Gardening Delights

I have often referred to our pathetic attempts to grow veggies as the Garden of Apathy but that's not quite right. I care very much about my little garden and I check on it almost every day to see what's new.

What I mean to say is that I am stubborn and I have a tendency to ignore the conventional wisdom on gardening. Ok, I disregard most of the planting guides, directions on the seed packets, and advice given to me at the local nursery too. Basically I regard that stuff as a suggestion and then I go with what works for me on the land I own in the little bit of time I can dedicate to the endeavour.

I plant stuff and hope it grows.



This year I upped the ante a bit by starting my own plants from seed but I did it late. I was also late in planting them outside in an area that I didn't properly prepare. So it's a huge happy surprise when I check the garden and find that corn is beginning to appear.



And there are zucchini flowers all over.



But the biggest kick this year is looking beneath the canopy of large leaves and seeing a whole other world down there. This year, in addition to the zucchini, I planted punpkins and they are taking over.

Zucchini likes to spread and it will easily take over the garden if you let it but pumpkin is a whole other story. It sends out these crazy, curly, tendrils that reach out across the area and grab onto whtever the find and don't let go. It makes weeding a bit more urgent because once a pumpkin tendril finds a weed... it's staying.



Then there's this.



It's cute and fuzzy now but imagine it a few months from now when it's big and round and orange. This fall we'll be eating pumpkin bread. Heck - pumpkin everything!

Un-Stinky Socks

I finished another pair of socks yesterday and it wasn't fast enough. It's not that I didn't love the socks - I do. It's just that Stinkette does too. She loves them so much that she wore the first sock the whole night before I finshed the second one. That's why they don't quite match in the pictures... one had been worn quite a bit already. Now they're both on her feet and I'm not sure when I'll be able to pry them off again.


The yarn I used for these socks, Tofutsies, was kind of a surprise. I bought it because it was new to me and had a different combination of fibers. It seemed kind of thin though and I had very low expectations. I was happily surprised.

The yarn was kind of splitty but it was also really nice to knit with and yielded a very soft and pleasant fabric. The colors are also really nice. There was no pooling and in the places where the ighter bue and green mix it's got a lovely water-color quality that I adore.


The pattern started out as Wendy's Toe-Up Socks With a Difference but just after finishing the toe I saw a sock that used a simple fish-scale looking pattern that I liked and decided to work it into these socks.


The stitch motif was just 8 stitches and about 12 rows so it was easy to work in randomly and gradually. I mirrored it on the second sock which I think adds to the effect.

All in all I'm pretty happy with these socks. The only question now it whether the chitin in the yarn will really help control the stink or not. Either way I love these socks and so does my girl. As a bonus, these are my first socks for the Summer of socks '09. Yay!

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Things That Turn You Off About People

It's Tuesday again and the subject for the day is '10 Things That Turn You Off About People'. Here we go:

1. Bad teeth - when someone smiles and their teeth are all nasty like they've never seen a toothbrush... ewww
2. Bad breath - this naturally goes with number 1
3. Laziness - oh the irony. I may have a small lazy streak myself but I still hate it.
4. Strong perfume/cologne - being in a persons company shouldn't require a gas mask
5. Poor grammar - this is mostly a problem because I get tired of biting my tongue and not correcting errors
6. Negativity - it's just no fun being around someone who is always seeing the glass half full
7. Big egos - people who think they're better than everyone else truly suck
8. Monster muscles - I may be in the minority here but I find gym rats with mammoth muscles kind of gross
9. Rudeness - this is just the pinnacle of ugly
10. Lying - I'm honest and I expect those around me to be as well

That was harder to put together than I thought it would be. I'm not sure what that means. I think I'd rather list the things I love about people.