Rain, and Gardens, and Life in General
It's been raining for a week. At least. Not constantly, but it has been gloomy, gray and cloudy pretty much all that time. It does mean I don't have to water the garden or the seeded areas of the lawn, but really, it would be nice to see the sun once in a while! And the lawn is getting out of control. If it doesn't dry up soon, we are going to need a reaper rather than a lawn mower.
I'm kind of enjoying not having a regular piano lesson right now. My teacher had a baby early this month and has taken some understandable time off from teaching. It's kind of nice not to have something specific to work on, and be able to sit down and revisit some stuff I haven't played in a while.
I did get out to do some work in the yard despite the rain. Got the cukes and squash transplanted. Tomatoes and peppers are hardening off (or drowning, I'm not sure which). I also picked up the annuals for the containers and got one planted today. Oh and potatoes are planted, too. Hoping those do better than last year. The greens were doing pretty well until the chickens got at them. They seem to really like the mizuna. One of the projects planned is to fence in the garden so they can't get to it. I suppose I could keep them locked in the pen till we do, but the eggs have been better since they've been allowed to range, so I hate to do that. Oh, well, I suppose a few plants sacrificed are worth it.
Did another chili cook off a week ago in CT. No places for either of us. My green did ok- it got points and pretty decent comments. Red? Not so much. One problem with the verde was salt. There was not nearly enough in it. I've been having problems with that lately. Either I can't taste it at all and end up oversalting, or I'm hyper-sensitive and think there's a lot when there isn't. *sigh* So it's back to tweaking here and there to try and get those wins! Next up is June 4, right up the road here in Hudson, NH.
Other than that, things are whatever passes for normal around here.
Oh, and I think the elliptical machine upstairs is trying to kill me. I just wanted to get that out there, you know, just in case...
I'm kind of enjoying not having a regular piano lesson right now. My teacher had a baby early this month and has taken some understandable time off from teaching. It's kind of nice not to have something specific to work on, and be able to sit down and revisit some stuff I haven't played in a while.
I did get out to do some work in the yard despite the rain. Got the cukes and squash transplanted. Tomatoes and peppers are hardening off (or drowning, I'm not sure which). I also picked up the annuals for the containers and got one planted today. Oh and potatoes are planted, too. Hoping those do better than last year. The greens were doing pretty well until the chickens got at them. They seem to really like the mizuna. One of the projects planned is to fence in the garden so they can't get to it. I suppose I could keep them locked in the pen till we do, but the eggs have been better since they've been allowed to range, so I hate to do that. Oh, well, I suppose a few plants sacrificed are worth it.
Did another chili cook off a week ago in CT. No places for either of us. My green did ok- it got points and pretty decent comments. Red? Not so much. One problem with the verde was salt. There was not nearly enough in it. I've been having problems with that lately. Either I can't taste it at all and end up oversalting, or I'm hyper-sensitive and think there's a lot when there isn't. *sigh* So it's back to tweaking here and there to try and get those wins! Next up is June 4, right up the road here in Hudson, NH.
Other than that, things are whatever passes for normal around here.
Oh, and I think the elliptical machine upstairs is trying to kill me. I just wanted to get that out there, you know, just in case...