Emma's Fantabulous Blog

Holy crap, it’s October already. The air is crisp, the leaves are changing color and grocery stores are selling pumpkins already. And here I am, still hopeful that I’ll get 1 harvest-able zuchinni from my garden before frost sets in. I think I’m boned.

September was totally insane, but probably obvious, since I barely posted last month. I visited Puerto Rico, Las Vegas and NYC, while also taking care of Mistress of Honor duties in my best friend’s wedding. Not to mention having house guests and doing somewhat less glamorous activities. I think I’ll be writting up and posting some reviews of places I went/saw/conquered, because I’ve been having a really great time trying some new things. So keep your eyes peeled for that.

Also, now that the surf shops are all closing up and I wont be able to rent gear, I need to find some sort of physical activity that I enjoy, won’t easily bore me and that I can do during the dead of winter. Any suggestions?

My sugar snap peas are nearing the end of their growing season and most of the pea plants are dying. We’ve really enjoyed eating them, but since there is no new growth, I decided to rip most of those out and to plant something else that I could harvest by fall. I decided to pick up a few little plants at the local Whole Foods, but was somewhat disappointed by the plant varieties available. Basically I had a choice between various herbs, hot peppers or some Veronica… Luckily I have had Veronica before at a friends house and D & I really enjoyed it. It’s a type of cauliflower that is green and spikey (see above picture)… But it’s much more mild and doesn’t taste like cauliflower… hence Devon actually tolerating it… You can cook it like broccoli or cauliflower or you can eat it raw… Basically,  you can do a TON with it.

So, I bought 2 2×2 trays and planted them where the snap peas were and the Veronica should be ready to harvest in about a month and a half or so… My cherry tomatoes ripening and should be about ready in a couple of weeks, along with my collard greens. The yellow summer squash still has a ways to go, along with my carrots, I think. Herbs are chugging along, but after a serious mishap with one of my container gardens, I’m basically starting over from scratch with my cilantro and nasturtiums.

I’m really excited to have found another vegetable that Devon is excited about again! Go Veronica!

I know I’m a bit late on the mark, but last week I turned 27. Devon was super sweet and amazing and totally out did himself again. I think my favorite part of my birthday weekend extravaganza was that he arranged for me to be a trainer for the morning at the New England Aquarium! It was totally awesome. I got to help train their harbor seals, and fed their gigantic sea turtle, Myrtle.

Cute harbor seal

View all of the pictures  here.

I had worked with a number of orphaned harbor seals at my wildlife rehab job in Seattle, but we were always very hands off with them, as we always had the intention of releasing them back into the wild. They were often sick and vocalized the most heart-wrenching noises. The seals at the NE Aquarium were fat and happy, and seemed quite content. Since they are permanently housed there, they need to be trained to do certain things that would help vets perform their exams, such as lifting flippers and opening their mouths. It was really cool to see a completely different side of harbor seals… I even got a smooch from one! I’ll be posting that video on youtube!

I’m currently packing up everything on the 2nd floor, and carrying it down to store on our 1st floor for the next 2 weeks, while we’re getting hardwood floors put in upstairs. The master bedroom, our office, our guest room and 4 closets…. Good times. My arms and legs are getting a madd good work out.

While our life is going to be really disrupted for the next 2 weeks, I’m seeing the bright side. 1.) Beautiful pale maple floors are going to look SOOOO much better than the nasty stained & burnt beige carpeting that we currently have. 2.) I’m using this as an excuse to sort through all of our stuff and separate it into Keep, Toss or Sell at the yardsale.

I am so young and carefree and a wild spirit and the antithesis of a responsible adult.

Today I finished filling my raised garden bed. The snap peas, carrots, spotted mint and some cilantro are in the ground. I have other stuff to plant, but it’s too early to plant them.

Fifi also had a lovely day in the garden. She got out and romped around, eating as much clover as she possibly could. She even made a friend who had similar interests….

Fifi made a bunny buddy... Click on picture for larger view.

Cute no?

I feel like I had a productive and enjoyable spring day. I ordered a bunch of stuff online, that we’ve been desperately needing. Bamboo shades to block the sun in our bedroom in the AM, a new comforter (our current one outdates D & I’s relationship), a big wagon to hall yard junk in addition to Fifi, etc…. I went to the dry cleaners, and did the bi-weekly grocery store trip. I hung out with Fifi on the deck and read a great book as Fifi soaked up the sun’s rays. I planted 4 rows of sugar snap peas in my garden, and I made little hangers for my garden tools in the shed. And I’m currently in the process of making greek-spiced baked shrimp with feta for dinner. Yeah, domestic goddess!

"Emma" gardening

First off, I love using photo shop poorly. Next. It’s spring time and I’ve always wanted to have a small garden to grow things to eat. I’ve experimented in previous rental houses with herbs, collards and flowers… I’ve also planted a blueberry bush that I harvested about 6 ripe blueberries off of last year, and we had a patch of wild stawberries that the squirrels harvested the night before each one was ripe.

Now that we have a huge yard, I’ve decided that I will actually have a real garden. We’ve decided to go with a raised bed version, so its not as permanent, if we decide to move its location. Also, hopefully it will make it a bit easier to keep kritters out… Ok, they can share, but they can not eat everything! hehe. My garden staff, aka. Devon, will build/help build a pretty simple one, that will be about 4 ft. by 8 ft, and it should be big enough to hold the few things that I plan on trying to grow this year.

They are: Collard greens, yellow summer squash, carrots, sugar snap peas, nasturtiums and possibly zucchini. I’m also thinking about doing some herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley in some containers. We also have a big apple tree in our back yard. We moved into the house too late last year to see if they were yummy or not. But yeah. I’m feeling a smidge domestic… Although, we’ll see. Devon and I still have to build the raised bed tonight…. and then I have to plant things… Oh yeah.. and then weed, and weed, and weed, and weed. Good times.

Is anyone else trying to growing anything this year?

After being woken up last night at midnight, 5am and 7am by my parent’s dog that we’re babysitting, I was very concerned that today was going to be a rough day. Other than being totally exhausted to begin with (additionally the ruppy had a similar schedule the night before), the day has turned into a mah-valous day of indoor snuggles while peering out at the winter wonderland outside.

I got some house cleaning done earlier, and now I’m curled up on my “diva” lounge chair with the ruppy, warming our toes in front of a nice roaring fire. Outside it’s cold & wet, but there are beautiful big fluffy snowflakes to admire & we have no reason to leave the house today. Man, I love the end result of planning weekly menus! Bundle up & stay warm kids!

Over the years I’ve had lots of needles stuck in my face & body (hence all of my gorgeous piercings), however needles still freak me out. Not a hardcore amount, but they still make me squeamish. But I’m all about donating a pint of my blood every so often. Once I was rejected for an iron deficiency, and most times I’m a “slow bleeder”, but in general it’s not a huge problem for me.

I think if you’re an eligible blood donor, you should definitely make an appointment to do so. I’ve recently signed up for a local blood drive in my town. And if the possibility of saving someone’s life isn’t enough good Ju-ju to motivate you to do the same, you can just look at it like I do: If, for whatever terrible reason, you might ever need a blood transfusion, or whatever, you can just look at your current donation as a deposit. And an added bonus… You usually get juice and cookies!

Check out the American Red Cross site: Give Life to find a blood drive close to you.

So tonight is date night, and our driveway is a 6 inch deep sheet of ice, and it just started dumping snow again. Weak sauce. We have snow tires and 4WD, but i’m growing nervous about not being able to try out Moonstones tonight. And I’m really craving the idea of their fried buffalo calamari with blue cheese. Sounds sooo yummy.

On the upside, we haven’t lost power….. *knocks on wood*.