Who Likes Poo?

a huge find at Molly's farm for free compost

guess who likes to shovel shit/...

Now To Add Flowers

Yuula ushered in the spring season by spiking this single-winged bumble-buddy into the still frozen soil with such gusto that I thought flowers may burst forth from the ground and all our work would be done for us.

But no. Still dirt garden beds. Got a long April coming here.

Who'll Waste The Rain

another item on the long list of projects

also titled, "things that I'll never do"

As The Sun Rises In Gemini

some miscellaneous shots from the end of June, as I was otherwise occupied...

Lending Hands Accordingly

Yesterday was my second favorite day of the year, after Christmas. It will be known as "Unloading Of The Spring/Summer Furniture and Decorative Elements for the Gardens and Yard" day. Long, but it paints the picture. the yard took on a bit of a transformation, and Laura got busy planting more vegetables as I dove in head first to the island garden along the left side of the house. The Krupps are up so they lended hands accordingly.

Yuula got involved with the watering efforts and we had a nice dinner of burgers and "weird" hot dogs. Topped it off with Maryann's just 10 minutes before they closed for the night. Let's do it again.

World Naked Gardening Day

Get ready for the Tenth Annual World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD)! People across the globe are encouraged, on Saturday, May 4, 2013 to tend their portion of the world's garden unclothed as nature intended.

Gardening has a timeless quality, and anyone can do it: young and old, singles or groups, the fit and infirm, urban and rural. An elderly lady in a Manhattan apartment can plant new annuals in her window box. Families can rake leaves in their back yard. Freehikers can pull invasive weeds along their favorite stretch of trail. More daring groups can make rapid clothes-free sorties into public parks to do community-friendly stealth cleanups.

Why garden naked? First of all, it's fun! Second only to swimming, gardening is at the top of the list of family-friendly activities people are most ready to consider doing nude. Moreover, our culture needs to move toward a healthy sense of both body acceptance and our relation to the natural environment. Gardening naked is not only a simple joy, it reminds us--even if only for those few sunkissed minutes--that we can be honest with who we are as humans and as part of this planet.

All that's involved is getting naked and making the world's gardens--whatever their size, public or private--healthier and more attractive. WNGD has no political agenda, nor is it owned or organized by any one particular group. Naked individuals and groups are encouraged to adopt the day for themselves.

Events like WNGD can help develop a sense of community among people of every stripe. Taking part in something that is bigger than any one household, naturist group, or gardening club can move gardeners with an au naturel joie de vivre toward becoming a community. And in the case of WNGD, it's fun, costs no money, runs no unwanted risk, reminds us of our tie to the natural world, and does something good for the environment.

So what should you do? First of all, on May 4, 2013 find an opportunity to get naked and do some gardening. Do so alone, with friends, with family, with your gardening club, or with any other group collected for that purpose. Do it inside your house, in your back yard, on a hiking trail, at a city park, or on the streets. Stay private or go public. Make it a quiet time or make it a public splash. Just get naked and make your part of the botanical world a healthier and more attractive place.

Exerting In Subdivision

Yuula likes to garden with her Mum.

After a week to ten days of relative inactivity in the yard I have decided to take a new approach to it all. Instead of tackling large jobs and beating them to death I have decided to do bits and pieces of many different jobs. This allows me to not tire of a single seemingly repetitive task at the same time ensuring the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day.



Today I mowed one fourth of the lawn, weed-wacked the area fully and raked up the remnants. Usually after mowing the entire yard and weed-wacking every crevice I am too tired to rake the whole mess up, the piles lay there and the grass dies. I should just burn the lawn and save some time. After raking up that 1/4 I moved onto filling holes in the yard where I always twist ankles, excavated some flat rock out of the woods and then tore apart the section of the pool deck that we are going to replace so it no longer looks like a pool deck. Good day's work.



That plus we saw Høgni and all her tar is gone. Good for her. She's the only cat that let's Yuula pet her.

One Day Like This A Year Will See Me Right

Father's Day is better than birthdays. Birthdays just make you feel old and then you eat too much cake. Father's Day means that we watch Return of the Jedi instead of Housewives of NJ (even tho since I'm now on the computer the TV has mysteriously returned to terrible Italians). Father's Day means I get a back rub tonight. I think. I kinda need one.

I'll tell the day with photos...


gifts in black & white


pancakes of blueberry


a barn at sunset


a chair in the garden


a baby, a lady & a dog


a garden on wheels


foxglove and dogcoat


evening primrose


Yuula's first ice cream cone


she is an Estler


her best Colonel Sanders impression


sunshone child


a splash of color


a work in progress


a blank canvas


I don't feel like I've accomplished anything if at the end of the day my white v-neck hasn't turned to brown.

Happy Father's Day dads. Can't wait for next year.

Oh, All The Pretty Things

Our first Mother's Day. Seemed to come pretty natural. My mother had told Laura that this was a good day to start planting some flowers in the yard and that's all she needed to hear. The two planned on making a perennial pilgrimage to the local growery to stock up on all the pretty things. But first, I had a few plans.



Laura thinks I made her a special heart-shaped breakfast in honor of Mother's Day, but really... I just love French toast.



After seeing how happy the heart toast made everyone, Yuula was less than excited for her glass jar of mush.



But once we threw her in a spring-y dress her attitude changed.



The girls came back with a good lot of pinks and yellows and in betweens. Dad & I were hard at work on the shed/garden project (still) so we appreciated from afar, but the brightening of the yard was hard to miss.





Yuula helped how she could, as in not at all, but being cutesy is enough when you're a baby.




Max.



Eileen and Susie showed up to take the Mom factor up a notch plus always adding a hint of absurdity to any modest gathering.



We went full-on spring and busted out the patio furniture and grilled. Nothing was fully prepped and ready for it's first seasonal testing, but I'd like to report that it had a promising first run.





Even the hammock made a surprise appearance.



The day was long and after such a drug-out and dismal winter everyone was in sunshock. The day ended with more sitting around and talking talk and less action. But that's the sign of a good day's work.



And I think Laura had a nice Mother's Day too.



One down.