Cicada Days

Check out these photos of the baby ducklings that Maddie and her friend got to play with all day Saturday. The mama abandoned them (13 of them)! and so Maddie's friend's parents called the DNR to see what they should do. They were advised to find another mama with ducklings about the same age, and leave them with her. Apparently, mother ducks can't count, and will often just assume all those extra chicks are also hers. But in the meantime, what fun these girls had feeding and holding them.

And, her friend had toads in her yard to boot. Which pretty much cinched it the best playdate/sleepover ever.

Mia-- jumped on our neighbor's 2-wheeler and started riding it like she'd been doing it all her life. No more training wheels for this girl.

We got started planting our gardens this weekend. We're doing one the traditional way we've always done, in additon to 2 new raised beds. Jeff bought some untreated wood and built us a couple 4X4's. We're following the Square Foot Gardening method, which makes for some jam-packed squares of produce. We'll see how it goes; we don't really know what we're doing, but hopefully we'll learn as we go. You have to mix your own soil mix to use: 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. (We bought our compost from Petersen's Dairy Farm on JJ and Ballard- certified organic by UW standards). Then you divide your block into sixteen - 12 inch squares. A different crop goes into each square. You space a few plants throughout to ward off pests like onions, marigolds, and nasturniums. We keep refering to Mel Bartholomew, the author, like he's our friend. As in, "Well, Mel says we can plant 2 cucumber plants per square" etc. We're all about Mel right now.

Here's what we planted (transplants- most we bought from Foxglove Farms):

Italian Zucchini
Lemon Zucchini
Early Long Purple Eggplant
Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage

Sweet White Onion
Diva Cucumber

Chef’s Blend Cauliflower

Sungold Cherry Tomato

New Big Dwarf Container Tomato
Cherokee Purple Tomato
SubArcticTomato
Quadrado D’Asti Tomato
Ancho Poblano Pepper

Giant Yellow Pepper

Blacktail Mountain Watermelon

From seed:

Carrots

Radishes

2 kinds of Lettuce

Flowers in between to ward off pests:

Nasturniums

Marigolds

Herbs:
Thai Basil
Cilantro
Garlic Chives

Book club was this weekend, we discussed A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life. I'm planning to buy it when it comes out in paperback; I want to have it on hand to re-read. Its a reflection on integrity and community...living your best life, and helping others to live theirs. I really enjoyed this book and how it was written- very straightforward and life-affirming common sense. Two thumbs up.

Parade Day was a good end to the holiday; I'm pretty sure my photos of Jeff marching are almost exact replicas of last year... he's in the same position and holding the same flag! It was beautiful day. We went to Shanghai Buffet with our friends after the parade, which we decided is an annual tradition since we've done it twice. And the rest of the day we spent outside doing yard work and visiting with neighbors. Really, a good Memorial Day weekend to be grateful for.

Oh, and I love this pic of Maddie before she left for "Crazy Hair Day" at school last week:

One last thing: I'm obsessed with reading movie reviews (links to Amazon) from this site: http://www.whattorent.com/. Take the test, it is hysterical. I'm not sure how those questions are able to nail down what movies I'd enjoy, but so far it has been uncanny. Last night I watched "The Station Agent" and loved it completely, just like it said I would. Jeff and I also watched "Matchstick Men" on its recommendation and enjoyed that as well.