Of Hearth and Home

Lately, I've been 

1. making applesauce (which is delicious and easy, as long as you have a Vitamix or a really tireless chopper)

2. Hung out and drank peppermint espressos with my dear friend Aimee, who is so photogenic and poised, unlike Clawhand on the left. 

Cheers to that!

3. Taught the baby how to do the wave. Here she is, practicing for the next big game.

4. Made her a very frilly headband from pantyhose, fabric scraps and a flowery shirt.

No, she doesn't know where Carmen San Diego is.

5. Threw her in the Ergo and took her outside in her pajamas to water the plants every morning this week. We're both morning people--she does most of her correspondence (esp email) before noon.

6. Witnessed the power of chicken manure. Check out how my withering, pathetic tomatoes came roaring back. This is on the same plant.

7. Quick peek at the rest of the garden: Broccoli

One lone, brave eggplant.

Navel oranges from our little sapling.

And my favorite--a new blueberry plant, which I'm babysitting for my little friend, Carter. He always comes over and loves picking our blueberries, so I decided to get him one.

I love taking in all the sights and smells of our garden! 'Course, I just started a compost heap, so that could change.

Also, Chris doesn't reeeeally know about it yet, but I'm hoping that I've buried the scraps deep enough. If not, it will either jeopardize our marriage or our neighbors will start letting the air out of our tires. Maybe both. Will keep you posted! Cheers!

Hope you get to spend some time outdoors this weekend, even as it gets chilly. In all honesty, I think it's really restorative and necessary to human happiness.

Note about the weather: Here in southbay/LA, it's always, even in mid/late November, about 55-60 degrees. No, I'm not bragging. Unless you mean by bragging, gloating and giving myself shoulder rubs and a big thumbs up. 'Course, we still have the horrific, grinding traffic and a generally ruder population prone to violence and car-burning...Don't be jealous. It all evens out.