Garbage Hill

Wednesday . . .

Another day off for Sonwun. Got a call last night from the school's phone tree. Seems it wasn't a broken water main, as was reported to me yesterday. Seems the sewer backed up in the basement of the school. That can't be good. It also explains the "honey wagon" I saw parked there yesterday.

So I've been told we have today, and maybe tomorrow as well, with Sonwun at home. Sounds like another toboggan day to me!

We went yesterday to what is affectionately called "garbage hill" here in Portage La Prairie. I'm told it's an old dump. But it's a great toboggan hill. It even has a couple of large lights installed for night-time sliding. Cool! And so much better than the ditch in the front yard.

So last night I put out a Facebook call for my friends in Portage, who have kids at the same school, to join us on Garbage Hill again today. Hoping for a good turnout! Plan to bring the video camera today to capture some of the fun. If I'm successful, I'll try to post some of it here so that you too can experience the joy that is Garbage Hill of Portage La Prairie!

In other news, my hydroponic experiment continues to flourish (but not flounce). All of the seed pods have sprouted, but thyme and basil remain in the lead. Dill is way behind and oregano has a good start. (I mislabeled the last photo, calling the thyme oregano. I know this news probably changes your view of the world this morning. Sorry about that.

And finally, I'm one full month into my 90-day, blog-a-day commitment. For the most part, I'm proud of myself. But I have posted a few filler pieces. Not proud of those.

And so far, this year, I've had readers from 11 different countries, believe it or not. My analytics program tells me my blog has been visited by people in Canada, U.S., Brazil, United Kingdom, Cayman Islands (Hi Steve!), Germany, France, India (hmmm), Italy, Netherlands and Russia.

In total, I've had 449 visits. Each visitor has viewed an average of 2.34 pages and spent two minutes and 30 seconds doing so. Most of you use Internet Explorer to browse, with Google Chrome coming in second, followed by Safari, Firefox and Opera. Three visits came through and Android Browser.

I could go on, but it gets a little monotonous. 

So I won't. 

Have a great Hump Day. Celebrate as you see fit.

Happy Monday

So, five days down in my little hydroponic experiment and I have three little plants peeking through. Thyme was first out of the gate, and now the Italian basil and lemon basil have made an appearance. If the literature is correct, I'll be enjoying my first harvest in a week or two. Yay! (You can click on the little pictures to see them full size).

In other news, a fairly sleepless night has resulted in a few new theories for bread baking. My brain tends to sort out the day's problems over night. When the problems are bugging the crap out of me, my brain often wakes me up to check a few of its theories before allowing me back to sleep.

For my next bread version, 7.0, I will allow more time for the dough to rise in a less warm environment. I will also be shaping the loaves in a slightly different way. And that, my brain told me at 2:13 a.m., should result in an unfallen loaf. Here's hoping.

So, the week ahead . . .

Neomom's been called to testify at a trial in Thompson. She had a minor role in this one, but is apparently needed. She leaves tomorrow and will, hopefully, be back on Wednesday or Thursday. The good news is that she gets to see our best friends in Thompson, Cathy and Dave. The kids call them Grampa and Nana and they were the best part of our time in Thompson. I'm a little jealous.

Sonwun's back to school today, Sontoo and I have a little shopping to do and then it's back to work on Sonwun's new bedroom.

Have a great Monday!

A crappy one . . .

Oh crap. Just realize it's gettin' near the end of the day and I have not blogged. 

Okay, probably gonna be short. We had to run to the "big city" today to do a little shopping at Cosco, Sears and a few other places we don't have access to here in Portage. So we were out early and I didn't blog. Bad, bad blogger.

I'd love to tell you about our little shopping trip, but I'd bore you stupid. So I won't. 

And, to be honest, there ain't much else on my mind right now. So I'll update some previous stuff. First off, my little hydroponics experiment. Proud to say that through my hard work, the thyme has come. And by hard work, I mean filling the thing with water, dumping in a nutrient pack and plugging the thing in. And leaving it alone.

Let's see, what else. Nothing comes to mind. I said I'd blog for 90 days straight. Didn't say they'd be brilliant each and every day. So this, my friends, is one of the short and crappy ones. Enjoy! Oh, and this ends the third straight week of blogging in 2012. Yay me.

Happy Saturday, see you tomorrow.

Hydroponics

So, I've entered the fun and exciting world of hydroponics.

And no, not that kind.

Herbs. And no, not that kind.

Last summer, on one of those rare Saturdays when Neomom was off, we loaded the kids in the manly mini-van and headed out for a day of garage saling. Well, a morning anyway. It's all the kids would give us before the mileage-to-whine ratio exceeded our limit.

It was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed that everyone who was planning a summer garage sale chose this particular weekend. Entire neighbourhoods were doing it together. You could park in one spot and hit eight or nine sales before returning. Cool!

Anyhoo, at one of these sales, I spotted two AeroGarden hydroponic units. They're little commercial jobbies, available at Canadian Tire and places like that. I'd looked at them over the previous winter as a possible source of fresh herbs during the colder months. But they were more than $100, so I decided against.

I asked the lady how much she was selling these things for, cause they looked brand new. "

Oh, I don't know, she said. "How does $10 sound?"

"Each?" I asked.

"For both."

"SOLD!"

When I got home I looked this particular model, the SpaceSaver 6, up on line to see what they retailed for: $150 each.

So I got a good deal.

They sat for the summer and yesterday, after a little prodding from Neomom, I looked for the little seed pods while at Canadian Tire. Bought the Gourmet Herb pack and the Cherry Tomato Pack. Should have checked on line before I went. While the herb pack gets very good reviews, the tomato pack, not so much.

So I planted the herb pack yesterday in one of the units and am putting the tomato pack on hold until we get closer to spring. That way I can get them started hydroponically and then transplant to the garden.

For the record, I planted dill, thyme, oregano, mint and two kinds of basil. Looking forward to an improved spaghetti sauce in a few weeks.

Anyway, that's all I'm trying to think about this morning. But the minions are driving me stark raving freaking bonkers (as nice as I can put it). When Neomom works night shift, and is trying to sleep during the day, it seems these two just can not possibly speak in normal voices. Every fargin' word must be screamed, while they run, jump and stomp all over the blessed house. SHUT UP!!!

Maybe I did plant the wrong herbs.

Happy Hump Day.