herb, bud, weed, and other drug references

so the mass-tastic amounts of rain we've finally gotten has been like crack for my plants. went to home depot over the weekend and got a huge 32 gallon garbage can for a water barrel. just putting it under the drippy part of the porch, it filled in two hours.

the spinach and mesclun (husband thought i said mescaline) has done really well. the wildflower seeds are coming out gang-busters. my purple double-bloomed datura is finally showing life. the backyard vegetables are going great - the cantaloupe seeds i thought were dead actually were alive. i need to check the seed packet, it must have just have a long germination time. i lost the carrots and broccoli, but threw some new seeds in the ground. the raspberry bush might not be completely dead.

i also transplanted some morning glories along the chain link fence; hopefully they will work. i just need to clear away all the kudzu/viney weed crap. and speaking of weeds, rather than put done chemicals, ive been clearing away all the chickweed and other stuff in the backyard by hand. slowly but surely, it's looking more like a yard, and less like a vacant lot. ive now got a huge pile of crud lying on a pallet to die before i add it to the compost bin.

AND!!! And!!....i have a redbud tree!!!! the tree next to the pecan on the property line between us and the business is a redbud!!! theres a beautiful redbud at the end of the street ive been coveting and then, the other day, we were riding bikes in the parking lot and so some purplish petals were on the ground. i look up and see more on the branches. i was so excited. it's not in full bloom like a lot of the others ive seen around so im hoping it's healthy. all this rain should give it a kick in the butt.

whatelse... finished reading the world without us. not as completely depressing as i thought it would be, though the section on plastic made me want to never buy a non-wooden toy again. now, im dividing my reading between corpse, rackkety tam, lord brocktree, and taggerung (book on tape).

and i tried the lentil and rice casserole from tightwad gazette II. i had to season some cast iron grates for the grill we bought i figured if i was going to have the stove on for 2 hours, i might as well have something to show for it. i would make again, just tweak it a bit. the stock i use doesnt have much salt so it needed a bit, i also put a bunch of ritz crackers in it and that made it quite tasty.

spinach and gazingus pins

it would figure that when i put my hydrangeas and lavender in the ground, we get snow. but a tarp and a rubbermaid container later, and we are safe. i took a cue from the cooler weather and planted spinach and mesculen blend. im really hoping we wont have any other frosts - i really want to get the pumpkin and broccoli in the ground.


i also have morning glories, sunflowers, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, zuccinni, and pie pumpkin sprouting in egg crates in the kitchen. my blueberry bush looks like it's starting to do something. the raspberry cutting, not so much. i found two thorny vines in the back of the yard but im not sure what it could be.


and my mom bought the three tightwad gazettes. a few hours before they showed up i was about to ask jeremy if i could go ahead and order it from amazon after unsuccessfully looking for at resale outlets. it doesnt have some of the articles the complete one does, but if i need those, i can get it from the library.


husband and i looked at the budget and while we did well in many categories we still spend too much dining out. i used to be so happy about steering clear of a lot of the more expensive convience foods, but then we would spend even more money ordering pizza or getting bueno on the days i just didnt feel like cooking or didnt start dinner "on time" from activities from the day, or because i just didnt feel like cooking. so it makes sense to to have a $5.00 bag of nuggets in the fridge than spend 15.00 on pizza.

and i have a bad habit of buying something because it's cheap. like these two thermoses (thermosi?) that were in the clearance cart at the grocery store. ive used them twice. and i got two because gawd forbid agrippa use octavian's thermos. theres other stuff, but ill be damned if i can think of it. the other day i had a chance to go to goodwill sans kiddos and grabbed 10 shirts and then realised i really didnt need them.

and i splurge. it was something my mom did. it was nothing to go get ice cream, just because. or get candy at the grocery store. or just go buy something, just because. octavian gets something almost everytime we go somewhere.

i should probably get my AP card taken away, but i really like sonic and chick-fil-a. i appreciate that their kid's meals toys are thinking toys and not just the lastest movie or kid crap tie-in. and i really like that chick-fil-a gives plastic placemats that stick to the table and bendy straws. just little stuff that only a parent would think about.

so ive given myself $20 dollars every pay period on taking the boys out for lunch or a treat. it's cash and went it's gone, it's gone. what i dont spend goes in their bank.

my gazingus pin is everything. i just need to not be places where i spend money because i inevitably end up spending more than i wanted.

and this week is "eat out of the freezer" week. i had veggie fajitas and they were awesome.