I took this picture of my cubicle at work several weeks ago for no reason. Yesterday I was told that my hours are being cut to 32 per week. I was shocked. 2 others in accounting and several others in the company also have hours cut. There are also new layoffs. Times are tough. I am looking at the bright side of more time for other things for a while. It will enable me more time to go and care for grandma & grandpa B, so I think it is one of those blessings in disguise.

Yesterday was about 55 degrees out and sunny. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get a little yardwork done. Mowing the back yard was item number one.
The soil in our little garden was perfect to work in so I weeded it with the handy new weeding tool Toby gave me for valentines day. I then added a big bag of compost and dug it in. I think I will plant peas this week. Yes, it is a little early, but I am hopeful that winter is gone for this year. I also bought 25 strawberry starts to plant out in our garden at Marymoore. Hopefully we will have berries this summer!

Eating Adventures

In our quest to eat better we have tried several new foods. Today we had Quinoa, pronounced "keenwa". It is an ancient grain that has more protein than any other grain. I made the Quinoa Pilaf from the back of the box. I think what I made looks better than the picture on the box. It was pretty yummy.

Note the fun apron I am wearing!

For dessert we made chocolate cake with cherry pie filling in it. We altered the recipe by using only egg whites and subbing applesauce for the oil. I had never realized how much fat in in cake. The fat content in a cooked cake is not listed on the package; only the percent of fat. I guess Betty Crocker doesn't want us to think about the fat. It was also yummy.

A New Project for 2010

I was sooooo excited to get a garden spot at the Marymoore Community Garden for 2010! Then I went to find our little piece of the earth that will bring joy and food this summer. And was a little put off by the mess left by the previous owner.I decided it was time to put my grubby clothes on and get to work. A couple of hours of work later and things were looking much better. The rain was coming down harder and I had to remind myself that it was just January after all. It's not done yet but another couple of hours and it should be ready to plant when the weather is ready for planting.

The garden goes back as far as the white plastic. It is 10 feet by 40 feet. The little trellis in the middle is actually raspberries with a few strawberry plants around it! This community garden must stay organic, so no chemical fertilizers or pesticides (think slugs). I have learned that used coffee grounds mixed with dead leaves gives that special something to make things grow well and deters slugs. I have applied this treatment to the far back few feet of the garden. It doesn't look like much yet, but we want it to be a show piece in a few months.

Getting Exercise

Toby's perscription for exercise is 30 minutes most days of the week. The gym gets old so we went for a walk in Wilburton Park on a recent Saturday.

I had to find the Ladies. And was happy to find it open in January.

We found a really fun Zip line with no kids waiting for their turn. It had just the right speed and bounce at the end. Sounds like a fun place to visit with Andrew and Natalie.