Pea-tastrophe!

There has been a pea-tastrophe!

After reaching a height of eight or nine feet, only the left-most plants could find something to hang on to (the neighbor's trees) -- the rest were blown over by the 20+ mph winds we've been having:

For scale, this is a six-foot fence.

I put some twine up to support them in their newly horizontal posture, in hopes that their pods will continue to fatten up & find their way into our bellies. So far, so good. That one on the far left is going to find its way into the neighbor's living room before too long, I fear.

In other gardening news, our friend & neighbor Jon has donated a beautiful 4-foot planter to our veg-producing efforts:

Today I planted it & the planter nearest the camera with fava beans & more lettuce. The far one will get peas this weekend. They should have an easy time climbing their way up the security gate.

After we get some more dirt this weekend (there is something that seems so backwards about paying money for dirt...), we will begin planting our soon-to-be-famous kitchen herb garden. There will be chives coming out our ears before too long. 

A Little Pseudo-Decorating

Finally getting around to a couple decorating projects. Well, the word 'decorating' might be a stretch -- maybe more like 'continuing to move in.'

When we first arrived, we talked about getting a plastic film to put over the bedroom window, to do something about the "view."

Finally got one this week, & got it up there last night!

In the front room, I have been wanting to put up some curtains for weeks & weeks, because when I work from home, the light in the morning is just a little much. Done!

I was sent two very nice framed pictures for the walls this week. Maybe that's what caused this flurry of activity, actually!

Here are nine vintage postcards of Historic Lowell, Massachusetts, on the left. (On the right is a hand screen-printed poster protesting Arizona's racial profiling law that I got at a protest.)

And here is a framed photo of the Boott Mills in Lowell, on the right:

On the left, that's a drawing of Jack Kerouac & a kitten, also a Lowell thing. Kerouac, not the kitten. And also sent several years ago by the same generous people!

We finally got a better shoes-off-household doorway solution, as well -- the pile of shoes & slippers inside the front room was a little out of control.

Lastly, we put Zoey's certificates up on the wall above her den:

And here she is, basking in her own glory:

Zoey And The Wobbler

Apologies first, for the dismal quality of the video -- my camera is very ancient. Still, you can get an idea of the fun that Zoey is having with her new kibble-dispensing toy, the Kong Wobbler, & how good she's already getting at it, after just a few days:

She's just learned how to get it away from a wall on her own.

Way more stimulating for her than slurping her entire dinner out of a bowl in 15 seconds. And way more entertaining for me.

Front Yard Patch Conquered...Again!

This weekend's big Mars work was conquering the front yard patch...again. It's shocking how quickly it gets out of hand. I forgot to get a 'before' photo, but this is more or less what it looked like:

After 3 hard hours, Adrienne had it cleaned up entirely:

The view from the front steps, highlighting mysterious bricks

She filled the 32 gallon compost bin, plus 4 paper grocery bags full of grass, vining stuff, and giant (five-six feet tall) Italian parsley that had gone to seed.

The view from the front

A close up, showing the bumper sticker I put in the window: My dog graduated with honors from Pawsitive Tails!

Afterwards, we took one of the Parsley Monsters over to Jon's, just to show off. Here's Adrienne, showing how tall it was before she lopped the top off:

It almost won...

Jon admired the Parsley Monster so much, that he put it in a vase in his living room:

I hope it doesn't wait until the middle of the night & steal his stereo.

Graduation Day

Today is a big day for Zoey: she graduated from dog class!

After living all her four years in the Mojave Desert, Zoey is having difficulty adjusting to all the noises of the city: FedEx trucks rumbling by, loud pedestrians, etc. She's fine in the house & the yard now, but going for walks on the street is still a scary experience for her, leading to a lot of pulling on-leash & barking.  To get some help, we enrolled her in a class for dogs who have trouble walking politely on-leash, called Drama Queens & Divas, at SF's Pawsitive Tails dog academy.

The trainers running the class, Lisa & Lauren, were incredible -- they're specialists in behavior modification for nervous and anxious dogs, so we have been in very capable hands, and we are very grateful for their help!

Here is the pup's diploma:

And here is the proud graduate, exhausted from all her hard work:

We typically take naps after dog class too, actually. The class is only an hour, but all that learning & concentration really takes it out of you!

Hooray Zoey! Onward & upward!

Green Acres

The big update this week is the appearance of the first pea pods on these seven foot tall plants:

Meanwhile, the collards are growing vigorously:

And the lettuce is lettucing:

In other news, we found out that this plant growing out of a stick in the ground is a hibiscus:

And the Monster Rose Bush is in bloom again:

Also, this Sunday there was an eclipse. Adrienne made a viewer:

There were neat shadows on the side of the house:

And we inch ever closer to the replacement of the broken fence:

Meanwhile, inside the house, Zoey figured out how to get into the compost bin & steal chicken bones when we're not looking. Clever dog! Oh, I mean, bad dog! Bad dog!

Happy Birthday to Adrienne!

Hooray for Adrienne! Happy birthday to you!

Some of us are celebrating with a fashionable cape:

And some of us are having delicious delivered dinner & drinking wine. Happy happy birthday!