Been remembering my dreams a lot lately. Keep dreaming about ultimate frisbee... it must be the weather. So nice. Should probably get out and go playyyyyyy ..... I need more free time.

Come throw with me? :D

Contents

Although I often find it difficult to remember some of the specifics about what I did even in the past few days (very sad, I know), I do like to consider from time to time what has been filling my days and my mind.

So. For sake of considering, recently.... homework, Agatha Christie audio books, crock pot dinners, handpicked okra, coughing, Smarties, more homework, live music, picking n planting, Mom's jewelry, data coding (wooorrrrk), more coughing, internship possibilities, walking, free (: flowers, study buddies, Lucy's coffee, sleeeep, dreams I can remember, what's up with this cough?, 4 weeks worth of laundry (I find that an accomplishment, btw), car worries, lots of coffee in fact, moooore homework, Excel, Bob Dylan, Weld magazine, NPR in the mornings, friendly people, and the not-so-friendly, not understanding the previous, white wine, everyday Chacos, dancing in my apartment, food security, food systems, recognizing that everyone likes talking about food, Hindu friends and henna, procrastination, and an unbelievably messy room.

Sounds about right, for the sharing.

Weld Wisdom

I'm not typically one for horoscopes, but dang! ... Yeah. I do that.

~VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The autocorrect feature sometimes distorts the text messages people send on their smart phones. It tries to fix supposedly misspelled words that aren’t really misspelled, thereby creating awkward variations that can cause a ruckus when they’re received, like changing “I don’t want to leave” to “I don’t want to live.” Damn You, Autocorrect! is a book documenting some of the most outrageous examples, many NSFW. Be vigilant for metaphorical versions of this wayward autocorrect phenomenon, Virgo. Be sure that in your efforts to make things better, you don’t render them worse or weird. Consider the possibility that stuff is fine just the way it is.~

What about you?
http://weldbham.com/blog/2011/10/20/freewill-astrology/

P.s. Dad, quit with the zigzags! (your's makes no sense)

So, the garden is going well.
We have okra, which I just fried for the first time (not the healthiest, true, but
you know I figure
that's just something an Alabama girl needs to know how to do).

Also had no idea that okra first blooms these awesome flowers!

Squash sprouts little flowers too. Who would've thought?

We tried our hand at building a hoop house this weekend.

Basically, the point is to trap in heat during the winter (to extend growing season) and to filter some of the heat during the summer (so your plants don't cook). We started small and built one over a raised bed, which was actually pretty simple.

All it took was a few 10 foot long 1/2 PVC pipes, a few PVC clamps to secure them to the wood, some heavy plastic, twist ties, and something to clamp the plastic to the poles.

Here we have Dada and Love talking out the details. The idea is to be able to roll up the sides when it is still warm outside, which will give it some airflow, but then have the option to close it up in the winter to trap in heat.

Miss Siyah is checking it out. She's always making sure everything gets watered.

And her brother Meiko, who happens to be excellent at drawing.

I want to get him to help us make some signs and things here soon. Love and I have been thinking about an official name for the garden.

We like Southside Green Thumbs Garden (or just SS Green Thumbs for something shorter).

There seems to be a whole movement in Birmingham promoting urban gardening and even for stores and restaurants to buy local produce. I suppose it is happening in many places, I don't know about other Alabama cities though. I do know that I am growing to love Birmingham. It certainly has it's problems, but there are some seriously cool things going on here. So much potential, and plenty of people here that want to see it grow.

I am hoping for the best! Also plan to do what I can to encourage.

Hoop house SUCCESS!

Pictures as soon as I can find internet speed that isn't awful.

Today's reaps: okra, green beans, squash, oregano.

We are trying to come up with a good name for the garden. Want to incorporate South Side and not just South Town, which is more fitting for the people that are involved.

Thinking of: South Side Green Thumbs Community Garden. Maybe a bit long, but can be shortened to SS Green Thumbs, and it gives us a logo! We've been talking about becoming a legit non-profit so we can get some support from different areas. At least want to get a picnic table and clean things up a bit, make it more aesthetically nice so that eventually it can be a cool place to come hang out.

Saw some girls having a beer and banjo picnic there the other day when we came to water.

Will be planting Fall crops tomorrow and next weekend.

I'm loving it.

A new addition to the quotes thanks to my Dad:

Remember,

"When you have eggs and bacon for breakfast, you just ate a day's work for the chicken and a life time of work for the pig"

Found some good videos on building hoop houses for cheap:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efQYpzNJOiE

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnOXvAE8_c8

Would really like to see that plan follow through.

Also, came across some quotes that I like.

~Dale Carnegie~
*Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever

yet discovered to conquer fear.

*Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends

solely upon what you think.

*All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the past together again. So let's

remember: Don't try to saw sawdust.

~Sir William Osler~
* Live in day-tight compartments

~Martin Luther King Jr.~
* An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson~
*Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience

* Every artist was first an amateur

* You become what you think about all day long

* You are constantly invited to be where you are

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah I just spent 30 minutes reading quotes, so what? I'm feelin' a little sappy today! It's been a good day.

p.s. The moon looks great tonight. Perfectly half.

WHICH reminds me of an article that I read today in Birmingham's Weld Magazine that I rather enjoyed....

~Lessons From the Harvest~
"Although many see autumn as a time of dying away, as the end of growth, I see it as the beginning of the process of renewal... What happens next, after the leaves have shocked into red and yellow and dropped, is a quiet, deep sleep, during which takes place a great restoration"

That's a great magazine by the way.