First weekend in May 2006...

This weekend (June 10th) we had the birthday party for the kids and it turned out wonderful. Jesse's parents, my grandparents, my dad & wife were the family that came...our friends/family that showed up was Becky and our neighbors Melissa & Chris. I'm so glad they could make it! The kids all enjoyed playing together (methinks they'd of been a little more bored without Melissa's kids). =) Anyway...Melissa & Chris & family got them this pretty spiffy bubble set...never saw a more complete set...even carried a kitty face that you blow bubbles through (sort of a mask idea). They also got this crazy waterslide thing, along with some accomodating water toys. Jesse's dad finally got to have a conversation with my dad...whom I probably only see once a year. That was great having them there...I only wish we saw them more often...but he's a part-honcho to a major company, and barely has personal time...lol. The food was great, the weather was PERFECT. My grandfather was hitting on Jesse grandmother...lol...(her husband passed a while back...but my grandma was there and she just laughed). We're going swimming/BBQing at my grandparents and he was telling Jesse's grandma to bring her bikini and that if she didn't come, he's going to worry about his girl. That's nothing compared to him in the hospital...but I'll save that for another occasion! We used those trick candles on the cake (ice cream...yummy!!!), and despite the wind blowing so much, they never blew out.....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Draven couldn't figure it out and Rowan kept trying to blow through his teeth...too cute. They got this adorable park-bench, only it is toddler sized and has little safari critters in the back, which is now in our living room with their table.

On another note, our garden is starting to grow more. The potatoes are doing great. My lettuce & chards are right on schedule. I made the mistake of planting tomatoes directly into the ground in May as opposed to starting them inside, but they are growing regardless, thank you to the wonderful land spirits. My calendula has made an appearance, and borage is doing wonderfully. The carrots are all popped up, spinach is coming along....as is the bergamot. I don't know if the strawberries will grow...they are sort of in a shady spot, but it was the only place where they would not affect the rest of the garden...we'll see what happens. I also grew hairy vetch for an awesome filler right next to my Rose of Sharon, which just pops up EVERYWHERE...hopefully that will help, though I doubt it. At least it looks attractive. =) The ferns are FABULOUS...growing right along the patio and making a picnic all the more enchanting. It absolutely livened up the picnic area for the kids party. However, I cannot give the same compliments to the front garden. Despite ripping the whole thing apart to rid of the thistle, I have lost the fight this year. The root system must be spectacular, because in the beginning of the season when I THOROUGHLY went through them and their root system underground, there was nothing left....but no more than 2 months later, they have taken over the front garden and stand nearly 2 feet tall with each stalk...The roses are doing amazing though...the stem is probably 2" thick almost, and stands taller than Jesse....we had to tie it for support as it began falling from the weight. I even cut loads of it back this year, too. We've also been graced with Pokeweek in the front, which is standing nearly 5 feet tall (which I also tried to uproot...lol). I supposed it is my bias nature in that I LOVE weeds just as much. Last year I harvested our Pokeweed berries and made writing ink for my blank papyrus sheets. Worked perfect. I was thinking of making veggies with the immatured leaves (basically the ones that are NOT red/purplish, which are toxic), but decided that against it for now...mostly because Jesse's a little worried about serving it around the kids. No difference...we got LOTS of greens, which also will taste better...hehehehe.

I just finished reading a book called, "The Raw Food Gourmet"....we're looking into eating raw from here out...which is going to be difficult...very few of our friends even eat organically, and that will definitely affect our get-togethers...but we'll figure something out. =) Some of the recipes sound delicious...and I like that the author creates meals, desserts and so on as opposed to the idea of eating salads and fake meat for the rest of my life. Like that "textured protein" stuff. Yuck! What a transition this will be...and trying to our palates. One advantage is not cooking veggies. I've always loved peas, carrots, broccoli and so on steamed...but when it comes to mush like cooked peppers, cabbage, tomatoes and so on...Can't handle the texture of it. Spinach, chards, mashed veggies (like cauliflower, potatoes, and others are good though). I guess solid and liquid are good, but the mush in between...*shudders* LOL....that will be completely eliminated. The desserts sound DELICOUS, and the best part is that they are SUPER healthy, too...which, my friends, includes chocolate. I C-A-N-N-O-T live without some form of that. And we can still do mead/wine, so long as none of the ingredients have been heated above 100 degrees that are added in. I don't think anything is, though. Well, 'nough rambling. I'm off to get some work done.

Valete.