Crystal Madrilejos

I’m 28 years old and Crystal’s brother is about to be 23. Five years doesn’t seem like that much, but there’s a definite generation gap.

For example, one time he asked Crystal what websites she used to go to when she was little. Websites? Our computer use was limited to heavily pixelated games, banners that we’d print out on a dot matrix printer and then color in, or maybe if we were feeling studious, some Mavis Beacon typing exercises. We didn’t have this Internet thing.

Another example: One time we were watching TV and a Ford commercial came on with Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” featured in it. He turned to me and said, “Can you imagine these studio musicians totally getting into this song when they were recording it for this commercial.” I said, “What! This is f*#@ing Journey, man!” He simply didn’t know. The name Steve Perry means nothing to him. It’s a shame.

And lastly, his generation loves sour candy.

-a.

Out of all the things I wanted in the garden, lettuces were right near the top of the list, which went: potatoes, lettuces, corn. See, I told you it was near the top. And I’m happy to report that our little leafy greens are flourishing. They’re to the point where I think we totally overdid it. Note for next year: A full row of arugula is way too much. I think we were arugula-deprived heading into spring so we overcompensated, and then some. But, there are worse things than having too much arugula, like having no arugula.

All the varieties we planted (Swiss Chard, Green Oakleaf, Lolla Rossa, arugula, Red Romaine, Tango, Gold Rush, spinach, kale and some all-inclusive mesclun mix) are up and producing wonderfully. There’s nothing like picking fresh, fragrant salad greens minutes before a meal.

Below is a picture of our first salad bounty. These are just the thinnings.

It’s nutty to look at the above pictures because they were taken a little while ago and the lettuces are so much fuller now:

-a.

Ever since we cleaned out our barn for use as a woodshop we’ve (Crystal, Crystal’s bro Tomas J., and I) have been collecting “stuff” that we feel could be used for something in the future. I’m always happy when I actually get to use this “stuff.” It makes me feel like I’m breathing new life into something, and I’m not just a hoarder. Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on a little outdoor coffee table of sorts for my parents that utilized some of what we’ve collected. My folks have a seating area on their porch and needed a table to accompany a bench my Mama recently painted. So I scoured the barn and put a table together with materials that all had former lives at one time.

1-2) For the frame I used an old rusty, musty thing we found in Crystal’s parents’ backyard. After some of my elbow grease removed and sealed the metal from future rust it turned out pretty good.
3) The majority of the tabletop was this piece of wood. I’m assuming it’s pine. When in doubt, just say it’s pine. This picture is of a leftover section.
4) The board in image 3 wasn’t quite wide enough so Tomas J. and I cut it in half and added a strip from a scrap piece of 4×4 in the middle. Again, the pictured piece was leftover from one of the ends I cut off. To finish the top I put end caps on each end to hide the ugly end grain. (The word “end” made up 17.6% of that sentence.)

Below is the finished product.

-a.

We have two new additions to our yard for the summer!

Andrew set up a horseshoe pit (which is fun, but totally dangerous). The stakes are distanced 40 feet apart and set in the center of 4′ x 4′ patch of dirt. Most people use sand to absorb the impact of the horseshoe, but we make do with what we have. There are a whole set of rules that I have yet to memorize, but you can check here for further details.

The other game I call the Ring Game, though I’m not sure if this is the real name. I did a tiny bit of research and some places call it the “Bimini Ring Game” and others call it “Ringing the Bull” and the basic idea is to swing a ring attached to a string and try to get it on a hook attached to a wall or in our case, a tree. Andrew learned about the game from his Mom who saw it being played in Florida while on vacation. The versions I’ve seen online have fancy plaques but we went the simplified route. It’s surprisingly fun and frustrating.

–c.

In response to my post on the adaptiveness, hilarity and absurdity of the “There are two types of people in the world” sayings we received the following contributions from readers:

There are three types of people in the world, those who can count, and those who can’t. (Hilarious)

There are two types of people in the world, us, and the terrorists. (Hilarious II)

-a.

A couple months ago Andrew and I went for a walk in the fields behind our house. Just across the creek that runs about 100 feet beyond our fence, there was a large Black Walnut tree that I noticed was leaning precariously.

A few weeks ago it fell! Andrew’s dad and brother have an office right next to our house and his brother heard it fall but wasn’t sure at the time what it was he was hearing. Just a loud cracking, crashing sound.

I know things like this happen all the time, but for some reason it makes me sad. Ever since it fell there has been a ton of bird activity around it. I’m not sure why.

–c.

[Image via Wikipedia]

I just listened to Regina Spektor‘s new album Far in its entirety on NPR and I think it’s lovely and wonderful and really really amazing. I’ve been a fan of Regina for awhile and am fortunate to have seen her when she was playing a tiny stage in the back room of The Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village. That’s when I fell in love with her music.

Not that she isn’t still amazing on the big stage. I was worried when her first major label debut Begin to Hope came out because I was used to hearing just her and a piano and, for me, that was enough. I was worried that heavy production would drown out the quirkiness and personality of her songs and singing style, but I ended up really liking the album. But still, when I want to hear her like I remember her years ago at the open mic at Sidewalk I throw on Songs or Soviet Kitsch. It seems that Far is a nod to those day, a lot of piano and prominent vocals which may be why I like it so much.

Plus, it has “Dance Anthem of the 80s”. You can’t beat that.

–c.

Good lighting always puts me in a good mood.

–c.

Our peonies began blooming a few weeks ago.

Lucky for us, we got a couple before they were all gone.

–c.