Garden update

How is my garden growing, well that is a very good question.  The weather got cold after I transplanted my plants and many of them died:(.  Some of the plants did hold on and are still growing, others had to be started all over again.  The next logical step was to start the new plants from seed again but this time I started them in the large containers.  I did this so that I would not have to transplant them.  So I have waited and nothing is peeking its head from the soil,  I scratch my head and wonder why, then I see it, a bush bean seed that started to put down a root.  The only problem is that the seed is sitting on top of the soil and not in it.  Now I understand what is happening, the urban wildlife have figured out what I am doing, and are treating themselves to lunch at Shonah's garden cafe.  Now what is the next logical step, that is what I ask myself.  A few day later I am out putting poultry wire around and over my containers.  I guess we will see if that works.  So that is where I am with the garden.

Gas Buddy

For those of us with cars, the price of gas is on our minds.  Whether you are commuting or just running errands, $4 bucks a gallon is a lot.  I used to be able to fill my Toyota Echo up on $2o bucks, now it is $40.  Needless to say I am not filling up very often, but I am riding my bike more and trying to cut down on errand running. For the times that I do use the car and need to get gas I try to go to the station with the best price, here is a link to Gasbuddy.com, a website where you can search your area for gas stations according to price.  You never know you may just save a few cents.

What a Ham!

I bought Ewan some new shorts and shirts today and this evening I ask him to try them on.  I showed him the clothes and he said he would try them on and show us how they looked.  This is what he looked like when he came out to show us his clothes. Not only has he done the obvious but he also did not try on the clothes.  What a ham:)

Urban gardener??

Living in Chicago, in a condo, with a concrete courtyard out back does not really lend itself to gardening at least not in the traditional way.  To garden in an urban setting you have to be a little more creative and perhaps a little more diligent.  For as long as I have lived in my condo I have been growing flowers in pots and window boxes and last year I tried my hand at some veggies.  I grew a tomato plant, zucchini, peppers, and I think something else that I cannot remember.  I grew then in these large galvanized tin tubs that I have and put them in the place that gets the most sun, which is not really full sun.  My tomato produced some very small fruit as did my zucchini, as did my peppers.  I was not disappointed at my rather small crop though, I was happy that anything grew at all.  I had set pretty low expectations and that worked out well for me last season.  This season is different, I have set my expectations a little higher and have planted  more then last year.  This year I have planted tomato, lettuce, string beans, bush beans, cucumber and will be planting carrots as well.  I have also expanded into more containers and moved the location to one that I think will get more sun for a little longer, still not full sun but more then last year.  This year I started my seeds inside and so I am hoping that will help too.  I have also been more aggressive with my porch garden this year.  This year I have a strawberry plant and two hanging baskets of herbs.   I decided that this year I really needed to embrace my surroundings and embrace what it means to be an urban gardener, thus the bigger garden.  I try to be as green as I can and so it just seemed like a logical step to garden and try to have less of an impact of the earth.  I have also tried to look at urban gardening as a challenge to myself, the city can throw concrete at me and what will I do with it, I will grow thing on top of it in containers, I will garden and hopefully each year will be better then the last.

Here are some pics of my garden and so you can see what I am doing.  You can see the containers and some of the plants.  Here is a close up of my cucumber plants, aren't they cute!And this picture I really love it is a picture of my garden with a backdrop of my neighbors beautiful yard that is full of dirt and grass and space to grow things in the ground. Last but not least is my porch, I have basil, dill, coriander, and mint in the hanging baskets.So there you have it, my little piece of earth and what i am doing with it.  I will keep you updated as the growing season progresses.  Wish me Luck!

One more day!

So this week has actually gone pretty well despite Brian being gone at the Java One conference.  The days have been pretty good with a few exceptions, but that is to be expected.  Ewan's behavior has been so so, but hopefully it is because he misses his dad.  My nights are really the only thing that have made this week challenging.  Sleep, that is the big thing that has been missing this week, and it is really starting to have an effect on me.  Having patience with a 4-1/2 year old is a challenge on a good day but throw in bad sleep and it is darn near impossible.  Today I don't think I have actually woken up yet and it is 9:45pm.  In fact writing this post has been a chore, I cannot spell for the life of me and I keep closing my eyes for very long blinks.  So take away the bad sleep and I have had a pretty good week.  I now know that If I have to do this again I will survive, I say that now but tomorrow is still a few hours away;)  Signing off to get some sleep.

Java One

Java One, a title that I have heard quite enough of the past few weeks.  It is a conference that Brian is at with some work mates and you guessed, it is about Java.  Brian left on Sunday late in the afternoon and I was dreading it.  This is the first time that I am going at parenting alone for a whole week.  For weeks I have been trying to prepare myself and fill up the week with things to do.  Today was my first full day and so far it is going pretty well, despite a few problems this morning.  I am trying to keep a positive attitude and not let the small stuff stress me.  I rented some movies and bought easy things to make for dinner in hopes that this will give us more relaxed evenings.  I think that I planned pretty well but we will see, it is only the end of the first day.  I am looking forward to Brian getting home but I am glad he is having fun learning and doing the geek thing.  More as the week progresses, until then wish me luck!

The Collection

A few months ago I was cleaning Ewan's room and cleared off a bunch of toys from one of the book shelves.  I thought that they were random toys that Ewan had just put there for no particular reason.  So off they went and into the bins where they belonged.  Later that afternoon Ewan came to me and asked what happened to all of this toys on the bookshelf.  I told him that I had put them away.  He told me he was mad at me and then said, " Momma I don't want to see you touch that stuff again".  Ok, ok, I guess I should not have touched the toys, or should I say The Collection, that is what it has become know as nowadays.  The middle shelf of the bookcase that has books on it also has little toys and things placed on it that I guess are special to Ewan.  I took some pictures so you can get the full effect of what The Collection looks like.  It is pretty interesting when you think about what kinds of things are special to kids, some times it is a new toys but sometimes it is a candy wrapper or broken car, or pen. So a word of warning, if you find a random collection of toys in your child's room , you may want to think twice about cleaning it up, it may mean more to them then you think.

Homeschooling

For a long time Brian and I have been mulling over the question of whether or not to homeschool our children or to send them to public school.  For some this question may have a easy answer but that was not the case for us.  It has literally been years that we have been in conversation about this.  Ewan is only 4-1/2 which tells you that we started the conversation when he was young.  Ewan is about to finish up his first year of preschool and then next year he will do his 2nd year of preschool.  Before Ewan is done with preschool though we will have to have applied to schools for kindergarten, that has to be done by this Dec.  With Dec. now a matter of months away and not years I felt the need to really figure out what we wanted to do.  So this is what has been on my brian for a few months, homeschool or not?  In an effort to help make a decision I started teaching Ewan to read.  This was two fold, I want Ewan to learn how to read and he has a wonderful love of books, and I wanted to start a routine for myself that might help me get an idea of what home schooling might be like.  What I have found is that I love being apart of Ewan's learning, and I love that I am a part of that in an environment that is relaxed for him and for me.  I have found myself thinking about how fast time goes by when you have children and how one minute they are in your arms for the first time and the next they are going to college.  I want to spend as much time with my children as I can before they are ready to leave the nest and am hoping that homeschooling will be a way to facilitate that.  I am also hoping that homeschooling will alleviate what I see many parents goes through with their kids after school, battles over homework.  I don't want to be away from my children all day and then when I do get to be with them they are tired and crabby and frustrated with homework.  I would rather see us do our school work during the day and then have the evening to do other things and not more school work.  So I guess that is what I have come to in my thinking over these past few years.  I have decided to give homeschooling a try and more then anything am hoping that it becomes a blessing to our family and that we look back on it and cherish the time we had together as a family.