Meet the new family

Hope your Easter weekend was nice! Maybe some of you have the day off today? I don't, but I had a full weekend to enjoy, so I don't feel too bad about it.

Unfortunately, the insomnia returned on Saturday night...I was wide awake. I blame the sudden death of my beloved sound machine.

No more artificially perfect raindrops or crickets. It will have to be replaced ASAP.

Since sleep was evasive, I read over 100 pages of this book:

I'm not a particularily military-oriented person, but my dad served in Vietnam and the fiance had a brief interlude with the Marine Corps (injury made it brief...). I saw this guy on John Stewart before Xmas and decided they would enjoy the book. They read it and enjoyed it, so I borrowed the fiance's copy and started reading. So far, so good. Especially when it's 5am and you aren't asleep yet.

Ok, so sleep finally came from 7am-9am, and then I forced myself up and made Easter breakfast for the fiance. The goal for the day was to keep moving, hopefully invoking a major crash later in the evening at some appropriate time. I was supposed to do my long run, but I knew my body wouldn't be able to do it, so I ditched that plan and just tried to stay active.

Insert: unsuccessful trip to replace sound machine, but I came back with some plants. I busied myself setting up our apartment garden. Meet my new (plant) family!

 Meet -- Graduation Cactus. She (her name is Louise, I just found her nametag today) was a present from the girls in the lab when I graduated, and she looks drab now because she produces bright fuschia blooms in the winter. 

Meet -- Yellow Cherry Tomato. Brand new today, he will produce some amazing fruits by the end of the summer. The fiance promises to help me find a yellow lattice for him. You'll see why in a minute...

Meet -- Red Cherry Tomato. She is already decorated with her color-coded lattice work.

Meet -- Mr. Fire Plant (aka Love Plant #3). He was a present from the fiance. Yes, the fiance unabashedly gives me love plants. I don't think he's seem How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days...so he probably doesn't think it's funny.

Mr. Fire plant got a new pot today. He is ever expanding. Check out his plumage!

Meet -- The Giant Basil Pot. This thing is huge - bigger than both of the tomato pots. And it contains all the basil plants we will need to stockpile pesto into the winter. This year we made it to March on frozen pesto. Tip - basil leaves don't freeze or dry well, but if you mix them with some fat (like in pesto) they hold flavor amazingly in the freezer or jar.

 Meet -- Love Plant #1. Unlike Graduation Cactus, LP#1 is totally in her element this season. She even has new blooms!

As a side note, Love Plant #2 died. The fiance decided to 'test' our love by buying a tropical plant in the dead of winter in Iowa. The salesgirl tried to talk him out of it, but he believed our love would survive any obstacle. Lesson learned: When transplanted outside of our natural conditions, our love dies. Good thing I found that job in MN and not Florida!

Ok, the new baby members of our tribe.

Soon to be mint!

Soon to be oregano!

Soon to be catnip! Yes, we love our cats and want to get them really high (sidenote: catnip is actually a very close relative to cannibus - i.e. marijuana).

In this process, I managed to get our deck really dirty. I would be more concerned, but since it's rained almost every day for 2 weeks, I'm sure some rain will clean this up shortly.

Ok, time to find some food and maybe go on a bike ride or other low-impact exercise. Gotta keep moving!

Do you grow any plants in the summer? If not, what is your favorite spring/summer produce?