Engaging

Last night, after taking me out to a wonderful birthday dinner, my boyfriend gave me this and asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes, since he's the most wonderful boyfriend any girl could have! I won't embarass him by detailing all the reasons I love him (like the fact that he sings funny songs to the dog and is as big a dork as I am) but suffice it to say, I'm very happy right now!

Zero tolerance policy

Any time I see a blade of grass in my garden now, I yell "Out, out, damned weed!" I'm not exactly sure when regular old turf grass became a 'weed' in my book... but really, as far as plants go, there are much nicer and much more beneficial and productive plants. Ya know. Some of which I'll learn about when I start my Habitat Stewards training tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a picture of the cardboarded lawn that I promised. We're trying a small patch around the existing garden bed, to see how it works.


And here is a picture of my spectacularly spooky headless girl:


I was considering putting some kind of birdfeeder on top, a saucer or tray, or a bowl, wouldn't it be great to see the birds eating out of it? But I also just like her sitting there, watching us... er... y'know....

Inks Lake

Yesterday we went to Inks Lake for my boyfriend's work party...

We fed this friendly doe...


Watched some ducks paddle around...


Fed this buck & his family....

Played on some Sea-doos...

Enjoyed the scenery...


And when it was time to drive home, we talked about coming back soon.

Operation: kill all grass

I really hate the grass in my backyard. It's not even grass, really. There's like, a tuft of grass, then some clover, then weeds, one of those long grass-runner things, then dirt patches... ugh! And besides, I want to garden, so: kill all grass must be done! I got some big cardboard boxes from work and after we mow the lawn, I'll dig up the rest of the grass/weeds and spread the cardboard out, weigh the corners down with rocks, and leave it to die. I have no mercy for anything green underneath. Die grass die! Now, I must point out I have no clue if I'm doing this the right way. But as with my herb & now tomato garden, it's working... so I am determined to prevail!!! It's too dark to take a picture of it right now but I'll take one when the cardboard is down, k?

Thunder, thunder everywhere....

We've had a lot of late-summer rain here, and lately a lot of thunder in the afternoons. Sometimes it sprinkles, sometimes it just thunders. I really don't like the rain, despite knowing how badly we need it. As I've mentioned before. But this thunder-with-no-rain thing is pretty neat. I think it will get cooler soon, too. I hope so, anyway. I'm much for a crisp-weather person that a sweltering-heat kind of person. I mean, sno-cones are pretty much the best thing about summer. Otherwise give me a chilly breeze so I can turn the oven on again! Anyway, I'm really just rambling soooo..... let me stop!

And there goes August...

(cute doggies make it better)

Not too long ago I was lamenting the end of July and now, there goes August.... how does it go so quickly! Well my personal theory on it is that our scheduled, regimented lives prevent us from really observing & digesting & reflecting on our days. Weekdays: get up, get ready, feed the animals, grab coffee, slam bam, rush to work... work all day, run an errand, rush home, get dinner on the stove, do some chores, sack out in front of the TV. Go to bed, sleep fitfully, get back up, rinse, repeat. Friday nights, stay up later so you can relax a little bit more, maybe go out, hang out with friends, whatever. Weekend: sleep in, run all your errands you didn't get done during the week, do some more chores, try to recover from last week and prepare for next week, maybe fit something fun in, then it's Sunday night again, get ready for the upcoming week, go to bed, can't sleep, etc. etc. Ack! It all turns into one big blur. When do we ever get a chance to slow down and actually experience and live what we are doing? Right now I'm working part time so it's great to be able to take the time to actually 'be' in the moment. 3-day weekends are the best invention ever. I feel like I have time to truly enjoy activities (and even errands!) without feeling rushed and stressing out about getting there on time and getting back on time. I have time to pursue non-work activities that I enjoy, and I know that these activities truly make me a better person... more positive, more active, both mentally and physically, and definitely healthier all around. I pretty much dread having to work full-time again. I'll have to learn how to hold onto my experiences once I'm rushing around trying to fit everything into the week again....

Un-motivated

I've been feeling so unmotivated this past week. It ended up kind of rainy all weekend, so I'm going to blame it on the weather, rather than feeling guilty about it. I must share my grilled sweet potato dessert recipe, though:

peel one sweet potato, cut it into quarters
put the quarters on a square of foil
drop 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 tablespoons brown sugar in the middle of the potato quarters
wrap the potato in the foil and/or make a pouch
put it on the grill (or in the oven at 350 degrees) for about an hour, till it's all soft
remove from heat and let it stand about 30 minutes, then put the sweet potato quarters into a bowl with some of the syrup that's at the bottom of the foil pouch. Top with chopped pecans or walnuts, and vanilla ice cream too if you want.

I've decided that sweet potatoes make fabulous dessert foods, and besides, they're better for ya than most other desserts!