Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Taters

I know, I know.  I haven't written in what seems like months, but I have been.....hmmm...I have been many things.  1) I was a little wiped out after company for about a month straight.  I was almost comatose for several days.  2) I. then, was going through the blues and serious withdrawal from my Mum and Dad.  Still missing them like crazy.  3) We were putting the house back together after having company.  Okay, okay.  I was watching the SF do the work while I lounged on the couch.  4) I was trying to get a little end of the season  gardening done.  Not much success there either.  5)  I had a million emails to catch up on and I'm still working on catching up on some personal bookkeeping.  6)  I have had multiple appointments to make and attend.  7) I have been stitch n bitching with two of my favourite bitches (sorry for the language Mum) and other than that, 8) Life has been sorta dull.  In order to get back in the swing of things, I thought I would start off small here and share some Summer memories with you.  So here goes....

Only in PEI can you have potatoes pop up in your flowerbeds unexpectedly.  Do you remember the Lasagna Garden that was on my springtime list of things to do (I should really revisit that)?  Well, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped.  I set it up on a slope and, made the bed too deep which made it difficult to get into.  At some spots the material is close to two feet deep and is quite unstable to stand upon.  That, and the garden was infested with earwigs so that I had visions of the little critters getting inside my shoes and socks while I was standing within/upon the flower bed.  Anyway, the bed was somewhat abandoned.  I did put some flowers in it, and a few eggplants as well.  But, somewhere along the way a new plant started growing.  One that I hadn't planted.  I decided to let it grow and grow it did.  It got bigger and bigger.  In fact, it ended up growing larger than anything else in the flowerbed.

This is the bed at the beginning of the Summer.  The plant in question is just poking out here in the front right hand corner.


It was the subject of many conversations between the SF and I.  What was it?  On our many trips out into the country (Hell, we live in the country?), we would inspect the farmer's fields for anything similar and then try to determine what they were growing?  We suspected potatoes but just didn't know.  Many times I was tempted to yank it but I fought the urge until it had reached a healthy size.  The nice thing about the Lasagna Garden is that the growing material is quite lightweight so it is simple to pull anything out of it, whether it be plants or weeds. 

I gave a yank and voila!  Ah ha!  Potatoes!  I was right!  PEI potatoes everywhere!


Perhaps it was because they were mutant looking or because we hadn't actually planted these as food, we just kind of left them kicking around the garden.  They were directly in the path of the SF's veg garden, so occasionally you would give one a kick on your way to check out the veggies.  And then one day, we found a use for them.

You see, little Ernie would always pick the most inopportune time to "make compost".  Normally we have a designated spot at the top of our yard for him to lay down a load.  We refer to it as "The Pooh Patch".  It's close to the front door for the simple fact that at nighttime, he won't get eaten by one of the foxies or the gang of three (raccoons) or worse, get skunked.  It's also convenient when the weather is not cooperating.    It's  simple enough, most times, to grab a Pooh Bag to scoop up his little treasures and chuck them in the city compost bin (they are compostable bags, people.  Nothing but the best!). 

All that said, there are times when you have packed your wheelbarrow full of tools, dog cages, keys, extra layers of clothes, sustenance - whatever the case may be and are heading down to the veg garden to put in a good days work.  Ernie is toodling along behind and decides, "Hey!  This path looks like a good place to "bake a brownie".  Of course the one thing you didn't pack in your wheelbarrow is a "fudge bag".  SHIZNIT!  And of course, the next half a dozen times we would pass it, we would holler at one another to "Watch out for the landmine".  Well, one day the SF came up with the stellar idea of using the taters as markers, much like a golfer uses a dime to mark his or her ball placement, we started to use the taters to mark Ernie's "nuggets" thus making the markers....are you ready for it.  POOH-TATOS!  Have you had enough of me yet?

Saturday, October 9, 2010

What Are Little Boys Made Of?


What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails


And puppy-dogs' tails,
 

That's what little boys are made of.
 
Missing you Cabby!  Let's walk soon....Ruvs, Licks, Wags & Wiggles,  Ernie



Thursday, October 7, 2010

Say Hello To SOPHIE!

Last week, Itchy, Scratchy and myself went on a road trip. More quality girl time! We headed to Belfast Mini-Mills and were greeted by Sophie.  Meet Sophie! 

Isn't she adorable?!  She's only 5.5 months old.  Actually, she looked like this when we first got there.

Apparently she is a late riser.  But she must have been having great dreams.
I mean, seriously, look at that smile on her face.  Heavenly.  Hog Heaven, actually.

There was a whole petting zoo there....of sorts.  There were goats....



Ernie's personal fave, COWS!


Sheeps...

And....ALPACAS!

 Of course, alpacas.  I almost forgot the purpose of the trip was to buy wool.
 When I was in Baddeck at BAAdeck Yarns, yes that's no typo.  It is called BAAdeck yarns....anywhoo, when I was there chatting with dear sweet Betty, she said that every yarn shop should have a hardware store attached for husbands to visit while their spouses are in wool heaven.  I've changed my mind on that theory.  Every yarn shop should have a hobby farm attached to it.  I might spend less money on wool and more time talking to the animals......NOT!

Perhaps next time I visit, I will take the tour of the mill itself.  This time, we were happier to visit with the animals and shop, shop, shop.  One of the women there showed us a toque that had been knit out of a wool made from the fur of a Samoyed.  If only I had known that you could take your dog's fur and make it into something you could keep forever, I would have saved Rookie's.  What a keepsake!