the ‘Life’ archives

Aside from all the other plant life that will be growing in the backyard, something that I have been meaning to start is mini herb garden. Again, being a cheap-o, its painful to fork out $4 for a couple sprigs of rosemary, or seven measly basil leaves.

So far I have planted the seeds and none of these have sprouted but I have not lost all hope yet. While I am patiently waiting to see the first greenery pop out of the dirt, I have been looking around for ideas to label these suckers. They are currently being tagged with a piece of scrap cardboard and sharpie, so it’s looking pretty pathetic.

I found these lovely herb garden labels on Etsy along with some other ceramic pieces that I adore, all from Paulova. Check it.

A week ago, Dave and I planted some of vegetable seeds indoors in preparation of our veggie garden for the spring/summer season. I don’t have much of a green thumb since getting dirt all over my hands and nails is the last thing I want to do, but after realizing the how fast prices add up for fresh vegetables here are, I might need to start honing my gardening skills. It’s also kind of rewarding to eat something that you grew.

This year we hope to have a another successful harvest of snow peas, green beans, spinach and lettuce. In addition to these, we planted the seeds of radishes, leeks, beets, and kohlrabi. They have already started germinating and I am looking forward to an abundance of salads this summer.

I am kind of a grinch when it comes to snow. The grey slush, the bad traffic, accidents, shovelling the driveway; it’s just all so inconvenient. But I must admit that when it does all come down and it blankets the earth to perfection, it looks beautiful. All of sudden the neighbourhood kids coming up to request the use of your snow to build a giant snow man. Then it’s all pretty much ugly again because you cannot say no to kids enjoying the snow.

Despite all this negativity this weather, Dave, Marty and I ventured out to the park today to find happy families building snowmen and having friendly snowball fights. Marty took to the snow very well; he even posed for a great portrait shot.

So where do I stand on snow now? I don’t love it but I will have live with it.

I have never really been super involved in Christmas and all the traditional activities that come with the holidays; gift giving, tree decorating, egg nog drinking, etc. What this time really means to me is being surrounded by family and friends, laughter and cheer. I wish anyone reading this a very happy holiday and all the best in the new year.

New York may be the top city I want to visit on my travel bucket list and this upcoming January I will be able to scratch that off my extensive list. Dave and I spontaneously purchased the tickets last Friday for a week long trip and I must admit that I am pretty giddy about it. We are both New York City virgins.

To finally get a chance to see a broadway musical, experience the hustle-bustle of Times Square, visit the famous landmarks, to simply eating a hot dog from a street cart—it’s all very exciting. I’m generally not one to travel on an agenda but with all the activities that New York City has to offer, I might just need to go on Amazon to purchase a Lonely Planet guidebook and strategically lay out a calendar of events. I might also need to pick up a pair of long johns while I am at it since it’s suppose to be like an icicle over there during this time of the year.

Let the countdown to NYC begin! (35)