This isn't my flower, but I just thought it was beautiful.

Lot's going on at the garden this week!
The lettuce is growing like crazy; tomatoes are flowering; the zucchini are beginning to flower; the corn is growing-"bob" seems to be taking the lead in this, however it looks like something or someone is chomping the tops of the corn plants-the nerve!; pattipan squash are not only flowering, but there are small squash on almost every plant now; the beans are starting to send out shoots; and perhaps most exciting of all...I found a flower on the cucumber plant! WooHoo! I've been really worried since the...oh, what's that bright orb in the sky called...um...let me think...oh..THE SUN hasn't been shining either at all or for very long, and it certainly hasn't been warm AT ALL! I'd say 63-65 doesn't constitute warm...and that's NOT in the shade. And God forbid that the wind is blowing-it's like ice! Can't wait until it starts "warming up"-which should mean that it is above 65.

As you can tell the garden has really started to move along:

Here's "Bob". I can't believe how big he's getting!

Here he is...Guillermo-Master Gardener! He was so funny. I said I was going to take photos of my garden and he looked at me confused and said, "why, you know what it looks like"? Veeeery funny Guillermo. I love when he's down there because I feel like I learn so much. He's just full great gardening advice, which usually starts with, "Aye, Amanda..." As in, "Aye, Amanda you have to wait until the water cools down before you put it in the garden" (this was last summer during a "heat wave"). We usually speak in Spanish the whole time, except when one of us (usually me) looks a little confused then we switch to broken English (his). It's really helped me learn different names for things. The other day he was trying to describe something that had just popped up in my garden, but I wasn't getting it, so he says, " It's purple. It can come in other colours. It has a bulb. It's a vegetable." It was a beet, but I wasn't familiar with the word. I enjoy spending time down there and learning from the other gardens.



Look what I found...It's a cucumber flower! Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited to see it! I knew it was getting bigger, but wow...a flower.

The beans are starting to sprout. Guillermo asssured me that they'll turn around and start attaching themselves to the fencing. I'm not so sure about that.

Let's see what else...Oh, I won $50 at my other job for perfect attendance. We have a drawing every 6 months for $ and this time I won! Yea! I think I'll use this when I go with Kat4mom and Mima (from maryjanesfarm.org) to Ventura and shopping in the Thrift stores.

I went to the hand dr. on Monday and so far everything is progressing along nicely (that is unless you need to start using power tools in the next 2 weeks :-)), but every day I just get stronger and stronger and find myself constantly amused at the things I can do. Just today I tied my own sweat pants-and they actually stayed up (unlike last time). Ahhh, simple pleasures. I made a sponge cake today and cracked the eggs all by myself, AND didn't get any shell in the bowl :-). I got up early to go to a cooking class today, but alas it was cancelled. They aren't doing a very good job of advertising, so it sucks when you get there early to get a space and then no one shows up. There's not much new at the Solstice workshop since the guy (#4 by my count) hasn't been around since I talked with him 2 weeks ago. Riccardo, who's back from Europe, said that Scott is supposed to be there this weekend. Boy I hope so! I want to get started. I'm going to start the skirt/flamingo body prototype with the costume person in the next couple of days, so at least there's something going on while I'm waiting for my little grass shack to be built. We'll see...