Gardening | multi-hyphenated-me

Get Your Bake On! September 5, 2013

Filed under: Cooking,Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 9:56 pm
Tags: #2013, #6entries, #baking, #bananabread, #cookies, #fleischmannsyeastbestbakingcontest, #glutenfreepie, #pie, #scif, #spokanecountyfair, #sweetcompetition

There are great combinations in the world – milk and cookies, peanut butter and jelly, Sonny and Cher, and the list goes on.

The last 24 hours of my life has been a rough combination – late night baking, thunderstorms, kids wide-eyed and up all night watching the storm, our dog’s toenails clickety clacking on the wood floors all night from his storm nerves, me not getting even 6 hours of sleep, getting the kids ready for school 45 minutes before school starts because I didn’t know Thursday was late start at 9:30 (aren’t we already starting late at 9?) and I had to work all day, no more staycation or vacations for me.

From the deepest depths of exhaustion I write this blog post tonight. I only write because I’m a total showoff (that’s for you DB) and want you to know that my exhaustion stems from my six baking entries in the Spokane County Interstate Fair.

No drum rolls, no fanfare, just photos and brief commentary.

As you know in previous years, I have won awards at the Coconino County Fair in Flagstaff, AZ. This year, I thought it would be great to test Coconino County against Spokane County and submit my winning entries.

The very first prize I ever won at the fair was Best of Show for my peanut butter and jelly bar cookies. My mother in law and I went to the fair with my baby who is now 12 in the stroller. My mother in law and I whooped and cheered when we saw the Best of Show ribbon on my cookies! I have a photo of that day somewhere but here is today’s entry for Peanut Butter Jelly Bars.

The boys had one after school today and RAVED about them as if I had never once cooked anything good for them, ever. My husband doesn’t like them. He didn’t like them the first time I made them and won big, nor this time. The boys gave him a full ration of grief, I didn’t have to say a word.

I have won more blue ribbons for my pies than anything else I’ve ever submitted. Of course I had to submit a pie to the Spokane County Interstate Fair! Today’s entry was an Old Fashioned Apple Pie. Straightforward and simple, double crust, granny smith apples sweetened with minimal sugar, lemon juice and zest and just enough cinnamon. I had to make an extra pie for the house (to keep the wolves at bay). My husband may not like the bar cookies but since last night, he’s already eaten half a pie.

Banana Walnut Bread is our household staple. Coconino gave me blue, let’s see what Spokane County thinks.

Three nods to the past and three nods to the future.

Spokane County Interstate Fair hosts the Fleischmann’s Yeast Best Baking Contest with two categories, one for baked goods (anything goes) and one category for dessert pizza. I have never entered a brand name contest so why not try for both. Each category has a $125 first place prize.

For most Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I make Parker House Rolls that the family loves. I modified the recipe I typically use to abide by contest rules and hope for the best.

The second category, dessert pizza, is the main reason I was up later than I should have been. I was stuck. I went into baking last night without a clear plan and I suffer now because of poor planning. Yet in my cross-eyed delirium last night, I came up with Honey cardamom Raspberry Focaccia. A crazy combination of recipes from various sources that turned out to be one of the best looking entries of the day.

In August when I signed up to participate in the fair, I felt the need to expand my horizons and push my limits. Trust me, I was cursing myself last night for my idiocy. In all fairness to myself, it was a good idea, what wasn’t a good idea was six entries.

For my sixth entry, I decided to go beyond what I know – wheat – and make a gluten-free pie. Suspenseful, right? For me too. I won a blue ribbon for a strawberry frangipane tart in Coconino, so why not make it gluten-free for Spokane? Spokane foiled my plan because they disallow fresh fruit entries. Instead, I made an almond frangipane nectarine tart with fig glaze. Turned out pretty good I think, who knows for sure though, no taste tests available as I had to turn in the whole pie!

I’ll let you know the results when them come in!

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Aero-post August 21, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 9:52 pm

Anyone can blog, just sign up and start typing. Blogging can occur anywhere. I mainly blog in my pajamas just before going to bed, or, occasionally, as I enjoy my first cup of coffee in the morning.

Tonight, I blog from Row 4, Seat D on Southwest Flight 389 from Spokane (GEG) to Orange County (SNA) as I travel to my Irvine corporate office to work and attend an operations meeting. Always multi-tasking, I’m chaperoning my son’s friend back to his parents after a week-long visit. We’re both sad he has to leave, so we’re drowning our sorrows in Sprite and peanuts without much conversation.

The guy in the middle seat behind me has major B.O., I pity the people sitting adjacent, sharing space. Row 4 ABC is an interesting combination. Two young guys, each in the aisle and window, are mesmerized by some super chatty techno whiz old guy who is holding court on whatever he does for a living. We picked up the old guy in Oakland, and from what I can gather from eavesdropping on their conversation he has developed some software. Cool.

3 ABC are old-time golfers, decked out in their golf attire. They have both Inland Northwest and Newport Coast style, so I’m not sure where they call home. Most likely, a home in each place.

I should be working, making use of this confined space and time but the thought of arriving at 10:15, getting my travel partner home and back to the hotel doesn’t make for good blogging at midnight. You know I love my 8 hours.

This is my first trip back to Orange County since we moved to Spokane exactly two months ago. The two months have flown by, yet we have done so much in such short time. Well, not finishing my projects, but getting out and experience what Spokane has to offer has definitely taken precedence over house projects. I’m a little anxious, which strikes me odd, I’m not an anxious person. Will I realize what I miss about OC? As I sit in this plane now, I don’t think I miss any one thing that OC has to offer (family and friends excluded, of course). Will I once I’m there?

We’re in our final descent so I must end now.

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Reduce Your Environmental Impact August 19, 2013

Filed under: Books,Gardening,Life,Links,Quotes — multihyphenatedme @ 10:40 pm
Tags: #2013, #begreen, #carbonfootprint, #collegemom, #foodnotlawn, #greenwiki, #ikea, #kermitthefrog, #noimpactman, #nrdc, #recycle, #reduce, #reuse, #wholeliving

In 2012, my collegiate daughter enrolled in an English class that required her to read No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. I found the book at the library and read it before handing it over to the actual student. No Impact Man is chronicles the year-long experiment by Beavan and his family to have zero impact on the planet while living in Manhattan, NY. This isn’t a story about a homesteader with a bunch of acreage in the middle of nowhere self-sustaining. The author and his family give up things we take for granted, electricity and travel and only consuming food within a 250 mile radius of your home while living in the largest city in the world.

As a voracious reader, I loved the story for the impact it had on me. This book made me think about how I can reduce my impact, my carbon footprint on the planet. Your carbon footprint is the amount of gas emissions created by you and your family through the course of life. Of the 100 ways to reduce your carbon footprint on Green Wiki, I’m happy to report we are responsibly taking 50 measures to reduce our carbon footprint. (This list was obtained from http://green.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_reduce_your_carbon_footprint check it out)

Buy locally produced goods and services.
Reduce consumption. Reuse items when you can. Recycle your waste.
Make compost.
Use reusable bags for grocery shopping.
Clean the lint filter in your dryer. This will reduce energy consumption as well as electrical and environmental costs.
Rake leaves and shovel snow manually instead of using a leafblower or snowblower.
Only use your dryer, dishwasher and washing machine when you have a full load; don’t do half loads. This reduces the number of loads and energy consumption.
Use a dishwasher rather than washing by hand as the efficient ones use less water.
Whenever possible, hang laundry outside to dry on a clothes line rather than throwing laundry into a dryer.
When you remodel or paint a room, buy the right amount of paint. This reduces chemicals entering the atmosphere from paint production, energy to make the paint, and saves you money.
Eat one less serving of meat a week. Use a cheese-free alternative each week. Cheese is an animal product and has the same carbon cost as meat. Cattle release a great deal of methane into the atmosphere. Consider unendangered fish, beans, and soy as replacements for beef, dairy, and fowl protein.
Plant an organic garden and grow your own vegetables even if it’s just a small patch or a windowsill planter.
Create a wormery. This uses worms in a sealed, hygienic, and non-smelling unit to compost your waste, which can then be used to fertilize your garden.
Fit your garden hose with a trigger sprayer, this will reduce your water consumption.
Stop watering your lawn. Grow a garden instead. Lawns require lawnmowers, which require fuel. Gardens allow you to grow veggies which require less trips to the produce section.
Water your garden in the evening as this will save water.
Use cotton towels and fabric napkins rather than paper ones.
When cooking, don’t overfill saucepans and pots.
Use the top shelf (the hottest shelf) of the oven so food cooks quicker and less energy is consumed.
Use a toaster to toast bread instead of toasting bread under the grill.
When cooking put the lids on your pots and pans to reduce heat loss.
Don’t put hot or warm foods and drinks into your refrigerator.
Use a laptop as opposed to a desktop, as laptops use up to 80% less energy.
Unplug your phone charger when not in use.
Buy secondhand household items and save the C cost of the production of new goods.
Adjust your central heating thermostat down by 1°C (2°F) in winter and up in summer.
Use passive solar heating to capture heat in your home by opening the curtains during the day and closing them at dusk. In summer, close your curtains during the heat of the day. You’ll save 25-75% on your heating and gas bill.
Run ceiling fans instead of using air conditioning. Avoid using air conditioning in your home and car whenever possible. If you live in a hot climate, doing this could save more than one ton of CO₂.
Get your boiler serviced regularly to ensure it is working properly and not wasting your money.
Switch off lights in rooms at home when leaving the room.
Use “task” lighting rather than whole room lighting when a small amount of light is required.
Take advantage of natural daylight as much as possible.
Install insulated blinds on windows to crease energy escape.
Only heat rooms in your house that are in use.
Donate or recycle your old clothing to a thrift shop rather than throwing them away.
Defrost your refrigerator; this will ensure that it runs efficiently.
Buy uncertified wood to ensure sustainable forest management.
Take a shower instead of a bath; a shower uses approximately one twentieth of the energy that a bath does.
Filter your own water, rather than buying bottled water. Most tap water is safe to drink, and some bottled waters are flown in from the far corners of the earth and the production process of the bottles adds to greenhouse gas release. Additionally, many find that tap water tastes about the same as bottled water because bottled water is derived from tapwater to begin with.
Adjust your water heater temperature downwards.
Insulate your water heater or water tank with an insulation blanket to save on heat loss.
Use cold water to wash and rinse clothes.
Fix dripping faucets.
Insulate your water pipes.
Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
Space and water heating account for over 70% of energy used in the home, so switching to clean, renewable energy (e.g. wood fuel, solar energy or heat pump systems) makes a big reduction in the environmental impact of your home.
Reduce excess baggage and pack lighter when travelling. Planes flying with extra baggage use more fuel.
Telecommute or arrange with your employer to work one day a week from home.
Drive at or below the speed limit as this reduces your vehicles emissions.
Whenever possible only drive during non peak hours.

This spring, I am ripping up my front lawn and installing our raised bed vegetable garden complete with a worm composting system. Plans are in process and I can hardly wait. Prior to our move (which definitely added to our footprint), I saw a project in Whole Living magazine that creatively used old cotton, collared shirts to make simple fringe-edged napkins. This project gave me the idea to use excess fabric yardage I had stored (every person that sews has a fabric horde somewhere) to make 17″ napkins instead of using paper napkins. We now have very colorful meals using these napkins. I haven’t bought paper napkins since moving in June.

Being a total paper towel abuser, I decided to take this project a step further and stop buying paper towels. I went to Ikea and purchased 70 white cotton kitchen towels with red stripe. Seventy is too many I now realize, forty is really the number I use on a weekly rotation. I have a drawer in my kitchen filled with these towels and use them in place of paper towels. The excess towels that I purchased are used for cleaning. I wrote “cleaning” across the bottom of each with a fabric marker. Old habits die-hard, I am still buying paper towels but instead of purchasing the Costco super pack regularly, one roll is lasting weeks. According to the National Resource Defense Council, if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees. The NRDC also states that if every household in the United States replaced just one package of virgin fiber napkins (250 count) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 1 million trees. Though my cloth napkin and towel project has increased my laundry, my paper goods costs have dropped dramatically and trees are saved in the process. That’s good, I like trees.

Use less, use better, use smarter is really the message. Kermit the Frog said, “It ain’t easy being green.” Actually, Kermie, it is easy to be green, just try. Take a look at the list and see what you currently do and what you could do better.

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Staycation Part Deux August 16, 2013

Filed under: Gardening,Life — multihyphenatedme @ 11:33 pm
Tags: #2013, #alarm, #cabelas, #chores, #kidsclubrequired, #maidserviceplease, #outsidemagazine, #spokane, #staycation, #staycationisntaword, #summerfun, #vacation, #workonvacation

Day two of our four day staycation and here’s a list why staycations don’t work:

1. Alarm clocks. I forgot to turn off my alarm off both days. 5:30 AM is not my favorite (thank you RGal for teaching me to not say I freaking hate 5:30 AM) and is even less so on my vacation days off work when I don’t need to be awake at 5 freaking 30. I could have easily have forgotten to turn off my alarm if I was truly on vacation in a hotel or camping, but my husband and I have vacation protocol we follow that includes turning off the alarm. At home, the alarm is part of the home routine, thus the staycation routine.

2. Routine unchanged. Now that I’m awake thanks only to forgetful self, my routine is unchanged. I go through my morning motions, drink my tea, turn on my computer and look at my phone. Oh look, emails. Oh yeah, thanks for the email, I forgot to do that, let me send a quick email. Next think you know, I’m working. Not really working, just skimming, yet working. On vacation, I’d have to walk out to get coffee, my routine would be broken. Staycations don’t break the cycle of your habits. Vacations are intended to change your momentum, break cycles and change your habits.

[note to my boss who reads my blog: sending you a text pix of the Cabela’s ad to brag that I get better junk mail that he does (and that I have a Cabela’s nearby) was all in fun, not the “work” I am referring to in #2]

3. Vacation does not include chores. Staycation includes chores. I’m stupidly awake while everyone else sleeps, I’ve taken a vacation day so I’m not working, what else am I supposed to do? Laundry is relentless and there is always something to do. I spent several hours of my staycation on chores. Productive, but lame.

4. No chefs, bartenders or wait staff on staycations. I’m cooking, cleaning, serving and no one is bringing me a cocktail. This is the definite “not a vacation” of staycation. My banana pancakes were inhaled by my fellow staycationers this morning. Service is marginal, the bartender needs to show up but the food is outstanding. The best part of a staycation is homecooked meals.

5. We were invaded by ducks. Where I vacation, even in my dreams, there are no ducks. At home on our staycation, we have enjoyed the Canadian Geese honking as they fly overhead. We’re damn close to Canada, who am I to say get a new flight path? Flying overhead geese I can tolerate. Then the ducks loudly arrived next door. No other words came to mind than “WTF!” I thought my neighbors, who already have boisterous chickens, added ducks to their urban farm. Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, came booming into my house for at least an hour. I saw my neighbor over the backyard fence later and started randomly discussing her hollyhocks (I didn’t want to shout out “WTF you have ducks?”, rather ease into it). Once the hollyhock discussion ended, I segued into ducks. Smooth, I know. “Where are you keeping you ducks?” They have a ‘Chalet de Poulet’ (truly, the sign on the chicken coop says chalet de poulet) for the chickens, maybe they’ve installed ‘Lac de Canard’ for the ducks. She looked at me dumbfounded and said “What ducks?” Really? Now she’s bold-faced lying to me over ducks? Turns out, there are no ducks, no lies about ducks, not even a remote duck cover-up. While she was out, her fireman husband on his off day was hanging out with his almost two-year old, playing with his duck call, as he is a duck hunter. Over and over and over and over again. Of course. On staycations, you have to deal with your neighbors (who I love, except during duck season prep).

6. No maid service. After running around all day on vacation, isn’t it fantastic to open your hotel room door and have the place clean and straightened and the beds made? Staycation house is the same as everyday house, a disaster. On staycation, you go out all day, come home and BAM you’re smacked in the face with everything just as you left it.

7. Vacation Mode. When you’re on vacation, you flip a mental switch and you’re in a different mode, vacation mode. Staycation means same old every day mode. No switches flipped. No change.

8. No Kids Club. Let me start by saying I have never once put my kids in a kids club while on vacation. With that said, where is the Kids Club? I’m ready. Not really, but I would like to have the option. Staycation does not offer the Kids Club option.

9. No hype. If I told my family we were going on vacation for 4 days they would whoop and holler and be thrilled. Telling them we’re going to have a staycation for 4 days provides no hype. Staycation, to them, sends the same press release it sends to me, hang around the house for hours until we leave to do something you may or may not want to do, then come home and do all your daily chores because life goes on. No hype.

10. I can’t think of a 10th reason why staycations don’t have the same effect as vacations.

[after typing this post and spell checking for errors, here’s #10 why staycations don’t work…staycations is not a recognized word!

Staycations are great because:

1. sleep in your own bed – YES!

2. nothing forgotten, everything is here, unless we ran out and I forgot to replace, it happens.

3. we happen to live in an awesome place(hype, hype, Outside magazine just named Spokane one of the best towns in the nation http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/north-america/united-states/Best-Towns-2013-Spokane-Washington.html

4. multiple rooms. Not only do you get to sleep in your own bed, but in your own room! A hotel suite for a family of 5 doesn’t compare to a house.

5. Ambience to suit your need. Half naked or fancy, whichever you prefer, anything goes on a staycation at home. For the record, I prefer loungy, where my youngest is typically found half-naked.

6. On your schedule. Staycations allow you to set the pace and the agenda, preferably without 5:30 wake up alarms

7. No resort fees, no parking fees, no gratuities. Sweet.

Vacations in any form are pretty fantastic, even as staycations. Next time we staycation, I need to plan better to sleep in, work less and hire a cleaning service.

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To the Park! August 13, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 9:19 pm

When the temperatures reach the mid-90’s, the last thing I want to do is exercise. Heat makes me want to lounge like a lizard on a rock. Tonight, after dinner and dishes were done, the boys wanted to bust out their bicycles and ride to Manito Park. Dumb kids, don’t they know it’s hot? They were motivated by their idea of stopping at The Park Bench, a small cafe in the center of the park, for ice cream before heading home. Not a bad plan, in fact, I love any plan that involves ice cream, so I agreed to go.

Hold on. Do you remember when we had our garage sale before we moved and my husband wanted to sell the bikes but only sold mine before changing his mind? My bike has yet to be replaced. The boys all jumped on their bikes and pedaled west to the park leaving me to run to keep up.

Did I mention the temperature was in the 90’s? Did I mention we just ate dinner? UGH!! Have you ever had a bike gang be your pace setter? I didn’t try to catch them, my goal was to only keep them in sight. Thankfully they followed instruction to stop at the one light.

By the time I caught up with the boys I was dripping with sweat (hey, I’m working out here!). The boys were parked in front of The Park Bench with sad sweaty faces because The Park Bench closes at 7 and we were late. That’s not even the worst of it. The trip there is mostly downhill. The trip home is mostly uphill. We all moped and moaned up every hill encouraged only by the promise that when we got home, I’d run to the store and pick up our favorite Ben & Jerry flavors.

Two and a half miles, 313 calories burned (thank you Endomondo app) and I was barely allowed a drink of water before they harangued me into heading out to the store as promised.

Have you ever gone into a grocery store in your running gear, still hot and sweaty from your run and bought five pints of ice cream? You should try it, the looks and reactions you get from people is awesome. I only wish just one would comment. This isn’t my first post-run ice cream run and won’t be my last, maybe someone will say something next time.

Until then, no matter the temperature outside, I go where my kids want to go. Hopefully, ice cream is involved.

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The Highlight Reel August 11, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 10:15 pm

Ten days flew by ridiculously fast. Did you miss my posts?

I took ten days off from posting on this blog, multi-hyphenated-me.com, so I could spend every possible moment with my 18-year-old daughter visiting us in Spokane for the first time since we moved here in June.

Ten days have passed and she is back in Southern California for work and to prepare for school to start soon. Sigh. I miss my girl. She’s doing what she needs to do. We’re doing what we need to do. Both are good, all is well.

Maybe not well, but ok in a stabbed in the heart, broken down way. As I wipe the tears from my eyes, allow me to share with you the highlight reel of our time together.

With Captain Vince at the helm, we rented a boat and spent a day on the Spokane River and Lake Coeur D’Alene. Don’t tell Red Beard he’s turning into White Beard.

Jessica was all smiles and showing her mad skills tubing on the Spokane River, heading toward Lake Coeur D’Alene. She is an old pro at tubing, having racked up many tubing miles over the years on the Colorado River.

The boys had their share of fun tubing too while Jess and I lounged and soaked up some rays in the bow of the boat.

Niko attempted waterskiing with some trainer skis but couldn’t get out of the water. Andre had the same results with wakeboarding.

Jessica tried wakeboarding too…

…but she couldn’t find her balance.

As a family we enjoyed great times together, seeing movies – Wolverine and Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters; paddle boarding on the Spokane River; many delicious meals; a trip to Silverwood theme park and Boulder Beach water park and ran as Team Extinct Rainbows in Spokane’s Color Run.

Jessica and I walked/ran around Manito Park several mornings, ending up at Rockwood Bakery to indulge in pastries to counteract our exercise efforts. We had plenty of girl time getting mani-pedi’s and shopping at some of downtown Spokane’s unique shops. We had lunch and a nice visit with Jessica’s high school cross country friend who recently transferred to Washington State University. WSU has a great campus! Jess got a Cougars shirt, maybe a little cougar will rub off on her when she transfers next year. San Diego CA or Pullman WA? The deck is stacked against me, but I can hope.

It was not all fun and games. Jess is affectionately called Cinderella for a reason. She gave her dog Dale a bath, helped with the laundry and getting dinner on the table. She earned her keep the most when Vince and I had to call a family meeting to wrangle the boys to enforce their schedule and chores that had gone wildly astray. We laid down the law and Jess sided with us, the parental units, explaining to the boys that she knows what it’s like to be in their shoes and we’re helping them grow up. YES!!! Thank you Jessica!

Rihanna’s song, Stay, came on the radio when I drove Jessica to the airport this weekend. “I want you to stay”, I do, I want her to stay, but that’s selfish. What I really want (I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want ~ forgive me, Jess and I sing Disney’s Chicken Little version whenever the other says “What do you want?”)…what I really want is for Jessica to grow. I want her, and her brothers, to be independent, to grow strong, to live life. I can’t always be there and they need to learn how to figure out and take charge of their life.

Go my child, fly away, live life. Though I can’t always be right there with you, you know I am always here for you.

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On Vacation August 5, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 7:46 am

Summer sun, summer fun. Time for a vacation.

I’m taking time off from blogging. Only a week, I’ll provide the highlight reel of my week on Saturday 8/10.

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Northwest Edition July 29, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 11:04 pm
Tags: #2013, #autumncrocus, #inlandnorthwest, #justwannagarden, #northwestedition, #patiencegrasshopper, #sunsetmagazine, #toomanyprojects, #wsumastergardener, #yardworkcountsasexercise

Today’s mail brought my new issue of Sunset Magazine, the Northwest Edition. I feel like I’ve finally arrived. Sure we have lived in Spokane for 5 weeks but, in print, it feels official. Officially, I’m still sore from all of the gardening and yard work we tackled yesterday. I couldn’t lift my arms enough to type a blog post. All 5 of us mowing, raking, hacking, sawing, blowing and planting. With yard work done, we are beginning to look like the Northwest Edition too.

We met several of our neighbors in the midst of our sweaty, dusty, dirty efforts. Our sidewalk is a direct path to Manito Park and with cooler temperatures this weekend, everyone was out and about. We met people close by and those that live further away, all neighbors one and the same. Everyone incredibly nice and thrilled to have us on the block.

I have started planning my garden, in both the front and back yards for next year. I will have at least a 300 s.f. raised bed vegetable garden, a berry patch, a dahlia garden and, well, that’s all I have planned…so far. I planted 8 lavender plants this weekend that is my official lavender farm. I may add a few more plants, but this is a good, fabulously smelling start.

The Northwest Edition of my garden is challenging. We’re in a new zone with new soil and, gasp, weather. I have to pay attention to frost dates! I have to winterize!

The Washington State University Spokane County Master Gardener Program is an excellent online and physical resource providing everything a newbie like me needs to develop a fantastic vegetable garden as well as identify native plants. Browsing through the Extension Program, I learned that I – yes me – could become a Master Gardener. The requirements are straightforward, 64 hours of class time, passing grades on quizzes and tests and a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer time. I wonder if I get a badge that reads “Beth – Master Gardener”. Ooooh! Destiny.

Patience, grasshopper. First I must build the garden and experience the successes, miseries and tragedies of gardening in the Inland Northwest. According to the Northwest Checklist in my August 2013 issue of Sunset magazine, I need to:

1. Shop for spring bulbs as they are cheaper this time of year (I always love a bargain),

2. Plant Autumn Crocus, bulb to flower in 3 weeks. (Oooh! I can start now? Of course.)

There is information for those “West of the Cascades” aka Seattle, and prep, maintenance and protection projects that don’t apply to my garden yet. The checklist will be filed in my gardening folder already filled with advice and guidance, dream gardens and ideas.

Once I regain the full range of motion in my arms, I’ll get started on an autumn flower container garden for front porch color. I have nothing but time. Except for the time already allotted to family and work. My DIY furniture refinishing and upholstery projects fall next in line. You know I need my 8 hours each night too. Someway, somehow, I have all month, I will do my best to find some solace in my Northwest Edition of my yard.

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Tuesday Bluesday July 10, 2013

Filed under: Gardening — multihyphenatedme @ 10:08 pm

I’m flat.

I’ve got nothing to say.

I’m tired and I had a rough day.

Good night to you.

Good night to me.

Today is done I’m glad it is through.

Tomorrow I will be the person I was meant to be.

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Oh the Sights You Will See July 5, 2013

Filed under: Gardening,Life — multihyphenatedme @ 10:39 pm
Tags: #2013, #5thofjuly, #damncat, #moss, #nwgarden, #ohthesightsyouwillsee, #rockwood, #sleepinbloglater, #southhill, #spokane

We have our own menagerie. One old tall and gigantic black lab; three sibling cats, a girl and two boys; two small corn snakes and a crested gecko. The reptiles room with the boys, Dale the Beast has the free reign of the house provided he’s capable of climbing any stairs required, and the cats are sequestered to the basement. We live in harmony with our pets. That is, of course, until someone leaves a lid ajar, or forgets to close a door, or the dog, more in his heyday than now, cruises the neighborhood up to 5 miles away. As Dale nears his 14th birthday, he deserves a shout out for his glory days, mainly in Parks AZ where he stirred up plenty of trouble, made friends before we did in the neighborhood, and caused plenty of heartache and fear of loss due to his wanderlust. Seeing him now, barely able to climb stairs, unable to walk to the corner of the block, makes us reminisce of days gone by when he once caught a jack rabbit. Now Dale just spends his days sleeping and eating and rolling over to sleep and eat some more. He is still a great dog and I think, at last, I can out run him.

Last night was one such day of the cats, Jerry, escaped the basement when we went out to see the 4th of July fireworks. This is a finished basement supplied to keep kids and cats happy. Unless the door is left open. In addition to the door being left open, a window was left open, the only window that isn’t screened in the house. We’re not entirely sure the cat fully escaped, but the odds are good. Upon our return, we looked around the house and called for Jerry with no response as any aloof cat would do. We went to bed knowing that Jerry, despite his curiosity, loves his warm bed and would return.

Sure enough, at 4 AM, the cat jumped on my bed and startled me. I did the natural wife thing, I woke up Vince to have him get up and put the cat in the basement. When Vince got up, the cat bolted and Vince couldn’t find him. At 4:30 I was wide wake but forced myself to go back to sleep. I slept until 8:30 AM! 8:30!!! I jumped out of bed, thankful I already claimed a vacation day from work, and suited up to go on my daily walk around the neighborhood. No time to blog, no time for coffee – the horror! I drank a glass of water, found Jerry hanging out in the laundry room, tossed him into the basement and headed out the door.

Since moving to Spokane, my walks have been around 6 AM, local to our house, not too far, 1.5 – 2 miles tops. As South Hill is as unplanned a community as one could get, each street has something new to offer. South Hill is not on a grid system as most cities. The streets twist and turn, no two houses are the same and the sights are spectacular.

Today I walked 3.5 miles, my longest excursion yet and I’m feeling it tonight as I write this post. Here are some photos of today’s journey. I love my new neighborhood. I hope you do too.