Spring = Turbulent Weather

Spring started off with a swing of warmth; temperatures in the 70's, and sunny skies. Then the weather turned cooler.... and rainier.... and colder still... It feels more like the beginning of winter than the spring. Yesterday's low temp was 38 degrees. Today's was in the 40's.

It's really an inconvenience. It storms, rains, and I can't plant any of the near waist high tomato plants that are in my mini greenhouse. Now the plants are pressing at the top of the enclosure and temperatures for the next week look to hang around 50 or so at night. Frustrating. Down right frustrating.

The Kinguyakkii and Amaruq seem to like it though. 

Hello Spring!

Its amazing how quickly the weather has brightened and warmed. Not long ago this was the view out the sunroom windows.

Now the deep hues of spring are upon us. The rich brown earth, the glassy lake, and the vibrant greens have conquered the view.

Kinguyakkii and Amaruq spend most of the day outside. They sleep, play and monitor their domain. 

But the garden has awakened. I planted radishes and snow peas today. Last week I transplanted baby spinach and leaf lettuce outside. And due to my extreme laziness when it comes to turning the soil in the fall, the green onions came back, a dazzling green in color and twice the size. 

I repotted cherry tomato, regular tomato, green bell pepper, sweet banana pepper, marconi pepper, cilantro and basil seedlings today. I planted some more hot peppers, lettuce, parsley and chives. I read somewhere that chives are one of the easiest herbs to grow, but I haven't gotten a single seed to germinate. The parsley isn't faring much better. Hopefully this time the seeds will cooperate!

Aftermath of the Ice Storm

These photos were taken yesterday after round one of ice. In total we've got about an inch of freezing rain, an inch of sleet and a dusting of snow over it all. One area of the patio has much more due to sleet rolling down the roof. I'll try to take a picture later measuring just how deep it is in that area in front of the back door.

Obviously the huskies weren't thrilled with the sleet pelting them when they went out but the covering of snow helps them get some better traction. This morning I caught them exchanging a greeting... so adorable...

Husky Christmas 2010

Trip to Jamaica

I recently got the opportunity to go to Jamaica with a group of other students. We spent the week donating the supplies we brought with us and our time to a few orphanages, schools, and handicapped centers. It was an incredible experience. To see people who have very little be happy with what they have was overwhelming. The children at the orphanages, deaf school and rehabilitation center were so glad to just spend time with visitors; to let them take you by the hand and let them show you their world made them smile. It was a great experience.

The scenery and location was almost surreal. It was so interesting how the ocean met the beach or cliffs and then within a few yards was lush green forest and further up were mountains. In Montego Bay we got to watch gorgeous sunsets. Where we were staying was right across the beach and the planes flew very close to us (the runway was just a few blocks away). We visited lots of cool places like Dunns River Falls and ate a lot of interesting food (jerk chicken, jerk pork, curried goat, fried plantains). It was quite an experience, but it was very enjoyable.

North American Flyball Association CanAm Classic Pictures

Today we went to the fairgrounds for a couple of hours to see the North American Flyball Association CanAm Classic. Today was the last day of events, but yesterday a world record was set for the "Largest Flyball Tournament". A total of 810 dogs participated. You can read more on their website http://www.nafacanam.com/

Here are some of the photos:

Morning Garden Pictures

This morning I went out and took some more pictures of the garden. The top picture is a young cherry tomato plant I grew from seed. The second picture is of the bed where the flowers were. Now there are peas growing on a trellis, and cilantro (still very small). You can also see our PVC gate and the huskies' pool. The third picture is of a zucchini blossom. Hopefully, today will be sunny, not rainy, so I can go pull some of the weeds.

The Green-Eyed Boy on the Ladder

Twister enjoys the view from a ladder



While we took a break from cleaning the fan in the living room, a mysterious man in black decided the ladder was a luxurious post from which to view the indoor world. With green eyes glistening he struck a pose, then another, then he decided it was too much: with tail flicking he descended and disappeared into the shadow clad hall.

Garden Overhaul

This has been a very rainy week! We've had morning showers a few times and today there was a random afternoon shower.

The garden took on a new look in the past few weeks. We built two raised garden beds that are 8x4 and 10 inches high. We also moved the flowers at the back of the house (they were being uprooted by the dogs) to the front. Now there are three garden beds total, not counting a 1x5 row outside the fence. We bought some good soil, filled them and transplanted/planted all the vegetable plants. As you can see though, we had to change the 2ft plastic fence around it to a 4ft wire fence. We built a PVC piping gate that was inspired by a gate I saw on the Skippy's Vegetable Garden blog (http://carletongarden.blogspot.com).

The seedless grape vines are doing well (top picture), the zucchini plants are beginning to blossom (2nd picture), and everything is looking great. We look forward to a good harvest!

Extreme Makeover Yard Edition

Over the last few weeks our yard has been renovated. We now have a 6ft chain-link fence and two 8x4 garden beds full of wonderful soil.

A storm system moved through last night, I'll post pictures of that too.

The garden needs to be planted soon since we are now past the frost date. I've got peppers, tomatos, corn, zucchini, and cucmber started so far. Hopefully, this group will make it. My tomatos had serious problems and I've had trouble with the cucumber this year. I hope to get some onions and cilantro in soon too; the cilantro did really well last year.

Happy gardening!

Gulf Shores Vacation 2010

Our vacation summarized in under three minutes.

The Rainy Season?

The rains came today, so no progress could be made in the garden. (Note the wonderful puddles, not)Unfortunate, but despite the rain the ducks seem to be having a good time. This pair was enjoying an evening swim. The light colored one has been around here since it was a baby. It was good to see it again.

Garden Prep

Today saw the perfect day for garden prep. We cleared our roughly 8ft by 6ft garden and added some nutrients to the soil. Including the past week's coffee grounds.

In addition to that, we added some square bricks to our patio thereby increasing it's width by a foot. It took a good part of the day to get it done, but it looks good.

The seeds we've started indoors are doing rather well. Unfortunately, I mixed up the peppers again and now have no idea what is what! We've got the peppers (sweet and hot), tomatoes (regular and cherry), and cucumbers all started inside. Cucumbers took a turn for the worst last week, but two of the six have recovered. I think I watered them a little too much.

Hopefully next weekend will bring some more progress.

A Day At The Park

After playing in the park for a hour, Kingu and Maruq were tired.


Kingu makes a good effort at clearing the jump.


Maruq looks like he's effortlessly floating over the jump that three weeks ago he was afraid of.


Kingu is tired.


Maruq running and Kingu ignoring him. He looks so funny here.




RUN KINGU RUN!!!!

Huskies and rain puddles

Today the sibes went to the paw park. Unfortunately, since it had rained recently, the area of the park I call "the trench" was filled with a couple inches of muddy water. Kingu ran through it with her mouth open and Maruq ran at full speed through it. Needless to say, we had two muddy huskies on our hands, which was not good for any of us. Then Kingu's allergies started getting to her and she kept reverse sneezing; so we left early, muddy huskies and all. After the huskies were bathed things settled down.

We also went to the Brickyard 400 this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was an ok race, there were only three cautions I believe though, and in due time I acutually began to doze off. It was what I expected. It was a nice experience but I don't plan on going back any time in the near future. I think my taste leans more toward IRL than NASCAR.

A couple weeks ago we went on a week long vacation. It was with my parents, my sisters and one of my sister's kids.Our destination: the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos for a few nights then went to Hershey for the Chocolate making tour (not the real thing, just the ride where you get in those little cars and it takes you through the steps of what they do and such. Its the one with the singing cows. I can't begin to tell you how long that song was stuck in my head.) Then we headed down to Nags Head. We went to the beach a few days and went to Jockey's Ridge State Park for an evening. Then we came back home, the gps rerouteing my sister the wrong way all the way to South Bend, IN untill someone realized the gps was set up wrong. What a nightmare.

The garden is having some trouble and some of the plants are turning yellowish, but overall it's ok because I have some things I still need to plant. The baby ducks are growing up and have their adult color but still have tiny little wings. They're pretty cute.

Hopefully I will post pictures soon!

The Huskies New Friend

Today, Kingu and Maruq met Lilly. Lilly is a gorgeous black and white husky puppy. She, Kingu and Maruq had a good time playing. Maruq, being only about a half year older than Lilly, was quite the match for her. They ran in the yard, tackling and pawing at each other, while Kingu disdainfully worried over the occasional firework going off (it's just about the only thing she's scared of). Kingu did join in the play eventually, but it's different for her; she's three now and with her little bit of extra weight on those poor knees, play just isn't what it used to be. (Kingu has a problem with both her knees; both will periodically slide in and out of place causing her to fall. When she runs and tries to make a quick turn, or if there is a sudden need to slow down or stop, she drags her back feet. It looks like she's trying to sit down while running, sometimes she ends up running on her knees. Since she's lost about 10 lbs, she's improved. It doesn't cause her pain and according to the vet, it's a common condition in smaller breeds, but rather uncommon in larger breeds.) The huskies played for nearly an hour.

Now they are very tired and sound asleep, and both are having husky dreams.

Pictures of the Siberian Huskies!

Kinguyakkii (meaning "northern lights") is the white husky. Amaruq (meaning "wolf") is the grayish one. As you can see, they are not afraid to get all muddy and dirty. Kingu, as much as she hates rain, really loves to play in the mud. Maruq doesn't care as long as he gets to play with other dogs at the park.