Berry Satisfaction

Ahhh, one of my favorite things to talk about... the yard!

We live on a hillside. There are many steep areas of the yard and gardening on them can be difficult. We have terraced an area near the garage that does not get full sun all day and we use that for a winter garden. This year we grew chard, collards, kale, arugula, onions, three types of garlic and asparagus. The asparagus is just on its second year, but next year we will be eating lots of asparagus. Everything else turned out beautifully and we are going to have tons of garlic. I think it will be ready to cure soon.

Last year we put in three new raised garden beds on an especially steep part of the back yard. It looks REALLY steep form the picture below and it is pretty steep. The garden beds make it totally manageable. These boxes get full sun, all day. Well, when there is sun that is. Since we are getting a lot of our veggies from the farm these days I decided to put in berries. We all LOVE berries. I'm not sure if we will get berries from the farm, but we have not received any yet and really, you can never have too many berries.

Last summer we filled the raised beds with soil and planted a cover crop in the fall. This spring I worked in the cover crop and further amended the soil with some compost. Michael and I purchased raspberry and strawberry plants a couple weeks ago with the intent of getting them in the ground right away. Not to happen. We had one beautiful day of gorgeous sunshine and then days and days of torrential rain.

Planting the berries, well and taking care of the yard in general, was supposed to be a family affair. All for one, one for all, yada, yada, yada. I regularly like to quote the story of the little red hen. You know the one, the little red hen goes all around trying to find someone to help her plant the wheat, water the wheat, harvest the wheat, etc... etc... but she cannot get any help so she does all the work herself and then eventually makes the most glorious loaf of bread which she eats all by herself. Yeah, my family is pretty sick of that story.

Well, it seems we now have summer and sunshine. Yesterday, Michael was sick, Sammy was at a friend's house and Joey was working at Oaks Park. I just could not let those poor berries sit out there in their lonely black plastic pots for another minute. I went out and reworked the soil, added a little lime and some organic fertilizer, worked the soil again and planted approximately 20 raspberry plants and 30 strawberry plants. It all sounds very easy, but it took a full five hours!

And they look good.

We will have to wait until next year to enjoy the juicy red raspberries, but I can be patient... really I can!

Well, truth be told, these are ever bearing varieties and we do have a few berries. Just a sample, to get us really excited for next year.

By the time we got to the nursery to purchase our strawberry plants, they were down to just a couple of ever bearing varieties, but they are disease resistance and grown specially for Oregon so that's fine with us. They have mighty big leaves... I am not actually sure if that is a good thing?

The plants look really healthy even though they had to sit out in the backyard for a couple weeks in the cold and rain.

I had always read that you were supposed to pinch off the buds for the first year, however, I have been doing some research and apparently that is for the June bearing varieties. With the ever bearing, I guess it is okay to leave these later blossoms on. We will get a few berries this summer, especially if we get more sunshine.

This little guy was really sweet and juicy.

I had to throw in this photo of a foxglove growing out of the weed pile on the other side of the fence. Love those foxglove, they just come up wherever they please.

So now we are a tri-berry yard. I am just thinking of all the wonderful recipes we will be able to make next summer with our berries.

So, it's true. I am never actually able to withhold the fruits of my labor from my family. Even if I do the work, I totally want to share it with them. I guess that's what life is all about!

Too Good To Be True?

This post is about hair.

Most people are just not going to care about this post at all.

That's okay, I totally understand.

But I am going to do this anyway.

I started going to a new hair salon.

I have crazy hair. It is course and dry and wavy and thick.

It has always been a kind of thorn in my side.

I regularly do absolutely nothing with it but let it air dry and then put part of it back in a pony tail so I can see properly.

The new hair stylist recommended a treatment for my hair.

It is a Brazilian Keratin Treatment and is supposed to work miracles by making thick, course, wavy hair straight, sleek and shiny. It is supposed to be safe, not harsh like perms.

It is expensive, but what the heck. I gave it a try.

Here are a couple of pictures of my hair before the treatment:

And here is my hair after. No one was home to take my photo, so I used the Photo Booth software. The lighting is horrible so the photo isn't great, but seriously, this stuff is like a miracle.

This is now what my hair looks like after letting it air dry and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to it. I don't even need to use conditioner any more. No more hair dryers or flat irons. I have washed it three times since the treatment and it still comes out wonderful. I find myself just running my hands through my hair not believing it is even my hair. It is supposed to last 3-6 months. The only downside is now my hair does get oily after a day without washing. Before I could go 2, 3 or even 4 days without my hair needing washing. I am just not used to oily hair. It's a perfectly fair tradeoff in my opinion.

Now to see how long it lasts. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to have done and it is very expensive, so I hope it lasts the full six months!

I Can't Believe It...

Joey is a High School Graduate!

We are so proud of Joey's accomplishments. We are so proud of his drive, his perseverance, his tenacity, his love of life, his passion for learning, his confidence, his leadership abilities, his spirit, his independence and his compassion.

We're really going to miss seeing your face every day, Joey!

When you were 0

you had chubby little feet and hands

deep brown, thoughtful eyes

and hair that refused to be tamed.

When you were 1

you walked proud and smiled big

and started to show your stubborn side.

When you were 2

you talked so much

and asked so many intelligent questions

I thought perhaps I would soon not be able to keep up with you

and I was right.

When you were 3

you demanded preschool class begin with a science lesson

or you weren't really interested in going anymore

you refused to learn to swim

and you painted me the most beautiful flower pot for Mother's Day.

When you were 4

you were surrounded by adoring female fans

and when you wanted to learn to play the piano

we bought you a piano and you practiced every day.

When you were 5

you learned to ride a bike without training wheels

you blew us away at your first piano recital and

you started learning Japanese.

When you were 6

you learned to read

but you still loved it when I read stories to you

and you taught yourself Chess on the computer.

When you were 7

you visited OMSI and learned about Dinosaurs

you came home and recited your whole day to us, verbatim

you crashed your scooter at Willamette Park and chipped your front tooth

and you visited Japan for the very first time.

When you were 8

you started playing soccer "with the boys"

and this was a big day

you taught us that it is important to be patient, kind

and understanding of all people

even when they aren't being so nice.

When you were 9

you showed us you were a leader

by teaching computer class when the teacher didn't show up

you started art lessons

and you asked to play competitive tennis

for which we drove you all over the state.

When you were 10

you started violin lessons

you decided in earnest that you wanted to be an artist

and you painted the most beautiful paintings

that I cherish and that are hanging all over the house.

When you were 11

you traveled to Japan for the 3rd time and gave a speech in Japanese

in front of hundreds of people at the Kobe Sumaura School Music Festival

you played baseball on a team with your Brother, coached by your Dad

you were a pretty awesome second baseman.

When you were 12

you started middle school, continued with art lessons and tennis lessons

you started pottery lessons, you took guitar lessons

you asked a girl to a dance and she said no

and you figured out that you could be a great student, be loved by your teachers

and your peers all at the same time.

When you were 13

you dressed up like a woman for an oral presentation

just to get the class' attention

you gained a real passion for sailing on your birthday trip to Nevis

you got up in front of friends, family and strangers

chanted at your Bar Mitzvah ceremony

and you were amazing

in celebration of your accomplishment you planned a birthday party

with whipped cream pies, sack races and apple martini's

that will not soon be forgotten.

When you were 14

you spent 2 1/2 weeks in Japan for your Research Residency

you wrapped up middle school having been on the honor roll

every single term

you decided you wanted to go to Catlin Gabel for high school

you took tests and had interviews and got in all on your own

you ended your 9 year run of piano lessons

and we went to our last piano recital.

When you were 15

you went into Catlin Gabel as if you had been there your whole life

you charmed your teachers

you were voted co-President of the Freshman Class by your peers

you traveled to Turkey

and only took an old broken down Pentax 35mm film camera with you

you took some of the most beautiful photos

you got a steady girlfriend.

When you were 16

you had your first solo art show at the Bornowski Art Gallery

you nurtured your newfound love of the outdoors

by taking multiple hiking, biking and backpacking trips

you went to your first prom

you attended summer art school

at the Pacific Northwest College of Art

you asked for a vintage banjo from eBay for your birthday

and of course we got it for you

you taught yourself to play the banjo.

When you were 17

you dragged us to every street market in London on a

memorable family trip to England and Scotland

you continued to awe us with your wonderful oil painting

you continued your school government duties as co-President

of the Junior Class, you planned the prom

you became even more independent

you put your love of public transportation aside and started driving

more and spending less and less time at home

you started thinking about college.

When you were 18

you spent another school year as class co-President

you spent a great deal of time applying to colleges

you won an art scholarship

you got a pretty horrific case of senioritis

you made a very difficult college choice decision

you stopped studying altogether

you worked your ass off at Pok Pok for your Senior Project

you outgrew high school

you graduated.

You are an inspiration to us Joseph Benjamin Lubitz.

We love you.

.... and if anyone thinks that buckets of tears weren't shed while typing this, they would be wrong! I need to stop thinking about this kid leaving home in a couple of months and just pretend like it's not going to happen, until it does.