FRIDAY: Friends, Food and Fun

Ebony and Ivory

Matteo got his mitts on an actual piano for the first time ever, tonight. 

He was intrigued when he figured out that it made really cool sounds when you tapped (or pounded) it's keys. SOOO much better than the piano in his room. 

He was thrilled when Jean put him on her lap and played. 

A duet ensued. 

He LOVED every minute of it.

And, while Debbie lovingly looked on, she attempted to silently calculate the cost of several years of piano lessons.

The Long Weekend Ahead...

We don't have any major plans for the long weekend. Debbie took tomorrow (Friday) off, so that we can all (hopefully) enjoy a four-day weekend together. Nothing major on the agenda - but we'll be spending time with friends, spending time together and, pretty much, just hanging around.

I do plan on making pesto this weekend, with basil from the garden. I'm also going to make homemade hummus which, for some reason, I've been too lazy to whip up in recent months - despite the fact that it's really easy. Another thing I'd like to do is finish my very funny book-group book - Lamb, by Christopher Moore - and maybe start on another that lay in wait.

Debbie wants to get a few runs in during the four-day respite. She's just decided that she's doing the Tupelo Marathon in September, and she's begun training with a friend - using the Galloway Method.


Luca's plans include painting the recycled cardboard rocket ship my mom got him for his birthday.

He's also called for a Family Movie Night, complete with as much popcorn as he desires. 

Matteo plans on taking early afternoon naps, eating non-food objects just to see us freak out, laughing hysterically at his brother's antics and - in general - going with the flow, as he is apt to do. 

Hopefully the weekend won't whiz by, we'll all get to do something for ourselves and we'll all have a good time - together. 

Luca, ISR 2009 and my first YouTube uploads!

So, I bit the bullet and finally uploaded some video onto YouTube.

These are a couple of clips from last year's ISR "winter clothes" swim test.

Swimming Test, Winter Clothes - ISR

Luca and Matteo both started ISR swim lessons about two weeks ago. For Luca, it was a (much-needed) refresher - having taken lessons for the past two summers. Matteo's a newbie - so he has about a month to go. He's not loving it - but he is learning. And - being around so much water for such a large part of the year - I'd rather him be a little pissed off in the water for a few weeks, then have him not know how to save himself in case of an accident in a pool or the ocean. He's doing really well, despite the tears. And, I have a feeling, he'll be swimming - and loving it, by summer.

Luca was also less than thrilled with ISR when he first started two years ago. But, last year, something clicked. And - we had a new instructor, who made all the difference. Miss Susan is amazing. Great with the kids and a wonderful instructor. I feel lucky that she's around to teach the boys how to get comfortable in the water.

Luca took his ISR "winter clothes" test last week...

Entering the pool in full winter(ish) garb.

Miss Susan getting ready to let him go. 

She's not actually touching him here, just waving her hands under his head as a non-verbal cue. 

"Starfish Float"

Heading towards the wall while getting in some breaths. 

Jumping in to "float, swim, float".

He swam and then turned into his float. 

Swimming under water, heading towards the wall. 

Back into the starfish float to get some breaths, before flipping over again and swimming to the wall. 

Success!

Now that he's "passed" for the season, we'll take him back every so often to Miss Susan so that he doesn't lose the good form he seems to show only her! He has a tendency to shift out of ISR mode when we're in the water with him, resisting our requests to "show us your starfish float", which we know he's more than capable of. Susan's suggestion is to have him start any water with a ten-second starfish and end it that way, too. We'll see.

Container Gardening - a novice's tale.

After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - I decided that this was the year that we would make a real attempt at a veggie garden. Sure, we've grown herbs and the occasional tomato in the past - but nothing of any significance. For the most part, I have always been satisfied going to our local farmer's market, or joining a CSA for local and organic produce. But - after being inspired by Barbara Kingsolver, and getting excited by the idea of the whole family eating something that we've actually grown in our own backyard - we decided to give it a go.

We went with containers because it felt more manageable - and far easier than building a bed or two. Also - because it's so ungodly hot here right now (and it will only get worse!) - I wanted to be able to move things around it we found that they were suffering from too much heat or sun. We started off thinking that we'd get a few tomato plants, a bunch of herbs and maybe something radical like beans or eggplant. But - when we got to our amazing local gardening center - we couldn't resist going above and beyond our original plans. Well - I couldn't resist. Debbie attempted to convince me that we should start slow - but I couldn't help myself. And I couldn't help going back (several times) later that week, either.

Before this gardening experience - I never considered myself anything close to a gardener. Any plant I've ever had - indoor or out - died from sheer neglect. It's not that I thought I had a black thumb - it's that I was just really lazy about it. Not interested enough. Not interested at all. And, the ironic thing is, I had every opportunity to be. From the years 1995 to 2002, I was a producer on a show called Home Matters - which aired on the Discovery channel for nine seasons. Along with cooking and crafts, gardening segments were a major part of the show. I worked with gardening professionals for over seven years - people from here and here and here. Even here. The list of authors and experts we had on the show is almost endless. And, I can safely say, I retained very little to none of what I could have learned during that time. Maybe it was all of the plants I smoked in college, or maybe I was too busy paying attention to the chefs and cookbook authors we had as guests on the show. Most likely, though - I just wasn't ready. But, now, I think I finally am.

The only thing that I have figured out about gardening so far, is that - a lot of what you learn - you have to figure out on your own. I'm lucky to have a next-door neighbor who is a veteran home gardener. And I'm lucky to have some of those gardening books that I've had since I worked on that show. I'm also lucky to have a great resource in these people - which is where we purchased most of our plants. But - most of the learning comes from just doing, and learning from the mistakes along the way.

Although Debbie and the kids helped establish the garden a few months ago - it seems to be all mine these days.

"helping"

Luca will help, a bit, with watering or picking herbs. And, Debbie will move the heavy containers when I ask her to, and help with some of the maintenance. But - "our"container garden has, pretty much, become "my" project. And, although I'm not doing a great job - but I've come much further than I ever thought I would.

We have four different tomato plants. 

These three are just about ready to be plucked from the vine. 

The grape tomatoes are doing really well. 

 And, there's the promise of a future filled with (at least a few) tomato salads.

I'm really looking forward to the eggplant, if we are lucky enough to have it make it. 

I'm hopeful after discovering their lavender blooms. 

We're growing Ichibans and Black Beauties.

The cucumbers are looking promising - although there aren't as many as there could be.

This is our one and - so far - only Yamato. 

We're also growing Patio Cucumbers. 

The Datil Pepper plant, which takes about three months from transplant to harvest, is finally showing some blooms. 

Our strawberry plant had been chugging along, but production has slowed and something seems to be nibbling at Matteo's favorite garden snack. 

The watermelon didn't seem to be doing much the first month or so, but it's suddenly growing.

Salad greens were our first harvest. 

We've added arugula to the mix (which is in desperate need to be picked and eaten)...

...and a couple of kale plants, too. 

We're also trying our hand at broccoli. 

Those prolific summer-garden staples - squash and zucchini - are out there, too. 

I found them with a visitor today. 

My greatest wish for these two plants is that we become so over-burdened with how much we produce, that we have to give a bunch of it away. 

One can hope. 

And, of course, there are the herbs...

Three types of basil - Sweet, Thai and Spicy Globe.

Three types of mint - Moroccan, Citrus and Peppermint. Which, despite having completely neglected, is doing better than any of it's herbal friends. 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (hee, hee)

We're also growing Lavender and Garlic Chives. Aloe (which came in handy for a recent burn) and marigolds (to discourage garden pests), too. 

But - the most exciting things happening in my garden are the two discoveries I had yesterday, after a weekend away...

Cantaloupe!!!

It's been growing, vining and blooming like crazy since the first days after being transplanted. 

I don't want to get my hopes up - but I'm really excited about this plant. 

The other happy discovery came from the cantaloupe's close neighbor - Green Beans!

Next-door neighbors/veteran gardeners - Jillian and Tim - gave us an old wooden ladder to use for some of the vining plants. The ladder (which supports both the cantaloupe and the green beans) must be good luck, because everything near it is doing well. 

I have no idea what type of green beans they are, because Debbie picked it up and one of the kids did away with the little info stick that comes with it. 

At this point, that doesn't bother me at all. I just want to be able to harvest and saute enough of them for a meal. 

I keep imagining what it might be like if we could sit down at our table to a meal which has been (mostly) harvested from the containers right outside our back door. If it happens, it'll be great. And getting there will be, too.