Monday, March 16, 2009

Rain, worms, peach trees, and wedding dresses.

We've had more than our share of rain the past week (for these parts -- said with a John Wayne old cowboy movie accent). Officially, we're in a drought ... AGAIN.

We bought two more 5-gallon buckets (with lids) to put on the patio to catch the rain last week and they're now full (along with the two that were already full before the rain last week). Em moved them a little, I think, because when I asked if they were full ALREADY, he mumbled something about how I might not approve of him having moved them to where they captured runoff from the roof. We don't have gutters on our roofs here so much, so it's not as though Em set the buckets under a gutter downspout. He set them where he saw a lot of water running off the roof, much like I set the shower bucket where I see a lot of water hitting the floor.

. We're thinking about buying two more buckets (with lids) ... just in case it rains again someday, but we've had other concerns lately.

My worms came from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. I ordered 2000 of them, but I'd be hard-pressed to testify under oath to 200 being in that little bag I got. I spread them about the yard in all the places where I want worms before I read the instructions that said to dump them all in one place because they like to live in societies. Heh.

My peach trees seem to be doing the opposite of what they did last year (respectively). This guy:
Photobucket bloomed like crazy and produced 10 peaches last year while not being able to get the strength to open its buds this year.

The other one (which did absolutely NOTHING last year) is blooming its heart out this year.
Photobucket
Couldn't remember if they needed each other to cross-fertilize.

You can see some of the fence garden areas in the photos. I put wet newspaper up against the fenceline to deter weeds and set bricks to hold them in place. Took me 2 days to recover from that day of hauling bricks.

Been spending a fair amount of time lately working on No. 1's wedding plans. There's a lot of protocol to be considered and it's all been new to me. Dave's mom and I have been communicating and one of her questions revolved around what I was wearing. That's standard protocol, as the groom's mom is supposed to wear something that compliments the bride's mom's outfit. Who Knew? So, last Friday there was a 50% off clothing sale at the Thrift Store and I found a very comfortable dress to wear:
Photobucket

When Em took the photo to send to No. 1 and No. 2 for their approval, he said, "It's really not very flattering, you know." I said, "In what way? Style, color, fit?" He said, "Style, color, fit." So, over this past weekend we went over to Kohl's to see if I could find anything I liked. I found two white blouses that I tried on with a long black skirt. I hated the way EVERYTHING looked.

Today, we made a second stab at the Thrift Store. Wearing my first attempt, I found Em and moved him to right outside the dressing room. He didn't approve of the second attempt, either, so I went on to the third attempt. Whatdya know? He LIKED it:
Photobucket
It fulfills, IMO, the criteria of: being comfortable, as well as somewhat amenable to my brown birks. The terrain at the outdoor wedding location has the potential to be slippery/trippy, so I want safe shoes.

Next fashion concern will be for how to wear my hair. Tips are welcome.

5 comments:

mcgee said...

:me poet waves:

I like both outfits, but the blue is better for spring/outdoor wedding. I didn't know about the mothers thing either. My MIL wore a pale blue dress, my mom wore a black suit (the bridesmaids dresses were black).

About the peach trees--some varieties tend to naturally bear every other year. Most won't bloom well or bear much the year following a heavy crop. Commercial growers get around that by thinning the fruit when they are about nickle-sized. Fewer peaches per tree, but better size and quality and an yearly crop.

Peaches are self-fertile, but having another variety for pollination never hurts. They do have to bloom at the same time though, lol.

Oldnovice said...

No. 1's bridesmaids will be wearing black, too. I'd thought that fairly unconventional, but I guess not, eh? Her logic was that everyone has a black outfit so they wouldn't have to buy anything new. No. 2 thinks they should add a color to the black to remove the "funeral" stigma.

My mom wore a turquoise suit and (forever channeling my mom these days) I think I found the blue dress comforting somehow.

Tanks for the tips on the peaches.

boshness said...

Hi! I've been enjoying reading your blog - found it by some link you left somewhere! I like the homey tone, and all the things you do to be thrifty and creative. Also, I am 60, and it shocks me, because I still think of myself as that young free spirited girl of the 60's (not promiscuous, you understand, just a Lake Tahoe-ish hippie ski-bum type). So I relate to you because of your age as well. You look mahvelous, my dear! for your age, for *any* age!

Definitely the blue dress for the wedding, and the other for a more relaxed setting. As the blue dress has a wonderful (it seems from the pic)Chinese-y sort of smooth, shapely line and mandarin collar, I had a vision of a hairstyle that I thought might look beautiful with it. And that would be a coiled chignon, not low on the nape, but higher up, where it would give your head a pretty silhouette.
I think you would look very classy, and elegant in a simple way. Hmm, I wonder if you tucked in a hair ornament or small flowers, if that would be even more wedding-ish.

Well, just giving my .02, fwiw.

btw, I envy your beautiful straight teeth! I myself am going to get invisalign braces to do a tiny bit of straightening, so that then I can get some white veneers put on my front teeth. It seems that mysteriously, teeth get yellower with age, and I feel that I want to look my best during the great years ahead, if God be willing. We are worth it!!!

I'm going for the laser re-surfacing as well. Every little bit helps. Your skin looks very smooth, better than mine - I'm jealous! I did too much tanning when I was a surfer girl in Southern California - ok, all my life, truth be told.

I will look forward to the wedding pics when you post!

In the meantime, got to get back to studying - I am finally getting that degree in literature; that is, if I get back to work, and stop procrastinating by reading other people's life stories via blog!!!

Have fun, and thanks for letting me peruse your blog!!

Oldnovice said...

Those were really nice things you wrote, boshness. Thank you SO much.

Feel free to hang out here ANYTIME. I'm right there with you on most everything. How DID we get this old so quickly? Seemed like just yesterday that I was proud of my teeth and WAY too skinny. Now I have a turkey neck. They're fun to play with, at least. :-)

mcgee, both trees are fruiting now and I'm not sure I'll have the heart to "thin" anything.

Anonymous said...

Please, give me link to download XRumer 7.0!!!
Thanks!

Always yours,
miss MW