Tastes Like Irony

  When people said gardening was hard work..I internally rolled my eyes. I assumed gardeners were just a bunch of green thumbs feeling unappreciated for growing their' own food and flowers instead of buying it.My thinking was something like "Good for you gardeners,now get a REAL job...."
I had plenty of flowers and vegetables that I grew in pots on my apartment patio!I never had any weeds or slugs these "gardeners" complained about? I assumed it was because they were neglectful and didn't mind to their flowers as often as I did. Yes my "garden" was smaller but how different could a "real garden" be? I mean really?!

Fast forward 2 years-
I FINALLY live in a house!
I have a yard with flower beds and a garden!
And if I may say so myself..it looks pretty awesome!
BUT...
The battle never ends.
The slugs.

The bugs.

The weeds.
Too much rain.
Too much sun.

Gardening isn't for wimps.
It's HARD WORK!!!
 My neighbors had to question my mental stability as I scurried around my yard until 2pm today in the Nike pants and t-shirt from last night,my hair in a frizzed out ponytail and remnants of glitter from yesterdays makeup sparkling down my face.I was a weed killing,yard organizing,flower tending machine!I lost track of time and before I knew it Vern pulled in the drive way from work. I hadn't even showered! I was covered in dirt and sweat..gross ;p
 Funny thing is..I was smiling ear to ear! Our yard looks so great that suddenly I didn't care how filthy I was.I was proud of our flowers and garden...and I couldn't wait to tell him about all the "hard" work I had done.
 So the slice of humble pie I eat tonight tastes like irony,( I think it's a popular favorite)
because I realized that I'm the "gardener" I used to mock.
:)

Blame It On The Latte

It's 12:45 am I am not as tired as I should be...

Maybe it was the 4 pm triple latte?

Hmmm...no one is awake here at home or on Facebook..

So I thought I'd write a blog about the random things that have crossed my mind lately.

Did you know that if you put blueberry muffins in your cookie jar and then neglect to rinse it out before you put chocolate chip cookies in it...

Your chocolate chip cookies will taste like blueberry muffins.

Yes they do.

And no it's not good.

Ew.

Making more cookies tomorrow.

Birds &Blooms Magazine rocks!

6 issues a year just doesn't cut it for me so I get my daily/weekly fix online for free :)

I was informed that roofing begins tomorrow at our house.

This  means that after 5 months of remodel they are starting the roof on the morning of my day off.

Not the other 5 days a week,oh no...

Friday friggin' morning.

Nice.

Please pray for my garden,flowers and sanity.

This time the mess isn't just in my house..

now it'll attack the front lawn too.

Vern got us a camcorder,it was his 15 year gift from Boeing.

Cute little thing.

Easy to use.

Thanks Boeing!

But...

I have a hard time taking enough pictures!

So this poses the question..

What to video?!

Do I make one just for fun and memories?

Or do I wait until an "opportune" time that something exciting is going on?

Hmm?

Perhaps I will video the mess in my lawn tomorrow..haha

Ok that really wasn't funny,it's time for bed.

I'm glad that latte finally surrendered.

Nite.

Cara + Vern= LOVE

Let there be such oneness between us,
that when one cries, the other tastes salt~ Believe, Rossabelle

 Photos of Vern and I taken by Corbin Gross at Corbin Photography :)

Cooties

Monday my day went pretty much as usual. I worked from 9-6 and I was especially excited to come home to our company,Barb and Lloyd from Sekiu. I was foiling along on my 2 0'clock appointment,about 95% done,when I spotted a bug in my client's hair. At first I thought it was a flea and passed it off but 1/4 inch more through her head and I saw every hair dressser's worst fear-LICE!

At that point I had been working on her long,thick hair for about an hour so I figured I might as well finish the last 3 foils. I felt horrible for her,she was 17,quiet and sweet behind a lot of black eyeliner and an attepted "attitude" to her doting Grandmother .The news was heartbreaking and she began to cry. I did all I could to comfort her as I secretly twitched and itched from head to toe. The policy is that I have to finish quickly if I can, or stop immediately. When her color was done processing I shampooed and rinsed her hair and broke the news that a cut and blow dry were out of the question. I promised to pamper her if she came back after a few lice treatments.I sanitized everything and went about my day trying not to itch and freak out...but it didn't work...

SOOOO....FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY 14 YEAR CAREER AS A HAIR DRESSER..........

I bought a RID lice treatment kit on my way home. $25!! Highway robbery!! Isn't a lice scare bad enough?! Damn RID people...they get you when you are vulnerable.....;P

I was paranoid more than ever and couldn't risk giving lice to Vern and our friend's! I immediately applied the shampoo to my hair and sprayed down my clothes with the spray before putting them in a hot water wash. The shampoo says to wait 10 minutes and no more.15 minutes later I showered and shampooed like crazy! Eghck! The shampoo wasn't too bad,it stunk a little but it was well worth the peace of mind :)

After a good laugh and a clean pair of clothes I was ready to enjoy our friends and the amazing lasagna I had blogged about a few days ago.It was so delicious!Thankfully Barb and Lloyd are great friends and were very sympathetic (they both work in a prison so not much phases them). I will repeat the shampoo again in a week like the box says,just in case. In the meanwhile I am going to have my head THOROUGHLY checked at work just to be double sure. Ick.

Random Memories

Siblings then and now-top pic L to R Carisa,Me,Jim and Missy. Bottom Pic Lto R-Me,Jim,Carisa and Missy

I love this man <3I love this boy like my own <3My wingsMy father-Dreaming of fishingVern and I,a good day mushroom hunting!I love the beach <3

All photos (except the ones taken of me) taken by yours truly :)

Cara's Red and White Vegetable Lasagna

  Today I decided to make lasagna for our company that is coming Monday night. Somewhere between that decision and 8 o'clock this evening-it turned into a 12 pound masterpiece. I hope.
  I started by cooking ground beef and some fancy flavored sausage that I picked up at Grocery Outlet with a Walla Walla Onion.
  After that was all cooked and happy I made my red sauce- spaghetti sauce(about 2 large cans or jars),mushrooms,olives, seasonings, garlic and a dried vegetable mix. I let this simmer for about an hour.
  Next I made my alfredo zucchini sauce- In my food processor I pureed a jar of alfredo sauce with a fresh zucchini just picked from our garden and cooked it until hot for about an hour to tenderize the zucchini and blend the flavors.(We think that the fresh pureed zucchini has a very strange texture when taste testing it before it cooked)
  My Mom's recipe calls for uncooked spaghetti noodles so it makes it super easy! I took it upon myself to make a twisted alfredo garden version...
 1 layer of  red sauce
 1 layer of uncooked lasagna noodles frosted with ricotta
 1 layer mozzarella cheese
 1 layer of alfredo zucchini sauce
 1 layer of uncooked lasagna noodles frosted with ricotta
 1 layer mozzarella cheese
and repeat as needed alternating red and white sauces,ending with sauce.
Sprinkle heavily with parmesan cheese and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees
I have great faith it is delish but I also wonder if experimenting for company is a good idea?
But then again..can you really screw up lasagna?! :)

PS-I buy Ricotta at Cash & Carry in a huge 5 lb. container for about $8 and I prefer the whipped kind. I find that it stays good in my fridge for quite awhile and is handy to have around.( Casserole and lasagna weather is just around the corner!!  Stalk up now on noodles,frozen veggies and canned soups.Start freezing that wonderful and cheap fruit from the fruit stand-berries freeze so well!! I am also anxious to start freezing zucchini and I already have 16 cups of chopped rhubarb frozen from my Mom's garden.)

Bla Bla Bloggity Blogging....

It's funny how throughout the day, I think of hundreds of things to blog about and then blogging time comes and my mind draws a blank.....Blogging is such a broad term isn't it?

Well the latest laugh around here is Chipper's new haircut. I  had his groomer Bethany give him his "summer cut". I think my exact words were "shave him,you know,like a chiuaua?" and boy oh boy did she take me literally!I am very happy to have such a clean little dog but for the first few weeks I have to admit... he looks kinda funny.Thing is,I think she used a soap or powder that irritated his skin because he twitched and itched like crazy!This went on for a day or two before I realized that my OCD neurotic dog wasn't getting any better and perhaps this wasn't an "OCD neurotic dog thing".After 2 days of ear meds and a bath he's doing much better..whew! I feel a little guilty because he had a hard time adjusting to the extreme haircut :( He usually loves it! This time he's cold and shivers.... so I am thinking I will have to put him in his sweater until he grows a little more hair..ugh. How do people handle kids? This dog could give me a heart attack some days...

I also want to talk about Maxine. Maxine is an elderly woman who walks by our house a few times a day on her way to town.She kinda reminds me of Maxine from the Hallmark cards...

Chipper met Maxine long before I did. Maxine doesn't hear well so she avoids conversation with people most of the time. Oh but the way her face lights up when she sees Chipper! It's so sweet to see her walk by and looook around the yard to see if he's out..if he isn't she continues off walking,hiding under large sunglasses and a big colorful hat.After a few months we began to talk and she asked if she could buy him treats. Of course I couldn't turn her down!She goes on and on about how much she just LOVES Chipper and then one day she started to talk with Vern and I. She realized that we were willing to talk loud enough to chat and slowly we made a new friend. I have invited her in to see the garden and the yard and she has begun to share stories and visit a few times a week if the weather is good.I won't lie,I used to kinda dread it when we saw her coming in order to avoid the "impromptu" visit. But now I look forward to seeing her bright hat through my kitchen window and I usually make a point to go say hello. I offered her the position as Chipper's Grandma and she gladly accepted!She says she tells her sisters and friends all the time about her favorite little dog and I'm pretty sure she's serious! haha I love it :) These days I chat her ears off and some days she chats off mine. I don't care if it's 10 minutes or 30,my day can wait for Maxine. I hope I get a chance to get to know her better before she can't walk by anymore. Maybe someday it'll be my turn to walk by and visit her :)

One small step for man but one giant leap in Caraland......
Del's new addition upstairs is complete enough that he has his own functioning bathroom!!! Yay! THIS is the day that I have been dreaming of since this remodel started in March! 3 adults trying to share one small bathroom was ridiculous! I cleaned and bleached "our" bathroom today and the amazing part?! The seat stayed down and clean ALL DAY! It's the little things right? Stay tuned for "leap #2 in Caraland" when he finally takes all the neon beer signs out of the kitchen and up to his new "bar"!Then, I have been given creative control to make it look like a "real kitchen" . The good news-it'll look like new. The bad news-more painting for Vern and I.Stay tuned....I'm trying to get better at before and after photos :)