Gone Campin'

We are going camping this weekend so I'm hoping I will have time to THINK!  I'm taking a pen & pad of paper so that I can write down some ideas I've had about this blog; things I would like to share with you about my garden & gardening in general (most of which I've learned the hard way;-).  Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Dirt Therapy

I have been thinking lately that this blog should be more about what I really am interested in...gardening!  I have a saying about working in the garden I call it "Dirty Therapy".  I feel so good when I'm out in the garden/yard; sun on my shoulders, breeze blowing (hopefully;-), dirt on my hands and watching something grow or an area change from ugly to beautiful!  Soon I plan to change the name of the blog and hopefully this winter I'll get more into this blog so that I can add more links and ads to help you if you want just simply and easy hints to get more out of you hard work in the garden.  Please stay tuned for the upcoming changes as I hope it will be useful to many (pass the word on to your garden friends too)!

Eugene 1/2 Marathon- I did it!

I can't believe I finished the Eugene 1/2 Marathon yesterday.  I wasn't able to train like I really would have liked to (well I kept procrastinating when the weather would get too cold or wet and when I'd get a little cold).  But I knew I was going to do it no matter what, that even meant walking over the finish line; I did jog over the line but I ended up walking the last four miles.

It was an amazing feeling being cheered on at the finish, which happened to be Hayward Field.  As I jogged into the track I started looking for Jerry and he was in the perfect spot, right at the North West corner (where we round to the finish line).  He was cheering and waving so it made me determined to finish at a jog even though I felt I could hardly walk anymore.  It was very emotional in the most over whelming and fulfilling way.

He was my biggest cheerleader, even during the race he was at about the 7 1/2 mile mark; which was perfect as I was REALLY needing more motivation to keep going.  When I got to him he gave me a kiss and as I ran off he yelled that he was proud of me, all I could think of was getting to the end so it would be over.  The rest of the five miles were tough as I was getting tired and my legs were starting to feel like cement.  As I was running I kept thinking I just had to finish to prove to myself that I could do something like this.  Now I really want to do another one and have more training under my belt to see how well I could really do.

I can say that I finished just over the time I had in my head (3 hours), my time was 3hrs 12min.  My next one will be under 3 hours!

Jerry even thinks it might be fun to do one too, maybe this time next year I'll be posting that we both finished the Eugene 1/2 Marathon!!

There I am in the yellow hat and black pants. (in the middle of picture)

Changes

Last night I realized I needed to stop thinking about doing something about my weight & start DOING something about it!  Today I will start DOING; first no more soda and more exercise.  I'm also going to cut back on how much I eat.
Other changes I need to make are finishing projects and sticking with them until they are complete!  I guess that means it is back to my daily lists, that's not so bad really.  It did help me stay on track a bit and get things done.
I realize there are changes that can be made everyday, I just have to DO IT (as the Nike ad states).
Hopefully doing and making changes will effect the girls too, in a positive way and they will see that making changes is and can be a good thing.  I see good things in all our futures!

Moving forward on the greenhouse

We put this first truss up last weekend; mostly to see how it was really going to look.  Jerry still needs it as a template for the other three so we had to take it down after the pics were taken.  I am finished with the five single pane windows that make up the front & back walls, but I am still working on the six pane windows that will be the walls.  It has been super slow as the weather and my health are not working together, (yep I'm sick yet again).
I can't believe How big it is and that Jerry has truly made my dream of having a greenhouse come true.  In fact last week I was able to find a door for the greenhouse for only $25.00 and he thought it was perfect as I did.  Can't wait for the weather to break so that I can get the door outside to clean it up and then start stripping the old paint so I can re-paint it...red, black, and off white.

The door still has it's original hardware; hinges, handle, and lock. I know once I'm able to really take it apart it is going to look great!

Even my two "little garden helpers" are ready for the greenhouse & warm weather. Summer here we come!

More on the greenhouse

This is the first truss of my greenhouse; the whole thing is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO big.  I have all the front and back wall windows complete but I have come to a stand still on the side wall windows (I'm sick yet AGAIN).  This has been a bad winter for me, sick most of Nov/Dec; January I started training fora half marathon and was injured by my dog (she tripped me), then I got sick again at the end of February.

Jerry is busy measuring, cutting, drilling, and connecting more pieces for more trusses as I sit here writing about it.  I love him so much for making my dream of a greenhouse come true.

Last week I was able to fine the most amazing door for the greenhouse for only $25.00.  I loved the doors she had so much I keep trying to think up ways to use more.  Jerry won't let me buy anymore as I am still at my "5 project" limit (something he thought up last summer- funny man).

All the original hardware was still with the door; knob, hinges, and lock. Can't wait for the weather to break so that I can get outside and get the dirt cleaned off so I can start striping the paint off to re-paint it! It will be red, black, and cream.

And these are my garden helpers! Summer here we come.

First wall going up

It has happened; we were able to get to of the wall bases in place and the back wall up (supported of course).  I can now really see the "shape" of what my greenhouse will look like. It's going to be BIG!  So much bigger than I thought or even dreamed of; 9x9.

The three windows for the back wall are ready to be installed but we still need to get the firring strips (no idea what that really is but Jerry said we need it).  I have also started to glaze one of the two front windows, so really I only have 10 more windows to complete (HAHAHAHA), ONLY 10!

I just keep thinking about how much fun it is going to be to teach the girls how to start little plants/flowers/veggies start to grow from seed.  I'm also hoping the in the next few years I become better at seed saving (that will also save $$$$), then I can start to sell and MAKE $$$$ to put back into the whole garden/yard.  Time will tell.