I added a lawn in the north end of my backyard over the weekend. I’d rather use the spot for gardening but the light is too poor and the family wants a lawn (I already took all of the other grass for gardening). |
Lawn-o-matic
28 May
Motorized bicycles suck
11 AprMaybe the fact that I got passed by somebody in jeans put me in a mood, but I just have to rant about the guy riding a gasoline-powered bicycle. He came cruising past me with a lawnmower-sized roar, spewing two-cycle raunchy exhaust all over the place. And you guessed it – he wasn’t pedaling at all. The pedals on that thing have probably never been used. At least I didn’t have to choke on his fumes on the trail. Apparently something is still sacred.
Politicians version of jury duty: ‘Let’s go to lunch and never come back’
4 AprI look at government, whether federal, state, or local, and I think ugh – why can’t they get anything done? Why is failing to do anything considered doing a good job? Why are schools underfunded? Why are the roads full of holes? Why is there a system that lets our politicians not approve budgets and get things done? What happened to our government? All politicians want to do is talk about reproduction – what about leading?
It doesn’t have to be all bad – not at all. Service to our country is still alive. I can attest as I just served on jury duty for two days. I didn’t make it onto a jury, but I did go through the process – as did dozens of my fellow Seattle residents – of showing up and being prepared to do my civic duty.
We all went downtown, we sat in a room for two days, and we followed the rules and did what we’re supposed to do. When I got called to possibly sit on a jury (I finally heard my name called on the second day), I and the other potential jurors were carefully instructed on how to do things the right way, from getting in line so that we were in the right order, to how to answer questions by the judge and the lawyers, to how we must treat the defendant as innocent until proven guilty.
The city’s lawyer kicked me off the jury for reasons that didn’t make sense to me, but she was doing her job. Others were given the boot as well – we went back and waited and sat and waited and sat for the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile six people stayed and had to prepare themselves to mete out justice – no easy task but something that had to be done. The system worked, everyone did what they were supposed to do, and work got done.
The buck didn’t get passed to the next session – the next congress, the next legislature, the next council. Although it was tedious to sit there for two days, responsibilities were fulfilled, cases are completed, justice was served. At least something is sacrosanct.
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Why are there grow lights in my basement?
3 AprAh, gardening in Seattle, that fun time of year when you have to plant in pots in your basement with an array of grow lights. Look in my basement window, and it looks like a mini marijuana growing operation. But alas, it’s just tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), and basil. Those are the things I like to grow that you can’t plant outside in Seattle until May.
So, I ask you, sun gold cherry tomatoes, please pretend that the five, slightly blue bulbs shining down at you 24 hours a day are the sun, and sprout upward with gusto. I need you to leap out of the ground and be strong enough for me to put in a greenhouse while I leave on spring break for vacation in a couple of weeks. Can you do it?
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Bring back the crazy weather
14 MarYesterday it rained. Then it got snowy. Then bright, cheerful sun came out. Then blizzard snow. Then driving, wet rain and blustery wind. Then gorgeous sunshine.
Bring it all back, I say. Much better than today’s gray!
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Would you eat cookie-cutter farm fresh eggs? Yum!!!!
10 MarWhen my eldest and I decided to make egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast, it was an obvious move to trot out eggs from our chickens in the backyard (they have really started producing nicely again). What wasn’t so obvious was that we should cook our delicious packets of yum in cookie cutter shapes.
My oldest thought this was a grand idea and set about helping me make it happen. First she found cookie cutters for her and her sister. She chose a pumpkin and her sister got a star. She ladled our scrambled eggs into the cookie cutters while I pinned them down to the sizzling griddle (careful not to burn yourself and make sure you use metal ones!). Of course a bit of egg leaked out of the bottom, but most of it stayed inside and started cooking very quickly.
It took longer than usual to fry the eggs and I had to turn temp to low so that they didn’t burn on the edges, but pretty soon I was able to flip the eggs (still in the cookie cutters of course), cook the other side, and bam – we had pumpkin and star shaped eggs. Next we cut the toast with the same cookie cutters and broke the bacon into pumpkin and star shaped pieces (OK, we just wedged pieces of bacon in there).
And then the girls ate it all up. Mom and dad had regular egg sandwiches.
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Tags: backyard chickens., bacon, breakfast, chickens, eat local, foodie, Seattle, urban farming
