Tuesday Transformation. June 24, 2014

Yikes... Here we go again...

Today is Tuesday, June 24, 2014

230.2

I didn't bother measuring...

Last week...

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Weight 230.6

C 46.5

W 48.5

H 51.5

Last week was a bust. Let's see what I can create this week... My Honey, The Mr Saucy, is away for work this week, and for some reason, I feel like eating/cooking will be easier for me. This logically makes no sense, as he's only home for dinner, and has repeatedly told me he wants nothing more than to support me in my eating plan, so it's interesting to me why I feel like this week will be easier to stick to said eating plan. I think it's because I still feel the need to provide a typical, media enfluenced "healthy square meal" for supper that includes grains. The kids still eat everything, so I have no problem making separate suppers for them while Daddy is gone, then I eat late after the kids are in bed. My alone and wind-down time.

Like I said... It'll be interesting.

Breakfast today has been 2 cups of coffee with 2 stevia and 2 teaspoons nondairy powdered creamer, each. I'm hungry, but it's almost lunch time, so I'll have a salad with leftover pork tenderloin on it for my lunch. 

Awesome lunch! I LOVE cooking or reheating a meat in coconut oil, then using that oil as the salad dressing along with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.

T-Ball game in the sweltering heat lead us to the drive through for the kids. And... DING DING DING!!! I DIDN'T ORDER ANYTHING FOR ME!!! Yes, I wanted the ease of someone else making supper for me, just having to throw away a wrapper when it was gone, and the sweet, fatty, unctuous, warm, slightly sweet, salty goodness of the double quarter pounder and the hot, soft, crispy, salty fries possible dipped into the cold ketchup for that perfect juxtaposition of hot, cold, sweet, salty goodness that is the diabolical undoing of many a waistline. BUT! "I faced temptation, and did not bend" (thank you Tremors for one of my all time favorite movie lines.) I didn't even get a Diet Coke! 

What the what?!? Are you for real?

Oh yeah.

So, supper was an unsuccessful version of my pork fried cauliflower "rice". I skipped a bunch of steps, remember, I was tired, hot, and this cold is kicking my derrière. I wanted the pork and the soy sauce, and honestly, a filler to shovel in that would satisfy my rumble tummy quickly and comfortably. The leftover grilled cauliflower went into the food processor to be chopped into "rice" while the pork was heated in the wok in olive oil. I didn't bother with onions or garlic, or the peas, nor the carrots. I dumped in the cauliflower, then added a squeeze of my refrigerated ginger purée and a sprinkle of the freeze dries garlic. But wait, I need more moisture, so in went some of the Chardonnay I was drinking. And then went in the gf soy sauce. Stir stir stir, dump in bowl, add more soy, eat.  Alas, it wasn't as successful as my full recipe, and my throat was screaming at me, so I ended up picking out the pork nuggets only, and dumping the cauli rice.

It was an early night. Tonight was Boo's night to sleep with Mommy, so GG got her songs and snuggles during tuck-in, then Boo got to,play his leap frog tablet in bed, then watch Mommy play some games too. Then, I heard that beautiful sound of the moment the breathing turns into that rhythmic pattern of sleep. The house was quiet, my Nyquill chaser was starting to work it's magic, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep snuggled up next to my son.

Wednesday, June 18

WOW! A lot of support from last weeks post! That's the encouragement I need to do this for another week. I was NOT expecting it, and I'm flattered and really excited! And, to be quite honest, each time last week when I made a food choice, I honestly thought about this blog. I thought about the choices I was making and that I was going to have to admit the horrible things I was eating and drinking and the horrible things I was doing and not doing to my body.

So, today, I've had had my 3-egg omelet with 2 pieces of American single wrapped cheese product, and 2 cups of coffee with 2 stevia and 2 teaspoons of my nondairy creamer.

It's going to be another sweltering day, so my shop work may have to be inside work. Perhaps I'll use the twine to wrap more bottles, or work on the descriptions in the Etsy shop. Oh, and I think I broke a bone in my hand yesterday when I hit it instead of the crowbar while splitting pallets for the new trays. Oh well... No one said owning your own business was easy and/or pain free.

Evening now, and I'm snackish. I desperatly want a piece of horrible sandwich bread with a slathering of butter. Or I want the jar of peanut butter and a spoon. The kids and I are watching movies. I've been playing iPad games and checking on my Facebook connections, but now I'm ready to dive into the Jif jar. This is my crappy time of day. In the morning I *set* the day by being good or bad. Mid day follows what happened at breakfast. Dinner is another follow of early day, but evening is almost like a start over, or a *congratulations* because I made it all day. But this has been my issue for years. I reward myself with food. I read that the battle is fought with each meal, but if 1/4 of the day is crap, then I'm not really winnin. Yes, I can start over each morning, but is that the best way to go about this?

Yup. I caved. PB and a glass of milk.

Thursday, June 19

Ugh! My cold is getting worse. I'm now exhausted and grumpy in addition to not feeling great. Morning pills with the addition of some cold meds today too, cup of coffee and my shake. I don't think I'll go into the shop today. Can't imagine adding sawdust and Virginia humidity to my lungs is smart. There's plenty of things to do inside. The dust bunnies of Homer hair are taking over, so it time to fight them.

Lunch was a salad of mixed lettuces, left over flank steak from last nights supper, raw green beans from the garden, and then dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and topped with fresh oregano and fresh parsley from the garden as well. I came out onto the deck to eat while the kids played in the backyard. Of course both dogs are right on my heels, and are now panting and looking at me with big "we want to go inside now mommy, it's very hot out here" eyes. Ok, they win. Guess I can go push the vacuume around for a bit... Or I can find something else to do to procrastinate ...

I ended up cleaning the house. 

I made pork chops and ate one for my supper.

Friday, June 20

Ok, let's go the the Dr. This cold has GOT to go away. I called at 11:00 to see if they had any openings, yes, they have one at 11:30. Yay! I make sure the kids have on clothes and shoes, I do the same for myself real quick, and we run out the door. And then get bumped by the car and driver behind us at a stop light. Absolutely no damage, so we get back in our cars and go to the Dr. Just as I suspected, it's only a cold. But at this point, I'm so tired, lonely, scared, frustrated, and exhausted, I do get the double QP and fries from McDonalds. And it was delicious! 

Since it was a filling and late lunch, I didn't eat supper. Plus, still feeling terrible.

Saturday, June 21

DADDY'S COMING HOME TODAY! The morning consisted of juggling schedules because they boys last T-Ball game was rescheduled to Monday because of a tin shower, so the kids ended up coming with me. Felt like crap, no breakfast other than coffee. 

After graduation, yup, you guessed it, the kids and I went to McDonalds again, and yep, I had another DQP. 

No supper again, just went to bed.

Sunday, June 22

Breakfast was coffee. We're headed to GranMa's for a family BBQ is afternoon, so I'll save my calories and eat there.

Burgers, dogs, and brats on the grill, cole slaw and potato salad sides. I had a burger on a gf bun, some cole slaw and loaded potato salad. Brought leftovers home for My Honey who was working yet again.

Then I got a glass of wine and went to my room and shut the door. I think I was able to have about 1/2 an hour alone before the dogs wanted in, then GG came to check on me too. But then daddy tucked them in and went back downstairs where he fell asleep on the couch watching TV. The girl woke up with a crying fit, so I then spent the next hour in her room consoling her and getting her back to sleep.

Monday, June 23

Going to have to work backwards here on my weekend. This week has ROYALLY SUCKED! Super sick, My Honey out of town, I'm exhausted, feel terrible, and having zero down time because my cold has kept me up at night caughing. 

Ok, I remembered the key points to the weekend, as recorded above. I got on the scale this morning and wanted to burst into tears. Yes, I know, there have been 2 days of fast food, and not a lick of exercise this week at all, so what did I expect? But, I'm still bummed. 

So I stomped downstairs where my children announced they would like hot dogs for breakfast. Since neither of them eat all of what I put in front of them anymore, I went ahead and made them hot dogs. Conner said he wanted his with slaw, so I added slaw, knowing full well that he wouldn't want it, and I'd get to eat it. That's exactly what happened. So, I had a hot dog with slaw for breakfast and a side of loaded potato salad.

Then I squeezed my fat ass into my bathing suit and took the kids to the pool. Now we're home, I have dinner prepping, and I'm thinking the idea of another slaw-dog sounds dreamy! But, it's 3:00, the Boo's game is at 6:00, so I'll feed him and GG before the game, then My Honey and I will eat later tonight. 

Grilled pork chops that were marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic. They were good.

What's growing? Mid June, 2014

The first eatable strawberries from the deck. Not what I was expecting. Tasted like fruit, but weren't the vibrant sweet strawberries I was expecting.

Zucchini blossoms!

Acorn squash buds.

The green beans are WONDERFUL! I've been snacking on them raw as I check them out in the mornings, then I noticed there was enough to pick for a full serving for supper the other night. There are still tons of flowers, so more crops will be coming soon.

Beets!

Corrots. I hope gees aren't too close together. I had to pull up and toss all the radishes. I planted them too close together and they all just turned into rotten looking carrots that smelled like radishes.

Cherry tomatoes.

Lemon Boy tomatoes.

Mr. Stripy heirloom. Yes, bought for the name.

Wisteria! When you're near! 🎵🎶🎤 (I can't say Wisteria with out signing Def Leppard)

Pretty purple ground cover at the base of the Wisteria. 

Looks like the clematis will be blooming again.

I bought this at the same time as the other clematis and it had the same leaves. Then, it changed a little, looked like it died, and then this plant came back in it's place. 

It's blooming for our neighbors, so I have to hang my arm over the fense to take pictures of it's little white blooms.

She shoots out LONG TALL arms, though.

Good morning, sweet wild honey suckle.

Time to give the compost a quarter turn.

Stella enjoying the shade while still keeping an eye on her man-cubs.

I love this cedar at the edge of the tree house.

What is this little guy? Reminds me of a bamboo, but if don't know. Cute little thing, though. I'll keep him.

The deck and garden in the morning shade.

The patio in the morning shade.

Hosta Corner. Yes... I need a truckload of mulch to treat this side of the yard. It's kinda hopelessly forgotten and ignored.

Kevin returned from an obviously exhausting visit to see neighbor Rick for a belly scratch and morning check-in

The herb garden. From left to right we have oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, and parsley. Cilantro is on the deck railing in a smaller pot and the lavender is down in the garden.

The strawberries. I've laid a layer of newspaper on the soil to separate the berries from touching it. I'm hoping that will keep e berries from rotting. I'm not doing well with my strawberries this year.

The morning glory, moon vine, and a new red flower vine that will grow up to cover (hopefully) the pergola. 

The same seed mixture in a large pot on the deck. I'm helping the vines climb with string.

One of my many jade plants. The shamrock growing with it was a house warming gift from our realtors. The shamrock died, so I used the potting soil from the pot to add to this one when I replanted the jade. Then, the shamrock came back to life, and LOVES living with the jade.

One of my 2 favorite growing things!

SWING!  Weeeeeeeee!

Ok, last one, but I loved the shots of her hair with the sun behind her.

My other favorite growing thing.

And, can't leave out my Homer! He's never far from me.

I hope you enjoyed the morning in pictures. 

Play with your food, grow something beautiful, get dirty.

Tuesday Transformation. June 17, 2014

For the first time, I hope no one reads this post, but I'm keeping it real...

June 17 2014

Weight: 230.6 (-0.8)

Waist: 48.5 (-0.5)

Hips: 51.5  -

Chest: 46.5 (+0.75)

Arms average: 12.5 -

Thighs average: 27.5 -

Let's back up a week...

Monday 6/9/14 

Today is the start of my 21-Day FIX program. Today's workout was Total Body Cardio FIX.

Here are my starting stats:

Weight: 231.4

Waist: 49

Hips: 51.5

Chest: 45.75

Arms average: 12.5

Thighs average: 27.5

Whew! Today's workout was TOUGH! I LOVE the way it's broken down, though. It was 4 segments in a total of 30 minutes. Each segment is broken into one minute bursts of exercises followed by either a 20 second or a 30 second rest period. Amber (the creater and trainer in the DVD) shows each move before we get going, so it's VERY clear what needs to be done. She talks about which muscles are being used so, for me, I could really feel and focus on which muscles I was working. I did some so the moves modified, and others I was able to go full-tilt. I love the 30 minute workouts!

I had 2 eggs for breakfast which is 1 red container, and now I'm going to have my Vegan Chocolate Shakeology which is another red container, and go walk around the backyard to check out the garden. 

The garden is looking great. I picked tomato suckers and tried to thin out the radishes. I think they're all worthless. None of them are producing a round bulb. They're all thin and pointy just like a regular root, and when I pull them up, they look rotten, soft, and split. Humph.

Lunch was roast beef deli meat (a red container) and 2 green containers of leaf lettuce. I didn't have the ingredients to make an official 21-Day FIX salad dressing, but I had a low fat raspberry Vinegerette, so I used my 2-T sized orange container of that.

Evening... I'M STARVING! But I don't have any fruit or nuts for my purple containers and blue containers. And I can't tolerate dairy anymore, so cheese isn't an option either. Ugh! Supper will be steamed talapia on a bed of spinach and sautéed onions. It's a creation of mine that Mr. Saucy and I LOVE! Slice 2 small onions, or 1 large, and slowly sautée in a small amount of oil of your choice. EVOO and butter are our favorites. Once the onions get soft and a little brown, add the spinach. Use either fresh or frozen, and you may need to add a little hot water to increase the steam amount. Once this mixture is hot, place the fix fillets on top of the bed of hot spinach and onions, season the fish as you'd like (I love lemon pepper!!) then cover and steam until the fish is cooked. Serve as-is, and/or add more spice if you'd like.

Supper... Screw the containers! I have the amount of 2 reds and 2 greens left for supper, but I didn't get them. I put the veggies and fish filet on my plate and enjoyed every bite! Then I had half of another filet. Mr. Saucy was home earlier than normal, and since this is such a quick supper to make, we were done with supper by 6:00. And I'm still hungry. Oh, this is gonna such! This is why I'm overweight. Clearly I eat too much, because this whole portioning crap is for the birds. 

After supper... HungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungryHungry. I want to eat. I want something else to eat. Oh My GOD.....I'm going to devour the kitchen! Wait... I have decaf and Irish Cream. I can swap a yellow container for a little booze, and haven't used my 3 yellow containers yet. I also haven't had my blue container which is ok for some dairy, so.... Seems logical to me... One cup of decaf and some Bailey's was WONDEFUL! And the second cup was exactly enough to make me NOT want to grab the PB and spoon.

8:30pm, I (kinda) made it through my late-night cravings, and now my sweet baby girl wants me to read Fancy Nancy and sing her her bedtime songs. So up we go for tuck-ins, and, since the Total Body Cardio Fix DVD was BRUTAL, I'm exhausted too, so by 9:15, I was in bed too. And, with a summertime thunderstorm rumbling in, sleep will be sweet.

Tuesday 6/10/14

Uhum!! WHAT?!?! 4.2 pounds LOST?!? In 1 day?!? Oh, SNAP! Ok. So, let's get those portioning containers rinsed out and ready to go today. Let's plan ahead a little. I'm fairly ok during the day when I'm busy, but when I slow down is when I get munchie. I'm going to save a red container for tonight, so I can have a second shake as my snack/dessert. I love family supper, so 2 reds and 2 greens will be supper. No yellow after 6:00, so my 2 daytime meals will split my remaining 3 yellows, 3 reds, and 3 greens. I love my morning ShakeO, and since I'm going to save one for tonight too, and I love the family supper time, those are the meals I'll keep as standards, and I'll rearrange the others around those.

Time to get this mornings workout done. I'm sore from yesterday, but my CrossFit days taught me that moving will make it hurt less, so time to feel better.

Yup! Loved the Upper FIx segment. HARD, but a good workout. I only have 5lb hand weights right now, so I used them for all the moves. I'll eventually need heavier ones, but I'm glad I did everything with the lighter ones starting out.

Lunch was 2 yellows of rice and 2 reds of chicken. Dinner was just grilled pork chops. I didn't measure. Sorry Amber, I just ate. I had wine before, with, and after dinner too.

Wednesday 6/11/14

Scale didn't do much today, but I'm not surprised. That big loss yesterday wasn't expected either, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm still on track and absolutely making EXCELENT progress. 

However... Portioning makes me sad. And I don't like how my body feels when I eat carbs. Yes, I love them, but for my body chemistry, I can't lose weight and eat carbohydrates. Just doesn't mix in my chemistry. I love love love corn, and will continue to have grilled corn in the bob in the summer time because I'm southern, and I do love it, but it's not an every day thing, and will probably be a once a week thing, if even that often.

So for breakfast I had a little leftover pork chop from last nights dinner and 3 freamed (fried/steamed) eggs. My aunt taught me this, and it makes perfect eggs every time. In a heated nonstick skillet, crack your eggs. Let them cook for a minute or two until the whites are almost totally cooked. Then, pour a few tablespoons of HOT water into the pan, trying to get the water as close to the edge of the pan as possible, so it will go under the eggs, and around the edge of the pan to create steam. Cover the pan, and let the steam cook the tops of the eggs. Leave the lid on for as long as you like, based on how done you like your eggs. The nonstick pan and the water allows the eggs to slip right out of the pan. No broken yolks, no half-of-egg stuck to the pan. Use a slotted spatula to remove the eggs if there is any water still pooled in the pan. You don't want that on your plate.

I believe I've had 2 reds so far today. Tonight The Boo is having a sleep-over, and Mr. Saucy wants to order pizza. The delivery place sells salads too, so that will be my choice. I had a lot of red this morning, a ShakeO will be another red, and most to all of my greens will be tonight. My orange and blue will be tonight with the salad dressing. Looks like lunch should be yellow, but I don't like yellows. Drat. Guess I'll be hungry today. Perhaps I'll do an extra ShakeO and cut my protein down to just one red for tonight. That will give me my allotted 5 for today.

And, today is supposed to be Lower FIX but there's no way that's going to happen. Holy MOLY my legs are tired! When simply going potty and getting up and down from a chair makes you grimace, it's ok to take a rest day. AND STRETCH!

Greek salad with sliced turkey deli meal on top for supper. Forgot about the feta cheese, so had bad tummy cramps all night. Plus, the boys didn't go to sleep until about midnight, and were up before 5:30am. 

Both kids are running temps, but claim to feel fine...

Thursday 6/12/14

Holy Moly, I'm exhausted. Didn't weigh this morning. Honestly, I forgot and wanted to go ahead and get dressed since the kids were up. Normally, I spend an hour or two in my workout clothes or jammies in the mornings, but knowing I needed to take the little man to preschool, I went ahead and put on my grownup clothes.

Dropped him off at school, saw several teachers who are still there from when my kids were there too. They all oohed and ahed over how big and tall mine had gotten (they've been home with me for just about a year now.), then we drove through the drive through for pancakes and sausage for the kids. I got a large sugar free vanilla skim latte. Yup. Seriously. I forgot AGAIN that the milk would upset my stomach. I wonder how long it will take me to remember?

Breakfast was an omelet with sliced turkey deli meat and 2 of my kids string cheeses in it. Cheese. COME ON! Carter ANN! Wake up. Get out of your habits and think about what you're doing. Well, I only ate half of it. Good thing I was done with it, because as I was sitting at the table playing a game on my iPad, Kevin came up and sat on my plate. The whole omelet would have been 2 reds, so I'm counting just one for my first meal. And I'm counting the blue for the cream in my coffee.

Lunch was a red and a green. Ground beef and tomato sauce. Sounds THRILLING, I know. But, a friend posted a picture of stuffed peppers on Facebook, I had no peppers, but suddenly really wanted a stuffed pepper. The closest I could get was to make the stuffed part sans pepper.

I'm REALLY hoping the kids will take a nap. Remember the exhausted part from above? Well, I just now noticed, at 12:30pm, that my sons shorts have been on backwards all day. Mother Of The Year! I can tell that my 2:00pm snack will absolutely be my Shakeology. I'm supposed to be doing Pilats Fix today, but again, I don't know if I can physically do it. She'll tell me to go into child's pose to stretch, and I'll go straight to sleep.

I have things I should be doing in the garage for my Etsy Shop, but again, I'm thinking the couch looks like a MUCH better option right now. At least supper is thawing, so I don't need to worry about that later on. Motivation, where hath thoughest gone?

Mr Saucy texted to say he figured practice would be cancelled due to the rain, and did I want him to bring home a roasted chicken. I jumped at the chance, and then also requested cole slaw and baked beans. And no, I didn't measure. Sorry Amber.

The kids temps are up again, so we'll be seeing the Dr in the morning.

Friday 6/13/14

Three little words. 

P. M. S. 

Give me everything in sight! And, cover it with chocolate! STAT!

Morning Shakeology, then off to the Dr for The Boo, who said he was fine, but I could hardly understand him due to his voice being almost gone, but then slipped up and asked for something that wouldn't hurt his throat. Poor thing... He HATES strep tests. But, alas, we headed out to the dr anyway, and sure enough, he has strep. We tested GG too, and yep... You guessed it... She was positive too. Both kids got Rx's for bubble gum flavored amoxicillin, and I was given a script too, just in case I develope it too. I'm VERY susceptible to strep, and I've had it twice since mid-May.

We met Daddy, aka Mr. Saucy at the restaurant across the street from the dr. I had a grilled chicken breast with sliced tomatoes and a butter sauce, a side of mashed potatoes, and one trip to the salad bar.

But then for dinner, the PMS was too strong for me, and I ordered a gluten free pizza. Knowing it would tear up my tummy, but for about 2 days a month, I can not control my food addiction. I'm hoping that I'll get better with it, and I'm working really hard on it, but my goodness, it's just overwhelming.

Saturday 6/14/14

Chex cereal for breakfast. Well... 1/2 a bowl. I used real milk again, and knowing it would make me feel terrible made me not want to eat it. GG was asking for it, so I gladly gave her what was left.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Lunch. I'm starving. I haven't had my ShakeO today, I KNOW it will make me feel better, but I almost don't want to feel better. I want a sandwich. A turkey and mayo sandwich with salt and pepper. I open the fridge, and remember the leftover rice and the leftover cole slaw and the left over roasted chicken. Wait a minute! Why don't I have something that WONT make me feel worse. So, I microwaved a bowl of rice and had some cold chicken while I waited for the rice. Drank a bunch of water while waiting for the rice, and viola... I'm now full, feel better about my food choices, and I won't have the issues with the gluten in the sandwich bread.

Need to do the grocery shopping this afternoon, so hopefully the rice won't leave me STARVING by the time it's time to go roam the isles. I do try to stick to the outer rim of the grocery store, but today we need cooking and salad oils, and coffee, so I'll be doing a little inner-store shopping. I'll just have to put my head down until I get to where I know these items are.

Supper tonight will be pork tenderloin. And I need to get the flank steak marinating for Fathers Day.

Sunday 6/15/14

Last nights pork tenderloin was awesome! We had it with fresh green beans from the backyard garden, and cauliflower "steaks". I sliced the entire head of cauliflower into 4 massive slices and we grilled the 2 inner slices. The outer 2 fell apart because there wasn't any core holding them together. I still grilled them on the veggie grill tray, and they were good too.

Today is Fathers Day, and it started out with bacon for breakfast. Just bacon. Bacon in bed. Then we went on a drive out to the country to see a little house up for sale (no, we're not moving, but we both still love looking and dreaming of what's next.) and on the way, we stopped at 5-Guys for decadent goosh-burgers. Yes, we'll feel terrible for days, but with it being Fathers Day, and his last day home for a week, we splurged.

Was hoping to do the family secret flank steak tonight, but I'm no where near hungry, and it needs a while to marinate, so I'll make that later in the week for the kids and I. Ok, for me, really. The kids won't eat much. GG probably won't eat a bite, but Boo will have a good portion. Left overs will be in salads.

Mr Saucy wanted a sandwich from the pizza delivery place' so I got a pizza too. Not proud...

Monday 6/16/14

It's a new week, and time to get this ball rolling again. Hopefully the hormonal swings and holidays won't pop up again this week, pointing out my nonexistent will-power. I have a summer cold, but hopefully I won't turn that into an excuse for comfort eating too.

Had my Shakeology for breakfast, a pork chop for lunch, then leftover pork tenderloin and grilled cauliflower for supper. Didn't workout, so I'm not really expecting the numbers to shift much. This hasn't been a stellar week.

Projects, Projects, Projects

There are so many things going on here! 

The garden is coming along nicely, however, my attempt at growing lettuce from seeds is proving less than successful. The second purchase of cucumbers, zucchini, and squash is doing better than the first. I ground up egg shells to put around the plants to keep the slugs away, and it seems to be working wonderfully. Since I had tomatoes growing last year, and I recycled the rotten ones into the soil, I'm getting tomato sproutletts coming up in several spots. For now, I'm letting them come on up. If/when they become a problem I'll pull them.  The carrots, beets and radishes are looking great, and the tomato plants already have baby green tomatoes starting to form. Our first attempt at fruit is working well too. We have strawberries in a pot on the porch.

FunnyGrandDaddy is giving us several very large flower pots that he had on his deck, and I'll transplant this years crop of morning glory, moon flower, and a new climber into one of those so they can grow up the pergola and create a beautiful flowery canopy over the deck.  I've seen the wild morning glory starting to come up along the basement stairs railing. It always makes such a beautiful wall of foliage and purple flowers all summer.

I planted a wisteria at the corner of the deck that will grow up and onto the pergola for next year. The surprise roses out front are blooming, and are very pretty! I've never had roses before, and since I didn't plant it, I don't know if it's supposed to be a climber or a bush. I have it coming up a trellis right now, but that's just because I'm not really sure what to do with it, and it's coming up in the corner right by my front door. In order to not snag every piece of clothing we own, I'm attempting to get it to cooperate and go up the trellis. But it's not twisting it's leaves around the trellis like I'm use to seeing other climbing plants do. My clematis twirls her leaves around things to climb, and the morning glory always does this too, and I'm seeing the wisteria do this as well. Time to do some research into what type of roses I have so I can nurture them a little better.

The shop/garage is full of exciting new projects, kid stuff, and tools. Hopefully Mr. Saucy will rig a hoisting devise to the ceiling for the bikes, because they are the only things right now without a permanent *home* out there.  

We keep the kids outside toys there, and my shop is there with my glass working tools, and Mr. Saucy's tools are in there, and my home gym is there. And... It's only a 1-car garage! AND... The reason we don't use it as a garage is because it's too small to get a family car into it. So... Needless to say, we're using every inch of the space available to us to fit an entire family's world into that space. 

You may be asking, "Why are you cramming so much into such a tiny space?", and the answer is because it's the only good space we have with ventilation. Since we have the wood-working/household tools out there, and with me working on glass, these are things I really don't want in the household air circulation. 

Ok, fine, but why the gym too?

Because I know myself. I have had a basement gym. I have had an upstairs gym. I have an exercise bike NEXT TO MY SIDE OF THE BED, and I don't use them. If I don't SEE it daily, and know that it's immediatly accessible, useable, and ready to go, I will find an excuse. By having my TV, DVD player, weights, etc in the garage, where I'm working anyway, I know that I'll use them. And, so far, I have. In fact, I'm even tempted to bring down the other exercise equipment to put in there too, but I know there's no room, and I'll end up not being able to get to ANYTHING out there, and I won't do it. I'll be right back in the same situation I've been in every other time.

Other projects, which I will report on later are:

The Kitchen Reno

The Etsy Shop, Bottle Projects, and Blow Torch

I'm also trying to think of a logo and key words that matter to me and my work. If you think of things that remind you of me, let me know. 

So for now, I wish you a happy day of creating, dreaming, and doing.

And always, stay hungry.

2014 Patio At Awesome Central Configuration

Yes. I rearrange the exterior of the house almost as often as I rearrange the inside. Here is a picture of last years patio.

The home that we purchased in 2011 was previously owned by a small tiling company owner, who had purchased several slabs of slate, and a lot of red brick pavers. I found all of these in the woods just sat our property line, and I brought them all over to the area I wanted to dub the patio.

I wanted a free-flowing, eclectic look is both square slates, curves using the pavers, and broken pieces of the slate as well. I was looking for an imperfect organic look, and we did a GREAT job with what we had. We bought some top soil and sand to level the slates and pavers, and viola, we had a very cute patio. 

But it was small. See how the one chair is positioned off the stones and 1/4 in the dirt by the stairs? It was uneven, so the coffee table is way too far away from the seating. The roots from the (Bartlett or Bradford?) pear would NOT cooperate with my vision. And you can't see it in this shot, but the drainage (lack there of) behind the love seat gave us a "natural water feature" about 6'x8' and about 6" deep in the middle. Would have been fantastic had I dug down. Lined it. And created a small pond there, but not exactly what I wanted with 2 kids under 6 and 2 dogs over 180 pounds combined.

Mr Saucy's birthday is in November, and we had friends over for a BBQ and an evening around the fire pit. Due to the number of people we were expecting, and the chillier than expected temps, we moved the chimnea to the center of the slate, and used a second layer of landscaping bricks to make the original base for the chimnea into a fire pit. It worked well, but we ended up having to move chairs into the grass to get everyone "around" the pit.

At one point earlier this spring, we had friends over, and I was mentioning that I was going the bring up all the stones and start over again to increase the outdoor living area. One of my more brilliant besties said, "Why don't you just add to what you've got? As we were again trying to cram chilly adults around 1/4 of a circle, she mentioned it would be nice to have more seating "around" the fire. 

DUH.

So, I went to Facebook to the local yard sale groups and posted at I was looking for any patio stones that anyone wanted to get rid of. I didn't care the color, shape, condition... I was just going to add to the eclectic organic shapes that I already had started. I received a note from a woman who was going to redo her landscaping and had several landscaping bricks I could have. AWESOME!! Mr Saucy and I headed over there and picked them up.

So, stage 1 of this years patio began to take shape.

Looking good! But as you can see, the furniture is half on and half off. We're using a few random pavers to give support to the chairs so they don't sink into the mud. I gave up trying to go around the tree with the pavers. That damn tree shoots mini-trunks up from it's roots, and displaces the stones.

Then, the amazing landscaping fairy sent me another message to tell me she had a whole second load of landscaping stones for me, if I still needed any. HOLY AWESOME NEWS, Batman! WhooHoo!

The second load was even bigger than the first, and I honestly wondered if I could get them home in my Pilot. It was VERY VERY low on the suspension. But, we made it, and I unloaded the stones into the driveway, porch, and a few loads to the back yard. Then Mr Saucy, and Saucy Neighbor took all the rest of them to the back for me.

Here is the patio as it sits right now! The morning sun is very pretty coming in through the trees. I'm thinking of putting gravel in and around some of the edges to fill in some areas. 

Next project is weeding the flower beds up front, mulching, and getting the lawn plush, beautiful, weed and bug free.

Stay hungry, get dirty, and make your spaces beautiful.

2014 Spring Garden

This years garden is almost complete, and it's much bigger than last year. Bigger meaning more variety and more plants. Plus, I went with some fancy things. Here's this years layout...

In one box we have:

Lemon Boy Tomatoes.                        Mr. Stripy Tomatoes.                       Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes.

(Big yellow).                                         (Striped Heirloom).                          (Yellow Cherry Tomatoes)

Beets.                                                 Carrots.                                           Husky Cherry Red

From seeds.                                        From seeds.                                    (Red Cherry Tomatoes)

Scallions.                                            Radish.                                            Scallion

(Same plant from last year!                  From seeds.                                    (Same plants from last year)

In the next box, we have:

Cucumbers.                                        Lavender.                                           Green Beans

                                              

Pablano Peppers.                                Purple Bell Peppers.                           Jalapeños 

Chives.                                                Marigold.                                             Marigold

(Same plant I've had for 8 years).         (In companion planting, marigolds keep away a lot of bugs)

In the 3rd box, we have:

Zucchini.                                              Marigold.                                       Butternut Squash

                                                                                                                 (From seed)

Butter Crunch Lettuce.                         Marigold.                                      Green Salad Bowl Lettuce

(From seed).                                                                                              (From seed)

Spinach.                                               Ruby Lettuce.                               Black Seed Simpson Lettuce

(From seed).                                         (From seed).                                  (From seed)

All of the seeds I put directly into the garden from the packet. I did not start any indoors, and this is a first for me. Pretty much everything listed is either a new variety for us this year, a new technique, and/or a new plant entirely.

I also bought strawberries this year. They are in a pot on the deck with the herbs. The only herbs left in the garden are the chives and the lavender. As soon as the cukes and beans are done producing, I'm bringing in the lavender. It might winter alright, but I'll bring her in this year regardless. I'll do that with my rosemary too, if I don't manage to kill it this year.

All of the seeds were purchased, none were harvested from grocery store produce.

I want to get sweet potatoes growing up front. I bought a blueberry bush this year, not knowing that they needed a companion to propagate, so I'll have to return to Lowes for a second one. And I also bought a grape vine this year. I think I'd like to plant it next to the garage and let it grow up, then over a small pergola type awning that I'll talk Mr Saucy into building for me.

Another exciting addition is a wisteria plant for the deck and pergola. My Lord, I love those flowers, and I'm really hoping it grows and covers the pergola with a multitude of cascading purple flowers. I don't think it will grow that fast this year, so I bough 3 climbing vines that I want to plant in pots at the 4 corners of the pergola. I bought seeds for Moon Flower, Morning Glory, and Cardinal Climber, which is new to me. I think the 3 will grow happily together in big enough pots, but we'll see.

I also went all over the place with my super weed and grass killer. Squirted the pair miter of the house, the fence line, and the whole shade side of the fenced area so we can start over with that patch. 

Mulch was also purchased, and I'll put that around after the weed killer has done some work. I may need to give some weeds in the flower beds another squirt, so I'm waiting to lay the mulch until I know I've zapped them all.

The good ole "Weed & Feed" needs to go down too. I'd like to get on out and get that done today, but need to check all the weather forecasts to see if it's a good time. Also need to get the bug spray down too. Get the grubs out of the soil to get the moles out. Plus, the bug spray gets tics and fleas, and with 2 huge dogs, a roaming Pigmy Puma, 2 kids, and a Mommy who all like being in the yard and garden, any reduction of biting critters is a bonus.

Stay hungry, get dirty, grow as much of your own foods as you can.