cheers to new things on the horizon

i worked in the garden today and when i came home this is what i saw on my front lawn. (david had set it all up for me) saturday is the big kick off date of the Justice Gardens booth at the clintonville farmers market. If you live in columbus, stop by and say hello, pick up a garden to go box or tote bag, and hang out! also if you are so inclined head over to our website (will soon be just JusticeGardens.org) and register your garden! im so glad that we've got a foundation of solid volunteers for this project. i believe so strongly in what we are doing and like, that's obvious. it's just such a blessing to find other people who are not just of your opinion but ready to DO SOMETHING with that feeling and back you up. if anyone else wants to volunteer to work the booth please contact me - jennymae@justicegardens.org

two of the blueberry plants we put in the ground last year bit the dust so i went over to oakland nursery (*sigh* i really love that place) to get at least one replacement, maggie and austin - whom we share the garden with at their house - were going to get the other. with blueberries you have to have at least one different variety planted for good pollination and take about 3 yrs to get established and bear fruit fyi. oakland nursery sadly didnt have any (nor strawberries which i was going to pick up - a sign nearby said "for a family of 4 you will want between 24-36 plants." i think have maybe 18? boo hiss) so i trucked over to Lowes. they also had no strawberries and i didnt see any blueberry bushes either but just in case i fished around and lo and behold there were some on clearance! not the big ones but hey they were 2/$5. i saw a straggler with no tag but visually knew it was a blueberry plant - she threw it in for free! so i got 3 blueberry plants for $5. SCORE! so i got to the garden and dug up the two dead plants and put the new three down. while digging up the biggest of the lot i discovered an ant colony had moved in. i freaked when i saw them crawling all over me. like i was a few seconds away from taking off my shirt there were so many on me. so i ran around the yard a little and shook off my gloves and shoes and pants, thought about turning the hose on myself but um didn't want to alarm the neighbors. i also put in two watermelon and 1 cantaloupe plants and watered them all from the rain barrel. i really love that little rain barrel. it saves so much water! and maggie or austin added a hose attachment which makes it a lot easier to use. i think the garden is looking great. everything is coming up and looking really robust. i forgot to thin the head lettuce today though, shoot i just remembered i wanted to do that.

so i think i've got some hives and i can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. i do not have seasonal allergies, never had poison ivy or equivalent, nor food allergies of any kind. i've had one allergic reaction like this once but i was in europe and i thought i had just come in contact with something unfamiliar to my system. another weird thing is that it is confined to my arms!


exhibit a.

it is not particularly itchy just raised up and suspicious looking. oh and i had this before i got attacked by the ants. any thoughts oh, internet?

so big news, david is moving on from school and going back to his old job at solar imaging. his former boss asked him to come back with the same pay and benefits but actually less responsibilities which is great because when he worked there before he was getting occasional migraines because of the stress. he loves his current job as a bike mechanic but it could never pay as much as this opportunity (not that life is about making money but that job couldnt even support us...) this year has been amazing in teaching us so much about our lives and what is important. even though we will have more physical money we really love the way we are living and dont plan on "upgrading" our lives to match the new paycheck though in a few years we will probably need to get a different apartment that has 3 bedrooms and his new job might require us to get a second car because it isnt on the bus line but im sure we'll just get another veggie car or something. anyways i dont know why im getting off on this tangent. im really excited about the idea of david having saturdays off. i have seen him a total of TWO saturdays in a year (awesomefest and once when we went camping) and the idea of him not only having vacation but PAID VACATION again makes me just drop to my knees and thank the Lord. thank Him for the year of separation and the trial that brought growth but also thank Him that it's over too.



EDIT: hives have now breached my neckline, creeping up towards my ears, mildly itchy. what the heck did i eat/come in contact with!?