I'm gonna chow down my vegetables.

We've been taking advantage of the nice weather by doing a little yard clean up. Winston (the neighborhood gardener) has been an enormous help. He managed to clear all of the remaining ivy that was heaped up in a corner of the yard since last summer as well as all of the bamboo and sapling refuse that we pulled out on our clearing spree. We're going to mulch our leaves in one of the corners of the yard to use in the future. The soil in the yard is already really rich with nutrients from years of neglect and piles of leaves left to mulch on their own.

Today, Winston is going to clear a bed in the yard for my future vegetable garden! I don't know how much I'll get planted this year but I'm trying to get an early start.
Dried up bamboo roots and rhizomes:

I'm keeping some bamboo to use as stakes in the garden:

Not much has gone on on the inside of the house. We're not lazy - just preoccupied at the moment with work and other projects. I finally finished a little baby blanket I've been working on for my friend's son (due any day now!)

A couple of months ago Fernando decided to lose his wedding ring. He was pretty bummed about it. I decided to make him a new one:

It's unfinished (not plated with rhodium) white gold and much more brutal. He says he likes it. :)

Yesterday, we worked on clearing out our remaining storage unit. For lunch, we hit up Montalbano's in Rosebank for a 120 hero and decided to eat down by the Alice Austen House.

Smoke on the water:

Hopefully, I'll have photos of the finished garden bed tomorrow.

two steps forward, one step back

I've been sick since Friday. Needless to say my bathroom did not get painted this weekend. We did get the office fixture up and the Kulla lamp up in our bedroom. We also lost (sold) the living room fixture.

I'm still waiting for your suggestions! We've had vistors to the blog from Milan to Minsk (no kidding!) so vistors, welcome and please feel free to leave a comment. :)
Perhaps I should show you my dream fixture for this spot?

Unfortunately, unless this becomes available at my dream price (much, much cheaper) it's not happening anytime soon. We did have another idea for this spot but it's just plain crazy and I won't mention it again unless I'm forced to do it.

Let's see... we also wrestled with the garden on Friday, before I came down with a fever. I toppled 20 and 30 foot bamboo stalks. Fernando managed to dig up massive chunks of bamboo roots and rhizomes. I was going to take a photo for you - I had left them lying on our patio - but it snowed heaps all over the yard and they got covered up. I've realized that getting rid of the bamboo (or even just controlling it) is not going to be easy.

I did discover a huge old climbing rose in the back corner of the property while picking up a dead branch. Ouch. There were also the first signs of spring poking out - crocuses and I think daffodils. We did so much hacking that we can actually walk around the yard now. I'm just dreading binding up the branches and stalks to throw away. If anyone is in need of some cut bamboo for a project - let me know!