My Bit of Earth

Wednesday Poll: "Loving" and Discrimination in Our "Enlightened" Times

It's been all over the news of course, but Mildred Loving died last week.  In case you're unfamiliar with the Supreme Court case that bears her name:

"Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up as friends and neighbors in Caroline County, Va. In June 1958, Richard got 18-year-old Mildred pregnant, and the young lovers decided to get married. Ordinarily, that would have been the respectable thing to do. But Mildred was black, Richard was white, and the Commonwealth of Virginia and 15 other states still had laws on the books prohibiting miscegenation. Mildred and Richard had to travel to Washington, D.C., to get married in a civil ceremony. Then they returned home to Central Point, Va.

"A few weeks later, the local sheriff literally burst into the newlyweds' bedroom and arrested them for violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act. ('If any white person intermarry with a colored person, or any colored person intermarry with a white person, he shall be guilty of a felony.') The Lovings were convicted by a judge who wrote, 'Almighty God … did not intend for the races to mix' but agreed to suspend their one-year jail sentence provided they left Virginia and didn't return for 25 years.

The Birth of an Apronista

Until a few weeks ago, I did not realize there is a whole apron subculture on the internet.  I blissfully baked away in a plain, denim work apron (stolen from one of the batches Sweet Husband's Nice Grandmother sends him a few times a year) and that was that.

But then I discovered the Apronista blog and corresponding network.  In just a few short hours, I was sucked in to the patterns and ruffles and prints and fabrics and even the...ric-rac.  All of a sudden, I needed a pretty apron.

I've not done all that much sewing before at all--certainly nothing even approaching clothes--so I picked a really simple pattern.  I also get really frustrated trying to figure out what goes with what at the fabric store, so I just stuck to two prints.

It actually wasn't all that hard to put together.  The directions were easy to follow, and it only took me a few hours....this could get addictive!

(FYI:  The fabric is from Amy Butler and the pattern is Simplicity 9565.)

Just About

Yard Sale

We got up way too early this morning and had a yard sale.  It's funny how stuff accumulates once you get out of college and stop moving once a year.

It's also funny what people buy versus what they pass over.  Apparently one person's tequila drinking puppet is another person's treasure!

My Cheap Little Hoe

I've been trying to really keep on top of the weeds this year.  I get in and hand pull what I can, but lately I've noticed quite a few baby weeds that are too small to really get a hold of and rip out.  And they really don't need to be pulled up root-and-all, just kind of scratched off at the surface.

I tried using one of the long handled hoes from the community garden shed to accomplish this, but--between the size of the head and the distance between me and what I was aiming for--I kept knocking off parts of plants I wanted to keep.  I quickly decided I needed something I could use closer to the ground, a little hand-held hoe.

I actually have never purchased a hoe before.  However, in a nice coincidence, the week I needed my first hoe was the same week Nice Carol at May Dreams Gardens has been celebrating hers.  From the history of her hoes, to gardening lessons that can be learned from hoes, to her entire (count 'em, 21) hoe collection, Nice Carol had me all inspired to go find myself a pretty little hoe with some character and history and...character and all of that, and take some pretty pictures of it to enter in her Garden Bloggers Hoe Down.

My favorite little nursery rarely lets me down for such things, but today they had nothing.  Our local hardware store and another nursery were similarly bereft of hand-held hoes--and I'm not saying they just didn't have a pretty one, I'm saying they didn't have one period.  Finally, at the last hardware store I could think of, I found this one.  Ninety-nine cents...a little ugly and plastic-y...but probably the only hand-held hoe in town...sold!

After having a go with her, I still don't think she's a "Pretty Woman", but she certainly does the trick as far as the teeny weeds go.

If you're so inclined (and want to see some classy hoes in addition to my sweet little cheap one), check out Carol's Garden Bloggers Hoe Down.

Planting and the Weather

The weather has been so weird.  Yesterday evening it was so hot and sticky that just sitting in our living room, even with the windows open and a breeze, was stifling.  Then we had hail and rain and tornado warnings all night.  This morning it was chilly, but looked like it would warm up so I went and bought some veggies to plant.  Of course, then it never did get warmer, but just windier.  And tonight I'm sitting in my living room again, only this time with the windows buttoned up and under a heavy blanket.

That's Kansas for you.

I did go ahead and put the veggies in the ground though.  It's supposed to get warm again after tomorrow, and I figured it was better cold in the ground than just sitting out.  Plus the newspaper and straw I covered the garden with (which I just dug right through for planting) is currently forming a small barrier around each plant.  I'll have to remove it eventually or I think I'll start to have problem with pests and the like, but for now hopefully it will help keep my ickle planties a bit protected.

Click onward to see this year's map of what's what.

Wednesday Poll: No Commentor Left Behind

As a late comment to last week's "rant" question, my Nice-Mom-In-Law said she would rant about "No Child Left Behind."

I was chatting about that with a friend this morning, and we ended up coming round to the idea that policies such as NCLB are symptomatic of a greater societal problem--we really don't allow people not to be good at certain activities anymore. 

Don't misunderstand, I'm not arguing that every child shouldn't know how to read, write, and do at least basic math, and I'm not saying every child shouldn't be encouraged to try.  But should everyone get a ribbon at the track meet, even the person who came in last place?  Should everyone get a prize at the spelling bee, even the kid who didn't make it past the first round? 

And to expand that thought, should everyone be asked to excel at academics or sports or whatever, even when it's apparent that a person's talents might lie elsewhere?  And does pressuring someone who's not good at one thing to keep trying to do that thing deprive them of the chance to learn to do something they really might have a gift for?

In the spirit of that discussion, and for this week's poll:

What's something you're not good at?  Was there a time you felt pressured to excel in that area despite the fact that you're just not good at it?  Conversely, what's something you're good at?  How does it all fit together for you?

Comment and discuss.

Cabbage Nibbles and Terrier Quibbles

I was at the Burrow garden tonight and discovered some chewed on cabbages.  Just a little, and just on a few leaves--not enough to make me really worried, but I'd rather nip it in the bud.

The Problem Solver says I need to start looking for wee caterpillars and picking them off.

In other news, Moe does not get to go to the community garden again on nights when watering is going to take place.  It seems his one moment of fame has gone to his head, and he now thinks ice-pick barking at the water hose is cute all the time.

Not so much.

Alabama Dish Towels

The "Alabama Stitch Book" has been making the rounds of some of the crafty blogs I read, and after seeing several cute projects I decided it was time to check it out from the library.

Most of the projects in the book are made using old t-shirts and are based on a "reverse applique" technique.  How it works is, you stencil a design onto fabric with paint, stitch two pieces of fabric together at the edge of the stencil, then cut off the top layer of fabric to get a sort of stain glass effect.  (Here's a close-up picture to give you a better idea.)

I wanted to try something easy to start, so I decided to make these dish towels.  I used two XL t-shirts for the main part of the towel (the white and gray parts) and a smaller blue t-shirt for the underneath bits.  I really like the way they turned out, and the t-shirt material is great for wiping up.  If I can collect enough old shirts, I may try a skirt next.

Pendleton's Pick Your Own

If you're in the area, Pendleton's has started their pick-your-own asparagus and spinach.  Aside from the fact that a field full of asparagus stalks looks like some sort of science fiction landscape, you can't get much fresher than two hours from field to dinner.