Since last we spoke…

…the vegetable garden bed has been finished and the cover crop (Crimson Clover) sown. Thumper was a big help.

baby gardener.jpg

He also helped me do some recycling.

recycle baby.jpg

Our new couch arrived today, so the living room now looks like a living room. (No photo though, sorry. Once we get the house really done, with the paintings and mirrors hung etc, I’ll probably post some photos then.) It was on sale for CHEAP at Levitz! Woohoo! Let’s hear it for affordable couches for homes featuring super daredevil climby jumpy toddlers.

And I got to write for three hours this morning, which was fantastic. And I’ll get to do it again Wednesday evening. The plan now is for Billy and Thumper to get some boy time (and me to get writing time) Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. With those two blocks of time, I think I can get some real work done on the book.

30 Comments on “Since last we spoke…

  1. It’s nice to see a mom figure out some alone time. Reassuring that it can be done. Welcome to portland by the way.
    Posted by: Lorajean

  2. his little raincoat is SO freakin’ cute. Just SO CUTE. Hooray for Portland and jumpy toddlers and writing time. It sounds lovely!
    Posted by: Carrie

  3. It’s nice to see a mom figure out some alone time. Reassuring that it can be done. Welcome to portland by the way.
    Posted by: Lorajean

  4. his little raincoat is SO freakin’ cute. Just SO CUTE. Hooray for Portland and jumpy toddlers and writing time. It sounds lovely!
    Posted by: Carrie

  5. Cutest.raincoat.ever. My daughter would have loved that coat during her dinosaur years. (Now about 10 – 15 years back.) Seems like an eye-blink ago, so enjoy that munchkin now.
    Posted by: Sarah R

  6. glad to hear that you are being productive here. it’s easy to be, i think. although summers are harder because you just want to be outside in that weather while you can. 🙂

    we got our cover crop in as well…crimson clover. LOL
    Posted by: shannon in oregon

  7. Cari, question about your garden. I don’t know anything about cover crops. Why do you plant one? When are you planting the kale and all the yummy other stuff you mentioned last week? Thanks. Good job on the plan for the writing time too. 🙂
    Posted by: LeAnne

  8. LOL, Thumper reminds me of one of my favorite play spots as a kid…by a mud puddle at the edge of the gravel road right in front of our house! Yes, here in Portland. 😉 That street is *still* graveled. We aren’t much of an alley city (very hard to find any alleys, only a few in a couple of neighborhoods), but we have these odd roads that suddenly aren’t paved for a few blocks here and there. I never have heard anyone say why.

    Congrats on the writing time! May it be productive, and may the boys have a lot of fun with each other.
    Posted by: MonicaPDX

  9. You should look for a book called “The Self-Sufficient Gardener” by John Seymour. It’s about 20 years old (when I first bought it) but it is being reprinted (due out in April 2008). Really helpful information about deep bed gardening in small spaces. It’s one of my favorite gardening books.
    Posted by: Lynn

  10. Great news, enjoy the garden. My toddler is into the climbing too, fun and games!! It must feel good to have those regular times where you can be really productive.
    Posted by: Sharon

  11. Cutest.raincoat.ever. My daughter would have loved that coat during her dinosaur years. (Now about 10 – 15 years back.) Seems like an eye-blink ago, so enjoy that munchkin now.
    Posted by: Sarah R

  12. glad to hear that you are being productive here. it’s easy to be, i think. although summers are harder because you just want to be outside in that weather while you can. 🙂

    we got our cover crop in as well…crimson clover. LOL
    Posted by: shannon in oregon

  13. Cari, question about your garden. I don’t know anything about cover crops. Why do you plant one? When are you planting the kale and all the yummy other stuff you mentioned last week? Thanks. Good job on the plan for the writing time too. 🙂
    Posted by: LeAnne

  14. LOL, Thumper reminds me of one of my favorite play spots as a kid…by a mud puddle at the edge of the gravel road right in front of our house! Yes, here in Portland. 😉 That street is *still* graveled. We aren’t much of an alley city (very hard to find any alleys, only a few in a couple of neighborhoods), but we have these odd roads that suddenly aren’t paved for a few blocks here and there. I never have heard anyone say why.

    Congrats on the writing time! May it be productive, and may the boys have a lot of fun with each other.
    Posted by: MonicaPDX

  15. You should look for a book called “The Self-Sufficient Gardener” by John Seymour. It’s about 20 years old (when I first bought it) but it is being reprinted (due out in April 2008). Really helpful information about deep bed gardening in small spaces. It’s one of my favorite gardening books.
    Posted by: Lynn

  16. Great news, enjoy the garden. My toddler is into the climbing too, fun and games!! It must feel good to have those regular times where you can be really productive.
    Posted by: Sharon

  17. I wrote much of my book in my allotted time of about 6 hours per week. It can be done! This is very good. And sanity-making.

    Crimson clover is sooo pretty when it blooms. I managed to get some to grow through my thicket of weeds and blackberries, lol.
    Posted by: Aura

  18. So glad you’re working out your family routine. You’ll all get the time together and apart that you need to be full functioning humans! Such a delicate balance, but so important too.
    Posted by: Kim

  19. It sounds like you are starting to get settled in. Hurray for routines!
    Posted by: knittripps

  20. I am up I-5, about six hours north of you. Some information on winter sowing.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_sowing

    This has worked great for me — I’ve been doing it for about seven years, usually begin right after the winter solstice. You can manage your time more easily in the spring. Cheap veggie and flower starts. And — this is my favorite part — you don’t have to go and thin the little seedlings (No, not you; not you either…)

    You don’t need a greenhouse or any sunny windows, or anything other than recycle containers. They sit around outside through the cold months, just waiting to pop up. All you have to do is check them from time to time — make sure they don’t dry out – not likely in Portland.

    Welcome to the northwest. You’re going to love it here.
    Posted by: Catherine

  21. I wrote much of my book in my allotted time of about 6 hours per week. It can be done! This is very good. And sanity-making.

    Crimson clover is sooo pretty when it blooms. I managed to get some to grow through my thicket of weeds and blackberries, lol.
    Posted by: Aura

  22. So glad you’re working out your family routine. You’ll all get the time together and apart that you need to be full functioning humans! Such a delicate balance, but so important too.
    Posted by: Kim

  23. It sounds like you are starting to get settled in. Hurray for routines!
    Posted by: knittripps

  24. I am up I-5, about six hours north of you. Some information on winter sowing.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_sowing

    This has worked great for me — I’ve been doing it for about seven years, usually begin right after the winter solstice. You can manage your time more easily in the spring. Cheap veggie and flower starts. And — this is my favorite part — you don’t have to go and thin the little seedlings (No, not you; not you either…)

    You don’t need a greenhouse or any sunny windows, or anything other than recycle containers. They sit around outside through the cold months, just waiting to pop up. All you have to do is check them from time to time — make sure they don’t dry out – not likely in Portland.

    Welcome to the northwest. You’re going to love it here.
    Posted by: Catherine

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