The Cupcake Sweatshop

Tomorrow is my son's 4th birthday party. Being a procrastinator, I of course have plenty of things to do today, and nestled right in the middle of the list is "write blog." Oh sure, that'll take 20 minutes, as long as you don't count the 2 hours I usually spend staring at the screen willing the words to just show up on their own. So, today's blog will be brought to you by "Stream of Consciousness," and by the letters O,M,G and sometimes Y.

I do this to myself every time, but this year I am surprisingly unstressed about it. Things are getting done, and I still have a few minutes left before that last minute rolls around. Last year, I made two kinds of chili, neither of which the 3 years olds were generally interested in. This year, I've learned my lesson: simple food, catered to my audience. So the chicken is marinating, ready for the grill. Mac & cheese (generally accepted by most preschoolers) is prepped, veggies are washed & ready for slicing. Cupcakes are baking. Laundry is spinning. Patrick Watson is singing about big birds in small cages. And, will you look at that, words are showing up on the screen for my blog. Granted, it's not a Nobel Prize Winner, but it'll do.

It's a procrastinator's day of reckoning, so to speak, but I'm feeling good. I'm preparing to celebrate my son with our family & friends. How could I not feel good about that? And on that note, my alloted 20 minutes are up. Better get back to the cupcake sweatshop.

Procrastination Pays Off - Eventually

The arugula stared to bolt about a month ago. I meant to pull it out and replace it with some other greens, but instead we went camping. And then it got kinda hot to work out there. And then it started flowering, and got kinda pretty. Now that the seed pods are developing, I think I'm just going to procrastinate a bit more.

Harvesting arugula seeds sounds pretty easy - wait until the plants turn brown, cut them of, hang them upside down in a paper bag and wait for the seed pods to fall off. Then thresh the pods, collect the seeds and voila - arugula seeds for everyone. Minimal effort, lots of waiting around. Right up my alley. If you want a more detailed explanation, check out Heirloom Organics. A great site for gathering information, as well as finding seeds.

On a culinary note, both the flowers and the seed pods are edible. The flowers are nice and mild, but still have that unmistakable arugula taste. Bite down on a seed pod, and it's like the flavour of an entire arugula plant explodes into your mouth. Delicious, peppery, intense. On the down side, they are a bit fibrous; after snacking on a couple of pods whilst making my garden rounds it felt like I had a small ball of horse hair stuck in my throat. I also tried tossing a handful of pods into a stir-fry as an experiment (I wasn't ready to just give up on that flavour!) - if anything, it made them stringier. Perhaps some of my foodie friends could find better cooking solutions for the seed pods. For now, I'm thinking of installing a spittoon in the garden.

What Day Is It??

Ah, summer. When the days just roll together and you find yourself one day thinking "wait a minute...it's Saturday? Wasn't I supposed to write a blog entry yesterday?" And then you think "I could just skip it. I'm sure my massive readership of 5 won't even notice." Then you think "the whole reason I started this blog was to have some sort of accountability for writing regularly, so if I skip it, I'm only letting myself down." And then you think "You sound like my mother."

In case you can't tell, I'm a little unprepared and uninspired today. Can't pinpoint why; we had a great walk on the Galloping Goose Trail yesterday followed by the afternoon fun of "let's vacuum Momma's car!" Finally got that seaweed in the garden bed. Did laundry. Put away the last of the camping gear. Perhaps there's the reason for the lack of inspiration. Yesterday was what a friend likes to call a GSD day (Getting Sh*t Done). When you're an at-home parent on GSD days, most of your inspiration goes into convincing your kid(s) to help you, get out of your way, or at the very least not sabotage your efforts by jumping into the pile of freshly folded clothes. Come to think of it, even our lovely walk was occasionally tarnished by ruminations on my part of what all needed to get done. Thankfully, almost-4-year-olds are brilliant at living in the moment and bringing you along with them. So what if you have to re-fold the laundry.

Today, I pledge to get out of my own head. Forget about the never ending list of S that needs to GD. Today, I will take lessons from my son on how to have fun, follow my heart and go where the day takes me. These are the days that tend to bring boundless inspiration. These are the days that remind us why we bother with all the busy work in the first place. The first and only item on today's agenda? Don't have an agenda. In the true procrastinator's spirit, there's nothing I need to do today that can't be put off until tomorrow.

Allow me to introduce myself...

Let's just start by saying that I am not an expert gardener. Enthusiastic, yes. Avid, maybe. But not an expert. I don't know which plants to group together to attract or repel bugs, I don't know the Latin names for anything and I don't own one of those big floppy hats. My expertise lies more in the area of procrastination. Actually, I like to say that I'm an amateur-crastinator. I was going to turn pro, but I never got around to it (ba-dump bump). The world is a fascinating place, and I am easily distracted by both legitimate commitments (son, husband, dog, house, husband in the doghouse) and daydreams (is 40 too old to become a rock star?, I wonder if I could get 80 million litres of crude oil into a bp executive's backyard pool?)

Each year I try growing a few new veggies. Last year, corn (success!) and eggplant (abysmal failure), this year artichoke & lemongrass. Each day I try to convince my 3 year-old to eat vegetables, with varying degrees of success. So, if you check in with me twice a week (does Tuesdays & Fridays work for you?) you'll learn about the successes and failures of my little veggie patch, the ever-hilarious antics of my 3 year-old son, my attempt to build the ultimate playlist for everything and really whatever else captures my attention on that particular day.

My over-burdened computer and insufficient dial-up connection are not letting me post pictures yet. As soon as I figure it out, I'll post I've included a pic of the newly refurbished and expanded retaining wall around the garden which I'll discuss in more detail next time. Unless, of course, something else comes up.