Squash

Our veggies are going great guns! Tomatoes a-plenty! The cucumber plants have tripled in size and are putting out their 'viney' things that the cucs grow on. Pepper plants have doubled in size - no 'blossoms' yet but they are doing well. I had all but given up on the squash but went over today just to confirm how pitiful they look ('cuz the last time I checked on them, I was pretty sure they were not going to make it) and they look FANTASTIC! They have blossoms and are growing much better. Fixing the over-watering did the trick and they are officially taking off. We should have squash in a couple weeks! I can't wait....

I had to use insecticidal soap on the plants today as they are getting invaded by aphids. I will buy a bag of lady bugs and/or a praying mantis at Home Depot this weekend and see if that will address the issue. The plants look fine but they are starting to show the 'wear' of being buggy.

I made a new recipe for dinner - and there's no one home to eat it! J. is heading back from Hayward, driving the newest family vehicle. He took the ACE train to Pleasanton, then a bus to the BART station - then took BART back from SF (after working all day) to South Hayward. Met the seller of the car at BART and closed the deal. H. is stoked...only he's not so stoked that he's waiting at home - he's at a friends house. B. is working. I was home 'early' today - worked 1/2 day at home (really got a lot done and wish I had an excuse to do that more often - it is so quiet and the dining room table is the perfect place to spread out my papers, data sets, reports, etc. and just plow through). I find it hard to 'justify' working at home these days, given the 1.7 miles 'commute'. But it sure is nice when I can manage to....

I need to unload the rest of the groceries that I bought when I went to the store for sour cream and lemons and left with $39.49 of 'stuff'. I was hungry. Big mistake. And I'll need to clean out and/or organize the fridge 'cuz there's not a lot of room in there...

I ordered my birthday gift 'early' - a yogurt maker! I have been eating good 'greek-style' (thick and plain) yogurt with honey most mornings for breakfast and decided I could make my own! So I ordered a yogurt maker from King Arthur Flour Company....can't wait for it to arrive. I know it's 'just another gadget' but the last gadget I bought was the LeCube espresso machine and I use it every single day and love, love, love it!!! Sadly, though, my Aeroccino milk frother died yesterday - I think the cleaning crew got the 'power' base wet (or dropped it) 'cuz it won't turn on anymore. So I ordered another one of those, too - and now they make a larger size (good for making lattes for two (which I frequently do) and also has a special coating inside to make it easier to clean). I miss it and am counting the days to when it gets here. Espresso with cold milk is just not the same. Will microwave my milk in the AM to at least get it hot - then I'll just miss the foam.

I'm just reading back that last paragraph and think 'hey, maybe we should get a bee hive and make our own honey'. A 2lb. jar of honey was $8. How many bees would it take to make that much honey and how long would it take? Research..... This 'growing your own food' is sort of cool and pushes me to dream of a different life - simpler. Someday....

But I can't give up my LeCube. Or my Aeroccino. So maybe simple is good....but simple plus some 'extras' is better?

Need to unload the dishwasher and reload (cooking creates a lot of dishes, doesn't it?). Then get a load of laundry going. Then sweep the kitchen floor 'cuz I dropped some dry spaghetti on the floor as I was getting it out of the package....then take the new car for a test drive as soon as J. gets here with it. Then ponder the reduction of our savings balance and plan for how to replenish it as quickly as possible.

And lastly, sleep. I hope. Not sleeping well these days...makes me emotional and 'fragmented' which as anyone who knows me will tell you is a 'bad' combination.

It will pass....all things do.