93 Degrees

That's how hot it is at my house right now. Not inside - we've got millions of fans going. But outside, it's absolutely boiling. *B* and I might just camp down in the basement for a while, but it would pain us as my laptop, his PC, and our TV are all upstairs. It was so hot that when I was watering the garden, I barely winced at the ice cold hose water when I had *B* hose me down. Ah, sweat - I mean sweet relief.

My mom and I went shopping today - it was wonderful. I got four work shirts, three of them less than five dollars a piece! I took her to our local organic market which I do so love. I tried something new and found that I absolutely love blue agave nectar. Both my mom and I got a bottle each. We're both trying to eat better; she's cutting out carbs and I'm attempting to go natural.

While we were there, we found local bee pollen.
I've read that if you suffer from allergies (which *B* does), consuming local honey or pollen will build up your immunity. Our first impression, as I tried it too, is that it tastes the way alfalfa smells. I'll let you know how it goes.

I can't WAIT until our local farmer's market starts up again!

All About Gardens

Things have finally started to take off with our garden. I'm rapidly running out of places to put things! First, an inventory of things planted or soon to be:

1. Strawberries
2. Peaches
3. Blackberries
4. Snow Peas
5. Lima Beans
6. Peppers
7. Tomatoes
8. Spinach
9. Buttercrunch Lettuce
10. Red Leaf Lettuce
11. "Salad Mix" Greens
12. Zucchini
13. Carrots
14. Parsnips
15. Asparagus
16. Potatoes
17. Shallots
18. Cantaloupe
19. Cilantro
20. Parsley
21. Basil
22. Rosemary
23. Chives
24. Mint
25. Lavender (barely)
    
26. Sunflowers
27. Honeysuckle
28. Moss (random, yes I know)
    

Wow, have we been busy. Some of it, we bought as plants, but a lot of it I actually started from seed. I'm pretty pleased with myself in that respect.

The known world with respect to my garden:

We'll be looking here shortly for the moss that we received as Easter presents. Random, yes, but *B* does indeed like his moss.
Our lovely new Alabama Crimson Honeysuckle.
My tomatoes are coming up well!
A variety (left to right) salad mixes, spinaches, and tomatoes.
Of all my lavender plants, this is the only one to survive. I might have to supplement my lavender crop this year.
Lovely, hardy chives, rosemary, and basil. I'm so excited to have a real herb garden for once!
These peppers were on for a good price at our local Southern States. I hadn't bought seeds or started any, and I just couldn't pass them up.
An assortment of plants that I've been working with. There's cilantro and parsley, and the big guy in the corner is two different types of lettuce.
The first peep of yellow from my daffodils. How is it that everyone else's daffodils are in full bloom or dying off and ours are just beginning?
Now these, I'm fairly certain, are hostas. They are EVERYWHERE! The lady we bought the house from really had a thing for them.
In her excitement, Hailey has been jumping all over my blackberry, so we're fencing it tomorrow. For now the stakes have helped.

It has not helped, however, my crocuses. She crushed the flowers into oblivion.

This, Momzoo correctly identified as a forsythia. As soon as it bloomed, there was no question!
My peas are sprouting! After reading a publication from the UMD extension office, I though it would never happen. I'm so pleased to be wrong :o)

My lovely mint plant is really branching out!

Mysteries of the dirt:

Momzoo had identified these as possible daylillies, but I've yet to see any kind of bloom out of them. They are the second most abundant plant in the garden, aside from hostas.
This is some kind of vine, perhaps a honeysuckle. Does anyone know what it is?

Are these tulips? They don't appear to have any plans to produce flowers any time soon.

I love this bush, but have no idea what it is.

These grew up where I thought yuccas had once grown. Apparently not. Care to venture a guess?
I still have no clue on this sucker. Given that there are new growths out of the ground and a lot of mostly dead leaves around it, I'm thinking I should have cut it back last fall.
I think this might be a hibiscus bush. That's the only lead I have. One of these days I'll take a cutting into a nursery to find out for sure.
We all call this hens and chicks, but I'm fairly certain it's not. As I accidentally found out, each of those little leaf-flower-thingies has its own root system, kind of like a tuber.

Thank God!

I have been dealing with horrible guilt for a few weeks now. For Christmas, *B* bought me an iPod Nano. I was so grateful, and had been using it at the gym. I only had a little bit of music on it, but was planning on dumping my whole collection on there. I haven't been to the gym in a while, so I wasn't actively keeping track of my iPod. A week or so ago, I wanted to use it. I could not find it ANYWHERE.

I've searched school, my car, my bedroom, the office, the living room, the kitchen - you name it, I looked there. I called the gym to make sure I didn't leave it there. Then I remembered that it once went into a plastic bag. I was devastated - I must have thrown it away! How could I live with throwing away something that I knew was a stretch for *B* to get me? I had wanted this for so long, and now, three months later, I let it go. He was so proud that he was able to give it to me, too.

So, I confessed that I lost the iPod to *B*, and he of course said that he wasn't angry with me. But you could tell he was disappointed. For whatever reason, tonight, I was moved to start looking again. Hanging on the coat hook behind the door was a plastic bag. Could it be? It WAS! My iPod! I didn't realize the burden that was on my shoulders until it was lifted. Thank you God!

Honeymoon Decision

We're going to......


New York!

We decided that we really can't afford to go to Ireland like we wanted to. Airfare alone would have been $2000. So instead, we're going to take a train up to New York for five days. We'll see the sights, take in some plays, and do cutesy, romantic, Christmastime things. Then, we'll come home by Christmas Eve and have our first Christmas as a married couple totally by ourselves. We always run ragged trying to see family on Christmas day, but we've decided to take a year off for once. We will see everyone the week before at the wedding. I'm SO excited and SO relieved not to have to find funding for a very expensive trip to Europe. One day, I hope. But not this year.

Our DC Trip, Realized

Though I wasn't too sure we were going to make it, *B* and I went down to DC yesterday. We managed to struggle out of bed early enough to get there around 10 am. We decided to see all the things that we just never quite got around to when we were younger. And as luck would have it, this week is the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It was absolutely gorgeous. And lucky for you, I took my camera along :o)

View of Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin

*B* and me at the Tidal Basin

Gorgeous view of the Washington Monument

It seems we've gotten a lot of rain lately - these trees should not be on an island!

And this bench should not be IN the basin. How did that little girl get there?!

I have discovered my favorite memorial. We didn't plan to stop, but we had to walk through on our way from the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. That is when I discovered the beauty of the FDR Memorial. I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone. I was really touched.

The entrance to the memorial

*B* by one of the many gorgeous water installations. I so wish we could have gone in just a bit.

*B* against the memorial that quotes: "More than an end to war, we want and end to the beginning of all wars."

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."


Just one of the amazing waterfalls at the memorial.

Hello Mr. Lincoln

An interesting view of both the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the steps of the Lincoln Monument.

A picture from the American History Museum - me with a canning poster. *B* said I just had to post it for you all, and as usual, he was right!

We didn't get to see all of what we wanted, but we walked for a good five to six hours yesterday. Boy, were our dogs barking! We ended up seeing the cherry blossoms, the Jefferson Monument, the FDR Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and finding my mom's cousin's name, the Lincoln Monument, the reflecting pool, the outside of the Washington Monument, and the American History Museum.

We stopped at a great place for lunch - I highly recommend it. It's called Capitol City Brewing Company, and we found it at H Street and 11th, though it's listed as being on New York Avenue. They give complimentary soft pretzels, and their burger and fries were the best ever! (By the way, I realized later that it was Friday and I wasn't allowed to have meat. Mea culpa. But it was GOOD.)

We decided that we have to come back sometime this spring/summer to finish off DC. We want to see the National Archives, the Capitol, the inside of the Washington Monument, and a few other, more obscure museums. For the cost of a metro ride (~$3 each) and lunch (more than $3 each), we had an amazing, jam-packed day of fun together.

The Feminist/Feminine Question

I just read a blog post (and a subsequent website) that has inspired me to write in a way that I have not felt in a long time. None of this is judgment on anyone's beliefs or ideals, just a philosophical question.

The website Ladies Against Feminism has relaunched itself recently. Their website states, "Since 2002, LAF has refuted the follies of feminism and promoted a strong, intelligent, biblical view of womanhood. We love femininity and are delighted to share the beauties of the womanly virtues with women all over the world."

Is it impossible to be a feminine feminist? While there is no concrete definition of feminism, I choose to believe that feminism has given women a choice. The aforementioned website often claims that women were granted all the powers they needed in the Bible. While this may be true, it is our culture, not necessarily the Bible, that governs and restricts our day-to-day lives. It is for this reason that women needed to fight to get those rights that were in fact guaranteed in the Bible. While feminist movement once served to put women into the workforce, it is now allowing women to come back home. This form of feminism is called "choice feminism," and it appears to be defining the "third wave."

Within this website, the biggest assumption whose veracity could be called into question, as far as I can tell, is that one is married to a decent, loving husband. Is it possible to have "beautiful womanhood" when one is being abused and raped by her husband? Is that not submitting to his will? Should a woman be denied the pursuit of happiness because her husband thinks that studying math or science is useless for a woman? In order for women to embrace this lifestyle, she must be certain that men in her life will embrace a gentlemanly life as well.

Overall, I like their ideas. I do believe that we should be a little more modest, gracious, and polite. I would love to be able to stay at home and raise a family. But I like more the idea that we can choose to believe in these premises; we are not forced into them. And that makes "beautiful womanhood" ever more enticing.

Simple Pleasure Thursday Plus

My simple pleasure today is a BIG one. It's the first day of spring break! I started to read a book in bed round about 8:30 last night and passed out two chapters in. I slept in until 9:30 am. It. Was. AMAZING! I haven't felt so good in so long.

Though I will say...

This morning I made myself a really good breakfast - two waffles, a fruit cup, and a raspberry yogurt. Very healthy. I even ate it outside on the picnic table. It was wonderful. I went to let Hailey in after I was done eating, and it happened - Evie got out. AGAIN! Hailey chased her down and kept her busy under the picnic table. I couldn't get a hold of her. I stepped back, and Hailey managed to chase her straight into the house.

Okay, I thought. The one bad thing for the day is done. So set about washing up dishes, and documenting the garden's progress (which I'll post about later). I heard this very distinct sound coming from the basement. From my experience with rushing water and our basement (see posts here and here), I ran down the steps as fast as my little legs could carry me. The cats had knocked Shamrock's return tube out of his tank such that the filter was pulling dirty water out of the tank and dumping clean(ish) water on my carpeted basement floor.

While I was cleaning up the soaking mess that was my floor, Evie hopped up on the edge of the turtle tank and started punching Shamrock in the face. I've seen this before; it was Wicket's favorite pasttime as a kitten. Then, it was funny. Now, it was infuriating. It was her third strike for the day. I swatted her ever so gently straight into the tank. I've never seen a cat clamber so fast. I'm hopeful that she won't do that again.

Now, after a very delicious, very healthy salad lunch, with laundry in the washer and hanging out on the clothesline, things have settled down. I'm going to have my siesta, then, back to the spring cleaning extravaganza.