Archive for January, 2010

Thank you to my friends at Homestead Gardens, a wonderfully large regional nursery here in Maryland, for asking me to write a guest post for their new blog. You can see it here.

Let’s see…What else is on tap gardening-wise this week? Well, it’s not so very cold. In fact I actually ate lunch outside yesterday with the little dogs.  I plan to head out for some garden cleanup later. And the chickens have managed to dig up some bulbs in the front flower beds that I need to replant and pray over.

That’s all for now.

Robin

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So how are those 2010 goals and resolutions coming along?

I have done the math and figure I can still get everything done if I am able to wean myself from sleeping eight hours a day. If I can get it down to about two hours of sleep a day, I have a shot at getting everything done.

To make the whole situation even more acute, I braved the freezing temps to survey the garden the other day. Oy. Panic set in pretty quickly. I figure I’ll need to start over in several areas. I’m also still trying to figure out where to plunk the tomatoes this year since fusarium wilt has attacked the tomatoes in the potager the past two years.

So I told myself, if I can just do one garden-related activity a day until spring, I will at least be that much less behind. Order seeds…sketch out the rotation in one of the raised beds…turn the compost…

I’m still in a panic though. Is it just me?

Robin

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Is everyone happy to be back at work this week? Nah, I’m not either.

It’s not that I mind my work. In fact, I really enjoy my work. It’s just that I enjoyed reading, napping and going to movies with the family plenty over the holidays.

We never did put up the tree. It’s not that we were all bah-humbug. We just never felt the spirit or there was always something else we preferred to do. And since we’re trying not to let the holidays make us nervous or frantic, we resisted the pressure to spend a whole day putting up decorations just to take them down again.

Gift giving was very simple too.

Frankly, it was an enjoyable Christmas holiday, even if we didn’t have all the typical trappings.  I won’t say that we will make this no-frills Christmas our new tradition. But it was nice—just for this year.

Welcome to 2010.

Robin

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Right Now at Bumblebee

May 1st, 2012

May Day! May Day!

Calm down. No one’s in distress here by the Chesapeake Bay. It’s just May 1—May Day!

A little trip over to Wikipedia enlightened me about this very special day. Apparently (although I did not pull out my calendar to fact check), May 1 is exactly half a year from November 1. (*head slap*) Wikipedia did not say that May 2 is exactly half a year from November 2, so I wondered why this was really relevant or even interesting. Well, turns out that both May 1 and November 1 are raucous pagan holidays. Where are the silly string and funny hats?

And right there in the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article it says, “May 1 is…usually a public holiday.”

Seriously? Cause no one told my boss (aka me). No one told my husband’s boss (aka Uncle Sam). I bet your boss didn’t tell you either. Surely there is a conspiracy afoot.

So, since we’re all working on a holiday—because Wikipedia says it’s so—let’s get some cupcakes and go sit in the garden, okay?

See you there.

April 30th, 2012

It was a bad day Chez Bumblebee.

First, the chicken flock is very put out that I decided not to indulge their daily afternoon walkabout routine. They complained loudly when I went out to the coop to explain to them that I did not feel like walking around behind seven naughty chickens dislodging newly planted seedlings and poking said seedlings back into their designated holes.

Second, our antique cat, Miss P, was very put out that I decided to vacuum up copious amounts of dog hair for the third time in about seven days, thereby disrupting a perfectly good 23.75-hour nap.

And third, the little dogs are running around like rabid squirrels because I haven’t yet fed them their “special dinner” and am instead sitting here typing about how the other animals are all put out with me.

The end.

Robin

April 4th, 2012

Today I am grateful that in this country I have the opportunity to voice my opinion without fear of being imprisoned, tortured or having my house burned down and family beaten.

I am grateful for the opportunity yesterday to work with a very kind and gentle photographer who didn’t dismiss my opinions and ideas and who worked with me as a partner on a new book photo shoot.

I am also happy and grateful for yet another beautiful day in Southern Maryland. You should come and visit.

Robin

March 28th, 2012

My heart has had a roller coaster ride the past couple of weeks. People and pets I love have gone through major surgery and are, happily, recovering. My pet I will tell you about…

Sophie is the older of my two Papillons. She has always had a bit of a breathing problem, but as the years and middle-aged weight gain have crept up on her, breathing has become a major issue.

We visited a veterinary surgeon a couple of weeks ago. Sophie was operated on for an elongated soft palate and a collapsed pharynx. The surgeon could not repair her collapsed trachea, a condition that will require a different veterinarian at a different hospital far away.

We wake at night and listen to her breathe. A couple of nights after surgery, at about 3 in the morning, she seemed to stop breathing. Yes, I was listening to every single rasping breath. I snaked my hand out from under the covers to touch her and ensure she was alive. I found my husband’s hand doing the exact same thing as our hands met in the dark.

Sophie was alive. And she’s not in this alone. She is much loved.

Robin

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Garden and food writer Robin Ripley is co-author of Grocery Gardening and has a cookbook in development. Bumblebee is about her life in rural Maryland, her garden, cooking, dogs and pet chickens. She also blogs about food and chickens at Eggs & Chickens.

She is on Twitter @robinripley Welcome! Thank you for visiting.

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