Garden upgrade

Last year, in addition to a chicken coop and dual part compost bin, George built a second raised bed for gardening. we planted it with five corn kernels, dry beans and a yellow pear tomato plant, along with a row of sunflowers.
The tomato plant went gonzo, and took over almost the entire bed, and three of the corn stalks grew. the beans were not particularly successful really, and in general, the sunflowers were the most prolific of the bed.
In the other bed, I didn't plant any squash, but some volunteers came up, and i was excited about them, and for the first year, I planted zinnias (and some marigolds) and the flowers were stunning. The silly squashes turned out to be gourds, and even after two plantings, no green beans came up. so our "food" garden was mostly inedible, with exception of the basil... which we didn't grow enough of-- our pesto store went away almost by christmas, and that is about six months short of what we need.

So this year, I'm going to try and get FOOD out of this garden. Not like we don't have tons rolling in from Monroe Farms (thank goodness) but it is nice to pull some salad greens from outside (I've heard) and I would like to learn how to grow some greens mostly.

the boys spend a lot of time harvesting worms for the chickens. can this negatively affect my soil? I hope not.

We're going to redo the timber around the big one now that it's literally falling apart, so i'm off to find some beetle kill wood. pictures to follow of the progress. so far, already peas, spinach, butterhead lettuce and some mesclun growing... even through our mid may snow.

see?

Already I'm more present here! :) and I'm recovering from school too, as the weeks go on.

An update: The boys got spaces in the school I wanted for them. I don't know exactly how, some miracle, some good chance- with Milo being younger and that being the opening class. I feel so glad to know and am now working on how we'll become a family with two kids in school all day. It has snuck up on me (and early b/c of Milo's program that is only offered 8-2:50) and I try to imagine us having so much less choice about what we do when we wake up. I don't say this lightly, and I know that many families don't have the luxury of what we've had these past years here. But today the boys were playing making an ocean on the window sill and I thought about how hard it is to make sure that they have time to decide what to do next.

this documentary came out last week here, and I think it may be talking about this same topic at a much larger level. http://www.racetonowhere.com/trailer I didn't get to see it yet.

we have a snow covered yard today, in mid may! And there are crazy things afoot. Today the comcast person comes to install cable to our new television. ! yes, we have spent our last ten or more years without television.
but cable + TV = less money than tickets to South Africa
and both George and I enjoy visual media, it's just not a very high priority.
We also have enjoyed avoiding so much commercialism and violence (which are in large amounts on tv and cable), for ourselves and our boys.
Yet. I'm reading this book called "Raising Financially Fit Kids" which talks about teaching our children how to be responsible with money, and that is through practice and experience in making decisions and living with the consequences.
These are the same things we do as parents in all areas of life, help our children find out in the gentlest ways possible that certain things aren't great ideas.
I feel like it's about time to model the kinds of behavior we think is healthy with the TV too. Choosing not to watch TV when there isn't one isn't a very active choice, but having it, and still opting to read, play outside, ride our bikes, work on our projects, use our computers for other things, and generally carry on instead of watching it seems to be a bit more active modeling.
We all have different tolerance levels for screen time, and different values for what it's for and I have no beef with television watching any more than I have a beef with vegetarianism (to use a terrible metaphor!). It's just what makes us interesting and different-to have different focus and intent with our lives and the way we raise our kids.

new tactic

I like almost everything that google does, except that for crazies like me who have more than one address, i cannot be in any programs for the one, if i have the other open.
This has caused a big problem with this blog, since it is in the OTHER account that doesnt have my email, calendar, and reader... and means that I barely ever get here!

so anywho. that's my story and anyway, We survived!

I passed comps, and my Place exam (for teacher licensure) and managed to almost miss signing up for graduation, except for a well timed reminder to "opt in" to the graduation ceremony on the very final day. That would have been something, huh? to do everything else, but not go into a specific page and press the "yes" button for actual attendance to the ceremony!

Today it's may 12 and we're preparing for snow (!) so i cut down almost all of my glorious irises and now they are looking like a decadent arrangement in the living room.

What to do about my favorite lilac bushes? I only got one or two blooms to stand next to and huff over and over, trying to bring that scent inside of me. Lilacs are so heavenly.

that's all folks

the only news is that we have to wait more for everything (kj! ;) ),
except that I don't have to study any more, and I think you can call me a librarian, even if I'm not actually working.
Still waiting on a wait list at the school I want for the boys,
no job, and no current applications
not much news except one of my favorite things starts up again tomorrow!!!
http://www.boulderfarmers.org/ YAY!

other than letting the house fall to ruin, and barely feeding my children things called meals, I am looking around the yard and our life, and realizing that there are many things that have been left to submit to entropy.

Best discovery of the week has been that I have loved Michael Franti a lot lot longer than I knew, because I knew this band: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disposable_Heroes_of_Hiphoprisy
(only because of one Steve Pockross, musical explorer extraordinaire and guide, who I was lucky enough to cross paths with)
and so I have loved him since 1992ish, and was re-introduced by another amazing person, Ken Wright, while in Moab. But I didn't know that they were the same guy until this weekend, rocking out with my favorite wonderful man, my very own George.

How many times can I say how blessed I feel to have this family, and to be here now?
It is true every time.

So mostly, just waiting, trusting, and hoping that it will work out smoothly.

Before and after

That's when I am posting this quarter. I just finished my final quarter at DU. Now all that's left is the shouting. (in the form of a written exam, anyway) It is typed on computers, and we're so high tech, that we'll be putting our final exams onto good old three inch floppies.
Enough about that, it's over, and the day after I turned in my last paper, Rowan had his first day of soccer practice. In our house, this is a major event. We were all tense. Partially because a short week or two before, the organizers called us and asked if we or anyone we knew would be able to coach the team. (!)
This set off a good number of alarm bells in George from the soccer perspective, and me from the teaching perspective. We fretted. Rowan fretted about what would happen, what to wear, how he didn't know anyone. It was a pretty big deal.
Then we showed up, and Miguel, the godfather of one of the kids on the team, was just perfect. Just five kids, a bunch of siblings running around. No stress, a sunny warmish day, and the boys, kicking around soccer balls, just like they do in the yard. They did some cute little runs around, and a few things, and I approved of the teaching, and George approved of the soccer, and Rowan loved every minute. Even running over to us and getting a drink from the water bottle.
Phew. Heaven help us all!
I've been on pins and needles about that, about if I would get called for a substitute position i applied for in Jefferson County Public Libraries, and about the comprehensive exam... and of course, the biggest source of my nail biting and obsessive journaling (not good reading i can tell you that.)Is where the boys will be next year.
Still don't know that, still haven't taken comps, do know that I messed up the online application so no chance on the job,[thank goodness for lessons like this] and in a short time, It'll ALL be resolved.
George is schlepping back and forth to Portland, and I think he's getting weary. It's hard for us to have him gone, and hard for him to be gone so much. But after the great soccer practice for Rowan, George got to ride bikes with us downtown to Steele a Deal (our last of those) and to get a glimpse of the St. Pattys parade. Then an afternoon of climbing, and some great meals with the family. We got a weekend to refill our family love cup, after too long of all of us dragging with some kind of a cold, and the ugliness and cold of February.
Here we are now with the time change, and the computers even were rid of their viruses... We made it to almost-spring! That's all we need, even if it snows, we know the show is the birds singing and the grass greening show, not the big frigid winter show.
We're in the sad food months, with the winter share ended and the summer share three long months away. It's grim in the fridge and on the table except when I pull out the stuff from the freezer. Or the jars... still good on tomatoes and delicious jam. My favorite foods? Bread butter and jam. Close your eyes, remember what it looked like before you cut it or mashed it into heaven in a jar. This year I did AWESOME... with Pomona's Pectin as my best friend, and Raspberries from Berry patch farm, Strawberries from Monroes, grapes from Rebecca's neighbor, and peaches from the First Fruits. YUM. yum. yummmmm.

You see Rowan in his new game digs, complete with real cleats and his very own uniform. And Milo with his new ball (which he went to sleep with tonight) these kids are hilarious. I hope you are seeing the spring light at the end of the winter tunnel. Wish us luck on the lottery we want to win (for school) and of course, mental power to study for the next two weeks for comps before i sit down and do the shouting.

new thing on the side

I know, i know, everyone has a blogroll. Now I do too. Take a peek. I love each of these authors, and I think you will too!

compost concerns

We got a letter saying that our beloved compost pilot program is shutting down in March. I think this is one of the best things that Denver is doing, and has really affected our lives in a positive way. You already know this, because I raved about it, and even included a picture of our darling green compost bin. After startling success, they are dropping the program entirely instead of making it an option to the Denver community. Here is what they wrote to us:
“So far, your efforts have resulted in:
-31 pounds of compostable material per home, per week during the growing season
-12 pounds of compostable material per home, per week during the winter
To date, more than 1,200 tons of organic materials kept out of the landfill and turned into nutrient-rich compost
To put these results in perspective, a non-composting home in Denver sets out an average of 52 pounds of trash a week. So imagine the positive impact we could have if every Denver household was composting and recycling each week.”

I was startled to see this article on the front page of the Post Saturday: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14109065 instead of an article about the success and boon that a composting program might have for reducing the size of our landfill.

Here is a blog that says a few words about the program, and may be a way to get more information.
http://denvercomposts.blogspot.com/
I have just read and signed the petition: "Denver City Compost Program".
It takes just 30 seconds to sign the petition, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 5000 signatures - please sign here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/denver-city-compost-program
Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.