Peas!

Fresh peas are a very good reason to be a gardener.

Tim Riggins hides in the closet.

After a spell welcoming visitors at our front door, Tim Riggins chose to hang out in the closet instead.  He's happier there, peering out from behind all the women's clothing.

Errant kiwi

If someone had finished wiring the supports, perhaps this Kiwi would behave itself.  But someone didn't.

OPSFest's Midsummer Midsommer.

We gathered at Council Crest Park to celebrate the longest day of the year by watching the Original Practice Shakespeare do a special bawdy Midsommer Nights Dreame.
 

What time could it be, on this, the longest day of the year?  Did you guess 9:18 PM?  If so, you guessed correctly!
 

The key to a happy viewing of a very long play that begins at dusk?  A lot of layers.

This was a huge cast and was a fun presentation.  My favorite part was the double casting of Clara-Liis Hillier AND Kaia Hillier as Puck.  My favorite audience comment about the sisters?  "It's like they when they were four years old."  They were full of fun.

Garden!

Turnips were harvested and carrots were thinned.
 

All these baby carrots make me think that I might actually be able to grow a carrot this year.  Imagine that!
 

Who is that at the door?

Who is waiting to meet you at the door?
(which, now that I look at it, really needs a good scrubbing)
 

It's Tim Riggins!*  That smirk on his face might mean he welcomes you, but it might not.

Why, you might ask, is Tim Riggins at the door?  It's because my friend loves Tim Riggins and for fun, I bought her a poster.  It had to come from China, and when it arrived, there were two posters, not one, so I too get to see Tim Riggins face every day.

*Tim Riggins is the lovable rogue from the television series Friday Night Lights.

OPSFest's Comedy of Errors

OPSFest debuted the newest play in their lineup.  We got a special invitation-only chance to see their company's production of Comedy of Errors for the very first time.  Unfortunately, I lost the program, so I've got no names to tell you.

The Milepost 5 Courtyard was the theater.  That huge stage from last season is gone, alas.
 

This guy wandered into the wrong town. It's off to jail for him!
 

The actors sat next to us and watched the action, waiting for their next cue.  Here you can see one of the scrolls the company uses.
 

As this was the debut performance, there was a lot of looking at the scrolls.
 

Two sets of twins in one town and confusion reigns.  The woman on the right was incredibly funny as one of the servant twins.
 

I love when people who live at Milepost 5 watch the play from their apartment.  Matt loved Beth Thompson's dress.
 

A fight!
 

More confusion, though we are getting to the bottom of the problem.
 

If only we could figure out that...
 

There are twin brothers!  Oh, and your poor mother has been in a convent, but she's happy to see her boys, and their father too!
 

Your servants are also twins!  This clears everything up.

Overall, this was a very good first performance.  

Yard Intervention Day 7

Turnips!  So easy to grow!  And you get double duty:  turnip greens and the turnips themselves.
 

Every spring I try to get parsley to sprout out front in the whisky barrels.  And every spring it mostly does not work.  So why, on hard-packed dirt, where I certainly didn't plant any seed, did this little parsley plant decide to germinate and grow?  He's right in front of the trash can.
 

Side yard free of weeds!
 

But we are out of straw.
 

Glad to get all this part covered, though.
 

And even a little bit into Leo's yard.
 

In other exciting vegetable news, I have peas!  Most of these have not been tallied, because I pick them and eat them standing in the garden.
 

Yard intervention Day 5

It's been sunny alternating with heavy rain today, which is an odd thing for Portland. Usually we get grey skies (with rain or without) or sunny weather, but not the two in tandem and certainly not in a cycle as if someone stuck the CD player on repeat.  It was looking ominous, but I went for it.  Sure enough, it rained on me while I was weeding, but I persevered.  Then I went inside and put on dry clothing.  Go me!

 

 

Yard intervention Day 4

Didn't happen.  Because I was needed at fifth grade "graduation."  And then Friday Night Lights was calling to me.

Yard intervention day 3

Yesterday was too windy to attempt to put down newspaper and straw, but today was a good day.  I got the entire backyard covered in both straw and newspaper, though I ran out of newspaper before I ran out of yard.  I started saving newspaper in March, realizing that I could both reduce the amount of recycling we (I, in this case) produce and have a handy, ever replenishing source of ground cover.  The problem is that there is never enough. I had two months of newspaper to work with, which is a rather large stack of eight inches or so. But that wasn't enough for the entire back yard.  I ended up pulling some half disintegrated cardboard from the side yard.  It worked fine, but now what will I do about the side yard?
 

 

Yard Intervention Day 2

I completely forgot to take the pictures.  Drat.  But I did weed for 30 minutes straight and got everything off of the paths in the backyard.  The side yard is another matter.  Grass everywhere and grass is hard to pull up.

Yard Intervention, Day 1

I enjoy "first days" and this was no exception.  Bright and early I was out ready to put in my 30 minutes.  The pathways are hard earth so I used my favorite cobra headed tool to pull some of the more stubborn dandelions out. I also pulled all the cardboard scattered hither and yon about the area close to the patio and then spread newspaper three sections deep and overlapping.  Then I distributed the straw.  My last step was to water, because I've learned that dry straw on dry newspaper on a windy day will result in all the work blowing about the yard in a dispiriting fashion.  I'm giving my weed control a strong dose of water to ensure that does not happen.

 

 

 

Yard intervention needed!

Whilst planting today, putting seeds in the soil that were supposed to go in the ground in May and April, I decided to present myself a gardening challenge.  The yard is a partially contained mess.  Sure, I've planted things, but weeds are sprouting everywhere and I still haven't gotten all the straw spread in the pathways which was a project I began in MARCH.  I've been "trying"* to get in 15 minutes M-Saturday, and it hasn't been happening. So here's the plan: Beginning today, and extending through June 26, I will spend 30 minutes per day in the garden.  First priority:  weed paths, lay down cardboard/newspaper and straw.  Second priority: weed beds.  I will start with the part of the yard I can see when I sit at my desk to write and work out from there.  I will take a before/after picture and do a short write up after each session.  Knowing me and the prompt posting habits I have cultivated you will get to read about all this in August.

Wish me luck.


*Yes, Yoda, I know, "Do or do not, there is no try." I know what category I fall in.  It's the "do not."

Games in reverse order. I finally win one.

We're slowly playing all our board games in reverse order.  I keep losing.

Worst of all was losing to Matt at Trivial Pursuit, which is my game.
 

But I finally won!  Thank goodness for Tribond!