What I'll miss.

I'm staring down the end of my time as a New Yorker (at least for now; never say never!), and it is so bittersweet. I'm going to miss the great community of friends I have here, no doubt about it. It's been a good time!

 Other things I'll miss:

Charlotte exploring a snowy field. Not yet mud season, but the snow wasn't too deep.

 Snowshoeing with a sleepy kiddo on my back.

 Comically misshapen Christmas trees, full of charm, and found at a friends' house.

The view from our driveway.

I will not miss these thermometer readings, however.

Transportation

Charlotte and I ventured to DC last weekend so that I could run the Army Ten Miler. This is the first of a few posts chronicling that trip.

(Warning, this is a picture-heavy post)

We flew down. Charlotte was well-behaved, so I did not gate-check her, just the car seat.

As I had not run in at least 3 weeks, I thought a stroll Saturday morning would be good to get the muscles moving the day before the race. So, Dad, Charlotte and I walked to the dry cleaners; joys of living in an urban area! For some reason, she hates being buckled into things. Once she's in them, she's fine, but that sad, sad crocodile tear under her left eye is because I dared to buckle her in.

My friend Rachel and I went for a walk at Great Falls National Park in Maryland, along with half the county. It was a gorgeous fall day, and the place was packed. Charlotte enjoyed playing with my water bottle once we got to the overlook. This was a brief respite from being in the moby wrap (another mode of transportation for her).

We left early Monday morning. My dear mother gave us a ride to the airport. Charlotte decided it was too early, and opted to go back to sleep in the car.

At the airport in her jammy jams. She really enjoyed watching everybody and everything around us. Her mobility is a concern these days. I set her down briefly so I could put on the wrap, and she scooted off towards a Sunglasses Hut.

Unrelated, but I'd like to share my elation that she is finally getting hair.

Tuesday rain

It rained yesterday, the sort of soft, gentle rain that I don't typically associate with June. It didn't rain the whole live-long day, it just rained when I wanted to be outside. Fortunately, the rain was warm and there wasn't much wind. When it came time to get lettuce for our salads from the garden, I knew all Charlotte and I would need was a baseball cap.

We stayed snug as bugs in rugs! And actually, the little bug fell asleep during the 100 foot walk to the garden, and stayed asleep until I got the pizzas in the oven. Good job, baby.

Please note how excellently we are taking advantage of the rafters for storage in our newly cleaned out back porch. Snowshoes, drying racks, strollers all hanging from above.

Second homes

Since Mellow Your Soul has pretty much turned into a full-fledged mommy blog, I'm starting The (Mis)Adventures of Farmer Jo to chronicle my gardening, canning, and homemaking, radical or not. Posts will likely be fairly sporadic, and really, it's more for myself than anything else. Blogging is a great way for me to keep track of what works and what doesn't work.

An adventure.

On Friday, the park we usually walk in was overrun by kids. Since I'd forgotten Gus' leash, I decided to head to a state forest that's not too far away.

Gus was anxious to get going.

I strapped a sleeping Charlotte into her wrap and we set forth. The section I walked through is so different from my usual surroundings that I felt like I was in a book. With elves.

Doesn't  that seem elven? Makes me think of ROUS. Quick, what does that stand for?*

The woods changed quickly, though, back to the typical hardwood forest, and pretty soon I was on a trail that had obviously not seen much use. It was at this point that I started to consider simply retracing my steps, as I had completely lost track of which direction I was headed in. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that walking out, the sun had been on my right, so in theory to get back to the car, the sun should be on my left. Thank you various hunting magazines that taught me the basics of navigation.

Charlotte, meanwhile, slept on, oblivious to my mounting concern that we would be eaten by a cougar.

Eventually, I happened upon this:

And I was joyful. I knew our sojourn was nearly over. All I had to do was walk to the top of that hill and hang a right, and then go up another hill.

Next time, I'm taking a map.


*rodents of unusual size, from The Princess Bride.

Hiking, Baby! (Hiking Baby!)

God I love punctuation. Both of those are true: Hiking Baby went Hiking, Baby!

I'm trying to walk more. Sometimes, I succeed. Other times, I succumb to the siren song of sweet snuggles (apparently I also love alliteration). This week, I decided I'd try to get up to the woods every day. No way was I taking a stroller down those paths, though. So, Charlotte enjoyed the woods from on high:

 I am sporting a stylish Army green fleece of M's.  I never thought I'd say this, but boy am I glad he has 15,000 jackets, because they zip over me and the baby and there's always 14,999 going unworn at any given time, giving me pick of the litter.

Charlotte fell asleep with the first 20 minutes of our first three walks of the week. That enabled me to take ridiculous pictures of neat plants:

Soon to head out on our fourth walk. There's one trail left to do...

March Peas

Charlotte and I took advantage of the glorious afternoon to get out to the raised beds and assess the situation. The folks over at Firecracker Farm put their peas in earlier this week, and they're north of me. I felt spurred to action.

I wasn't planning on doing much out there; I had a baby strapped to my chest, and my nails were way too long to be digging in dirt. But holy cow, once I got out there and felt warm sunshine on my back and cool, wet dirt under my fingers, how could I go back inside?

Note clean fingernails. Clearly this was taken before I got in the dirt.

Last fall I tried something new, and left the stumps and roots of big plants in the beds. The theory, which I believe I found on pinterest, is that the root system will decompose over the winter, leaving you with a nicely aerated bed come spring. I think it worked, as the soil I worked today was definitely fluffier than in previous springs.

This lazy way of gardening had a totally unexpected benefit, too: I do believe there's some over-wintered lettuce! I can't be positive, because I've lost my planting schema from last year. I'm going to let it be and see what it turns into. Overwintering tender plants doesn't typically happen 'round here, but The Winter That Wasn't made for some favorable conditions. Wish I'd known that was gonna happen - I'd have left all the chard, too! I'm all for a head start.

And speaking of head starts, I'm getting out there again to get some early peas in. Last year was my first year growing peas, and boy do I love 'em. This year I'm going to try staggered plantings, so I don't get caught in an inundation of the sweet little orbs like I did last June.