Scenes From the Yard

Since friends and family can only rarely make it down to the house, let me take you on a little tour of the yard this week.

Bee has done a lot of landscaping, and other than a sick tree in front which has brought us an early November, things are looking good.

We have done a lot of weeding, and Bee really cleaned it up with chunk bark, flowers, pepeprs, etc.

He also planted corn, beans, and squash, which sprung up really quickly!  This small planting bed is in that front area.

We have a variety of lilies all over the yard, including these along the front of the house.  It is my new hobby to pull the shoots after the flower has died, only yanking the ones that come with a gentile tug. I get a few more each day.

Also along the front of the house is a gorgeous hibiscus that my chair brought us as a housewarming gift.  Every day there seems to be a new flower on there!

This is back in the front bed near the street.  What is it?  Does anyone know?

Bee also really cleaned up the front porch area.  He planted everything that’s in there, and on the porch you can see the mint that Sandie gave us.

We also have some corn along the side of the house…

…and beans.  Actually both (plus squash) are planted in various places all over the yard.  It will be fun to harvest in the fall!

Also along the side of our house is that gorgeous sage plant, to which we have done almost nothing.  Yum.

Bee also recently transferred some later seeds from the starter tray into bigger pots.  We think / hope we inched in just under the clock to allow these to be edible before winter.

We’ve had to make more room for growing, plus the alley needed cleaning up.  So Bee did that just a few days ago.  This was mid-way through the project.  It looks even better now.

The Hive has a new sign, many thanks to Karen…

…and all sorts of Bees like it.  (Mes too.)

Our lettuce seems ready.  It is hard to pull after so much effort (these were born in our apartment in Chicago) –but that’s what we grow it for, right?  This week.  We will eat it this week.

We also have about 6 full-size tomatoes, and some smaller ones on their way.

Some peppers are ready, too, with some jalapenos not far behind and, we hope, also some Thai chilis.

We also have this great old bird feeder hung on our freshly painted trellis.  Since this photo Bee has done another coat of paint and replaced and painted the top beams.

Both the feeder and our seed storage container came from Grandma Shirley.  So cute!

We are still busy at work both inside and out.  Come visit!

-Me

New Orleans

I’m making it in just under a month (by a day) of posting some photos of New Orleans from when we arrived there. I brought two cameras so sorting photos has taken longer than I expected, especially as I keep starting other projects. That being said I’m going to post a few semi-organized sets, and I’m going to start of with one of the oldest walled cemeteries in New Orleans, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in the French Quarter, which dates back to the 1700’s. Because New Orleans is below sea-level, 90% of their graves are above ground (although it also seems based in Spanish and French tradition which was assimilated into New Orleans tradition), making them unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

These first two photos are of as you enter. The top photo shows the oldest graves, often called ovens due to their appearance.

Like many other parts of New Orleans this cemetery is a mix of their colonial past, the present, and rebuilding after disasters. This cemetery was originally filled with many who died in widespread disease. Although the cemetery was flooded during Katrina it suffered little damage.

It was also interesting to see the current grieving taking place along side 200 year old graves. Even as a tourist I definitely had the feeling of this being an active cemetery beyond just tours or those with cameras.

St. Louis cemetery is divided into several sections including plots donated to many famous jazz musicians whose families couldn’t afford burial costs (not pictured) and Homer Plessy of Plessy v. Ferguson (top photo). The bottom photo is of the Protestant section, which was sparse and much less grandiose due to tradition and politics of the time.

-Bee

Grilled Jalapeno Poppers

So, the food I can’t get enough of this summer is jalapenos.  In coleslaw, on grilled sandwiches, in guac and salsa… you name it, and if it contains jalapenos I probably want it.

Several months back Williams Sonoma began advertising a jalapeno roaster for the grill rack, but it is $20 and there was just somthing that felt wrong about spending such money on something so specific.  Then, at Meijer last week, I came across a $5 version that was super cute.  I don’t have a photo but it is shaped like a jalapeno and holds about 20 peppers.  We snapped it up.

The very next day we were invited to a last-minute barbeque at my chair’s house, so I knew the time had arrived to try them.  Here’s how it went.

1.  Hollow out the jalapenos, after cutting off the tops.

I found a small serated knife worked best, but really it’s just about patience and agility.  Two things I rarely have, I know.  But for this, it was worth the commitment.

2.  Reserve the tops.

If nothing else, they make cute little hats while they’re roasting on the grill.

3.  I couldn’t find any use for the innards, so I sadly tossed them into the compost.  But you do get a lot of guts, and the seeds and such should calm anyone who worries they they’re too spicy (although they did have a nice kick).

4.  Mix cream cheese, cheddar (I used an applewood cheddar), bread crumbs, salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl.

Many recipes call for bacon, but this tasted like bacon to me already!  I credit the applewood cheddar, which has a smoked flavor.

5.  Stuff and save for the grill!

I have photos of neither the grilling process nor the end result.  Both times Bee tended the grill and I was too focused on enjoying them to even consider a photo.  Perhaps that’s the best testament to their taste I can provide.  They were GOOD!  A wise investment, that roaster.  Money well spent.

-Me

We made it!

I have been sort of waiting for a “we made it” post until I could take, decide upon, and upload some photos to go along with it.  But with everything else there is to do, I haven’t made time for it.

Still, I am sitting here in my home office down at the new house and can attest that we did indeed make the move!

The move was hard, even with movers.  I think packing up and getting ready was harder on Me and Bee than we’d anticipated.  Perhaps especially in the 90 degree heat, and amidst hectic work schedules.  But we did it.  The movers showed up Thursday and spent 6 1/2 hours loading the truck from our 3rd story walk-up.  Or I suppose for them it was a walk-down.  Then we did our best to get it in respectable shape for P, load up the last of the fridge and overnight essentials, plants, and cats, and made the 3 hour (given rush hour) drive down to the house.

Friday morning the movers showed up bright and early, and by noon they were gone and here we were with furniture and all our worldly possessions!  Since then it has been just as busy and strenuous, as we unpack, arrange, paint, get the yard in order, etc.  Bee worked his tail off this weekend before heading back up for his last week in Chicago at work.  And I’ve been keeping up with things here: more unpacking, painting, yard work, etc.  My body hurts in all sorts of weird places, like my heels of my feet and my hands and my back.

But finally the pace is slowing a bit and it’s feeling like home.  Moreso during the day for me –at night I still get a little spooked and wish Bee was here.  But we are getting there.  And family is coming down this weekend for the 4th, which will be SO incredibly fun.

Tomorrow I plan to do NO painting or difficult or tiring yard/house work.  I’m going to make it as much of a “normal” day as possible.  Go for a run in the morning.  Run some errands.  Do some school work.  Read.  Make dinner.  Etc.  On Thursday I have to haul a huge (18 feet by 8 feet by 6 feet) pile of yard waste from the back yard to the front, so I’m going to save some energy and also take a bit of a needed, and I will assert well-deserved, break.  I think it’s been over a month since I had sort of a casual day like that!

Bee arrives Thursday evening.  And then we both really live here.  Like for real.

It’s good.

-Me

Cats on the Move

We had been a bit worried about how the cats would react to all the packing and logistics of the move.  They may still be traumatized by being locked into the bathroom together on Thursday, followed by a car ride in their carriers.  And they may still be weirded out by the new home and new smells.

But so far?  We’re fine.

Gena: If we’re in sight and she can touch us occasionally, she’s set.  Particularly without our AC the past week or so, we’ve had to sleep with the bedroom doors open, which means she’s been glued to us for 8 hours per night.

And Pup:  She wishes we’d live like this all the time.  She has a roving buffet of plastic to lick, tons of places to hide, new things to attack, and we both get the sense that she finds this arrangement far more stimulating than our usual clean and put-away state.

So far, so good.

-Me and Bee

We Don’t Live Here Anymore.

Perhaps that’s just an extension of Bee’s post below, but take a look:

That was even before we took down the shelves and added even more boxes to the piles.

You can see all our boxes in our windows from the street.  And it’s certainly not feeling like (a) home, or somplace where we do anything but work on the big project called The Move.  Some places are downright arrid:

It’s not sad yet.  But it is bizarre.  And tiring.  Hard to believe it will all culminate in movers showing up at our house on Friday morning to bring this all into our house for us!

-Me

Packing

Just a few days ago our living room was a stack of empty boxes. Since then we’ve started packing, went to New Orleans and came back (more on that soon).

We got back from New Orleans yesterday, picked up a second load of boxes I scavenged from work and packed until we ran out of tape. We’re getting pretty bare in some rooms, but still have a ways to go this week.

Boxes are starting to pile up, but since we brought a car load down each work weekend we did on the house we’re not over run by box towers yet.

We’re getting more tape today and some boxes in a day or so. We’ll be unpacking before we know it!

-Bee

Snow in June

I’ve been saying it snows in June in Chicago since before I moved here. It’s mostly living by the lake which drops our early summer temps 10 degrees lower than the western suburbs, but also other weird Chicago weather patterns make it much colder here. Despite the cold Junes, there are so many perks of living by the lake, such as the Lakefront Path. Although it was in the 50’s and I had to wear legwarmers (the cycling kind, not the Flashdance kind) last weekend I hopped on the Lakefront Path on my bike and road down to see the renovation of Buckingham Fountain and Blues Fest. Below are some photos taken by others that I downloaded from flickr.

Photo by pchowdhury

The renovation to Buckingham Fountain looks great – it was rushed to be ready for the Olympic Committee. There were tons of people checking it out and snapping photos. It would be even better if they reinstalled the crosswalk across LSD directly to it they removed last year.

From Buckingham Fountain I headed north to Blues Fest. There were multiple stages and food vendors around Grant Park with each stage having its own (sponsored) vibe. Each stage had a good size crowd either standing up or parked on camping chairs or blankets – although I was the only one wearing tights and tap shoes. Similar to Taste food and beer was for sale, but it was cool that the city also let people bring coolers into this free festival. I walked around and although I didn’t see the Muddy Waters bus I wanted to include this cool shot from tenrewnna because I really enjoy his music and those he influenced.

Someone  I did see play was Travis “Moonchild” Haddix. He was a great showman and guitarist. His horn section was also really feeling the music, which was fun to watch.

At this point I hopped back on my bike and raced as hard as I could home into the headwind on the LFP. Days like that remind me of what I’m going to miss about Chicago, even in “frigid” June weather. Luckily B-N was also having their annual blues festival the same weekend, so next year we can attend that and not have to wear leg warmers.

-Bee

School’s Out

It’s official. Summer is finally here and I think I could listen to this song 3-5 times a day at least until July.

Graduation has come and gone. I celebrated with a personal dance party after emailing all my papers last week and with family on Sunday. Seeing everyone was great and so was the food at the Handlebar. The ceremony was long, but the experience of walking was worth it.

This was my last great hurdle before enjoying summer could begin. I’ve already been enjoying reading books that aren’t required, bike rides, hanging out with “Me” in the evenings, taking a few photos and I’m looking forward to all the fun and work in B-N. Now it just needs to get warm in Chicago.

-Bee

Things I Won’t Miss

Living in Chicago these past six years has been awesome.  We love our neighborhood; we love our apartment; and we love everything this city has to offer.  While we are excited about Bloomington, we will miss it here and always look back fondly on these years.

But… as much as we love and have appreciated our apartment, there are some things I won’t miss:

1.  the kitchen and bathroom floors.  Cracking, splitting, seeping, impossible to keep clean, especially with cat litter and cat hair waging a constant war on them.

2.  the three flights of stairs.  Being active and, well, used to it, it never bothered me much.  But we are constantly amazed at the house down in Bloomington that unloading our car means… just taking a few steps inside.  Getting things into and out of here can be such a production sometimes!

3.  rickety windows.  The windows in this apartment are beautiful, and we have had gorgeous natural light in every room, all year round.  But some are hard to open or close.  The paint is constantly splitting.  They are drafty in the winter.  They are tough to keep clean.

4.  the dust.  I have no idea why, but this is easily one of the dustiest places I’ve ever lived.  We can dust and make the place sparkle one day, and there is a layer of visible dust on everything just days later.  This is especially true in our bedroom.  Down at the new house, we have NEVER yet dusted, and it’s just… not a problem.  Yet another way this place being so poorly sealed (floors, windows, etc) has been kind of exhausting.

5.  coin laundry, small stove, and no dishwasher.  I know.  Boo hoo.  Such is apartment living.  But being able to do dishes and laundry and regular-size cooking witout much thinking about it is already so amazing and nice, and we don’t even live there yet!

So far I don’t feel too sad about moving.  Between teaching, the dissertation, logistics of the move, the crazy weekends packed to the gils with plans and people going back to March, and even the trip to New Orleans next week, there hasn’t been time for many emotions other than survival.  But when that wistfulness inevitably occurrs, I just might pull out this list.

-Me