this was before cell phones were a thing), waiting for news.

He was waiting by that phone from the time we arrived there (around eight in the evening), to the time we were put to bed in one of Grandma's guest rooms (around nine thirty), to the time we woke up to eat cereal and run around the house (around seven in the morning).

Since the weather was too cold and wet for us to play outside, we watched videos. And the only video that my Grandmother had at the time was this:

Image found here:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090799/

As my cousins and I sat there, mesmerized, in front of the TV, the fact that my father had only gotten about an hour's worth of sleep within the past day and a half started to manifest in his ongoing commentary on the film. I don't remember the exact words he used, but I remember quite a few of the things in the movie that he thought were just WRONG:

"Where on Earth are the camp counselors? Why don't the kids go to an adult if they keep on getting picked on?"

"What's the Care Bear Stare? Is that like a laser beam or something?"

"So...the just...care? Do they ever DO anything about whatever it is they care about?"

This went on and on.

The last straw for Dad was the...shall we say...climatic ending.

Image found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Care_Bears_Movie_II:_A_New_Generation

Again, I don't remember the exact words he used. It's been way too long. But I do remember my Dad turning the movie off, loudly proclaiming something to the effect of "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen," and launching into a lecture about how "Caring about something won't ever solve your problems if you don't do anything about it."

That lecture lasted the whole afternoon, and the whole car ride home.

The above memory might seem like nothing more than the goofy memory of a frazzled 30-something projecting his exhaustion and grumpiness onto a bunch of candy-colored anthropomorphic bears, but I don't see it that way.

It was on that day that my Dad planted a seed in my brain, a seed that has grown into a skill that has served me well.

Through his hatred of the Care Bears, my father had unintentionally shown me the face of critical thinking.

Dad, throughout the years, you have taught me many things, and lead me to many wonderful places. You have always been there for me, and I have learned how to be a better person by simply watching you.

Even when you're hating on the Care Bears.

I love you Daddy!

Happy Father's Day, Readers!

Until next time!

<3

Pew-Pew-Pew, Pew-Pew!

Afternoon, Readers! Time for a knitting project update!

I bought a spectacular knitting pattern book a while back called Knits of Tomorrow, by the very fabulous Sue Culligan. The patterns designed here are delightfully retro-nerd!

My favorite of the books' patterns is definitely the Starship baby blanket: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/starship-afghan

I love this pattern so much, I'm knitting it even though there aren't any behbehs in my foreseeable future! Plus, I'm going to enter this adorable thing into the Washington State fair as soon as it's finished.

I officially registered myself as an exhibitor this morning. It was super easy and FREE, as well!

When the judging is all done, I'm going to send the Spaceship Blankie to a high-school buddy of mine, who just had a baby boy. <3

It's been a while since I've done real intarsia work. I know I like to talk about intarsia in the same way an adventurer would talk about fighting a fire-breathing dragon, but in all honesty, the technique is much simpler and straightforward than I like to think. I might need to re-do the orange/green rocket ship because I over-thought it and made my intarsia links WAY more complicated than they needed to be; as a result of my stubborn "I can do this, no need to look the technique up!" mindset, there's a small row of green/orange lines along the left side of the patch (right where the orange/green meet the dark blue).

I've got six patches finished, and ten left to go!

Until next time, Readers!

<3

Return of Haiku Friday

I'm Angry. Sad. Fazed. 

But, I do not feel Surprised. 

That terrifies me.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Police-respond-to-shooting-near-Seattle-Pacific-University-262043001.html

Lace and more lace!

Afternoon, Readers!

Look what I finished:

Pattern found here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pineapple-lace-parasol-wedding-stick-umbrella-crochet-pattern-in-pdf

I've been wanting to make a crochet lace parasol ever since I saw these patterns pop up on Ravelry. I think this is the largest piece of lace that I've ever made!

The pattern itself is fairly simple (pineapple lace is quite easy, just single crochets and chains, mostly), but the actual crochet/construct process was a bit of an adventure:

I had to find a cheap stick umbrella to sacrifice to the cause, and I ended up finding a cheap one for sale at Daiso Japan. Cost me all of $1.99!

And because the umbrella base cost me all of $1.99, getting the lace on the umbrella skeleton was...interesting.

The instructions included in the crochet pattern gave some simple instructions for breaking down the sacrificial umbrella: according to the designer, just cutting away the fabric and saving the tips from the ribs would do the trick.

My umbrella would not give up its fabric without a fight.

There was a circle of tightly folded blue nylon underneath my umbrellas' ferrule that simply would. not. budge. I must have spent about a week fretting over how to get the fabric out without completely destroying the umbrella base; but about an hour and half of constantly cutting and picking at it with my pinking shears and tweezers eventually got it to slide off.

Now that I know that I CAN make this fabulous thing...I'm going to make it again! As happy as I am with the parasol, I want to make another one to enter into the state fair in September!

Parasol 2.0 is going to be classed up a bit! Can't wait to show the results!

Until next time!

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; 

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; 

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; 

So long as men can breathe

Or eyes can see,

So long lives this, 

And this gives life to thee. 

In which I realize that my thumb isn't as green as I'd like...

One of the best features of our new apartment, Readers, is the fact that we have a balcony.

Since this picture was taken, the tulips died. They have been replaced with tomato plants. 

I LOVE our balcony!

It's so wonderful to just have the option of enjoying my morning coffee outside if I want.

My husband and I are in LOVE with gardening. Flowers, herbs, vegetables...one of the things that my husband and I share is that we both relish in a feeling of granola-esque smugness and delight when we realize that we can produce our own food.

I'm sad to say that since picture has been taken, this pea plant shriveled up and died. (The one pea we got off of it was yummy, though). 

We've been putting together what our landlord has called our "balcony forest" since March. Unfortunately, in my eagerness to get started, I ordered and started planting our herbs/veggies WAY too early.

Readers, you guessed it...the cilantro and basil died. The dill seems to be on it's last legs as well...

And as you can tell by the pictures above, Readers,  many of my plants came up to a LOVELY start...but shriveled up as soon as the weather got warmer (except for that one pea vine, though. I think the pea vine died because there was a nasty crack at the bottom). I'd say that, sadly, only about a half of what I originally planted survived.

I wouldn't say that I'm an accidental plant killer. but my formerly glorious green thumb has gotten a bit rusty as of late. I'm just not used to container gardening, I guess...

Luckily for us, a few of the veggies we started were hearty enough to make it. I bought a spearmint plant that's starting to look like it has doubled in size AT LEAST, and the two other pea vines I stagger-planted seem to be coming up nice and healthy.

I guess that it helps when you plant them when it's warm enough. Who knew?

Plus, John built me a vertical garden, where we planted onions and butter lettuce. The lettuce seems to be doing okay (as long as I keep it watered), but the onions are going NUTS in there! I don't know if it's because of the soil or the location, but my green onions are shooting up like little green rockets!

Yes, that is an old shoe organizer. We punched holes in the bottom of each pocket for drainage. Since this has been taken, we've harvested two butter lettuce heads ("Tom Thumb" variety, only about the size of a baseball). 

I get just so much energy and joy out of planting things.

If I had to choose a favorite plant in our garden, it would definitely be our cherry tree seedling:

About a year ago, John found a cherry pit on the ground that looked like it had sprouted. On a whim, he planted it in a small pot and put it on our windowsill.

Sure enough, it grew! And it seems to be coming out of its winter hibernation! Since the above picture was taken (these were all taken mid-April), a teeny-tiny branch seems to be coming out of one side, and at least three more green leaves are visible!

I've taken to calling the lil' sprout our "metaphor tree".

Because we love and care for it in the same way we love, care, and work at our marriage <3

Anyways, If you're wondering where I've been during the past month, Readers, now you know! I've been on my balcony, up to my elbows in potting mix and fertilizer!

Until next time!

<3