IDC: Week 14???

Ah! I've managed to get behind on IDC updates again. In fact, I have no idea what week we are on (I am going to guess 14). I swear it feels like July in Northern Indiana. July: hot, dry, sunny.

Planted: O, so behind, but in the past few weeks I planted all the tomato and pepper seedlings, zucchini seeds (already up!), beans (also up), cucumbers, cabbage seedlings, corn (never came up), tomatillos (where corn should have been), nasturtiums, various perennials, stevia, basil, cilantro (already bolted-too hot!), winter squash (spaghetti and butternut), and...probably a ton I'm forgetting. Other than a couple of forgotten Chinese Giant peppers (amazingly survived no watering in sun room!) and some tomatoes I need to squeeze in...I am out of room! I also planted two paw paw trees that my KY friend gave me, but they didn't survive. Her husband also stratified about two dozen paw paw seeds for us and the kids tossed them into the smaller woods (as instructed).

Harvested: mint and eggs

Preserved: Froze broccoli for future pots of soup (bought from local farmers). My FIL gave us a huge amount of strawberries to freeze, but they didn't make it past two strawberry lovin' boys.

Want Not: Stored some dried fava and pinto beans, found a large quilt-type comforter at a yard sale, put an offer on a fix-upper in Louisville (so not to have to pay rent anymore, be able to urban farm, and hopefully earn a little money. As a bonus, I hope to help an area that is under-served...much more on this adventure later).

Waste Not: See above: I am looking for an historical house to call home part of the time (due to my crappy work situation). I also have been going through tons of stuff, purging and getting ready for a garage sale at my sister's house later in the summer.

As a side not in this topic, so far it has been very dry here. This is unusual for a Great Lakes region and we have had to use the well to water the gardens. I mentioned to Dh last night that if this dry spell continues into June, we may need to sacrifice the garden. It will do us no good to run up electical bills and drain the water tables. I really, really hope the rains come!

Skill Up: I have learned a ton about buying a house for cash (not a simple endeavor to say the least). I have also been reading books on electrical, plumbing, wall repair and general house maintenance.

Sustainable Community: Sadly, due to hectic work schedules, I missed most of the Permaculture and urban farmers meetings in Louisville this past couple of months. I am really wanting to get more involved.

Eat the Food: Making broccoli salad tonight from some I bought locally.

OPB: Other People's Blogs

OK, this is just funny (found via Root Simple): Unicorn Poop Cookies.

I am writing another blog for historical record keeping purposes, if interested: Girl in the West End (but I warn you that it is emotional, or will be, as it is a record of the frustrating adventure of trying to buy a dilapidated house in the ghetto for cash. It is not as easy as it sounds and much more competitive than it probably should be...slumlords and house flippers have a ton of clout with the real estate industry and a regular person is always going to have to pay much higher for homes. It's a rigged game. Should I ever get the house, then the blog will be about the rehabbing of said house.

And, check out Rae's super cute Pom Pom Wreath and the Dia de Los Muertos skeleton her friend made her. I love them both!

Thrift Scores: Nashville

Haven't posted a thrift score in a while. The week before last I was in Nashville, Tn for a work event. While there, one of my co-workers (and great friend!) visited the Goodwill Outlet. We both came away with lots of fun treasures. Here is a sample of my finds (I still have a couple items in KY).

Characters for a sign, Auto Bridge with a really serious looking dude on it, newer SNAPS tin, flower lunch box

 Metal frame (I love these and have a bunch); a bag with a 45 adapter on it; a wicker clothes basket (my friend found one too); child's watering can, a cookbook; Haitian basket holding a Magic 8 Ball, a baseball, Risk game pieces, dominoes and a super cute owl wallet that had 28 cents in; and a dinosaur.

Top photo: KFC lunch box (I had to pick this up considering where I live); a Snoopy tackle box; a sample card of embroidery thread (love this item!), a cute animal tin and a peek of another newer clothes/storage basket. Second photo: Dinosaurs in my garden bed (the stepping stones were made using river glass found at the Falls of the Ohio (New Albany, IN).
Last Photo: Almost all of my Goodwill Outlet scores!

Lu Lu (part 1)

Wow...while the majority of the blogs I read continue to gain followers, I seem to be hemorrhaging them left and right. I suppose, it helps if you post regular updates or maybe my sporadic, boring posts are just too much to take. Oh, well...c'est la vie!

For those of you that have stuck around, patiently waiting on something from me here and there, I just want to say: Thank you, Friends.

I actually have (had) plans for this blog. Sadly, my busy life just keeps getting in the way. I even read a great post (I'll add the link when I find it) about blog post organization and I thought I would give it a shot at some point, maybe do something with a little routine for once. I love making goal lists. I suck at keeping goals.

OK, enough of that... Today at work I was looking for an old file and, instead, found some great old photos. Those of you here that read my old blog know I am one D short of having ADHD. I am constantly being turned on to new things. Maybe I just am obsessive. Either way, I have fell in love with different things in the past and found myself submersed in a subject before giving it up for something new. Photographs, fortunately for those of us that have a...um...difficult focus, are great records of our adventures. I thought I would share some of my past (and hopefully some I will take up again) hobbies.

I'll start with Lu Lu.

Back in 2008, purely by luck of a closed road, I drove by an RV dealer on my way to work. At 6:30 in the morning in a dark lot, I first laid my eyes on the item that would soon become one of my many projects: A 1956 Trotwood Cub camper. I pulled in and much to my surprise the camper was unlocked. I went inside. I was in love.

It just so happens I had just received a monetary award at work that week. I called up my husband and the camper was sitting in our driveway later that day. Meanwhile, through the magic of blogging and internet, I discovered words like 'glamping' and found groups called Sisters on the Fly. I devoured blogs and websites and even discovered I was only about 30 miles from a vintage camper museum! Turns out, I am not so unique in my eccentricities.

As you can see from the photos, Miss Lu Lu was a horrible shade of green and yellow M & M’s on the inside and a horrible shade of forest green on the outside. Additionally, someone had ripped out the dining area for bunkbeds (it’s last use had been as a playhouse). So, my first task was scraping paint off the gorgeous birchwood paneling. Sadly, we are still scraping paint off the lovely birchwood.* Simultaneously, we ripped out the bunk beds. Fortunately, the previous owners saved the original table and I found it under the master bed. Eventually, I hope we can build back the dining chairs (still not done as of May 2012).

The third major chore: ripping out the black and white cheapo vinyl tiles placed over the original linoleum faux wood flooring using terrible glue. I couldn’t save the floor. By this time, I realized I better get over my purist attitude or I was never going to be glamping in my lovely little trailer. So, I ended up putting down vinyl wood-like flooring similar to the 1950’s stuff. I also realized I wasn’t going to be able to save the sweet, original countertops (once again lost to horrible glue; I bought replacement. I painted the cabinets a light aqua blue…

Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself. I am posting part two this weekend when I remove the winter tarps. For now, I encourage you to explore a little about vintage campers on the Web. I will warn you, though, especially you vintage lovers, this will surely open up all new cans of obsession.

*I ended up buying vintage modern wallpaper to cover part of the dining area because the paint just does not want to budge.