Garden starter kit

Someone sent me a lovely gift for my birthday! The kids and I started the seeds on the 9th of March. The kit was super simple, straight forward, even toddlers and little kids can get right in there. The kit says there is At least 10 seeds each, heirloom tomatoes, heirloom zucchini, heirloom eggplant and let me tell you, there is much more than 10! Take a look at what's inside.

I don't know what I was thinking starting 10 zucchini seeds. I have no desire to grow 10 plants but at this rate it doesn't seem like we're going to have much of a growing season. We have rain the forecast for 13 out of the next 15 days. I'm ready for some sun, anytime now.

After a week, we have definitely made some progress! We have lots of tiny little sprouts! Very encouraging! Here's what I've done during the first week, after planting I gave each pod a good drink. It took a while for the water to absorb into the soil. I put tooth picks in and laid plastic wrap loosely on top. Doing that helps keeps the moisture and heat in. Any water that spills into the bottom adds to the humidity. After the first good soaking, I gave the pods a good spray with a spray bottle in the morning and at night. I left it beside an eastern facing window and that's it. Easy Peasy. 

There wasn't really any direction besides depth of planting, which is fine if you know what you're doing but if you're someone who has never planted before I bit more direction would have been benificial. I will say that the soil was packed pretty tightly into the little pods. I definitely needed to poke a tooth pick in a few times to get the water to saturate, otherwise most would just sit on top or run off. 

Out of the 50 pods, so far 12 have sprouted, not terrible. I'm sure in another week the rest will be out too. I didn't start the basil, it should grow quickly once the garden is ready, I'll sow it directly. I added 5 bean seeds instead, the kids and Scribs love beans. I can't wait to have fresh beans again. 

After the week we've had, I'm glad to see some progress. The second wind storm destroyed my green house. I'm going to see if I can repair it, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Have you started your garden yet? Are you in the planning phase?

When Breath Becomes Air review

I discovered When Breath Becomes Air through Cup of Jo. It is a memoir written by Dr. Paul Kalanithi  (Joanna's brother-in-law). He was a gifted doctor diagnosed with cancer. His writing is beautiful! It flows like poetry. When breath becomes air isn't a depressing, dying of cancer memoir, it's the story of a man's search for a meaningful life and death. Paul's writing flows so beautifully. I expected to be a lot sadder whilst reading but it isn't a woe-is-me tale. The first half is about his life, education and goals. He was a gifted Doctor that clearly would have made a huge impact in his field.

Around page 180 it sets in, he's really sick, and then a few short pages later his daughter is born and I cried and there's hope, joy and all the overwhelming feelings that come with a new baby. Then I remember this isn't fiction and I already know the ending.

This book is so eloquent, profoundly honest and thought provoking. It reads like a wonderful piece of fiction without exaggeration. I read it quickly, under 24 hours and I'm a slow reader. The pages flew by and without realizing, I was nearly finished.

He may not have lived long enough to have made a huge impact on the scientific world, but his book certainly will help many beyond those that may have needed his help as a doctor. Throughout the book he is so relatable even if you aren't a doctor. He is brave and matter of fact as perhaps only a doctor faced with a terminal illness can be.

Not once during when breath becomes air was I bored, no yawning here. I couldn't get enough. In the moments I wasn't reading, I wanted to be. Had this been fiction, I would have said "No way, it can't end like this!" So it goes.

The foreword and epilogue are equally beautiful. The epilogue Lucy Kalanithi, Paul's wife, also a Doctor, is just a beautiful as the rest of the book. You wouldn't know that both the Kalanithi's weren't writers by trade. Her words are heartbreaking, thought evoking and evidently loving. The epilogue was the hardest part to read, she bore witness, and writes about bringing the book to life. I can't imagine how hard that would be, how strong she is.

Here's the New York Times review, this book hasn't even been out for a week and already has nearly 100 glowing reviews. If you read only one book this year, make it When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

2016 goals

Can you believe it's 2016, I certainly can't! 2015 was a big year for us with really great highs and really low lows.

This year I've got goals!

• Paint every ceiling and the 3 bedrooms
• Build a fence, even if it's just cattle panels.
• Improve the garden (more on that coming up later)
• New play set for the kids, the death trap has got to go!
• Upgrade a few things in the house the dishwasher, get a few bookcases, figure out a better toy stage system, some new light fixtures for above the table and the bed rooms. 
• Stop looking like a hobo all the time. I should to start getting my hair done regularly (once a year doesn't cut it and that'll give me some knitting time), get some new jeans. Mine are bad! And just take a little bit of time for myself, I'd like to not be so tired all the time
• I'd like to knit something nice for myself, it'd been a long time since I made anything for me. I have a ton of this I'd like to make but always end up starting a project for someone else. 

I think my goals are reasonable and all very do-able. I'm keeping it simple for 2016.
What are you working towards this year?

Amazon echo review

Our Amazon Echo was delivered a few months ago. When I got the email inviting us to get one I thought. Cool! But wasn't sure what it could do. It wasn't a lot of money so I said, "Why not?"

The name the Echo responds to is Alexa and I will refer to the Echo as she. We listen to the news everyday, listen to music at meal times, have dance parties in the afternoon. She tells us jokes, answers our questions about all things trucks (or anything else we want to know), tells us the weather. Now that we set up an iheartradio account it plays pretty much everything, with each email update it is getting better. Alexa can now find some wireless appliances like our Hue bulbs, so far she can't really do anything with them but I'm excited to see what she can do in the future. 

I asked my 3 year old what he thinks about the echo "good. It makes music and tells about fire trucks and ambulance and street sweeper and dump trucks." There you have it, from the mouth of babes. 

It would be nice if

You could program it. In the morning I'd like it to say "good morning Scribs, the temperature is, would you like to hear the news?"

Change its name.

Check the status of Amazon orders, subscribe and save etc (all things we use), although it has just been updated to be able to re-order things from past orders.

Set actual reminders "Alexa, remind me at 11:45 am Friday to call my mom"
Perhaps one day!

The biggest down side is at times she can't understand what we're saying which gets super-frustrating. "Alexa, play iheartradio Hozier"
"Do you want me to add a station for How do I love you?"
"No."
"Alexa, play iheartradio Hozier"
"Do you want me to add a station for Brian Adams?"
"No!"
This happens sometimes when we want the news, ask questions. Maybe we're expecting a bit too much at times. If the volume is too loud, she can't hear us at all.

For $200 it was definitely worth it for us. We've had it for a few months in use it all the time. Yes, we could just use our phones or computer for most of what we use it fore but I like having a compact tower that looks decent and isn't a phone. We bought it for the potential which may or may not have been a wise move as technology advances this model, I'm sure, will be obsolete. As I said, we're happy with it. It was well worth the $200.

No, amazon did not sponsor this post, but if they'd like to feel free!