No More Sam I Am

The Suess room is gone.

We Love Tomato Sauce

My tomaters are in! We have them coming out the wazoo now and are eating many variations of tomato-based sauces and salads. Tomatoes out of the garden taste soooo much better than the ones at the store, it's crazy. I especially like them fresh picked just seconds before... there's something almost magical about feeling the warmth of the sun still on their skins. Or maybe I just miss eating dead animals, har de har.

My tomato plants totally outgrew the original plot so I spent a couple hours on Sunday ripping out grass and digging a bigger plot to accomodate them. There were some seriously weird bugs in there. And my shoulders are still sore. But the plants responded by seeming to explode even bigger than ever, and greener, and with more and more new fruits.

I'm finding that gardening is pretty intuitive. I was apprehensive at first to try something about which I knew absolutely nothing. But for instance, when I see tomatoes sprawling all over the ground and being swallowed up into the shade, I can figure out pretty quickly that I need to stake them up a little better. Not saying my garden's going to win any beauty contests, but it's growing like mad so I must be doing something right. Or not terribly wrong.

And let's not forget the basil of course. I have two like this, and it's all I can do to keep them pinched back so they keep getting fuller and not spindly and tall. I'm really pleased with the health of them too. I obviously have a few critters out there, and some bug bite marks, but nothing really out of control at all.

There is this weird tomato though. It's had this dead, flat white patch since it was green, and now getting the brown spots. I think what happened was the stem was twisted around and half of the tomato wasn't getting any nutrients as it grew. I guess I should have tossed it long ago, but I'm curious about what's going to happen to it. Eventually I want to pick it and cut it open and investigate. Gross, right?

A wider shot of the yard. The shadow is from the garage at left. In the evenings Mike and I stand in the shady area there to hit wiffle balls out to Russell.

This is the facial expression we have to endure from the moment we get home from work until we go out and play, and then once he's caught his breath, again all the way until bedtime. Please play ball with me, please please oh please play ball come on please I'll be soooooooo sad if you don't play ball with me. Dogs are truly wonders of evolution. They don't have opposable thumbs but they have mastered the art of emotionally manipulating humans with great subtlety.

Kitchen Makeover

Work has been slow for me lately. So what do I do when I don't have work? I work at home! Not really, but I did find some time to get a few things done in the house. Most notably, I put an acrylic (not true) Venetian plaster finish up in the kitchen. I got sick of looking at the pale, wilted-celery walls and I had some plasters on hand in the right palette.

To refresh your memory, when we bought the house the kitchen had dark red walls (barely seen here) and the backsplash matched the yellowish cabinets.

Just to get a better, fresher color up, I painted walls & backsplash in pale greens.

The plaster I put up is still green, but has a little more life to it. The application gives it movement and depth. I think Venetian plaster is a great finish for kitchens because it has a cool feel (true lime plaster is cold to the touch) and wipes clean easily. For a client, I'd typically do something like this in warm neutrals and kind of an old Italian palette... but at home I love to bust loose with color!

Mike's comment was "it looks like a Van Gogh painting," which I take as a high compliment coming from someone who loves Van Gogh landscapes. I think it's cheerful and happy looking.

A shot of my wall mounted spice rack. Right next to the stove. One of the little conveniences of life. I actually love cooking in my little kitchen. I barely need to walk a step to go from fridge to counter to stove to sink.

Due to work being slow, the grocery budget was a bit tight this week. We went shopping last Saturday and this is what our fridge looks like today:

And the tomatoes were free! I was pretty resourceful with few ingredients all week. But in truth our refrigerator is usually on the bare side. Since we don't eat meat or drink much besides water and beer, we don't have much to refrigerate. I once listened to an NPR story about a vegetarian family who got rid of their refrigerator completely and I sometimes wonder if we should consider it. All this stuff would probably keep in the basement in winter and in a cooler in the summer!

A bonus shot of Russell, and hard won. He does not like to pose for the camera. But look, he still falls for the "I have a treat in my hand" fakeout.

Pinkney Garden

When the previous owners of our house moved out, they removed their children's swingset from the backyard and left behind a small square patch of dirt & mulch in the lawn. I immediately decided it was the perfect place to plant a little garden. Only problem is, I know nothing about gardening and have had a poor history with houseplants. In college I used to name them as an added incentive to keep them alive, but alas even Esau the wandering Jew and Julius Caesar the mystery fern did not survive my haphazard nurturing.

But I was determined to at least try to grow a garden, so I read up on gardening in some dusty old library books and hit up the farmer's market. I purchased two basil plants and two varieties of tomato. I bought topsoil, natural fertilizer, and a basic set of tools, and planted my garden.



It rained for most of June, and yet there was plenty of sun as well. I hear that's what plants are made of. And mine shot up like weeds. The basil is Genovese, a strong, spicy variety that is the preferred kind for traditional Genovese pesto. I learned that one should begin to pinch off top leaves once the plants grow past six inches or so, to help them grow bushy and full. In the last few weeks I have so much basil out there that I've made pesto two weekends in a row and it just keeps coming.




I have two kinds of tomatoes, one determinate and one semi-determinate. Lest you think me a smarty-panty, this was explained to me by the farmer who sold me the plants. Determinate means it puts out one batch of tomatoes and that's it for the season; semi or indeterminate means it will keep putting out tomatoes until the season is over. The tomato above is my semi-determinate, I believe it was Super Sioux. The tomatoes are medium-sized and the plant is quite large, already almost three feet high and sprawled all over the place. It completely outgrew the cage and is staked up in three or four places. The tomatoes are heavy but still light green.

This would be my Siletz, an early-maturing determinate. This little tomato huddled in the center of the plant is just beginning to ripen. The tomatoes here are also medium-sized but a slightly darker green and the bigger ones are a little striped. It's smaller than the Sioux but still quite proliferate and healthy looking.

I haven't had any pest problems, or, surprisingly given how many rabbits run around the yard, varmint problems yet. But if I do I'll have to research some natural non-chemical ways to combat such things. I'm so pleased with my bounty thus far that I'm definitely planning to expand next year. I'd love to plant things that we already love to eat - cucumbers, a squash or two, peppers, perhaps even some lettuce. I also have three window boxes, one with a miniature rose and the other two idle, that I would like to turn into herb gardens for next year.

Five Things: Mike

What was I doing ten years ago? I was plotting my escape from the evil clutches of Indianapolis, Indiana. I lived there for exactly one year, it only took 4 months before I realized that this was not the place for me. (people out there harbor great resentment towards blow-hards from the East coast). I was on the verge of my great California experience, planning my move to San Francisco.

Five Snacks I Enjoy: Soy nuts mixed with Wasabi peas, bananas, pineapple, Natures Valley peanut butter crunch bars, any kind of cookie my wonderful wife bakes.

Five Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Invest in solar and wind energy, because that is the next big thing. I would also become one of those loony animal loving philanthropists who cares more about dogs than starving children in Africa. I would buy one of those ABA basketball teams that cost like 10 g's and name them the "Assmen" or the "Short Bus Kids". I would create a scholarship for student atheletes who want to get involved in criminal justice and name the scholarship after my father. Finally, I would manage a cover band that performs nothing but Tool songs acoustically and name the band Stool.

Five Places I've lived: I will list them from favorite to least favorite. 1. Boston (love the town, hate the traffic) 2. Omaha (love the traffic, hate the fact that bands like Radiohead and stores like Ikea will never come here). 3. San Francisco (Love the food, hate the hippies on Haight street) 4. Nyack, New York (Nyack should be number one, I miss the pizza, bagels and the deli sandwiches) 5. Los Angeles (Big ups to Cheetah's, Ye Olde Rustic Inn, and The Vista movie theatre!)

Five Jobs I've Had: Dump truck driver, Ice Cream maker, Doorman at a nightclub, videostore clerk, and a concessionaire on the ferry to Alcatraz.

Five Things: Erin

What was I doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was taking a year off from college. I had dropped out of Rhode Island School of Design and was searching for a liberal arts school that would suit me better. I spent one school year living in Providence and working as a teacher's aide in an after school program at a Catholic school. My parents were separating and heading swiftly toward an official divorce. I took a cross-country road trip, the highlight of which were the Badlands and Black Hills in South Dakota - I also saw San Franscisco (intimidating - Big Sur was beautiful), Los Angeles (just like in the movies), the Grand Canyon (too big to compute), and lots of Big Sky. I got kicked out of a casino in Nevada because I was underaged (oops).

Five Snacks I Enjoy:

1. Raw almonds.

2. Fresh fruit - especially Packham pears.

3. Cheese with crackers... or bread... or more cheese.

4. Homemade cookies - especially chocolate chip.

5. Dill pickles.

Five Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off all my debts, including the house.

2. Do a historical restoration on our house, reviving the woodwork and floors and doing everything top-to-bottom in 1920s Craftsman style furnishing - but with updated environmentally efficient fixtures.

3. Create a "social investment" portfolio that would invest my money in socially & environmentally responsible funds only.

4. Donate generously to Omaha public schools and other nonprofits focusing on education, animal rescue, and environmentalism.

5. Buy a wind power farm.

Five Places I've lived:

1. Martha's Vineyard.

2. Providence, RI.

3. Southern Vermont.

4. Boston.

5. Omaha, NE.

Five Jobs I've Had:

1. Custom t-shirt painter at a tourist t-shirt shop.

2. Nanny.

3. Human-hair wig washer at a hair replacement salon.

4. Accounts Payable Administrator.

5. Faux Finisher Extraordinaire.

Tag, Mike, you're it!

Happy Belated Birthday to Me

I'm three weeks late in blogging my birthday, which was, as you might guess from the candles, my 30th. We had a party at the house on my birthday itself - a Saturday - which just happened to fall the day after a major thunderstorm that knocked out power to thousands of Omahans. We were lucky enough to get power back six hours later, but some of the people on our guest list were still picking up branches and fixing the damage and had to miss our little bash. Still, the family and a few friends from work made it and fun was had by all.

I spent Saturday preparing food, and I regret not taking photos of some of the delicious and picturesque dishes I made (purple potato salad and corn avocado salad being the standouts, I think), but my camera completely slipped my mind. Fortunately, my sister-in-law April snapped a few and gave me this one of the cake. Believe it or not, Mike actually found this at Whole Foods ready made. I do believe this is the best birthday cake... ever?

As for whether I feel old - the obligatory question on one's 30th birthday - I do not. In fact I was mistaken by an elderly librarian for an 18 year old just last week. He burst out laughing when I told him I was 30.