Random Oddities

We got our new camera cards in the mail. They work great! But, apparently, while our memory card for our camera is definitely on it's last leg, the main issue in this situation was not the card, but the card reader! Which of course, chose to die at the same time we were waiting for our memory card to die, therefore confusing the solution.



So, I am still camera-to-computer-connection free. It's very annoying. Especially since I have all these fun things to talk about, and no pics to back them up. You all might be relieved, but the desperate housewife in me is dying to get this stuff off my chest. So, with that in mind, and the fact that I'm running on 5 cups of coffee, and a getting-ready-for-vacation buzz, and I'm waiting for my dishwasher and my dryer, here is a completely random post, with love, from me to you.



My seedlings are growing so fast! I'm so excited! You can tell the cilantro is cilantro, and the basil is basil, and so on and so forth. Imagine a picture of it here:



Our mudhole of a backyard is ALMOST dry from all the snow melt. I'm sure the spring rains will soak it up good again, but I'm very pleased to be able to take out my compost without sinking to my ankles in mud. That was very messy.



Speaking of compost, I managed to take my compost out to the compost bin all winter. I'm patting myself on the back for this, because it was COLD! I got snow inside my snow boots a couple times doing it.



Composting is a delicate task. It's a wonder we have dirt anywhere on this planet of ours. It takes:

1. "Green" or wet waste--meaning food waste, basically, and
2. "Brown" or dry waste--meaning leaves, manure, shredded paper, branches, etc.


Equal parts of this will produce rich soil in fairly quick time. If you have a well balanced compost with equal parts of the above list, then your compost WILL NOT smell. Your compost should never smell. Worms will help, as will turning the soil with a pitchfork. If you don't have a compost bin, I suggest that you get one. You can even get them for patios, if you don't have a yard. There's no excuse for putting perfectly good food waste into the trash, when you could be making soil. Just my tree-hugging opinion.



We don't have worms here. But we do have beetles the size of Pluto.



When I took the compost out today, I tracked mud all over the house when I came back in. I consider that to be somewhat ironic, due to this post last week.



While I was out there, I inspected my strawberry plants. They are alive! Tiny little leaves are poking up out of the brown big leaves from last year. Hopefully I will have a strawberry hill this year... I got approximately 70 plants for free last fall from a craigslist ad--and I was worried that they wouldn't survive the move from the lady I got them from--she had gorgeous soil, to my clay.



Debris drew an octopus on my fridge whiteboard last night. It has 10 legs. It's adorable. She erased my list of stuff I needed to do before we go in order to draw it. I should be mad, but she was so pleased with her octopus I can't quite work up a mad over it.



Conversation from the backseat of the car on the way to the grocery store today, when Andre Rieu's version of the Godfather theme song came on (If you were to force me to chose my favorite instrumental song ever, this one would definitely be at the top of my list--my girls also love it.):
Debris: It's the Grandfather theme song! Yay!
Kiki, giggling: It's not the Grandfather theme song! It's the Godmother theme song!



And, while I was at the grocery store, I noticed that they were missing Waterville Winery's 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from their shelves. So, in true Granddad N. fashion, I asked the checker about it. They had a few bottles left, and they brought me two. This wine was made in the vintner's garage. Yes, their garage. And, it was outstanding! I feel as though I've discovered a hidden gem in this winery. They only made 94 cases of this cab, which equals 1128 bottles. Today I got bottle#'s 1,106 and 1,046.


I feel:
Sad: because I totally missed out on their Riesling, which was in the words of the wine guy at Top Foods, "phenomenal" and will have to wait for them to release the next vintage of cab to get my hands on more.
Excited: because I just LOVE Waterville. It's the coolest town. They have very old houses there, and I would love to own one someday.
Excited: because I totally got two of the last bottles of this stuff
Curious: wondering if they need someone to file papers, turn barrels while they're on vacation, whatever, in exchange for a case or two?
Greedy: Because I bought a few bottles to take with me to show those CA folks in/near wine country some good stuff from the Columbia Valley, and now I don't want to share it.
And, Excited (again): because I LOVE to hear about people taking something they're passionate about, and turning it into a business in their garage. Totally thrills me, without fail.
And, Excited (again): because they made a Chardonnay without oak. Whoever said you have to oak Chardonnay to death?!



Anywhere you go in Wenatchee, or East Wenatchee, you're on a hill. It is a valley, after all. Did you know, if you're in one spot in town, and someone asks you for directions, and you tell them they need to go "up a level" they look at you funny? Who'd a thunk it?



Anyway, my dryer is honking at me, and I need to head out into the warm glorious sunshine to clean out Rovey for the trip ahead. I will finish off this random, and strange post, with a few random pictures. Just to make sure we're completely random here.

This photo is from our back porch, of the Badger Mountain Wildfire last summer.


This photo is of the same fire, from Frank's work parking lot. It burned right to the edge of his parking lot. Do you know how big those water basket thingies are? Like, the size of a car. We got dripped on while we were watching them drop water.
And, a close up, just for fun. That was a scary week.
I guess we'll always feel about fire season around here the way other's in the Pacific NW feel about flooding season!

Ok, with all that random strangeness, Naomi out.