Wilted lettuce

The container garden — such as it is, since it is not, actually, in containers, but the plot is so small it is probably about the size of those that are called containers gardens — is not faring so well. First, there is the issue of being on the bottom floor underneath a bunch of trees = no sun. Second, there is the issue of Buster …

… who, it turns out, likes spinach. Then there is his sister, Jasmine, who decided to help out with the “watering” of one of my tomato plants, if you know what I mean and I think you do, and there is no picture of this for we are civilized people and we don’t need to see that.

Then, a few days after that, Jasmine was trying to spy through the fence, and the perfect spot to put her fanny happened to be on my other tomato plant.

The basil has never stopped being droopy. The lettuce wilted in the crazy heat wave we had last week, and I fear is gone. The lemon cucumber never seems to have taken in the first place. My peppermint herb and the grass I’ve been growing for the cats to gnaw on are, however, both perky.

Really, the problem is the sunshine. Yes, I’m in Sacramento; yes, there’s plenty of heat; but there’s no sunlight filtering through to my poor little garden. So unless anyone can suggest vegetables that use the gray, dim, shady weather for some sort of mutant photosynthesis process, I think I’m simply out of luck this year.

At least the farmers markets are all starting to branch out for the season–no more waiting until the weekend. I suspect plenty of us are happy about that!

MORE goats!

Okay so I guess these goats are now a part of my neighborhood. Yay.

This blog will simply be a pictorial. I drove home the other day and saw these:

If that was my house, and I had a barking dog ... I'd be mildly irate ...

I spy, with my little eye: LOTS OF GOATS!

I had to run up and check them out, but they all ran away ‘cuz I’m a big scary human

I named this one Billie.

oooOOOooo—Special Effects! %^D

Okay, time to leave. Bye goats! (Hey! They look like sprinkles on doughnut mountain!) ...

Well, that was fun. I thought that my run in with the goats had ceased, but then, last night, upon driving home … eerie:

Silence of the Goats

I don't know why, but documenting this felt illegal...

These guys were my friends. They said Billie's doing well.

Alright, that’s it. I may find more, but pictures of goats just get … questionable … after a while. These next two pics are just for fun. When I was figuring out how to take night shots with my camera, if you look closely, you can see lots of creepy goat eyes:

You can see them on the right. I spy 7 sets and two singles

AAAhahahahha! Look at their eyes! It's like they're robots ... GOAT robots ... Gobots ... Okay, I'm done.

Rowverines get inked

My rowing team, the Rowverines, made the front page of the local newspaper on Sunday. Go team!

It’s too hot to write

I started this blog yesterday, when it WAS too hot to write, but today the temperature has dropped, the Delta breeze has kicked in and it’s much more comfortable. What always strikes me this time of year is being reminded of the range we can see. Yesterday, it was in the 90s; today, it’s a good 15 degrees cooler; but a couple months from now, 90 will be desirable as we approach temperatures 15-20 degrees hotter than THAT.

Such is spring and summer in California.

Now is the time to really be careful with your animals. Don’t leave them in the car, be sure they have plenty of water at all times, be careful with their paws on the hot asphalt, and give them shady places to recuperate. They will thank you.

Goats!

If I had a dime for every time I woke up with hundreds of goats walking up my street, I’d have 10 whole cents. This is what I saw when I looked out my window this morning:

GOATS!

Then I looked the other way, and saw this:

MORE GOATS! And one of them's eating my foliage! ... Lame...

Then I went outside, and snapped this blurry photo, perhaps adding to the effect:

It's an amorphous goat blob! Run for the hills! er ... AWAY from the hills!!!

Once they left, I noticed something. Well … LOTS of someTHINGS … words just can’t explain:

The aftermath :'(

Those goat bastards! Are they literally crapping 24/7 ? Don’t they ever take a break?! That is some efficient digestion … blech … I didn’t know what to do! How could I leave the house? I sure wasn’t driving ANYwhere in thAT mess … Was someone going to clean it up? Once all the goats were cleared a city bus drove down the street, which was kinda funny. But then some poor guy in a Land Rover came passing through, totally clueless.

Silence.

Suddenly, I heard a loud rumble in the distance. I must say, I was quite relieved to see this:

Talk about a crap job

There he is! The sweeper! Coming up the hill like a majestic crap-infested angel. He waved to me and everything, but left quite an image behind him:

Streakmarks! (hahaha)

So what were these goats doing here? I almost wish I hadn’t run into my neighbor the other day who told me this hill (right) was covered in goats and the street had been closed off for crap cleaning, because then the shock this morning would have been tenfold! Oh well, it was still a nice … well … interesting surprise.

These goats were obviously being used to “mow” the grass on said hill, perhaps as a “green” or “eco-friendly” means of landscaping. But after the goats walked up my street, and shat all over it, the sweeper must have driven up and down the hill in his big diesel-powered truck 10 times to clean it all up! Doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose?

WELL … it turns out, upon speaking with the city, this was more of an “experiment” than anything. They are simply looking for the MOST efficient means of incorporating these goats as regular visitors to the Vallejo’s open space areas—no procedures are yet set in stone. Goats R Us in Orinda actually donated this 3-4 week service for free to help out the city of Vallejo. So not only are these goats environmentally friendly, but they’re communally friendly as well. Aww … :’ )

Check out the article at: solanomag.com

Who made us the judge?

Several weeks ago I finished reading a book my cousin gave me called Attachment Parenting. The book is all about the attachment style of parenting, versus the detachment style, and how to do it. It explains the attachment style as mother and baby being in tune with one another, that a mother should trust her instincts. Mommy responds to the baby’s cries and other signals, and baby has trust that his cues will be answers, thus giving him life-long confidence. The book says that when mothers let baby “cry it out” they are not building that ever so important connection with baby. The detachment style is described as the way that most of us were probably raised, where our mothers were encouraged to make babies be independent—for example, sleeping alone through the night—and rely on material items to stimulate baby.

I do agree with many of the arguments the book raised, and it made me feel more comfortable about what I already felt that I should be doing, such as letting Avi sleep in bed with my husband and me. However, I think this book is terribly written. It makes you feel that that if you are not doing what is described you are a bad parent and will have children who are not emotionally attached to you. Ever since finishing the book I have not been able to stop thinking about how it is an illustration of how we as women treat each other regarding motherhood and parenting.

Women judge each other all the time on pretty much everything—weight, attitude, clothes, sexual behavior—you name it, most of us of judge one another on it. But off hand, one would imagine that the purest role we take on, motherhood, would be off limits. Wrong! When friends and family ask how Avi is sleeping and I tell them, “Great, now that he is in bed with Willie and me”, many of them say, “So you have given in.” Given into what? It works. Willie doesn’t mind it and we all sleep better. I have heard women make judgments about other mothers from what baby gear they chose to talking baby talk to their children. Don’t get me wrong, I am not off the hook here either. As a strong proponent of breastfeeding, I have caught myself thinking that a women is selfish for not doing it, but I have to remember that I don’t know her situation and that she is doing what is best for her and her child.

As a new mom, I know I don’t know what always works. And frankly, every child is different, so what worked for one won’t necessarily work for the next. I do try to follow what my instincts tell me while keeping an open mind to other options. We are all just doing what we think and feel is best for our family. And that is what I feel is the key here. As women, we need to be there for our fellow mothers; offer suggestions of what worked for you, when asked that is, and don’t be offended if your suggestion is not used.

Food: Gardens and such

I like reading about gardens, and container gardens, and how people can have their own gardens even if all they have is a little space and a little sun. I like what this promotes, especially in our region, that everybody is entitled to at least a little bit of their own fresh, clean, summery pick-your-own produce. (Hmmm… will the companies who went after Michelle Obama for daring to plant a garden without pesticides going to come after us, too?)

Anyway, the thing is … I live in an apartment, and on the bottom floor at that, underneath trees, so guess what? No sun. But that’s not stopping me from trying my hand this year! Because what I DO have, what the majority of apartments don’t, is direct access to this great Sacramento Valley soil–I’ve got a teensy backyard. Why not give it a shot? I’ve got cherry tomatoes, a lemon cucumber plant, basil, peppermint (that I am, at this very moment, steeping in hot water–mmmmmm), some thriving lettuce, and a few spinach plants that, um, aren’t doing so well:

I mean, I guess it’s a good thing that Buster likes his dark leafy greens … (and so far as I can tell, spinach is not proven to be toxic to felines, unlike about 95% of vegetation out there.)

So I push on with my garden, with tips from a variety of people-and-places-who-know (such as Patricia Williams at Sweet Pea’s Garden, who we interviewed last year) and trying to rely on good ole common sense. Like if Buster starts barfing up green stuff, it’s maybe not so good for him after all.

Musicals

Blech… that’s all I have to say. I’m a theater arts major from Chico State. I’ve seen a fair share of musicals. Blech…

Not that the execution is bad, or the actors are poor, just the spectacle of it all is so contrived. It’s not real. How would everyone know to break into song at the same time, dance in unison and sing the same words all for the “very first time?” The only musical that makes sense to me is A Chorus Line. I was in Vallejo Music Theatre’s production in the summer of 200 … 4? Anyway, there is no unnecessary singing and dancing in that show because the dancers have been trained to sing and dance in unison for a reason, in order to sing and dance in unison for NO reason in the show they’re auditioning for. Does this make sense?

The men, drooling over the women

Anyway, I just saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (above) at Solano College Theatre, and despite my distaste for musicals in general, I must say I was thoroughly entertained. The male chauvinist undertones (well, overtones … “grab ass” office etiquette was pretty apparent in this one), but that relationship to women in the workplace is a bit obsolete. I’m not too familiar with the show Mad Men, but I think this could be the musical version of that. Anyway, Solano College did a very good job with it. I suggest supporting these live theaters as much as possible. People really put a lot of time and energy into putting these shows together … yay …

Strawberries on steroids

Although I could be wrong, I think strawberry season must be coming in because all of a sudden the quantities for sale have quadrupled. I picked these up at the local farmer’s market. Look how huge they are. Your eyes do not deceive you, they are indeed about the same length as my thumb and little finger. The entire flat is mostly this size. (By the way, a flat purchased in Vallejo, Calif. is about $12-15.)

Whenever I see strawberries this large I have to wonder if they’re this big and beautiful due to Mother Nature or if mankind has helped them along a little with … *cough, cough* … genetic enhancements. They look like strawberries; they taste like strawberries, but are they REALLY the old-fashioned wild-like strawberries? Some would argue, YES, they’re genetically the same, just cross-bred for maximum results. Uh huh. If we’ve genetically modified them to the extent that they’re consistently growing 4-5 times larger than normal, is it really the same?

You have to wonder, don’t you?

5 minute chocolate cake

Having a few minutes to spare while the baby slept, I thought I should try a chocolate cake recipe Mic sent me. Now, I do have a chocolate cake recipe that I stand by, it is awesome I must say. So why would I want to bother with another? Well, the email Mic sent containing the recipe was labeled “5 minute chocolate cake”, but what intrigued me was that it was “baked” in the microwave.

So I followed the recipe … well, I followed most of it. I substituted two of the four tablespoons of white sugar with two tablespoons of brown sugar because my chocolate cake recipe is half white, half brown sugar, so I thought it would taste nice in here.

I must say, I had high hopes for this cute coffee mug recipe. I mean who wouldn’t? You know those days when you just want a few bites of something sweet? This would be perfect quick fix. My first clue that it might not be worth the five minutes was the lack of a leaven. But I knew it wasn’t going to be good when I dropped it out of the mug and onto a saucer, it looked like a sponge. Still wanting to give its taste the benefit of the doubt given its appearance, I dusted it with powder sugar (mostly to make it look prettier). My efforts were futile. The cake tastes like something that has been “baked” in the microwave. Think about the brownie in the Hungry Man meal. I guess if you are really in a chocolate attack pinch, go for it. But if you have a few more minutes, just bake one of those box cake mixes—it will taste much better.

5 Minute Chocolate Cake
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!
Allow to cool a bit before you dig in.