What I did over my summer vacation...

Well, since I last blogged we packed our townhouse, sold our townhouse, bought a house, and moved into said house. For those of you who have been asking, here are the pictures. There is much hidden that still needs to be unpacked, and a lot of pictures to be hung, but with my recent back problems (thanks to the move for exasperating it!), I'm taking it really slow. Here are the pictures:

The new homestead:















The back yard: (future home of bee hive, chickens and maybe a pygmy goat when the covenants expire in seven years - shhhh...don't mention this to Jason.)















View from the front porch:
















Living room (a.k.a. Cathy's room when Family Room/Man Cave are taken over by sports fans)















Second view of living room (blue carpet is first on the list to go)















The kitchen: I managed to fit everything except the less-frequently-used things (now in basement on a shelf) and all of our food that doesn't require refrigeration, which is kind of a problem. It is still in boxes (one is there to the left in the picture) and a black pantry cabinet has been ordered to match the dining table. It should be "normal" in another week.



















The dinette or "eat-in kitchen" area: The window there will be a patio door in a few weeks, if all goes as planned.















The main bath (soon to have a shower door):



















The guest bedroom (will be painted khaki at some point in the near future): Note that I have conveniently taken the shot to hide from view the left wall that is stacked with boxes and bags.















The master bedroom:















The master bath:



















And lastly, the basement rooms...

The family room area:















The storage room:















The laundry room:















And the man cave:















And my version of the man cave, my craft/sewing closet!:

















A huge thank you to everyone who helped us move. We really appreciate it!

Well, that's the house! Come visit us! There is a guest room waiting for you!

Farm Tour!!!

I am so excited to go to this in a few weeks:




















Who would have thought of such a thing? I have always been a farm girl wannabe who grew up envying friends who were in 4-H and lived on farms. I thought it was the greatest thing to help chase cows who had gotten out, or see a newborn calf or sheep. I've always loved to visit the fair and see all the animals, especially goats! I'm not exactly a city person, but I grew up in the suburbs and live in a medium town now. I still long for the country life, living vicariously through the blogs of homesteaders who have a few animals like goats, chicken and sheep. And now THIS! I get to go visit local farms and see everything up close and personal! There will be tours of the farm, getting to see the animals up-close and personal, and farm-fresh foods for sale. Someday we'll have our own little homestead, but until then there is the Farm Tour!

I'm SO excited!!! Tune in after the tour weekend for pictures and commentary. :-)

Sunday at Spring Creek Canyon

Today we went for a long walk along Spring Creek, in Spring Creek Canyon. It is a hidden treasure just a few minutes away from us. The weather was beautiful, not too humid. It was a warm and sunny day, but the path was perfectly shaded. Lacey was in her glory!
















Most of the path is just like this...















Flowers blooming along the trail...
















Just beautiful scenery...















And one very happy, exhausted dog. She slept the rest of the day!

Lacey

I think it's time for you to meet Lacey, a.k.a. Lacey Bug.















Lacey is our 6ish-year-old beagle mix I adopted from PAWS four years ago. I wanted to get another dog to help me deal with the imminent loss of my then 14-year-old beagle mix, Peppy. (I'll blog on her soon.) Well, Peppy lived to the ripe old age of 18. Peppy was less than pleased when I brought Lacey home, but after a year or so of intermittent fighting, they learned to live in indifference to each other. Very much like a cat, Peppy was always doing her own thing and only wanted occasional petting and even then, only briefly before she'd be off in her own world again. I could not have gotten a more opposite dog when I got Lacey. Lacey was seized from a home of over 50 dogs and I think the lack of individual attention has left her begging for attention ever since. She is snuggly and very needy. If I sit down, she is on the couch next to me, rolling over to get a belly rub. I adore this dog.

Just look at her adorableness...















This is where she spends her days, watching for us to come home....















Can't you almost hear her snoring in this one?















How could you not love a face like this...















Okay, maybe she is just a weensy bit spoiled...















You know you'd be the same way. Right?

Ah, the weekend...

This has been a great weekend so far. I took a half day yesterday and went to the downtown farmers' market with friends. I got baby red potatoes, amish doughnuts, zucchini, and sweet cherries from a local farm. Our area has a lot of these markets, but the hours are during the day so I need to take more time off of work to take advantage of them. What about us 8-5 people? We need fresh veggies, too!

Last night a friend accompanied me to Jason's gig and we had a great dinner while watching Jason's show. It's not often I get to see him play, so I really enjoy when I get to see a show. The wonderful boyfriend that he is, he learned a song from a band I really like, Tea Leaf Green, and surprised me with it last night. It's a jam band, so it's not a mainstream song most would know, so it was especially sweet knowing that it was just for me.

This is him at one of his gigs...




















Today I made this upside-down cherry cake with the cherries. (Sorry, not the best picture.)
















I also cleaned and made my own laundry detergent. I was a little skeptical about this, but two friends tried it and not only is it cheaper, but they both swear it smells better and does a better job. I'll have to let you know later if it does a better job, but it smells so good. You can use it in the dishwasher, too. Really, I tested it and nothing leaked and suds didn't overtake the kitchen.

Tomorrow will hopefully be spent outside, going for a bike ride, a walk, and cooking out. Enjoy the weekend!

Garden Update

Two weeks later and everything is still alive! Check out the signs of success:

Flowers starting on the tomatoes...















A tiny little pepper (you may need to squint a little)...
















The newest addition to the garden, yellow squash. So far, so good...




















Oregano...




















and broccoli flourishing...















Oh, wait...that's not supposed to happen. This was my first attempt at broccoli, and I checked it daily, wondering if it was ready to pick. I checked Wednesday and it looked beautiful and ready to eat, but kind of small, so I figured I should probably wait a day or two. Thursday, again, nothing. Friday it looked the same and I assumed this must be a long process. Then on Saturday this happened. Apparently, this is not supposed to happen; this means I missed it. For all of you new gardeners out there, pick the broccoli as soon as it looks like the broccoli you would eat because if you wait a few days, this happens. I'm still hopeful I'll pick the baby broccoli heads before they flower.

One of the young hopefuls...

















Finally, the flowers...















It's just amazing what happens when you keep watering them!

My "garden"

I use the term "garden" loosely because what I am currently growing is limited to the deck area behind our townhouse. Lately I've been trying to be a little greener, including creating less waste, supporting local businesses and farmers, and trying to eat healthier food. I've started going to the local dairy to support them and get milk from cows that haven't been injected with hormones. I've tried to buy veggies and what I can from local farm stands, and buying organic is a perk. The ultimate in this is trying to grow our own food, as much as possible in a townhouse, anyway.

With the realization that this year wasn't going to be the year for getting a house, I was disappointed when I thought about the bountiful garden I would have had. Not to be defeated, I ventured out to Big Lots to get a bunch of large pots and then visited local farm stands and purchased a variety of plants, including lettuce, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, roma tomatoes, bush tomatoes, and a few spices. I have been obsessively watering the plants (I am known for sort of forgetting about things that need to be watered around mid-summer, at which time they promptly die) and they seem to be doing well. Just look below at the actual beginnings of a head of broccoli! I feel success already. The only thing that has been ready to harvest so far is the lettuce, but I'm already loving being able to fix dinner with something I grew. It's just so satisfying. I can't wait for the rest! Today I went and got a few more plants to add red peppers and yellow squash. I'm not sure how that will turn out with a pot and a tomato cage, but I'm going to try!