This is what happens to people who plant tomatoes in the Willamette Valley in the summer. It is a really good thing I married the salsa queen.
Tag: Gardening
Twice now, we have had five people around our table for dinner in our tiny studio apartment. Kelly and Christian have both stayed with us over the weekend a couple of times. All of that worked out really well. This weekend, our apartment manager came around to ask us if we wanted to extend our stay so we signed up for another six months. We do not really know where we will land next. We do not even know when we will be able to make the next changes. Alzheimer’s is like that.
What we do know is that we like to live a downsized existence. The apartment, in spite of its small size, works just great for us. We are close to shopping, work, school and restaurants. We can walk just about everywhere we normally need to go during the week. In addition to that, we have a small, economical car so we do not really use too much gas. Now I have been a good (conservative) Republican as long as I can remember, so I pretty much hate the environment, clean water, clean air and all that sort of thing. It pains me that we have such a small carbon footprint.
Even worse, the plans we have for the next place we get, wherever and whenever that is, have shrunk dramatically. We want to get a small house with as open a floor plan as possible and three small bedrooms, two of which have Murphy beds. What will people think? We are not planning to do this to save the environment–we actually like to live that way. I guess we can do the small stuff by letting people know our garden is definitely not organic and we use real pesticides. And of course we will have a gas burning über-stove. We will have to quit eating granola, too.
Well, these sacrifices are probably worth it. We do not want to lose our redneck friends or hang out with angsty, environmentalist hippie types, but we really like to live small.
Betty Blonde #374 – 12/22/2009
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I am putting this up for posterity. Lorena is starting to harvest some pretty amazing vegetables on a daily basis. I can eat a lot, but pretty soon, even the two of us will not be able to keep up. Just wow.
Lorena took a picture of the young corn (on the left) from her garden. We are home alone on this Fourth of July. Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah are celebrating their 62nd wedding anniversary today. We were glad that Aunt Julia and Cousin Amy were able to celebrate it with them. Lorena and I will celebrate the event with them tomorrow. Cousin Merle and Carolyn came to dinner last night and breakfast this morning along with our Favorite Government School TeacherTM Trisha so we got the chance to wax nostalgic for awhile. It was a great reminder to make time to be with those who value what is truly important. Kelly and Christian are at a big get-together at some lake an hour or so out of Seattle, so Lorena and I have stayed home to work on her school work and talk leisurely walk or two around the neighborhood. I had a big post on mourning the passing of democracy here in America, but have just been enjoying myself and do not have the energy for it until another time.
Betty Blonde #362 – 12/04/2009
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It feels a little surreal to us that we derive such a high level of satisfaction from life within walking distance of virtually everything we need in a small apartment in the suburbs of Portland. I mentioned Lorena’s community garden spot ($28 $22–correction from Lorena–for a good little plot for the whole season, including the first tilling and all the water she needs). The produce to the left, a radish and some cilantro, are the first fruits of all her efforts. She chats daily with the other gardeners, mostly little old ladies and enjoys herself thoroughly.
She has started her next foray out into the community by getting her transcripts sent from all over the country to the local community college. She spoke with a lady from church who has been an administrator at the college for years and found the college has an office just a few blocks from our house. Lorena went there and the facility was really nice. She is not sure she will be able to take all the classes she needs to finish her degree in Wilsonville, but she will be able to get her academic advising done her.
We are certainly not in an always and forever living situation in the little apartment–at least we think we are not–but we certainly are enjoying it for now.
Update: Corrected one more time. Lorena sends this note along: “La verdad, hay señoras jóvenes con niños chiquitos u mujeres de mi edad. Pero las las viejitas son las más amables.”
Betty Blonde #326 – 10/15/2009
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She bought a shovel, a few plants and a few other things. She is VERY excited to get started. She planted three tomato plants (1 cherry, 2 regular), radishes, some flowers, basil, rosemary, basil, beets, cucumbers and cilantro. She still has chiles, strawberries, lemon peppers and maybe a few other things. She is quite pleased with herself and much happier when she has a garden.
Betty Blonde #300 – 09/10/2009
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To my way of thinking, one of the great benefits of living in a studio apartment in the city is to NOT have a garden or any gardening duties. I should have known Lorena would find a work-around. The first thing she did was put up a flower box on what passes for a balcony in our apartment. When she went down to the city offices for some moving in thing, she found that the City of Wilsonville Parks department rented garden plots for $22 per season that included tilling and water. She signed up on the spot and they called her day before yesterday. She will start planting early next week. I have this eerie feeling I am going to get sucked into the weeding/watering vortex sometime very soon.
Update: Amazing–This is the 299th Betty Blonde comic strip from 9/9/09.
Betty Blonde #299 – 09/09/2009
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The most fabulous feature of our new apartment is that it is WAY easy to maintain. We are going to enjoy as long as that lasts. Lorena found out that she could even do a little apartment gardening. We have one flower box and will probably get a second, we like the first so much. There is room for on (and maybe even three) more.
Betty Blonde #290 – 08/27/2009
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