Wrapping Things Up & Gettin Outta Dodge

I'm just wrapping up the week here and so ready for the upcoming break.

Well... not like packed and ready...like my brain is ready.

I've been having a little trouble with my camera lens focus  for the past couple of weeks but hopefully I'll get some quality time with it and get it solved this week.

Most likely it can be attributed to user error.




A few from this week:

We got some raspberries planted....this one is Heritage it's a late Fall variety

 I've been having raspberry withdrawls for the past few years. 


We got three of these Canby types.  They are early summer varities.

And we put in two of these Amity types.  They should be early fall types.

 I've found that I like to spread them out and have more of a continual fresh harvest.  I'm not huge on the whole canning thing and this is how I avoid that.



And from the Lessons Learned department ...

Here's something that didn't work out.

 Well that one on the upper left is fine.... it is for demonstration purposes only....  It's the other two Melissa cabbages that didn't really work out.


And these Derby Day cabbages didn't happen either.

They did however work out really well when I planted them in the warmer season so I'm suspecting that they will both do fine planted at the right time. I'll give it another shot later.

Oh and for the record they're still fine if you throw them in with the corned beef and potatoes.

They just look a little non-traditional...which is somehow perfect.

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Track season started this week.

I love the comaraderie that kids develop on athletic teams.

Dylan is still nursing a hip flexor injury so he went easy for this first meet and only ran the 4x100.

This was his first time running the anchor leg.  He and Thomas had a good handoff and things went well in general.

Dylan likes winning.  He really likes winning.  And did I mention he loves winning.

He's a tiny bit competitive.

I have no idea where he gets that.

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I  got my pre-beach pedicure this week.

The boys gave a gift certificate for a pedi for my birthday.

I love those boys.

Rich took issue with my color choice.

Something about Shrek-like??

I tried to explain that this color is in my swimsuit.

I even showed it to him side by side.

He remains unconvinced.

But there's something I know about him.

You see as soon as he gets his first Cardiff wave it will all be good.

The word Shrek and my toes won't be in the same sentence.

He'll probably love them.

They worked out well for St. Patrick's Day yesterday anyhow.



Over & outta here,


Cath

Searching For Signs Of Spring

This time of year gets a little rough for me.

My inner San Diegan begs to be let out.

So I go in search of hope.

Hope of sun.

Hope of color.

Hope of life's renewal.

Hope that I'll get to spend more time in the sun with this guy.

And as I search and focus on the beauty ...

And the everyday gifts that are all around me if I bother to open my eyes and look...

I start to know that I will make it until my refueling time in the sun on Spring Break, just a few short weeks away.

I plan for future sun by ordering seeds.

These are some that I just got in the mail for this year. There seems to be a purple and yellow theme hmmm.

Territorial Seed is having a Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign.  With any seed order in 2010 they send you a free packet of carrots seeds to plant and donate the results to your local food bank or soup kitchen or a neighbor in need.

What a great idea. We tilled up an extra row for ours and we plan to participate.

Focusing on the sunny moments of life,

Cath

Parts Is Parts

Last year for Dylan's welding shop project he decided to modify a dirt buggy frame that he aquired so that it would fit the engine from a three wheeler that he and Collin had scrounged up from the Wiggins family.

He worked on it during shop class all last year...whenever they had gas for the welders anyhow.

It didn't quite get finished so it was added to the collection of motorized vehicles that inhabit our garage much to his father's dismay.

Since Collin was home for a month Dylan enlisted his advice to get the thing running.

Ummm yes I do believe that's the seat belt there in the far right corner.

Looking lost and abandoned.



They exercised some rather ingenious and scary creativity in their effort to assemble and operate it using only what could be found in and around our garage.

They had better things to save thier money for.

Like snowboarding lift tickets.



Things like engineering and safety are overrated.

Just ask these guys.

And so a foot peg and a spring from our old trampoline become the gas pedal....ingenious.

And a piece of bent and welded rebar becomes a steering....ummmmm mechanism....scary.

I just can't bring myself to call it a steering wheel....cause it's not.

It's actually a vast improvement over their first idea....vise grips.

That one just didn't fly with me.

I can be such a stick in the mud.




In a puff of blue smoke it moved forward!

As Collin and Ben stood on the driveway laughing,  

Amazed that it made at least one loop down the driveway and back.

 Hopefully they'll be able to dig up a real steering wheel of some sort.

I'd sleep much better at night.

Cath