Green Thumb!

Sinceone of the things I like about Edmonton is my having a yard and a garden plot, I need to grow a garden. In the past I have grown container gardens fullof herbs and flowers. I tried to grow vegtables in a container garden but it was a horrible disatser.

I am planning a vegetable garden for this summer and I am hoping that I don't end up being the "Grim Reaper" of the garden. I have already started a few herbs and I can see the first little sprouts of "creeping thyme" and a whole bunch of marigolds pushing through. So far so good.

I think I have two main failings when it comes to gardening; 1) I think it should be intuitive and 2) I get too excited and plant before the frost. Oh, and I am the most disorganized "type A"person you will ever meet. I am really hoping that I can over comemy disorganization and my lack of ability to actually learn about gardening. Perhaps there is a gardening support group attached to my garden plot rental. I really want to learn how to do the organic gardening thing right.

I have sprouts it is true but I am one week into my new garden and I am encountering a problem. I need to keep my sprouting plants in the house until June. That isn't the hard part though ,the hard part is keepingmy cats from using my sprouts as a toilet. I have only enough room for 2 more flats of seeds before I run out of places to put things. Since I am being very ambitious with my herbs (I want my back yard to smell like an herb garden) I am going to have to find a solution.

Getting the sidekick interested in the garden willbe another challenge.We don't have a fence and he seemsmore interested in the neighbour's swing set than playing in the dirt with mommy. I have no problemwith him playing in the neighbour's yard but I ama little worried that they might. We share a drive way and a walk way and even though I have attempted conversation they have never really talkedto us and they seem uneasy about G being in their yard.

The suburbs they are a strange thing. We have lived here for 8 months and despite announcing ourselvesto iur direct next door neighbours we still have no idea who we live among.

7 months!

It has been seven months since we left Ottawa. Seven months since we bid farewell to good friends and our city life.

Just before we left a good friend held a going away party for us. It was lovely and torture at the same time;I just couldn't look forward with any optimism. A friend at the party suggested I start a blog to keep everyone updated and I had intended to start one when we arrived here but I was so absorbed in my hatred of my new surroundings I didn't have the energy.

Now here we are after the worst winter of my life and I am feeling optimistic. I endured the worst 6 months of my adult life and now I feel energized. I want to stop hating it here and maybe start to tolerate it and even (gasp) like it here. Here I am going to attempt to counter everything I dislike about Edmonton and my new life by finding something I like about them.

Anyone who reads this can feel free to keep me in check. I want to try and grow from this experience instead of just sitting around feeling sorry for myself because *sigh* we could be here for a while.

1. I hate living in the suburbs
2. I hate having to drive everywhere
3. Bringing my recycle to the depot is a pain

1. I like having a yard and a garden plot
2. I like my new (to me) red Toyota Matrix
3. I like that Edmonton rips sorts and composts compostable garbage

That was pretty easy. I bet it is going to get harder.

Lets see if I have the organization and brainpower to keep up with this blog. Stay tuned for some possibly totally unintersting (or intersting I may surprise you) updates about me and G and Ian and our "little rented house on the prarie". We have lots planned for the spring lets see how it all pans out.