Crazy tomato and a careless cook

Last week I picked my first (non-cherry) tomato of the year. I'd planned to let it ripen on the vine a little more, but a day or two of heavy rain was predicted and I was afraid it would split. Once a tomato is at least half ripe, finishing it on the countertop doesn't hurt anything, but a rain-split tomato is pretty much ruined, in my opinion.

Y'all...this tomato was kind of freaky! Too bad John's not still having the Novelty Veg Competition, because my first tomato was a Strange Bird. :)

I posted this picture on Facebook, and a guy I went to

 high school with asked me if my bird had pollinated it.  LOL!!

Last night the tomato was finally ready to be eaten. I was really excited about the first tomato of the year! I had such a good dinner planned: grilled marinated chicken thighs, fresh green beans (from my garden!) sauteed in olive oil, butter, garlic, and lemon juice, and a salad made from lettuce and cucumbers, also from the garden. Everything was coming along beautifully, and the very last thing I did was slice the tomato to add to our salads..

...and in the process, slice open my left thumb.

I couldn't believe I'd done this to myself again. Almost exactly two years ago I was cutting red peppers to add to a pasta salad, got careless, and nearly took off my left forefinger. It was a really bad cut that I probably should have gotten stitches for, and I've got a scar and some lingering numbness to this day.

This cut didn't turn out to be quite that bad, but it's still pretty bad. I bled and bled, all the while holding it tight under cold running water to try to stop the bleeding. Gregg ran for bandages and the dogs milled around my feet, nervous. Then, just like last time, I started to feel hot, and sick, and dizzy. I had to rush to the bedroom and lie down to keep from fainting. 

Fun times!! Ha.

So anyway, back to the tomato. Once I started feeling okay again, I got up and insisted Gregg eat his supper even though I didn't feel like eating myself (understatement). I ended up covering my plate and putting it in the fridge, and there it still sits. It looks like I won't be trying that crazy tomato after all. Oh, well.

I'm wounded. Wounded, I tell you.

A birthday party

Last week, my friend Marla's little girl turned seven years old. It seems like she was just born and here she is finishing up first grade. Crazy! I was invited to the family birthday party for her on Sunday afternoon. I had fun picking out gifts from me and her "uncle" Gregg. After a lot of looking around, here's what I settled on:

Star Projector Galaxy Night Light - Astronaut Space Projector, Starry Nebula Ceiling LED Lamp with Timer and Remote, Kids Room Decor Aesthetic

The next evening Marla sent me two photos of Carsen's bedroom after they got the projector set up and running. They were lying on her bed together watching it. It seems the gift was a hit! 

And I also got her one this, because I almost always give books to children for special occasions:

I adored Shel Silverstein's poetry as a child. Reading some of it 

prior to wrapping reminded me why! So. Good.

 A "family" gathering at Marla and Toyo's house involves a lot of people. Toyo has the kind of large Asian family where cousins and second cousins show up with their spouses and kids along with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Then on Marla's side there are grandparents, a great grandma (Marla's dear grandma Mildred, well into her 90s now and increasingly frail), a brother and his wife and kids...then there are several longtime friends, like me, who are counted as family. As an only child from a very small family, half of whom I was partially estranged from while growing up, it's almost overwhelming. I found a quiet corner in the kitchen to sit and take it all in. There was a taco bar (which was huge, and delicious), two homemade birthday cakes (chocolate and strawberry), and a big pile of gifts.

 Carsen is a lucky girl. She was showered with love for her birthday.

Her grandma took her shopping before the party 

and this is the dress she chose for herself. :)

Sunday morning miscellany

I woke up really early this morning to what promises to be a cool, gray, rainy Sunday. I can't seem to sleep in anymore (not that I want to) now that I get up so early for work during the week. It's become a pleasure to tiptoe around a quiet house at sunrise, starting the coffee, maybe slipping on some shorts and a t-shirt and taking a quick stroll through the garden, seeing the sun come up. I relish the little bit of quiet solitude, especially on weekend mornings.

Speaking of which, Monday is Memorial Day, so we have a three-day weekend. It's a very welcome break for the school after two weeks of state testing, award days with families coming and going, and grade level end-of-the-year parties. That last thing, the parties, has only been stressful for me, by the way. Every grade level (5K through 5th) at our school has themed parties at the end of the year, and food and drinks and decorations and games don't just magically appear! :)   It's always a bit stressful for me, making sure requisitions to pay for everything get submitted in time, placing orders, dealing with vendor issues, etc.  I'm always afraid I'm going to miss something, drop the ball somewhere, and who wants to let a bunch of little kids down? But I try to be conscientious in my work, and things have been smooth so far (knock wood). Next Friday is the last day of school for students, so things will be a lot more relaxed at work after that.

I'm going to a birthday party this afternoon! Marla's little girl has turned 7 years old, and I'm invited to the family party. I hear there'll be a taco bar! And cake, of course. It should be fun. 

One last thing: I picked my first vegetables from the garden on Friday! I had a wonderful salad with my dinner last night.

 

Garden progress in pictures

 I've very little time for blogging today, but I wanted to post an update on how my garden's coming along. Here are some photos I took over the last several days. xx

Fleeting

My first "Eustacia Vye" bloom lasted a mere 24 hours, and then a heavy rainstorm shattered it. It was glorious for that one day, though. 

There are several more buds on the verge of opening, so there's more beauty to come. 

Baby's birthday

As hard as it it to believe, our little great-nephew, Joseph, turned one year old on Thursday! 

We wanted to send a gift for him, but had a hard time deciding. My go-to gift for little kids is books, but I knew that wouldn't mean much to such a young little guy. I wanted something fun.

With that in mind, this is what we decided on.

And for extra fun, we found a cool t-shirt to go with it...

Thursday afternoon, shortly after the gifts were delivered, Tyler (nephew and baby's dad) texted me this photo. Look how happy little Joey looks!

Needless to say, the bike and t-shirt were hits!

Leo XIV

The MAGA outrage over the new (American!) pope has been a real surprise and delight. With that in mind, I wanted to share the following great response to a Lara Loomer tweet I found last night.

Early May in my garden

We're still in the sweet spot, garden-wise, at this point in the year. Everything is growing and thriving, and the heat, bugs, diseases, and general malaise of high summer still seem far away. 

Here are a few pictures from my garden as of this afternoon. I'll start with my current obsession: my baby Eustacia Vye rose! Her first bloom is beginning to open, and I'm in love.

There are nine more flower buds now, too.  It's hard to believe this rose was planted as a bare root at the end of March. 

In other good (but somewhat less exciting) garden updates, here are a few more photos of things I'm growing, all taken this afternoon:

The five blueberry bushes are still fairly small but loaded with berries. The plant growth on all five has been very slow, but this year I've finally started fertilizing on a regular basis. I'm hoping they'll start to take off as a result. As it is, we'll probably get three or four cups of blueberries at the most....and that's if we feel like fighting with the birds and squirrels for them. (Probably not). At least the plants seem healthy, though!

Poppy is a great garden companion. She walks with me while I inspect everything, the tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn...

See the nest box in this next picture? There's currently a bluebird family taking up residence! Mom and Dad work tirelessly all day long bringing food to the babies, and it's a real joy to watch. The current brood are just about ready to fledge. 

After a very late start, my lettuce is finally starting to look like....lettuce! Haha. The carrots planted beside it are finally sprouting but they're not worth taking a picture of yet. Next year I need to get on the ball much, much, much sooner with the lettuce and carrots.

We built a tripod for the cucumbers to climb. They're looking good right now, too.

And finally, the corn.