Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Exciting stuff keeping me busy

I just became the proud owner of this ten-year-old bicycle, which has been ridden only a few times. My sister was going to send me hers, and I mentioned it while on my last hike. It turned out that this bike was also available for cheap and was right in Bellingham, too! I picked it up yesterday from my friend's home and today I bought a helmet, bicycle pump, and a lock. We had to deflate the front tire to get it off (past the brakes) and stick it in the back of my car, but it's home now and only needs to be turned upright and taken for a spin. That's one thing going on, and now I can put it aside while I concentrate on the garden!
Our community garden is taking shape, and we are all working in our areas to get our soil ready for planting already-started seedlings. I bought 4.5 cubic feet of garden compost this morning, and the three bags in the right-hand side of the picture are ready for me to take out the contents and hoe it into the ground. This is quite a lot of work, and I'm learning from watching my neighbors as they prepare their own plots. I will be spending more money this year for a bit of return than during any other year, but I am such a neophyte at this I'm confused by what is the best and most productive way to do this. We do have one guy who knows exactly what to do and is making the rest of us envious.
One guess where his plot is. The center plot is a community garden for all of us to use, and people have been putting plants in there one at a time. I'm just hoping to get my own veggies into the ground by the end of the week. Things keep coming up and interfering with my plans. And then yesterday I managed to cut my left middle finger when slicing up an apple, right at the knuckle joint, and every time I stress it, it begins to bleed all over again. I won't work in the garden without gardening gloves on, so I'm not too worried about it, but it makes me angry at myself.

And right about now, early afternoon in the Pacific Northwest, the transit of Venus is beginning. We cannot see it here, as the clouds are covering the sun and spitting a bit of rain as well. (Perfect for working in the garden if I can just get everything else accomplished first.) The planet Venus will pass in front of the sun for the next six hours. The picture below was taken in 2004, and today's transit will be the last one until 2117.
From Astronomy Picture of the Day
The little dot on the right-hand side of the sun is Venus. I'm sure a picture of today's event will appear on the APOD site tomorrow or very soon, at any rate.

Since there are so many things going on in my life at the moment, I neglected to write a post this past weekend and am determined to get one up before going out to dig in the garden. Spreading compost and planting stuff is a lot of work, although very rewarding nevertheless. I also bought zinnias and marigolds to plant and will get those in this week as well, to help control pests, my blogging buddies tell me. I can hardly wait until I have plants to show you, but I can't accomplish everything all at once, although I do try.

This past Sunday I made two skydives in very unsettled weather. Lots of clouds (you can't jump through clouds) meant we sat around for two hours before getting in the plane for our first skydive of the day. Sometimes it's harder to sit around than it is to jump. I was as tired when I left after two skydives as I was last week when I made four. When I got home I didn't get around to writing a post and hoped it would happen yesterday, but it didn't. I'm trying to tell myself that the deadlines I set for myself are mine alone and nobody is going to lose any sleep over my failure to publish a post, but it doesn't take away my desire to write one.

When the weather is fine this summer I will get to know my new bicycle, spend every other waking minute I can in the garden, and blog in between times. Oh, and reading YOUR posts is high on my list, so I need to make time for that. It's like missing a coffee date, otherwise.
:-)

31 comments:

  1. you shouldn't stress about getting a post in on time. you've got so much going on! sheesh! if my life was half as demanding as yours, i'd give up blogging altogether! :) good luck on the garden. sorry about the cut knuckle, though! but major congrats on the new-to-you bike!!!

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  2. Love this! I often wondered if it was financially worthwhile to plant, however, the satisfaction of growing and producing our food is the reward. You will never look back!

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  3. Congratulations on the new transport medium! But you shouldn't have to deflate the tire to remove the wheel - there should be some sort of release gadget that allows the brakes to spread wide open.

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  4. Love this! I often wondered if it was financially worthwhile to plant, however, the satisfaction of growing and producing our food is the reward. You will never look back!

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  5. DJan - I love your bike. I also have a bike as in bicycle as well as a motorbike in between everything else I do. It seems my days go so fast and I am super sure yours do too. Nice shots of your garden and yes, wasn't hard to tell whose garden is the knowledgeable one. Well, you can learn from that gardener and I am sure your garden and all the others will look great in a wee bit. I'm just trying to figure out where you fit the bike in your day - is that instead of the bus? ha,ha
    Take care of that cut on your knuckle and keep it covered and clean - you're gonna stress those knuckles on your new bike. Cheers

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  6. That's so cool that you got the bike. I love bicycling myself and had a bike out in California but couldn't afford to move it with me and so gave it to my son. I would love to find another, but am sure I would be quite wobbly now. You're have fun on it!

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  7. I've been looking at buying a bike. I think it would be fun to have one again and a nice alternative form of transportation.

    Gardening is a process of learning what works and what doesn't. I'm definitely in the learning phase. A load of black dirt for the entire space would be good. Maybe next year?

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  8. So happy about your bike. I love mine. Mine is a "regular" bicycle...no frills, bells, or whistles...but I do love to ride it.
    I am excited beyond words about your garden spot. Enjoy every moment of it. I know that you will!!!
    Hugs and smiles,
    Jackie

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  9. Nice! A bike! New adventures for you on that to come, too. ;)
    The gardening will be a learning process, I'm sure. Sorry about the knuckle cut. Getting a cut on a joint is a royal pain.
    Glad you got in a couple jumps. Sounds like a long day, though.
    Don't worry about deadlines. You made them yourself, so you are the boss of you. The boss let you have a couple days off--LOL! ;) No worries. :):)

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  10. As usual , you cover a lot of territory in one blog. You will definitely like gardening. My vegetable garden is starting to come up. I enjoy this part more than anything else.
    Good move on the bike. Make sure the brakes are reliable. Get a speedometer. Then you can measure goals in your cycling.

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  11. You have a lot going on right now DJan and it sounds like you are loving it. That is a nice looking bike. You have reminded me that it's time to get mine out of the shed and get it ready for the summer.
    I am almost as excited about your garden as you are. I can hardly wait to see your first crop.

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  12. wow you do have a lot going on...glad the cut was not so bad...at least hope it isnt...nice on the jumps...and on the bike...very cool...

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  13. You can watch the venus transit on nasa's website. Love the bike and it looks like the garden is coming along.

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  14. I know you will just have loads of fun with your new toy.
    Gardening is one of our greatest joys. We always plant lots of flowers right along side of the veggies. Basil and garlic are the best for tomatoes. This year we are trying out a new garlic from Russia. Love to send you some when its ready for harvest. Oops, I took it for granted you're a garlic lover...

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  15. You are one busy woman and like Tex said, if I had anywhere near that much going on, I'd never have time for blogging. As it is, I tend to neglect it from time to time.

    That's cool about acquiring the bike and I'm looking forward to seeing how your garden grows

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  16. Good looking bike! I am sure you will ride it everywhere! You better get some seeds in the ground soon..buy a tomato plant or two and peppers. The rest of the stuff will grow fast from seed:)

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  17. Take care of that cut. You don't want to get manure or fertilizer in that cut, because it could lead to gangrene.

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  18. Congratulations on getting the bike! It is a great way to get around. Mine needs a bit of additional maintenance, then I'll be up and at it. (Tires are a bit soft.)

    I'm sure jumping out of perfectly functional airplane is fun. But it does interfere with our blogging. But no matter; we'll be here when you have something for us to read.

    Hope your garden goes well. And that the rabbit don't get in when someone leaves the gate open.

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  19. Love the garden photos. Glad you got a plot. Nice photos.

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  20. Cool bike! Glad to hear you bought a helmut.
    My kids tell me I should join a health club and work out on the machines...I keep telling them that I get a better workout in the garden...they don't believe me. :))

    Happy gardening.

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  21. Dear DJan, only one word! That's all I need to describe you and your life. And that word it--TA! DA!--AMAZING!

    Peace.

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  22. I envy you your bike. I would love to travel around on one but have to admit I am too scared to compete with the heavy traffic so I want to read about all your escapades instead. Do you work through the night on your garden because for the life of me I can't work out how you fit it all in!

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  23. If you like basil, make sure you plant some, DJan...I've already harvested enough to recover the cost of the three plants I bought! The more you pick...the bushier the plant grows!

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  24. As soon as I hit publish, I remembered the community herb garden, well grow some tomatoes and cucumbers for sure! ☺

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  25. Oh my goodness, another physical challenge. One of these days you're going to die and your body won't know it for a month. You are an amazing lady and having a lot of fun at it.

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  26. Wow! You are so busy! Love that Venus photo. It's so much more interesting than the cloudless ones I've seen. Have a great time with your bicycle! You never rest! I really admire you.

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  27. Okay....my first question would be "Why can't you jump through clouds"? Seriously, inquiring minds wanna know.

    Then, secondly....your bike looks great. I bet you can't wait to get outdoors on that for more exercise. Girl?--------you should consider getting a filming crew out and about with you for all the exciting things you do. You'd be a great candidate for some exercise magazine!!!!


    ON THE WINGS OF A DOVE

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  28. The garden sounds like a good summer taskmaster. What items will you plant in it? The last time I tried gardening, two pepper plants produced enough for the whole street. My kids grow enough veggies that they put them in boxes outside their house for the neighbors to claim. Gardens are amazing to watch as they produce great stuff.

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  29. Well how about that. You've just managed to add two new activities into your super busy schedule. Not only will you be studying gardening but how to keep a bike running. A bit of lug can keep it purring as you pedal. And tire patching may also come up but I'm hoping not too soon.

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  30. Love the bike, love the garden! You're taking on new things that will give you lots of enjoyment. Maybe five years from now you won't be taking long, long hikes on the weekend, and maybe you won't be skydiving, but you'll be out there in the garden, and out there on the bike, still being active and involved. That is very cool!

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  31. Skydiving, serious hiking, biking and now gardening. Life begins at 70. Well, hey, in my case 3 out of 4 isn't all bad. Have you ever thought of flyfishing on those mountain trout streams.... :)

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