Crazy plant lady

As some of you know, I'm an avid gardener. Having a kid has definitely put a crimp in that hobby, but I haven't given up the ghost just yet. The plan for this year was to have even more edible stuff to offset our CSA veggies. It worked out more that we tried some different stuff rather than MORE stuff, but hey. What are you gonna do, right?

The garden plot in May. It's since exploded a bit more. This year, we're doing brussels sprouts (I thought I was picking up a flat of broccoli. Booby is less than enthused), red leaf lettuce, spinach (already gone to flower - better planning next year, I hope), various tomatoes, cukes, one pepper, and yellow and green squash. We also bought one melon plant, which was quickly shaded by a massive raspberry bush, and one eggplant, which has a pretty purple flower and that I expect will die (but you never know).

Strawberry plants. These tend to get eaten by the birds, so we've bought bird netting that I am, so far, too lazy to put up.

The aforementioned raspberry cane. We've had maybe one "harvest," which consists of one of us going out and eating the ripe berries off the bush. Delicious! I had about three of these on my cereal this morning.

Yellow squash. We've had a little trouble with blossom-end rot, but overall these are a much greater success than they were last year (when they mostly just rotted). We have tons of blossoms, so I'm guardedly hopeful.

And finally, a non-vegetable feature. This is dranunculus vulgaris, purported to stink like rotting flesh. I had thought it was like the one I saw on an episode of CSI, but that one is much smellier, apparently. The reality? The day it bloomed, I smelled something that was kind of like a bag of garbage left in the sun. Nothing too awful, no rotting meat or anything (though it was well-attended by blowflies). Of course, I have a lot of fragrant plants that smell good that may have offset this one. Still, an interesting showpiece for the flower garden, and the smell only lasts a day.

Boobiefest (not Boobyfest, though he's cool, too)

I've been breastfeeding Nibbler pretty much since he was born. I was very gung-ho about the whole endeavor, but I'll tell you, it hasn't been easy. I've discovered a few things over the past nine weeks:

• drugs designed to increase your supply will sometimes make your boobs leak so much, you'll think your baby has peed the bed five times over.


• fenugreek makes your pits smell like maple syrup (but unappetizingly so).


• sometimes, neither boob will make your baby happy, and this is why we have the third boob, commonly known as the pacifier.


• while breastfeeding is convenient in the middle of the night, your husband can never really help out with it (rubbing your back as you hoist your kid up on your chest for the 5th time doesn't count). You may resent this despite your best intentions, if you're me.


• the trade-off for not getting help in the wee hours can be that Daddy fields all poopy diapers.


• There's nothing like a little side-lying nursing to make you feel like Fluffy, in a box under the stairs.
  


• Breastfeeding depletes estrogen, which leads to a lack of interest in reconvening the procedure*. This is tantamount to a divorce decree in these parts; times have been tough since Nibbler's arrival. But he's getting all his nutrients.


• Pumping makes me think I need to switch to soymilk if this is what is done to cows all damn day long.


• Cats seem to like stepping on babies who are chillin' breastside on the Boppy pillow. Yowch!

*Never fear, the procedure has been reconvened and who knows, maybe Nibbler will have himself a sister someday after Mommy stops screaming in pain. Kidding!

Me on TV, and my hair

Here's the link to the story about SOAM. I said a lot more than what they aired, so please, internets, don't hate on me for my brief comment taken out of context. I was just trying to be honest.

Oh, and that's my belly in the story, too.

Melissa commented that my hair looks darker than in my photo (which was taken almost exactly 2 years ago): true enough. When I began dyeing my hair with pure henna, the results were a little more flamingly red than I cared for, so now I put in a dollop of pure indigo, which gives a darker (and hopefully more natural) tone. I do miss my blondey-red, but it's harder to achieve with henna, at least until I go a bit grayer, which shouldn't be long. The darker tone blends in more when I neglect to dye my hair for 3 months, too.

Remembah my name

Hey, remember how I was interviewed by the local news for a piece on Shape of a Mother?
Well, it's finally airing. If you live in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania, you can see it on CBS 3 on Thursday on the 11 o'clock news. After it airs, a link to the story is going up on their website; once that happens, I'll post a link (if it's not too embarrassing and I don't look too much like an ass, that is).

Jury is still out on whether I will actually send photos to Shape of a Mother, as I ended up with a few small stretch marks in my 40th week (shazbot! I was so close), and I am totally fucking vain.