What Patrice does

Guess how many

2008-07-22T00:06:00.002-04:00

Guess how many tomatoes in the garden...

132!
Now for the dream sequence:

Summer Days

2008-07-20T17:31:00.001-04:00

IMGP2454, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

GRE Math is my Suduko

2008-07-20T01:45:00.002-04:00

So many people, including my parents, do the weekly crossword puzzle, suduko and other such games- but I really never understood the intrigue. Mainly because I am very lacking in the verbal arena, and have problems spelling or retaining facts needed for such puzzles.
Until today.
So going through the GRE study book, I was going to write a little rant similar to a good handful of others have been doing in the blogosphere, but then I got to the math problems. (although I may still rant later on the paragraph that said "the math section is small as most people do not take college level math" well, what happens to us who didn't take English classes?)
Now I totally see why people enjoy the newspaper puzzles. I do a monthly problem similar to this, but it's usually really hard and frustrating and people then banter over the answer in the comments. The GRE problems are challenging in a sense that they use ideas that you haven't thought about in a while, but easy enough that you win most of the time. And winning is fun! You could be half awake Sunday mornings, or drinking a few beers on the back porch and still win most of the time! Now it all makes sense to me...

Slugs?

2008-07-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

IMGP2355, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

I found 4 very large slugs while cleaning out some wood earlier in the week, so the first thing I thought of was "Are there slugs IN my tomatoes?!"
Luckily, they were still just a bit green on the inside.
Sadly though, I thought they were Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry Tomatoes, but they haven't grown a casing, so I guess they aren't... Possibly the Broad Ripple instead?

Buy Handmade

2008-07-15T23:56:00.001-04:00

Handmade
Originally uploaded by normah

Everytime you buy something handmade, a robot gets it's wings. Amazing.
Also amazing was how many people responded to the free old wood we had, and when I put the mower and rusted-out fire chimney out on the curb to go to the dump tomorrow, someone swiped it in literally under 20min. So great. Just have to get rid of the large pile of little wood, pavers, insulation, gas cans, and collection of cardboard boxes from the basement.
Things are slowly coming together here...

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry Tomatoes

2008-07-14T23:02:00.001-04:00

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry Tomatoes, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

So a weekend of not watering, and pruning beforehand helped the tomatoes.
The family botanist/master gardener had rot on hers too and said that with all the rain, it's hard to prevent & nothing to be too concerned about.
Whew.
I'm still going to try to mulch around them this weekend though as I've read up on, and as a neighbor has done too.
Now to tackle the mosquito problem...

A Jaunt Home

2008-07-14T22:30:00.004-04:00

Of course a great trip home. Man, time is flying: Visited Matt at his jobber in his suit and HANDMADE SHIRTS; Jeff will soon be hawking the pharma, it was Katie's birthday and she was flashing the engagement ring, Chauch is shacked up with his lady friend and his bestfriend is a monkey. Starbucks will be done at the end of the month. Me? I guess I'm just getting by...

Here's a nice little 'history of errors for Pgh from thiTs weeks paper. Although I thought that Alexander Berkman stabbed Frick and I saw the knife in the history museum. (and I exclaimed "popo gigo"). I'll have to wait until someone comes out of the wilderness for this answer. And there's a nice little shout out to Oct 1948, which is one of the reasons why I do what I do. (refinery shakes are a close second)

Unrelated: I wasn't really a Fiest fan. Until today when I saw this video. Juvenile, but ohhh, so cute.

Key Phrases

2008-07-09T18:58:00.001-04:00

IMGP2083, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

A few notable phases I've heard today:
"You're gonna look good on judgment day!" (strong cackle)
"The deer was three feet away from hitting me on my bike"
"Maybe we shouldn't just vent the nitrogen/mercury fumes into the air" (thank you- finally)
"You are defined by your car, it is a statement of YOU"
"I would never go to Miami, FL, it's dirty and full of drugs & rich people. I meant Miami, OH"
The first one is my favorite and definitely woke me up on my way in this morning.

Growing

2008-07-08T22:28:00.004-04:00

So a few of you have emailed me, and yeah, the rumor is true. The craft-for-profit stuff filled a dumpster last Saturday. I'll comment more on it later, but the short of it is- I want to be really good at my job, want to work on our house, not be stressed by it, tend to my garden, ride my bike, climb, get back to yoga and make new friends. Instead of investing money on further craftiness, I enrolled in yoga again, bought GRE materials and some bike parts.
So, it's really only two days into it, but last night I worked on my bike, today I was able to work my 11 hr work day, run at lunch, go to yoga after and not worry about a mess at home or the need to make things. It's splendid.

Disease

2008-07-08T22:22:00.003-04:00

A good number of the tomato plants that were growing well in the ground are now full of disease. The above picture is actually representative of a healthy leaf now. :-(
I've been reading up on it, and read to try spraying an aspirin solution, pouring milk on them, etc, but since I'd have to buy either of those things anyways, I'm going to try and track down some copper fungicide tomorrow...
For now, here are some happy potted ones:

Frontyard check-in

2008-07-07T01:45:00.002-04:00

Planted a new cone flower, transplanted the hops to a little mound of their own, finished setting pavers.
The bean plants died a few weeks ago, they were growing well with no attention, but caught some type of disease that made their stems woody and brown from the bottom up and leaves bright yellow. All I could think of was this phytoextraction tree farm I had worked with and the way the chemicals were moving up the plants. Then I got freaked out and so the beans are just sitting there- possible little chemical pods....

Surly Parking Lot Blowout

2008-07-07T01:40:00.002-04:00

It's only a night like this that we wish I still had the apt. right above Surly.

Happy 4th

2008-07-06T01:31:00.000-04:00

It started on a mission to track down Rad Dog, but in the excitement of a vegan hotdog cart, I totally misread the dates... So we headed to Tip Top, sat on the patio until the rain came, headed to Carabar to watch the fireworks on their back patio, rode through the absolute downtown madness of after-firework-traffic, Betty's then Surly.
A good run indeed. Then on Friday I cleaned out the house and we headed to a lil 4th picnic. It started out innocently enough, with badminton and croquet, but turned into chaos by the end. Good chaos.

Comfest 2008

2008-06-30T22:33:00.004-04:00

comfest booth 2008

2008-06-28T09:15:00.001-04:00

comfest booth 2008, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

We're on Park Street.
On the right side if you're heading south, north of Russell St. Stop by and say Hello!

Last Saturday in June

2008-06-28T02:33:00.000-04:00

Critical Mass June 2006, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

It's nice that you're here this year

Welcome Alivers!

2008-06-27T06:43:00.002-04:00

Welcome to everyone dropping by via the Alive Article
You can come visit me at Comfest this weekend or purchase items here at my etsy shop after.

Maybe one for me?

2008-06-26T08:36:00.000-04:00

Glass Necklce w vintage tattoo, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

I love this one. Larger than usual, but fun. People suspect it to be too heavy, and it might be at first, but you don't notice it after a few minutes
other stuff

Midwest Summer Storms

2008-06-26T07:38:00.003-04:00

So I think that I was the only one on our block not huddled in the basement. (or maybe no one was out as it was midnight). But the storm was crazy. I've never heard the sirens go off for such a long period of time (I've only heard them go off once before and lived VERY CLOSE to it)
So I tried to take some photos pre and during lightening.

It looks like I could easily have pushed these, but the lightening was really intense, but there was a thick cloud-cover, so no bold streaks.

all shots

3 leaves don't touch thee

2008-06-25T16:15:00.001-04:00

Large Tote, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

I'm been sewing a bit, and itching more. Did you know that it only takes a ng (but typically a µg) of urushiol (the oil in posion ivy) to cause a reaction. And it typically lasts 7-14 days. I thought that the PI usually cleared up in 3 days, and I must have touched about a grams worth. Not bad enough to go get the steriod pack yet (too early in the summer to waste that) but pretty dang bad. Also, the urushiol is on mango skins- probably why I get a reaction when I eat mangoes. It's been raging for almost 2 wks now. So when I'm standing in the rain @ Comfest, swing by and buy some stuff, or at least bring me a treat!

Busy still

2008-06-24T11:27:00.001-04:00

IMGP1843, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

another little Comfest preview.
after Comfest, what's left will be for sale on my etsy page with a good deal of supplies.

Summer Basil

2008-06-24T07:47:00.000-04:00

The bottom right is the little basil field that has been planted from last year's harvested seeds. I planted on of the other side of the yard earlier, but only 2 plants took. I'm crossing my fingers.

Broken Plate Necklace

2008-06-23T07:55:00.001-04:00

IMGP1849, originally uploaded by Petie_in_Cbus.

You'll find it at Comfest

Summer nights

2008-06-22T14:18:00.002-04:00

bikes, beer, Frisbee, badminton, parks, warmth, mosquitoes, Surly

Busy

2008-06-20T07:33:00.002-04:00

Busy getting ready for Comfest and have been busy at work. My camera was left outside in a downpour last friday, but AC told me to put it in a bag of rice to try and save it. I'm going to try and turn it on tonight (the card actually worked). We'll see if I have a happy Friday evening, or if I get to file an insurance claim....