Saturday, May 1, 2010

Little Dutch Boy

Where are my wooden clogs? Also, would someone tell these people to stop putting me on the ground and among all these ridiculous flowers?

P.S. This is funnier if you know our last name. If you don't know it, let me just assure you that, to quote A., it's "as Dutch as windmills."

Friday, April 30, 2010

Mixing It Up

Okay, let's have a show of hands from everyone who's been missing Audience Participation Days!

It is entirely possible that none of you put your hands up. But since I can't actually see you, I will pretend that there is a sea of desperately waving hands out there, imploring me to introduce yet another scintillating and thought-provoking topic for Internet discussion. I am, as ever, happy to oblige.

Onto today's topic. Food: Separate or Co-Mingle?

Lemme 'splain.

Last night for dinner I made Italian sausage, stewed tomatoes, peas, and mashed potatoes. Each food was cooked separately, but when I dished up my plate, I first put on the potatoes, then the cut-up sausage, then the peas, then the tomatoes over it all, stirred it around, and ate my unappetizing-looking but delicious mess. A. and the MiL did not do this. They are not Mixers, generally speaking. When I make beans and rice, they tend to put them in separate piles on their plates, whereas I just glop it all together.

My happiest leftovers are the ones that can all be combined in a bowl, like pot roast, potatoes, peas, and gravy. All swimming happily together in one bowl, preferably able to be eaten with a spoon. I inherited this tendency, I think, from my mother (hi Mom!). She always takes a small bit of everything on her plate onto her fork for each bite. She even goes so far as to take a tiny second portion of anything that runs out on the plate before the rest of the food, just so she can have balanced bites until the very end.

Now, as a general rule, only children and people with a form of OCD refuse to eat food that touches on the plate. But it seems that some vestiges of this childhood proclivity may linger into adulthood, manifesting in a tendency to at least serve the food on the plate separately*.

Which brings us to The Question: Do you mix food or keep it separate? (Edited to add: I should, perhaps, clarify that I really mean do you EAT food separately or together, not necessarily do you smush it all together on a plate. Of course, I do that, but only with certain meals, and almost always only when I'm eating alone.)

* Did that sound science-y and serious enough? I like to pretend sometimes that I discuss topics of importance and merit here.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Giving the Finger to the Snow

That finger being, of course, a green thumb.

Transplant of (some of) the tomato seedlings complete. And in a totally unplanned, and yet completely appropriate, move, I had a BL-no-T yesterday after transplanting these. No T because the T is waiting on these little gems to grow up and make luscious, luscious fruit.

I CAN'T WAIT.Align Center

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Thanks a Lot, Mama N.

I asked you so nicely yesterday, Mama N. I asked if just possibly, just maybe you could find some kindness in your cold, cold winter heart and moderate the temperature. Just a little. Just so I don't have to wrap my child in animal skins like a Cro-Magnon baby to keep his hands from becoming little ice cubes. I didn't think that was such a hard request.

And what did you do? You made it snow yesterday.

That was a bitchy move, Mama. Bitchy indeed. But as long as the promised seventy degrees actually materialize this weekend, I'll forgive you.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Exhibit A

How to keep a baby warm in a stone house when you run out of firewood*.

The sheepskins save the day again.

* Because it's almost MAY, dammit. Can we get a break on the temperatures anytime soon Mama N.? For the baby's sake.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Smile for the Camera, Dammit

Okay, Cubby. Time to show the nice people all the adorable cooing and smiling you've been doing for weeks now that I haven't yet caught on camera.

You have to wake up first.

Come on, now. Don't be lazy. There's work to be done here.

Ah. Here we go. There's a little smile. Can we get a big gummy smile now?

Woah there. What's this?That is NOT a smile.

Abort abort abort! Mission failed.

Maybe next time.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Waiting Game

First I waited for the ground to warm up and dry out.

Then I waited for the tiller to be available and the garden to be tilled.

Then I waited for the seed potatoes to sprout in the sun.

Now I'm waiting for the rain to stop (but not too soon, because the stuff already in the ground really needs it).

Then I'll wait for the soil to dry again.

But soon, my lovelies, there will be potatoes in the ground growing once more, and all will be right with my world again.

Amen.