Narrow Escape

I just got excused from jury duty based on discretionary standards.  Whoo!  That's a relief!

Worm Bin

When my mom was here about a week ago we left my house to walk to the Waffle hut for lunch. From there we decided to go to the elementary school o see if Emme was out on the playground.  We walked past a house that was getting some work done, and there was a trailer full of garbage with a great big wood box on top.  I said "That would be the perfect worm bin!". We found the owner and asked him if we could have it, he said sure and got it out of the trash for us.  It has big metal wheels and metal handles on the ends too.  So I hooked Rosie to it and she towed it home!

We got out the drill and drilled some big holes in the sides for ventilation.  I covered them with that permeable ground cloth that I've ben pulling up from everywhere in our yard.  I hate that stuff, it's the worst temporary fix.  Put cloth down everywhere and cover it with barkamulch, so the weeds can just grow on top instead.  But at least I found one good use for it.  It should keep the worms from crawling out the ventilation holes anyway!

We shredded a bunch of newspaper and wet it down and added peat moss as well for the worms bedding.  We went to my favorite local nursery and bought half a pound of red wigglers.  1 pound is supposedly 1000 worms (no that anyone counts them!) so I should have about 500.

1 pound of worms can eat 7 pounds of scraps a week!  

There it is in all its worm bin glory:

One lucky afternoon and I now have a functioning worm bin.  Soon I will have fabulous compost!  

Wading Pools and Slip N' Slides

I love summer heat

Bees Update

The other day it got warm and the bees went crazy!  They were very busy bees.  But it was only a great big swarm for about 20 minutes, then they went back to normal.  

I had to get in the hive again on Wednesday to take out the bee box they came in and to put in more frames and feed them more sugar syrup.  This time AL was m brave photog.

Here's the smoker and the hive and the pot of sugar syrup.  The sugar syrup is 2 parts sugar to one cup water.  I think i did 6 cups of sugar this time. 

The smoker totally works!  I was truly amazed.  They run right back into the depths between the frames.

Moving the frames around.....

Buzz buzz bees

I think I found my queen.  She's a little longer than the others.  She was sort of at the end of my finger when this picture was taken, but I can't find her in the pic.  Even when I try to zoom in.

Reclaiming the Yard

Our backyard had been lost under butterfly bush branches for too long!
AL helped me reclaim my yard, she stacked all teh branches and we mowed. and I've been weeding....

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm a Beekeeper now!

I picked up my 3 lbs of bees today.

Here are some stacks of bee boxes at the bee supply place.  My bees were actually in much larger stacks! 


Here they are in the back of my trunk, along with a few other bee necessities.  Like a bee suit, and a hat.  (The home fax/copier/scanner is not for the bees.)  The lady at the bee place said "You DO NOT want to let them tip over in your car."  The sound of them buzzing was pretty intense.

Hanging out in their box in my garage.

One big mass of bees in a box.

They're really really pretty.....  The pics just don't do them justice.  They're amazingly yellow and kind of glow.  I took SO MANY pictures and just couldn't quite get it.  My bees are Italian bees, they're supposed to be less aggressive then the Carniolans, black bees, which were the other option.  The Italians are yellow, the usual honey bee, and of course they like pasta and wine.

Got the suit!  Got the hat!  Got the veil!  Got the gloves!  Got the BEES!

When I tilt the box back and forth, the bee mass tilts too.....

First you get your hive ready.  Then you pull out the can of bee food which is also the box stopper.  It was really hard to get out, and my gloves are way too big.  So I had to take a glove off.  

I had to put the glove back on REALLY FAST because once I got that plug out those bees started flying everywhere!

Lucky for me, Tina was nice enough and brave enough to get and stay close enough to take all these pictures.  Here's the rest of the audience.  As soon as those bees started flying they decided that a further vantage point was probably a better idea!

Checking on the queen...... She's in her own little box.  I had to pull the cork out and plug the hole with marshmallows.  The bees will eat the marshmallows to release their queen.

Unplugging the bee box again!

Putting the box in the hive.....  I read 3 different sets of directions on how to deal with package bees, and each said different things.  I decided I liked the one that said to put the whole box in and leave it in for a week instead of the ones that say to shake all the bees out.  

Putting in the feeder tray.  I made lots of sugar syrup to fill the feeder tray.  2 parts sugar to one part water.  Now I have to go by more sugar and make even more!  I also put little wood chunks in it for the bees to float on, to prevent them from drowning in their food.

Then you dump the bee food all over the inside of the hive.

There's the bee box in the hive with 5 frames and the feeder frame.

Pretty sugar syrup everywhere!

Putting on the cover.

Yay!  All done!

That was pretty intense.  I had a bee inside my veil right away.  But I didn't get stung!  Neither did Tina, and she was only about 4 or 5 feet away from me.  One landed on her arm and just hung out for a minute.  When I pulled that plug and they started flying everywhere my heart started beating a little bit faster.  It was pretty neat though, dealing with all those bees.  I'm excited to have my own pet honeybees!
Now according to some directions I'm supposed to leave them for a week and not get in the hive at all, according to others I'm supposed to get in there after 24 hours and THEN let them release the queen, then get in there in another 24 and find the queen, and all this other stuff.  I think I'll get in there in a few days to take out the queen box and maybe the bee box and check and make sure they have enough food.  I'll compromise somewhere in the middle of all the varying directions.

Wedding blog

I started a wedding blog for all pertinent wedding info and updates if anyone wants to check it out

Things are growing

The sun came out for day, so I went out in the garden.
Our backyard is still under a pile of butterfly bush branches. I have borrowed a chipper from the neighbors twice, and both times it didn't work. First time it was broken and she didn't know, second it still wasn't working right and just wouldn't stay running.
I worked on weeding the front yard and pulling up the nasty horrible annoying weed fabric that seems to be hiding EVERYWHERE in our yard.

Exciting coming alongs:

First dahlia shoot!



the strawberries are getting crazy!



Still no sign of asparagus.......

Bees!

I took a little bee keeping class..... the last class was last night. It was all really interesting, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go ahead and do it or not. For one thing, the equipment is kind of expensive and the whole thing is a little intimidating. But then I dreamed about bees all night. I woke up and knew I wanted a backyard beehive. So today I ordered bees! 3 pounds of bees and they arrive on May 5th. So I have until then to collect my supplies and set up a hive. I have been checking craigslist for used supplies and so far I have some good leads. I may be able to set it all up for quite a lot less than I feared! I'm also comforted by the fact that I don't HAVE to set it up to harvest honey and if I do I can't do it until next summer anyway! The thing I find the most intimidating about the hive management is that every spring you're supposed to find your queen bee, kill her and smear her on the front of the baseboard of the hive. Then get a new queen be to put in the hive after 24 hours...... Something about that just really bothers me! Poor queen, works hard for you all year and then you smear her! How rude! It's so brutal!

Easter Arrivals

My brother has a new companion.




We made a mad dash trip down to the Eug for Easter festivities and to meet the new addition to our family. World, drool over Baxter. Our new little fuzzy guy friend. He is way too painfully cute, and I just don't think I can post enough pictures of him to really do it justice..... but I'll try.








the best part for me was that Rosie was very nice to the puppy, they even played a little bit!






We did fun Easter Stuff too. The egg hunt, the dyeing of eggs, the making and eating of good food.....

babysitting adventures

We had some kids over to party on friday night. We did some awesome sculpting, let me tell ya! This ones my fav, it's an elephant as you can see!



Here are the artists with the masterpiece:



the masterpiece itself! it is a pirate ship, and the pirate and mermaid are on their honeymoon.



the smallest artist borrowed my shoes.

Pi Day

Happy Pi day! Jeff made onion pies for his classes. I didn't get to try any, evidently there weren't any leftovers!

Wedding Clothing

Yesterday I thought i was going to work, but all the work evaporated. I called AL and we made a mad dash trip to the Gap Outlet in Woodburn, where we purchased a grip of dresses for all my bridesmaids..... We had talked about making them and I wanted to model them after the black dress I got from the Gap to wear in Anatomists wedding. AL said to me on Wednesday "They have them at the Gap Outlet in gray. And they're on sale." 24$ each. not bad, i say. and my sister found the shoes everyone's going to wear, at Target online for $20. After the outlet mall AL and I went to NW 23rd to a silk dress store where I had tried on dresses with my Mom and Sis awhile back. There was this one dress that I just really loved..... So I talked to the guy about what I wanted, the gray green color and similar style to the dress I tried on, but with a few changes. He said they only had enough of the fabric for one more dress and he was supposed to be holding it for someone else. I was SO bummed..... Then he seemed to reconsider, said that this color was only one of three choices this other woman was deciding between. So he said he would make it up for me and tell her she'll have to pick something similar or one of her other choices. I think he realized that he would make more money giving me what I wanted, especially since I said I wanted to have a tie made and some other things. So i totally lucked out, and am so glad we went in when we did because if I had gone in Saturday it might have been too late! And in the end I'm getting a custom made silk dress for $305. Wedding plans are rolling right along. It's seems so far yet so close, only 6 months from yesterday. We'll be sending out our save the date magnets real soon! I'm talking to a caterer about whether I can do a pig roast within my budget. Maybe if ALL they do is the pig..... We'll see.

Night of Magic

Jeff and I attended the PTA fundraiser event of the YEAR last night, the NIGHT OF MAGIC! It was a big ol' silent auction AND a live auction. There were fancy snack foods, lots of booze, and a 16 piece string band followed by a DJ. It was a strange scene, but was a total blast! You could buy a pint glass or wine glass (with the school name and logo on 'em) for $5 and have endless beer or wine. I was misinformed and thought there was dinner, so I hadn't eaten beforehand. There was no dinner, but I made up for that in beer and horsdouevres. We bid on a few things, Jeff and some other parents conspired to win a day with the kindergarten teacher for 4 of the kids. So those kids are pretty freaking lucky, and they're excited about that. I got myself a sweet paid of adidas for $10. Afterwards we went out for drinks with some of the other parents. It was the latest I've stayed out in a long time, and today I had one of the worst hangovers I've had in AGES. I'm just so boring these days. It often strikes me as funny and odd that I spend my time going to PTA functions and such...... The right words for all of it elude me.

Asparagus trench!

Back in the garden again

I love plants. I love planting plants. Today I discovered a new heaven in North Portland. I went to Pistils Nursery on Mississippi. It's beautiful. I can't even describe how happy that place made me and I'm even happier that it's really close to my house. They sell all sorts of cool plants, indoor plants and outdoor plants and air plants and garden stuff and chickens and everything. They even teach classes on keeping chickens in the city and Vermiculture and beekeeping! I think I'll start small, vermiculture for sure and MAYBE beekeeping......

We got started on some major yard work this last weekend and I am now a woman possessed. We moved our 4 blueberry bushes from the middle of the yard (not the most convenient place, not very Rosie running or soccer ball kicking friendly) to a lovely patch on the side of the yard. We made a little area next to them for an herb garden. Today I got strawberry plants (I showed great restraint, that is ALL I got at my new heaven) and I planted them around the blueberry bushes. I think I'm going to plant some asparagus and some rhubarb on the other side of the blueberries from the herbs. I think if we keep the butterfly bushes under control then the plants should get enough light there. They had some really nice asparagus crowns at Pistils, big ones. So maybe we'll only have to wait 2 years for a harvest.

In other news, I got a part time job to ensure some consistent income. It's intense, but so far it's going well. I work in an office in Multnomah Village for a Commercial Real Estate Broker and Investor, he also manages properties and assets. I've been writing up a lot of commercial leases. Our office is right next to a really nice yarn shop, so that could be trouble.

Time for a Promotion

Ok here it goes, shameless promotion! I helped my dad set up some websites for their condo in Roatan. Please Please PLEASE take look and link to us!

InfinityBayCondo
RoatanCondoRental

They're both the same content, just different web addresses. If anyone has feedback/suggestions/advice it would be much appreciated.
There is a link to our flickr site on the sites,
and here are a few other pictures too:

These are of the beach and ocean on a stormier day, usually the water is flat and clear as glass.





Silly parrots!



Snorkeling






Oh Brothers




The Fam represents

quick visit

Anatomist and Jack stopped by for lunch on their way to Eugene. I had a lot of work to do, but that didn't stop me from doing some baby holding.

VDay

I had a great Valentine's day. I've never been a big fan of the holiday, so expectations are low, but I've gotten over hating it too. My gorgeous man friend brought me a 10 lb pag of oranges and 2 six packs of yummy beer. I was quite thrilled! We had some friends over for dinner and some trivial pursuit, it was a lovely time.

Pulling Teeth

Emme had this really loose tooth for quite awhile..... so the other night we tied a string around it and she pulled it right out. Pretty exciting stuff! It was the second tooth she has lost.

Bday Party Weekend

Last weekend I attended Pulpshopgirl's Dead Celebrity Party

I went as Keiko, who just happened to be the only non-human dead celebrity in the "Gone Too Soon" Publication



I had the pleasure of socializing with Anna Nicole Smith and Natalie Wood



and enjoyed some easy cheese and snacks with Patsy Cline and Sonny Bono




Saturday was Emme's 6th birthday.
We made two elaborate pirate cakes





We had a party at the rollerskating rink, and an after skate party at a pizza parlor



It was a weekend chock full of succesful celebrating!

Oh Bloggie Blog

Dear Bloggie Blog, I apologize for neglecting you. It is one of my New Year's Resolutions to update you more frequently. I'll try to be a better blogger. other resolutions: get up early and walk Rosie every morning. work smarter and harder. make more money. go out more. (that will be easier if the money one pans out, and when winter starts to ease up. I hope.)
Roatan was awesome, I am currently constructing a blog for my Dad for my parent's condo, I'll let you know when it's more presentable. It will have it's own flickr site, and lots and lots of pictures. I think I took about 400 when I was there.
I went snorkelying, and Aubry and I saw a turtle and a big spotted eagle ray. The ray was a bit scary, at least when it turned and started swimming our way!
The holidays were a whirlwind, lots and lots of fun.
We had Emme on Christmas eve and day, Christmas is a lot more fun with little kids involved. We went to th eBlazer's game on Christmas with our neighbors, it was great. It was their 11th win in a row, and lots of people think thats pretty special.
New years was fun, Kungfuramone was in the PDX, and we had a bloody mary shindig New Years day at our place with lots of fun peeps who I like a lot and don't get to see enough.
The week after New Years was fun, I worked a bit and did house stuff, but Jeff wasn't working and we didn't have Emme so we pretty much holed up and watched a lot of "The Office" in our basement.
That's all for now folks.....

Back Home

I'm back fom Roatan. I had a great trip! It was crazy to be in a one bedroom apartment with my entire family for a week. That's the first time all 7 of us have taken a vacation together. and we actually got along ok...... We had many adventures,

Roatan, Honduras

I am on the island of Roatan, off the coast of Honduras. Staying at Infinity Bay where my parents bought a condo. It's really beautiful here, and it's really wamr now that it stopped raining. I'm going to spend today snorkeling and laying on the beach.I head back to Portland tomorrow, so I need to soak up as much sun as possible before going back to the rain.

Plumbers in Training

I've had many adventures over the past few weeks, some good, some not so good.
Believe it or not, this was one of the better ones..... We had a new hot water heater put in, (Yay! tankless! Endless hotwater, it's AWESOME!) but changing out the hotwater heater kicked up some sediment and clogged the hot side of the faucet. We didn't have any water pressure with the hot water in the kitchen, not even enough to keep it running hot. So first we took apart the hot water valve under the sink, because it wouldn't shut off all the way. So we turned off the water to the house, assuming the hot water valve was goign to be our problem, took that all apart and cleaned it out. Got the wire brush stuck and had to take apart more of the valve to get the valve out, then finally put it all back together to have nothing different. though we did have a great time turning the water on and off to flush out the pipes. Jeff didn't quite believe me that it would come shooting STRAIGHT out of the wall.



Next, we took apart our faucet. We disconnected the whole big ugly old thing. Only to find out that there was no way to clean out the little pipes where the clog must be. Now since we couldn't turn our hot water valve off at the sink, since it wouldn't turn off all the way, we had to re-connect our faucet, just to leave it dangling there under the sink, so that we could turn our water back on. Because, by this time, it was late and Home Depot and Lowes were closed.



In the meantime, we also realized that our P-trap was leaking. Very poorly put together, the plastic piece going up into the first pipe that comes down from the drain was not actually secured, just kind of shoved up there...

I go to Home Depot the next day and buy a new faucet, a new valve and a new p-trap. We also had this weird water filter thing in our sink that we didn't use, so we were going to take it out. The filter dispenser was at a fourth hole, so I assumed it was a regular 4 hole sink. So I bought the faucet with a sprayer. We go to install our new faucet, and remove the water filter only to find the hole for the filter is teeny tiny. So Jeff goes ahead and manages to cut the hole big enough for our sprayer. Yay! We install the faucet with much success.



On to the P-trap:
we discover we have two, I guess I will call them female ends though its kinda hard to figure with plumbing..... two female ends that meet where there should be some sort of male end.
Another trip to Home Depot, in the meantime we have a 5 gallon bucket under the sink as our drain.
After some good advice and some cheap parts from the Depot, we manage to put the whole thing back together. And it doesn't leak!
I got to do the laundry basket full of dishes and put the garbage back under the sink, it's all much better now. It was fun, we learned a lot and it was a funny interesting debacle.

on the side of bad adventures, Rosie got in a dog fight and I owe some people a lot of $ for vet bills. That's not a fun story though. Plumbing is much more entertaining.

who knew pipe cleaners were this much fun?

Xmas tree adventures

tree cutting



tree carrying



Emme's a tree!



Rosie helping



ornament hanging



We got our tree out on Sauvie Island. I chatted with the tree farmer for a little while. He bought the place in the 70s with his wife and their 6 kids. They went on to have 2more kids. This last spring he fell out of one of his tall trees, really tall trees, and fractured his skull and broke his back and pelvis and other things, all in multiple places. He said that was it for his wife, and they've sold the farm. So this was their last season. He was telling us that Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers flew outa few times. He didn't know who he was, he asked keidis what he did for aliving and he said "I write and sing songs." i guess keidis didn't buy the farm, he bought a downtown condo for his dad instead. Some people from California bought it. It's highly unlikely they'll be farming Christmas trees on it though.

Thanksgiving and more!

here's a brief recap of the highlights of the last couple weeks:

We had a nice visit with Anatomist and baby Jack, Jack just loved Emme, it was the cutest thing. Whenever she would get in front of him he was all smiles!


(sorry I didn't rotate this picture, I'm lazy)




We visited Silver Creek Falls, looks like this is where we're going to have the wedding! We're going to see if we can rent out their Youth Camp for a weekend in September of '08.





Thanksgiving dinner at the fam's! We spent a couple of days down in Eugene, it was nice and relaxing. Just hanging around not doing much of anything. Except eating. and eating.



We had a thanksgiving sequel at our house with Jeff's family, it was fun. Kids playing Twister! it's funny to have to tell them which is their right and which is their left every time.



here's me, Emme, and a very sleepy Rosie.

Halloween addendum

For those who didn't know and couldn't tell - I was dressed as Inside Out Girl. "I've got what every kid's got inside: GUTS!"