Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts

Monday, June 21, 2010

Summer solstice (by Kat)

Gloriously busy around here! Zing-zang happy-skipping around here.

Here's evidence of a blooming elderberry.
Chirp chirp was in misery because the little blooms were stuck fiercely in her hair.
She smelled (to me) like heaven in springtime and (to her) like a scary old lady.


Summer solstice swung by, by summer herself is strangely absent. In fact, we had snow to the north of town last Wednesday. The poor local farmers are scratching their heads and pulling their beards in frustration. We've gone from a drought year (declared late March) to a nearly 100% water year (as of a few weeks ago).

This has been great for the garden, though!

Peas:


Onions:


More onions, four rows of beets, recalcitrant broccoli:


An alium transplanted from Mr. Boom's grandmother's home before it was torn down to make room for a housing development:


This volunteer broccoli plant, growing up through the bricks of our garden path, is so much further along than the broccoli I actually planted. Make of that what you will....



(I really do!)


And finally, Chirp Chirp made her first loaf of bread. See the difference in surfaces of the two loaves of french bread? One was stretched tight as it was rolled into shape, the other wasn't. Proof that a simple little technique can really make a huge difference in your final product.

And finally, a sneak peak...


Any guesses?

It's the reason I've been so busy this past week...


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Life goes on (by Kat)

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da,


life goes on, brah!...


Lala how the life goes on...


Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!...


Lala how the life goes on.


Gotta love the Beatles.

I really sincerely appreciate the kind thoughts and the love you've sent my way.

Grandma is settled in her new home, fussing around with her books and teddy bears, making sure they're all just so. She's right next door to her best friend, and she loves how much fun it is. Prior to the move, she was all the way across the hall. So, you know, this is lots better.

Grandpa's ashes are ready to be scattered back at the family cemetery in Illinois.

Comfort's been given to loved ones across the country.

Chirp chirp's final choir concert was last night. She isn't taking choir next year, so the concert was extra bittersweet. She possesses an awful lot of musical talent, but doesn't find it to be rewarding in the least.

And me? Well I'm still standing. I'll settle for that right now.


Worms. Gotta love the worms, too.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Miscellaneous Morning (by Kat)

We woke up this morning to an unwelcome sight out our bedroom window. Those little johnny-jump-ups in the new banner? They're under a half inch of snow now. More snow is falling, and the weatherman says we're getting up to three or more inches today.

In other news, the little chicks are growing at a phenomenal rate. Here they are on day six. Their itsy bitsy little wing feathers have replaced the down. Tiny little tail feathers are beginning to protrude from their nethersides. They mess up their box faster than we can clean up after them.

I'm very glad we decided to get these little chicks. They're a sign of spring that the weather can't subdue. I keep running back into the music room to peek at them, just to assure myself that warmer weather is coming (back). Invariably, I go to pick one up, and then I have to pick up the others so that no chick is left behind.

I'm supposed to be starting Easter Sunday's dessert, making this week's bread, tending to laundry, and that sort of thing. I also have a gallon of whole milk in the fridge to make a batch of mozzarella cheese with. I bought the milk a week ago, so I have to do it today before the milk goes bad.

E-gads, I guess I need to add snow shoveling to the list.

Hard to believe we were at Butchart Gardens less than one week ago, looking across this warm, colorful, beautiful expanse. Bumblebees, sweet wafts of flower blossoms, rafts of bulbs in bloom...

Yeah, I can spell procrastination!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy Saint Patrick's Day (by Kat)


Well, looky-see what came to me,
a vision of purple from St. Patty.

These johnny-jump-ups are very first flowers in our yard, and a most welcome site this evening.

"Boo" and "Hiss" to the doctors in the big city far away who changed my grandma's appointment from 8:30 to 11:30 without notifying us. We were finally seen at 1:00, and didn't get home until after 3:00. Too long a day for my grandma, and for me, too.

Pass the green (labeled) beer, please. I need it!

By the way, we have a batch of IPA home-brew fermenting in the closet even as we speak. I can't wait to taste it. If the smell is anything to go by, this is our best batch yet! For now, pass the Broken-Halo.

Cheers to St. Patrick! This round is on me!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Weekend hike (by Kat)

So the buttercups stole the show yesterday, but they weren't the only flowers to be found .

See the little white puffs?

Lomatium!


And this sole yellow flower.
My first thought was glacier lily, but that's not it--the leaves are too narrow.
I'm thinking Fritillaria pudica?


Finally, we came upon these sea anemones!

All the Googling in the world hasn't yielded the name of this little guy.
Anybody know?


Saturday, March 13, 2010

Buttercups! (by Kat)

Mr. Boom and I woke up early this morning and ran up to the hills. The sun shone through our bedroom window in a long-forgotten angle, and we just KNEW we had to make a run for it! That particular angle meant spring! It promised beauty and warmth and squishy mud under our boots. It whispered that we might find some antlers that deer and elk are now shedding. It yelled at us to get the heck out of the house at this very instant! Being obedient sorts (ha!), we did.

The snow is still thick on the mountain ranges surrounding our valley, but the lower hills have lost their blanket.

As we traipsed up a draw, the still-frozen soil crunched under our feet, but as we neared the upper portion, the soil grew less firm, and then it was downright muddy. We started up a toe slope, and discovered a buttercup!

Then this!

Then these!

Then a stream!

An ocean!

Oh heavens above...
Spring has sprung!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Pruning Rewards (by Kat)

If you're pruning your plums, cherries, and apricots...


Do yourself a favor.
Put the pruned-off bits into a can of nice warm water.


You'll be thankful one week later!