The Last Day

Today, I left work with the knowledge that I would not be darkening the door to that den of craziness for a full three weeks.

It was liberating.

We leave for CA on Wed, and I am so excited I could just explode. I am scared, too. I haven't been far from home in so long.... *sigh*

Don't worry, I am not going to let my fears wreck my vacation! I am more excited than scared, and I know that once I get going things are going to be great.

Today is a picnic over at my folks' place, then comes the rush of last minute house cleaning and packing that needs to be done before we leave. I am so ready.

In garden news, I have managed to almost fill the south garden beds with my plants from the folks' place. Yesterday I moved several ferns, irises, and one poor little bleeding heart that had been nearly choked to death by the overrun plants in my folks' front beds. It is looking pretty good! I am hoping to post some new pics before we leave for vacation, so keep your eyes peeled for that...

Mr. Barefoot likes plants spaced out a bit. "Neat and Tidy" is his word for what he likes. I don't mind, it makes it easier to weed. It does mean that the flower beds get filled up more quickly, though. I am going to need to expand the flower beds by the end of summer, if I am ever to transplant all my plants.

It makes me hopeful that I will be able to get most of my beds looking good by the end of summer. I am still hoping to save $$ for an azalea and a few other plants that would provide a bit of variety in the yard, but by the time I get all my plants moved, things should look pretty lush and restful.

Yay! I am so looking forward to it...

Happy Blogiversary!!!!

Can you believe I wrote my first little bit of Barefoot nonsense 4 years and nearly 1,000 posts ago? I have ranged through depression issues, raising the sprouts, gardening, my thoughts on life and the world, and I still find things to chatter on about when you all come to visit me here in my little corner of the blogosphere. Isn't that amazing?

Shut up, family, I do so know how to be quiet! And these folks actually seem to like my ramblings...

I have met some of the most amazing folks through this blog. To those of you have been with me since the beginning, and those who have just joined me (even those of you folks who stuck around for a while and then abandoned me *sob*), I wanna say thanks. Thanks for letting me chatter on about the craziness of a Barefoot Life. Thanks for commenting, and letting me know I am not just sending my thoughts out into a void. Thanks for sharing your lives with me, either through comments or your own blogs.

Just thanks.

Now, everyone raise your drink of choice (mine is my ever-present can of Mt. Dew, so don't think I am gonna make y'all have booze at work or anything) and lets toast to the last 4 amazing years, wonderful interwebz friendships, and another 4 years of even more amazing things!

My Woodland Retreat (Pic Heavy)

Okay, so just so you can visualize where this all started, here is a couple of "before" pics taken at about this time last year. I think they were actually taken the first week of June, but I am too lazy to look back in the archives to see exactly what the date was.

As you can see, nothing would grow in this area of the yard. I think it is a combination of lots of shade (maybe an hour of sun a day), acid soil from all the pine needles that fall, compaction of soil, and general lack of nutrients due to the oak and pine roots that are EVERYWHERE in this section of the yard. We also have a problem with Creeping Charlie in our yard. I would say at least 50% of the "lawn" area is Creeping Charlie. I don't mind it, for the most part, but it doesn't like to abide by the garden rules which clearly state "Not in my flower beds, you don't!".

Please don't notice how badly my deck needs re-staining and re-painting. I will get to it one of these days, I promise.

Last year, I amended the heck out of the soil that I knew I would be planting flowers in. I can't even count the number of wheelbarrow loads of compost I hauled through the yard! I spent the rest of the summer and most of the winter wondering what the heck I was going to do on the pathway through this section of the yard. I didn't want to go to all the work of coaxing grass to grow, wood chips are cheap (but still expensive when your gardening budget is $0), pavers or concrete were way out of my budget, moss would have been happy to grow but can't handle heavy foot traffic.... it was a puzzlement.

Then, when they were chopping down trees next door, I convinced Mr. Barefoot to finagle me some of the wood chips they were hauling away. Miraculously, there was exactly enough to cover all the area I needed it to, and most of the area I wanted. I am ecstatic! There may still be trouble with the massive amounts of acorns and leaves we get in our yard, but I am willing to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Behold!

View from the "gate" that never gets used (except for today, when I was hauling wheelbarrow loads of wood chips through it). Notice the recycled brick edging that is nearly covered up by the wood chips:
Please forgive the quality of these photos. I ended up finishing the project during the one hour of the day that the sun is really bright on this section of the yard, and I didn't have the patience to wait till later today when the pics would be nicer.

View from the other end of the side yard (please ignore the ghetto fence repair job. The neighbors have 4 boys and 4 dogs. 'Nuff said):


View from my favorite chair on the deck (please don't mind the garden tools and milk jug):


View from the deck steps:


Just another view (you can actually see the brick in this one!):
Either tonight or tomorrow I will be heading off to the folks' place to pick up Solomon's Seal, ferns, and couple hosta, maybe a peony (if Mom lets me) and some iris. Soon after (preferrably the same day) the daylilies agains the house are all going to Mom's and gettin planted in the...ummm... is it called the boulevard? I dunno. That grassy area between the sidewalk and the street. I am so excited to see my little Woodland Retreat taking shape!

Everybody, do a happy dance, cuz this is one nice place for your Barefoot little buddy to chill!

Another Productive Day, And I'm Beat!

Ooofda!

Ya know, it's never a good thing when you say "I need a shower, I'm gross." and your hubby doesn't even bat an eyelash before responding "Yup".

Today I managed to:

- work a full shift at Job #1

- check out the local garden center

- get the veggie patch planted at Barefoot Manor (I had to weed the beds first),

- plant 7 pots with annuals

- transplant 3 ferns and 3 hosta

- spray Little Sprout with bug spray approximately 8 times

- trim back two trees

- move the brush pile

- feed Little Sprout lunch (kinda)

- chase a rabbit out of the yard

- catch Mighty Cat six times when she escaped the house

- clean up one potty training accident

- change Little Sprout from her clothes to her swimsuit and back about 700 times

- weeded the walkway in the South flower beds

- edge about 80% of the South flower beds with recycled brick

- start supper

- get sunburned.... thank goodness it's just on my arms and face!

- take a much needed and very much enjoyed shower


Pics will probably follow in a day or two, but I want to wait till the projects are finished before taking the pics. I am hoping to finish up the work in the South flower beds tomorrow (please, please), so I might have pics to share then. Right now it looks like a total mess! ;) Gardening is one of those activities where you really do have to make things worse before they can get better, I guess.

I am thinking it was a pretty good day. I always feel better when I accomplish something with my time, and today there is absolutely no doubt that I accomplished most of what I set out to do. The aches all over my body can vouch for that! I do wish that I could have finished the flower bed edging, and started hauling the wood chips that will fill the walkway (I hope I have enough! *crosses fingers*), but I am satisfied with what I did finish.

Just think! In one week I can start posting live from our Very Important Vacation to California! Little Sprout is so excited, she asks to leave "wight now" about a million times a day. Big Sprout is distracted by the excitement of the quickly approaching last day of school, and her very first trip to Valley Fair, so she is not quite so vocal about any excitement over vacation.

I can't wait!!!!

It's Not Even Noon Yet!

So far today I have:

- Worked 8 hours of a 10 hour shift, which included cooking 2 meals, sweeping/mopping floors, waking, dressing, feeding, and sending off to work 3 clients, cleaning an oven, wiping cupboards and counters, cleaning 2 bathrooms, making 3 beds, and other misc duties

- Visited with my folks for a few minutes

- Grocery shopped for super deals

- Dressed Little Sprout in her swimsuit so she could play in the wading pool

- Ran to the store for bug spray

- Mowed the lawn

- Weeded (with my beloved stirrup hoe) three flower beds

- Hand weeded the onion patch

- Gave Little Sprout a bath

- Fed Little Sprout lunch

I am thinking that this is going to be a good day! I definitely can't complain that I haven't accomplished anything today....

Now I am off to start some laundry, take a shower, and catch up on the 200+ blog posts clogging up my google reader! Oh, and I have to take a nap today.... sometime....

I Just Might Give In This Year

Mr. Barefoot and I have had a gentle disagreement going over the issue of air conditioning for.... well, forever.

My official reason for not really wanting A/C is that we live in MN, and the really unbearable hot weather only lasts for a very few weeks in high summer. It is hard to justify the expense of an A/C unit that will only be needed for such a short amount of time. Besides, humans have lived for thousands of years without A/C. Why shouldn't we be able to do the same?

My real reason for not wanting to have it is that I am an A/C addict. I know that if we have one, I will have it cranked from May till September and our electric bill will skyrocket. We had A/C when we lived at the apartments, and I never had the willpower to shut the durn thing off on days that weren't miserable. I just loved that crisp, cool air that came with the touch of a button and a turn of a dial. I swore, when we bought Barefoot Manor, that we would not have any A/C units because of this.

I might be caving in this year, though.

Yesterday, the temps in my corner of the world reached 85 deg F, and it is humid. Swampy-humid. And it is only May. I shudder to think what the rest of the summer is going to be like. I have visions of the Barefoot Family slowly melting into the carpet as the house heats up like a solar oven in late July.

Oh, help.

Now I am envisioning a window unit for the Master Bedroom (the sauna of the house), and one for the living room. The Sprouts would still suffer, but if things get really bad they can always camp out in the living room to stay cool or sleep in the basement where it is never terribly hot.

Or maybe I could just win the lottery and buy a house with central air.

Wierd Weather

Yesterday, the weather was very strange. I woke to clouds, the air cool and clammy. I actually liked it, and mourned the fact that I would be working most of the day and unable to be out in my gardens. It seemed the perfect weather to be out planting in the flower beds and moving things from the folks' place to mine. The weatherman kept saying that it was going to be sunny and 80 deg F by the end of the day, and Client and I spent much of the late morning and early afternoon laughing at him. How could such a grey day turn into a beautiful sunny afternoon?!

Sometime between 2 and 3pm, a storm hit. The wind was whipping the lilacs and azaleas so hard their branches were laying almost flush to the ground. The wind drove the rain so hard that, rather than falling to the ground, it shot horizontally across the yard. Thunder rolled. Client and I looked at each other and watched the weather channel to see if we had to worry about tornadoes.

Believe it or not, the weatherman was right, though. By the time I headed home at 5pm, the sun was shining and it really was 80 degrees! Now this morning I wake to mostly grey skies again. How strange is this world we live in?

Big Day of Not A Lot

This morning, I figured out why the A/C at work wasn't working.... five minutes before I left for the day.

I took Little Sprout to the park, and pushed her on the swing for two hours. Two hours.

I then went to my folks' place and weeded flower beds. This will be the year that my plants move from their house to mine. I swear.

I came home and weeded here.

So why do I feel like I didn't accomplish much?

Loudly Losing My Mind

The garden still isn't in here at Barefoot Manor. I spent the entire day yesterday running away from Little Sprout, and since I couldn't take the garden beds with me as I ran.... *sigh*

Little Sprout, I do believe I have mentioned about a million times, is a much more demanding child than Big Sprout ever was. She needs constant supervision, constant stimulation, constant everything.

I thought I had finally found the key to better behavior from her when things warmed up enough that I could start taking her to the park. It worked for about 2 weeks. I would take her to the park twice a week, let her run off her energy and play with other kids, then take her home and race to get the yardwork and housework done.

The honeymoon is over. Now it is a daily struggle, her yelling that she wants to go to the park and me repeating my "no"s so many times that I start sounding like that old song "Nobody But Me" by the Human Beinz. Take a listen, the beginning and end where the guy keeps going "no-no-no-no-no" is so what I sound like these days. Don't worry, I'll wait while you listen.

Nobody But Me



It's a good tune, isn't it? Ahhh, that brought back memories of singing into the empty toilet paper tube and dancing all over the living room....

Oh, wait....what was I talking about? Little Sprout being a pain, that's it. Sorry, that little stroll down memory lane just totally derailed me.

Well, never mind I guess. It is too hard to be grumpy when I am listening to such groovy tunes....

The Garden Is In!

Well, at least the one at the folks' place is. I am hoping to get to ours tomorrow morning. I just didn't have the juice after spending the hottest part of the day out in the veggie patch over at my folks' house.

We ended up running to the local garden center for replacement transplants. The seeds I started for tomatoes and peppers either didn't make it or were too little yet to go out in the garden. I did save them, though, and am debating whether or not I want to plant them here. I would hate to think of all that hard work going to waste, but I don't know if these little baby plants are going to be worth the space they will take up in the garden.

Surprisingly, I am not even that worried over the loss of many of my seedlings. It was my first year trying, and I am looking at it as a learning experience. Next year I will be more comfortable with the process, and I did have some success this year.

I have to get the hostas living in my dining room out into the yard tomorrow, too. They look so nice lined up on my bookshelves under the window, but I know it is just a matter of time before I start forgetting about them. I would hate to have such amazing success with them only to kill them over the summer.

It was kind of amazing today. I woke in a grumpy mood, the result of oversleeping and some pretty intensely distasteful dreams. I growled my way through the first bit of the morning, and finally headed out the door just before 10am. Once I got out in the garden, though, that cranky outlook just disappeared. I can't be angry when I have my hands in the dirt. Oh, I can get irritated at folks who interrupt me (Little Sprout, I am looking at you here) or frustrated with things that go wrong, but I can't be in a really bad mood.

Life is good in the garden. Everyone has their job. Worms munch their way through the soil, birds listen for (and eat) the worms. Plants focus completely on growing up to the sun, getting their flowers pollinated, and then casting out their seeds to the world. Things are simple. I like simple.

Yeah. I like simple.

Morning Sunlight

I am not, and never have been, a morning person. I guess it's a side-effect of having sleep listed at the top of your "favorite pastimes" list. I have been noticing, though, that I love sunlight in the morning.

Have you ever really looked at the light early in the morning?



It's really beautiful, the way the light shines through the leaves. They glow. I love the way the shadows dance on the leaves, and the way you can really notice all the different shades of green. Everything is so vibrant and alive in the early morning light. It brings to mind tales of enchanted forests and dancing fairies.... It is magic.



I wish I had more skill with a camera, so that I could accurately capture the texture and weight that this golden light seems to have. I watch at work while the light pours itself through the canopy and pools on the woodland floor, and I want to go out and somehow hold it in my hands. At that moment, it is so easy to believe that the light would be heavy and soft, like really good velvet. I really believe, in that quiet time when the sun is up and everyone else is asleep, that I could pour sunlight through my fingers.




The lilacs are at the peak of their bloom here in my little corner of the world. I think these are my favorite flowers of all time.



And look at these little guys that popped up, uninvited, in my garden beds. I don't have the heart to rip them out, though they are poorly placed and hanging over one of my young hostas. Their cheerful little faces make me smile. It always seems that they are just bubbling over with the joy of another beautiful day in this world.

The Sun Has Returned

After days of steady rain (3/4 of an inch in 3 hours, yesterday), the sun has finally returned to my little corner of the world.

I would be a little more excited, but the much delayed spring rains have triggered some sinus issues for Little Sprout and myself. We go through this every spring and fall. Unbelievably, I just checked and realised that I posted about allergy season on exactly this date last year! If having the exact same symptoms on exactly the same date every year isn't support for my theory that this is allergies instead of a cold, I don't know what is.

I don't mind allergies so much. I know they only last a week or so. I just wish that having my sinuses completely blocked didn't block my brain as well.

I have renewed hope that my crochet hooks will re-appear. Last night, Mr. Barefoot found Little Sprout's "spice-goat" (kaleidoscope) under the couch after several days of it being missing. Earlier in the day I had found Big Sprout's lost earrings. I am hoping that the perverse little imp that has been snitching our stuff will decide that my crochet hooks can be returned, as well.

Regardless, it is a beautiful day and I intend to enjoy as much of it as I can. I am off to visit the parents today, and am considering ditching my nap before work so I can work on getting a little more Vitamin D out in the sun....

Lost and Broken-Hearted

Remember when I made myself a crochet hook case? I was so proud of it! I loved everything about it, and used it all the time.












I am so depressed. My beloved crochet hook case has gone missing. I had it one day at work, I remember that. I remember putting it in the tote I use to haul my various projects around. I had a few days off, and when I looked for my case about 5 days later, it was gone. Just gone. I have looked everywhere.

I tore apart the house.

I tore apart my car.

I tore apart both my places of work.

It's gone.

I am not so much upset about the case. It was cool, and I was proud that I made it all by my lonesome, but the case was really nothing more than a bit of yarn, elastic, and plastic canvas. Nothing special.

Replacing the hooks isn't a problem. Crochet hooks aren't really all that expensive, and I can just pick up the various sizes as I need them.

What breaks my heart is that these were my Grandmothers' crochet hooks. No, that is not a grammatical error (though I make plenty of those). I got some of the crochet hooks from my mother's mother, and others from my father's mother. So losing these hooks is, in a way, losing my inheritance.

I am so bummed. There aren't even words for how crappy I feel about this.

Sometimes Retail Therapy Is Best

Big Sprout is not a pushy kind of gal. Too often, when she asks me to do something for her, I reply that I will "get around to it" or that I don't have time "right this second". Being the patient and unassuming child that she is, she just waits for me to remember and get it done.

Silly child.

You would think, that after 11 years of me forgetting things or just plain procrastinating, she would have learned her lesson. Maybe she was just too busy learning the lesson "if you pester Mommy about things, she will rip your head off". I dunno.

Big Sprout's birthday was back in February. At that time, she received several gift cards for various stores. They have been sitting on top of our TV since. Even worse, a gift card she received two Christmases ago joined them after she found it cleaning her room.

It's not that I don't want to take my beloved Big Sprout out and let her shop to her heart's content. I do. I just haven't been able to work it into our busy schedules. Most of these stores are about 45 min away from Barefoot Manor. Between my work schedule, Big Sprout's school schedule, and my absolute refusal to take Little Sprout with us.... let's just say there aren't that many days of the year that meet all requirements.

Luckily, I had an unexpected day off work today. The minute Mr. Barefoot was up and moving (and therefore able to watch Little Sprout), Big Sprout and I ran out the door and headed down to the Cities for a shopping extravaganza.

Ok... well.... Big Sprout shopped. I watched. And drove. Driving is important.

By the end of our day, Big Sprout had acquired two new DSi games, a little carry purse for her DSi, an MP3 player, a movie, and two books.

The kid is ecstatic. All the way home, I was treated to the sounds of her squealing and yelling while playing her new games. I hope she realises the game can't hear her. She is saving the books for our trip to CA, knowing that she will need something to entertain her during the long hours in the car.

And now she is pestering me to download music onto her MP3 player.

The child never learns.

You're Kidding, Right?

I am looking out my dining room window at big, fat snowflakes falling from the sky. I checked the calender, just to make sure, and was pleased to note that I have not lost all sense of time. It really is May 7th.


K, just so y'all are getting this: There is snow falling on my gardens in May. We didn't have any snow for the last two months, but there are these ugly white snowballs falling from the sky in May.


I am so glad I didn't actually plant out my garden early, as I was tempted to do. I went back and forth on the issue so many times, since the weather has been so nice. I was worried that I was going to regret not putting my garden in early, losing out on these early growing days. Now I am glad I was cautious.


*sigh*


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In other news, Little Sprout is broken-hearted. She forgot her "sky-goat" at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Oh, the horror!


Wait, you don't know what a "sky-goat" is? Well, neither did I. It took me almost an hour of her crying and whining about it before I figured out she meant her kaleidoscope.

Curses On You, Sunny Day!

How dare it be sunny and beautiful when I am so tired that I have toothpicks propping up my Barefoot little eyelids, and grey and cold when I have a day off and can actually accomplish something in the yard?! I call foul!

Salvaging the Day

It was a bad morning. I woke in one of those moods that means all who disturb me risk both life and limb, and Little Sprout was determined to disturb me as much as possible.

I held out as long as I could, hiding in the shower for a time. The problem with shower-hiding is that, eventually, either you run out of hot water or the one you are hiding from finds you. Not to mention the trouble it causes with your water bill. Seriously, though, if you think being tortured while you are fully dressed and able to run away is bad, try it when you are naked and wet. Just sayin'.

After a couple hours, I resorted to taking Little Sprout to the park. The theory was sound. Take her to a playground (where hopefully there would be other children), let her run off some of her excess energy, take her home in time for lunch and a nap, get some peace and quiet.

It kinda worked.

She played. She had fun with another little girl. About the time other moms (with older and more rambunctious children) were showing up, I was ready to go. That is when the battle started.

Oh, the screaming! Oh, the hitting! Oh, the misery of making Little Sprout leave the magical land of City Park!!!

I don't know if it will be better to take her back again soon so that she trusts that we will come back, or if I should just never take her out of the yard again.

Ugh.

I finally got her home, fed, and tried to lay her down for a nap. That wasn't happening, so I let her come outside with me while I worked in the yard. I planted out the tulips and daffodils that I accidentally forced earlier this spring (and have now died back). I also managed to get the woodchips back to the veggie bed paths, and I was pleased to see that I used less that half of what the tree guys left us for that project. Now I am thinking about using the rest as a casual garden path on the south side of the house, under the pine, where we can't seem to even grow weeds. The soil is so hard packed and totally devoid of nutrition in this area of the yard, it's just sad. I ammended the heck out of the flower beds last spring when I put the hostas in, and will continue to ammend it every year in hopes of building some good soil for other flowers. I just don't wanna do it on an area we are going to be walking on. I found out that my county has a community compost site that (theoretically) has free chipped wood mulch for residents. It would be mixed woods, and no guarantee that it is chemical/disease free (though the county asks that wood/brush brought in to be dumped be free of both), so I am not entirely sure that I wanna go that route. It is free, however, and that is a big draw.

This is the area I am talking about:


I think it will be beautiful. I am even going to ask Dad how much work it would be to cut some of the many piles of logs on the north side of the house to make stepping stones and a little patio area. Something like this pic:

I don't think I would want to do anything this complex, but several large pieces together with woodchips to fill in around it would look really nice. Of course the wood will decay with time, and it will be a pain to replace the log slices, but it would look so cool in the meantime, ya know? If I was allowed to run the chainsaw, I would be out slicing that stacked oak instead of sitting here talking to you!

I am going for that "woodland garden" thing in the back yard. It may not be Mr. Barefoot's favorite garden style (he tends to go for formal stuff), but I can do it cheaply and I find it very restful. Since I am going to be the one out there enjoying it, I should make it the way I want, right?

I am in a much better mood after getting to fuss around in my gardens, so I guess I can say that the day was salvaged. I have laundry in, I got to take two showers, and life is all around pretty tolerable right now. The wind has picked up, and it looks like the weathermen will be right (for a change) in their predictions of rain and cooler temps for the next few days. I don't mind... I will be working, and it is much more fun to sleep during the day when it is rainy outside than when it is sunny and beautiful!

Hiding In The Shower

It's a good place to hide. Really.

Taking A Walk

Waking up in the light
Of a shining new day
Giving thanks to the moon
For guiding my way
There is no greater gift to the soul
Lie in each breath that my body can hold
So great spirit
Hear my voice, today

Life is simple and clear
When you make the right choices
It’s true that you’re here
When you find your own voice
Oh, my brothers and sisters believe
You are just what you are meant to be
Oh, great spirit
Hear my voice, today

Welcome, magic
Welcome sweet sun ray
Love is no secret
Look all around you
Welcome to this day

~Melissa Etheridge - Welcome To This Day (Theme Song for Brother Bear
2)

Yeah, yeah, I know. Who quotes songs from kids movies, right?

Little Sprout has re-discovered the joys of Brother Bear, and I have been watching it over and over and over. I do like Melissa Etheridge, so it is fun to listen to her while the little one is watching and I am putzing around the house.

Have you ever seen how, after a few days of spring rain, the world gets so green that it doesn't even seem real? I feel, sometimes, like I am living in an old Technicolor movie. The color is just so intense that it's easy to imagine little fairies running around with buckets of bright paint and tiny little paint brushes, deftly coloring each leaf, blade of grass, and flower with vibrant color.

I have been spending time down at the river by my house. I like watching the water bubble over the rocks where the old bridge used to be. The birds there are pretty brave, letting me come quite close before flitting away. I have been lucky to be able to steal a few minutes away from Little Sprout to go by myself (a blessing, since she is always trying to jump in the water when Mommy isn't looking), and am amazed by how much calmer I feel for the rest of the day after those quiet moments. I had forgotten how nice it could be to take my camera and just go walking by myself.

Silly of me.

May Day

I didn't make any may-baskets, but I thought I would share my May Day morning with you...