Friday, March 20, 2009

Finished!

Start a project in June of 2008... finish it in March of 2009. That's how we roll.

Last June we started the porch extension.
In October we began the second phase.

Today, I completed the project.

The Finished Patio

It's long and skinny but functional and with a few more chairs I think it'll be a pretty nice place to sit and visit with some folks. Or at least as nice as you can get using most of what you already have and spending as little money as possible.

Monday, March 02, 2009

My First Garden

Last year I bought a couple of starter plants and a package of carrot seeds. The carrots made it but the others didn't. The goal was to see if I could grow food and eat it. I'd say I was 33% successful.

Last fall my sweetie and I built a raised vegetable bed. A few weeks ago my uncle and I modified the bed we'd built last spring to a bigger size and he helped me add a bed for my herbs.

I was going to plant last week but the weather turned much colder so I waited. This week is it. I'll be planting carrots, lettuce, onion, spinach and broccoli outside in two separate beds. The raised bed will take all of those items except the broccoli. I'll be putting that in the larger bed we modified.

I also bought a seed starting tray. In it I will plant corn, cowpeas, tomatoes and 2 types of okra as well as chives, oregano, thyme and 2 types of basil. When the weather warms I'll plant cilantro and dill directly into the herb bed.

This seems like a lot to me sometimes and also sometimes too little. I hope to have a greater success rate this year. Only trying and learning will get me where I want to be. I look forward to being a person with a successful working vegetable garden, year after year.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Winter is Brown

Well, winter is brown in Texas, and that's is just fine.

I recently spent a weekend with one of my best girlfriend's and her husband. They live in a very small town in an area where much of their families own much of the land. We went on a couple of hikes around the town, over the levy, to the lake, riding around in their Polaris having a good time and taking lots of pictures.

As much as I like spring and the flowers and colors it brings, I have to say I had a very good time spending time looking for wonderful winter things to photograph.

The link to my full Winter in Texas set is here.

Below are just a couple of my favorite shots.


Deer Bones


Reflection


Berries


Seeds


My Friends and Wyatt


Canadian Goose


Tracks

Monday, January 12, 2009

I'm not busy or anything...

Lies!

Haha. Yeah, I have a few things going on right now.

I put my notice in to leave my work. It is a really long commute and after a year and 3 months I just can't do it anymore. I want to work closer to home. I need to. The environmental impact of me commuting 96 miles a day is just too great, not to mention the wear and tear on my car. Oh yeah and my time and money. Gas prices aren't going to stay down. So I'm looking for work now. At the worst possible moment to be looking for a job. Heh. I'm prepared though. I didn't just wake up one day and turn in my resignation letter. I knew I wouldn't work here for forever so I've been sitting on some money just in case I don't find work right away.

I've also got a back packing trip planned for the Grand Canyon. Two things have to be taken into consideration for this to happen. 1. Find work that will let me off for a week since I've been planning this trip for a year and 2. Train to go on such a huge hike.

This has me busy. I have work outs to do, stairs to climb, gear to buy, food to plan, all the normal things you do to get ready for week long camping/backpacking vacation except I've never done that before, so its an extra big deal for me. Mainly I'm worried about getting my body in shape. I just want to be able to enjoy the trip without too much pain.

To state the obvious, I'm stressed. I'm trying to just breath and take it one day at a time but the stress is there regardless. I know it'll all work out fine, I'm just ready for things to be in order so I can move on with my mostly frictionless life.

Now if you'll excuse me... I need to do a few things before I head to the gym. ;)