Beautiful day!

So B and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo today with some of my mom friends, it was so much fun! He's still pretty young, but at 6.5 months old he seemed to get a lot out of this trip. His favorite part was the fish. I really enjoyed myself too, I think that doing things with kids is more fun and interesting because they are so fascinated with everything. It was really neat when the polar bear was right up against the glass, and when the howler monkey jumped onto a slant in the glass and made faces at us! One wicked funny thing that happened was the orangutan picked its nose and pulled out a massive booger. Hilarious! It was a lovely day, and I'm exhausted.

I'm making a Bean Chili from a cool cookbook called Perfect Vegetarian by Parragon Publishing, super yum. Can't wait to eat it!

Seed starting

So I started some seeds a couple weeks ago, and they are doing splendidly under our handy dandy grow lights.

Here are some of the bell peppers. There are 7 of these babies already.

These are my garlic chives, they are amazing growers, they're touching the grow light that is 3 inches above them. Crazy.

Here's the oregano, I only planted like, 5 seeds, so I have no idea where all these seedlings came from, I'm guessing they make extra sprouts underneath. *shrug*

And here is my lone rosemary seedling. I read somewhere they have a crummy germination rate, around 50%, so we're doing okay with one out of 4 considering that they are temperamental little things.

I have some Johnny Jump Up violas sprouting too, but I couldn't manage to get a good picture of them. Ah well. Also, my cherry tomatoes are coming up like crazy, almost every seed I planted is poking through the seed starting mix, I am much pleased. I have high hopes for this container gardening endeavor, and with this increasingly warming weather, I think I might go mad with anticipation. Mad I tell you.

Is it spring yet?

Have seeds, will plant...them. So I finally got my seeds from www.highmowingseeds.com and www.seedsavers.org and I've so got the itch. They have overtaken my dining room table and I've managed to organize them by how I plan to combine them in pots. Some I'm not 100% sure where to put what with what(wow grammar), so I'm going to play that by ear. I'm super excited to get some seedlings going, one more month to go!

I'm also very excited about the containers we scored at Big Lots for a decent price. I love these overstock/defect stores that sell stuff waaay below the suggested retail price, I feel like I'm beating the system somehow. Anyway, they look fine to me, and I think they'll look pretty with my gorgeous cherry tomato in the "terra cotta" plastic beast pot. The blue glazed matching pots in varying sizes are also preddymus. I'm not sure if I'm going to do herbs or flowers, or both in the blue ones, again, playing it by ear.

HEATWAVE!

I think God is blessing me today, as it is 45 degrees on this mid-winters day. That's our German Shepherd, "Puppy" looking outside. I have a bunch of windows open and we have turned off our heat! With weather like this it makes me yearn for spring, only a few more months to go until then. *smirk*

I was musing on how much I enjoy the outdoors, nature is such a wonderful gift and I don't appreciate it enough. Sunlight has a very large effect on my mood too, I think it's very important to get sun while its out. I realized I might have a vitamin D deficiency, which could account for my foul mood since the dead of winter hit. Even if you just stand in a window for a few minutes, it can be very beneficial.

Our little family is going to go for a nature walk on the WV Panhandle trail later this afternoon, I'm looking forward to getting some excercise, breathing some fresh air, and soaking in some much needed sunlight! :D

A new year

Well, its 2010. I can't believe I remember the past decade so vividly, being 23 and all. I'm sure my older peers will laugh at me for talking about it with such wonder; glad to give someone a chuckle.

So this year, I have resolved to actually get started on some hobbies. Benedict doesn't take up my ENTIRE day, he is actually pretty low maintenance. I've actually gotten wicked excited to start our container gardening full force this year! I was a timid gardener last summer, so I'm going to plant what I want and hope for a moderate harvest when the time comes.

I plan to plant as follows: Impatiens (shade flowers, 5 types), lavender, begonias, dill, chives, sage, cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, Italian parsley, marjoram, rosemary, sweet cherry tomatoes, 2 types of heirloom tomatoes, red peppers, jalapeños, snap peas, green beans, summer squash, radishes, pansies, and nasturtiums.

All of these will be planted in different containers all over our little rental property. I don't expect everything to thrive, but I am hoping for a lovely "garden" this spring to fall growing season. I'll be posting my progress as the year continues.

Have a Blessed and Holy New Year!

A little Jane Austen please...

I must say, my appreciation for Jane Austens works has grown immensely in the last year or two. I've realized how much my heart yearns for good, wholesome, and noble forms of entertainment, which in this day and age is very hard to find. I so enjoy the purity of her love stories, the strong female leads, and the nobility of the men. These stories remind me of the truely good things in this world, they really do.

Food, Glorious Foooood!

I'm sure this might come off to some as "food worship," but I give myself permission.

I love food. I like to fancy myself a "foodie". One of my favorite pastimes when I get home from work is looking at my cook books, imagining myself in a ADORABLE apron, mixing and baking all kinds of fancy confections. Since it is the New Year, and for some reason it inspires one to make some sort of fresh new change in ones life, Sean and I have decided we would like to incorporate more "whole foods" into our diet. I had forgotten how much I loved fresh veggies and fruits when I was in the bad habit of cooking our dinner from a can or frozen food bag. I had also forgotten how much I enjoy cooking fabulous meals for Sean and I. Am I any good at it? Well, Im no Emeril, but I can hold my own methinks. I would love to be able to devote more time to cooking, but there are only so many hours in a day, ya know?
My Mom, the wise woman she is, bought me for Christmas, a lovely book called "29 Minute Meals" by Pampered Chef. I was muoy pleased with this one. It is full with delicious meals that I can make in under a half hour, which for me, very appealing due to my 45 hour work week.

Anyway, wish me luck on this venture into KitchenLand.