Mom's Turn:How Does Your Garden Grow?

My husband has a passion for gardening and landscaping! I’m lucky; he does all the work and I reap all of the benefits. Thankfully we both have the same love for the old fashioned perennial types of gardens (floral, productive, and low maintenance once established – for ideas, click here), and square foot gardening for the food. He has his own personal library of books full of ideas and techniques, but my favorite is The Old Fashioned Gardner. This is what I leafed through, snuggled in the magic purple quilt of course, while I was enjoying the beautiful morning air, resting my healing foot, and admiring my husband hard at work. We have a pretty good base start for the landscape on our new house,

note the unique growth of "shampoo ginger" - science progect posting soon about that

but of course he has all sorts of his own ideas to improve things. I can’t wait!

He starts by canvassing the neighborhoods for grass cuttings, leaves, and pine straw that other people conveniently bag up and throw away.

He definitely takes to heart the Swedish proverb, “Den enes död -- den andres bröd.” Translation: "The death of one -- the bread of the other." Or more common in the US:"One man's trash is another man's treasure." These all go into his ever-growing compost pile that he measured, yes I did say measured, the temperature to be a toasty 165 degrees Fahrenheit. And he says I’m a nerd with my biking gear. Hmph, nothing can compare that!

our everpresent "helper"

Then he built the area up to get the perfect raised and leveled bed so that it would drain properly.

He used 4x4 timbers, a laser level, concrete rebar rods to secure the timbers, and crushed limestone around the outer edges for the finishing touch. To get the ideal soil for the crucial growing conditions, he adds a mixture of bone meal for the phosphorus (yes, actual ground bone) and blood meal for the nitrogen (yes, actual dried and powdered blood) to help balance the nutrients needed. Then he tops this off with the compost that has “cooked” to a beautifully rich, dark soil turning it all under with a shovel. One concern is that the mulch he primarily uses is oak leaves, an abundance in the South, and they can make the soil acidic. To offset this, he will probably blend in some lime, but first he will take a soil test. He takes his gardening very seriously!
Plans for the yard lay in wait for the Fall weather to come, but his ideas include blackberries, blueberries, fig bushes (LSU Golden, as they discourage the birds with their lighter color), grapes, Natchez crape myrtles, and plenty of herbs and other perennials to compliment the treasures already hiding in the flowers.

not all snails are harmful...pretty little copper treasure we found on a hidden yard faucet

Until then, we’ll enjoy the limited productivity of our potted basil with some homemade pesto and dream of what the future holds.

he cooks, too...I'm so blessed!

Mom's Turn: Cleaning Challenge

Okay – a friend of mine did this on her blog as a “summer cleaning challenge”…but I’m a little slow, both in house work and blogging, so here is my effort morphed into a "fall" cleaning challenge.

My ever-present supervisor

I was inspired by my impending surgery and the need for an uncluttered bedside table – as that was where I was going to spend the next several weeks!!

BEFORE - what have I gotten myself into!?!?

AHHHHH, relief. I feel like I can take on the rest of the house - maybe after a nap

This has been fun – nothing like showing the world your mess to make you more accountable to clean it up! On to the next project…

Decorations!!

Every since we have moved into our new house I have been so exited about decorating it for special occasions like Halloween and Christmas! But now we can’t find all of our decorations from the move and Halloween is upon us! Soooo, I went in Paint on my computer and made new ideas using simple cheap stuff. I tried using pictures of our actual house, and so far this is what I have done. Tell me what you think and make suggestions!

Still working on this "real" part of this idea...

Mom's turn: He Makes Me SMILE

The captor of my heart

There’s nothing quite as special as innocent, undemanding love. No matter what my mood is, when those adorable, melt-my-heart, brown eyes look up at me I smile.

pleeeeease pick me up

LSU ROCKS!

waiting patiently by my feet

He thinks he’s a person…well, a prince really! ALL pillows are subject to his claim – it is assumed they were laid out especially for him.

The story of the "prince(ss) and the pea" come to mind

Then there is “the bone”…if I didn’t know for sure I’d swear they were made with some sort of doggy-nip in the middle!

He loves to play chase with it, and only after about a month of that does he deem it worthy to chew.

And as handsome as he is – well, we all have our “bad hair” days.

Somehow he seems to be smiling in spite of it…there is a lesson to be learned from that, I’m sure.

I know I'm still adorable - life it good

He shares my joys, pain, sadness, and heart so completely it’s hard to believe he’s covered in fur.

Mom's turn: Foot fetish

Feet are one of those things you don’t give a whole lot of thought to until something goes wrong. I have discovered I love my feet!!! They have taken me thousands of miles over the past thirty-ummm years.

Happy feet

However about three years ago I developed some pain while walking on the ball of my foot. It felt as if a lightening bolt was sent down to the tip of my fourth toe on my right foot every time I rolled over the ball of my foot. This sensation came and went, though, so I didn’t seek medical attention as I was unsure how to discuss something that wasn’t there with a doctor. Finally – fortunately or unfortunately, depending on my mood for the day – the pain stayed constant most of the time and I was able to have the podiatrist look at it.

He diagnosed me as having a Morton’s Neuroma, a condition most often seen in women because they wear high heeled and/or tight fitting shoes. Well – for anyone who knows me knows this is not my case…I live for Crocs, flip-flops (preferably with sparkles), Birkenstocks, bare feet, or my very well-fitting running shoes. So the initial therapy of “changing to proper fitting shoes” was not a great starting point. Next on his list of treatments was an orthoses, or a “custom shoe insert and pad also help relieve irritation by lifting and separating the bones, reducing the pressure on the nerve.” This worked for my running and cycling shoes initially, but when the nerve was flared up that didn’t even help. Not to mention – this did not work for flip-flops and they are a must during the summer in the South.

So then we moved on the final option…surgery.

Love the betadine tan

I was not very thrilled with this alternative as it leaves me laid up for several weeks and unable to train for my running or cycling events! So we planned it after one of our major annual events, the MS Tour for Cure (see previous blog) – and now here I sit. I guess it’s a good thing – although I haven’t gotten that far in my recovery to really feel that way. My surgeon said it was “the biggest neuroma I’ve ever seen.” Hmm…do I get a booby-prize for that?

I do have the best care-givers in the world assuring my comfort every moment of my recovery. My hubby has been making sure I can get a peek of the awesome weather by helping me outside,

the window opens in our bedroom to the back yard - weather was perfect

my daughter has been wonderful at checking on me and caring for our fur-babies, and my dog has been the guardian of the ice-pack…not letting anyone near his injured mom’s foot!

Samson wondering why I won't play

And of course grandma has sent over wonderfully prepared food dishes so we can rest with full bellies. I have also come to the conclusion that boo-boos feel better wrapped in love…I’ve spent the better part of this week wrapped up in a beautiful quilt my friend made for me. It must have magic in it; it takes all the pain away!

The "Pretty Purple Quilt" - handmade by a super-crafty friend

Thanks to all of my family and fabulous friends for checking on me, helping me smile, and sending me love.

Look at that stylish boot!!!

I am supposed to be down for 4-6 weeks - able to run and cycle in hopefully 8. Trying to behave myself...check for updates :-D

Mom's turn: MS Madness

The starting line in Hammond, LA at SLU

It’s hard to believe, but my hubby and I completed one more MS Tour for Cure 150…this year was dedicated to a wonderful friend of mine. We survived another year even though we rode in “unusually high temperatures” for October in the South – the mid 90’s.

"Biker nerd" essentials, as my hubby calls them - he's just jealous because he doesn't look as svelte as I do! :-D

It was hot, but I kept my cool looking awesome sporting a new jersey for the year! Note the fabulous red, white and blue TREK jersey I won in Colorado at the 2007 TEVA Mountain Games.

prized TREK jersey...won in a MOD race at the TEVA games

At the start of day 1 - note the BIG smiles

My goal was to raise more money and ride farther than my 75.47 miles I did last year – and both were accomplished with a combined $560 and 100.47 miles. 1000 grapes, 150 miles, and 2 bikes with willing riders we helped get one step closer to the cure for multiple sclerosis.

lunch of champions...totally carbed and energized!

uh oh, where did the smile go??

Only suffering one iPod casualty and the loss of my pride as I crawled into the back of the S.A.G. truck, I am already excited about next year. Travis finished the entire thing...show-off!

loving every minute of it

Here he comes now...I'm so proud of you!!

It’s all made possible with the best support crew ever – my daughter and father-in-law. They camped out at Percy Quinn in his 5th wheeler so we would have a great place to get rested for the second day of the ride. And my darling daughter took care of our dogs so they could be part of the adventure as well. All were there to greet us with kisses on our arrival.

the warm welcome makes it all worth while

Thanks also to all of my friends and family who supported me financially, with encouraging words, and in your prayers. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Day two and still smiling!

Ready to get "back in the saddle again"