Friday, October 18, 2013

Triumphs and Tragedies - Summer/Fall 2013 Edition

I have neglected you and I sincerely apologize.  I have a list of excuses but they are irrelevant.

We need to catch up.  It's been a long summer and fall is half over.

The beautiful colours of fall have arrived
So much has happened since we last spoke.  There have been some triumphs.  We got a new couch!


Only took 4 years living in this house but we have a comfortable, brand new, lovely couch.  It doesn't sag.  You can't feel the springs.  It doesn't sit mere inches from the floor.  We are very happy. (did I mention I've never owned a new couch before!  I really am excited)

The veggie garden has been spitting out enough zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes for a family of 12.  Our large freezer is full.  Completely full.

Anyone want some pumpkins?  seriously.. get in touch
There's tomato soup, fresh frozen tomatoes, pureed pumpkin, pesto, spinach, peas.  All organic, all grown with our own two hands.

Some trees came down ... on purpose.  They've been standing dead for some time and were in unfortunate locations.  Like next to the power pole.  We had put off getting it dealt with.

We left the base standing for the bugs and birds
I feel much better now that's out of the way.  I can quit worrying about our tree taking out the neighbours house and think about all that extra firewood keeping us warm.

It's not all roses though.  There is always the flip side.

We have been scraping, sanding and painting.  (hahaha, and by WE, I mean Jody)

scraped and ready to paint
It has been a load of work.  Sore knees, sore backs, and loads of arguing.  Yup, life here ain't always pretty.  When you have two very stubborn people with very strong vision things can get a little out of hand.  I like colour.  A LOT of colour.  Jody wants subtlety.  There is no middle ground and the weather has turned cold.  Too cold to finish the job.

putting on the primer
So for now the house sits in limbo.  I foresee this argument continuing right through to spring.

and speaking of roses ....


Our rose hedge is looking a bit trampled these days.  Looking at it lengthwise, above, the middle seems to be missing.  One foggy cold morning we found a car in our front yard.  Upside down.  Everyone is intact which is good.  We'll be a bit sparse on blooms though come next June.

and of course I visited the compost again.  We all know by now what that means right?  (think unwanted animals, or click on this link for a refresher).  The compost has become my nemesis this year.  I had taken a Friday off work to try and deal with some fall chores before the really cold weather sets in.  Cleaning up excess compost was on my to do list so away I went with my pitchfork.

I'm starting to get a little neurotic about going near the compost these days
We can now add wasps to the array of animals taking up residence in the compost pile.  That ended the day quite quickly.  Not to mention painfully.  I think I should just walk away from composting this year.  It's obviously just not happening for me right now.


27 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It sounds like you are resigned to winter. Just look at the bright side. You had a successful veggie patch and that couch is gorgeous.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

It's so great to see a post from you! I thought you had left us :)
I love that wagon with the pumpkins in it!

Marguerite said...

Hi Lisa, we've had a few hard frosts this past week so the garden is pretty much done for the winter. Just the clean up left at this point. Now we get to curl up on the couch for winter ;)

Marguerite said...

Hi Keith! nope, haven't lost me yet :) Just torn between numerous priorities. Not enough time in my day for everything I'd like to do.

Jane said...

Nice couch!! I love the colour and the thickness of the seat cushions - looks perfect! We are not bringing our 20 year old couch with us so we'll be looking around for a new one too. I guess for now we'll continue to use outdoor furniture in our living room :) Hoping you didn't get too many wasp bites!!!

Marguerite said...

LOL Jane, I hate to admit how long we had lawn chairs in our living room. Beck's in Montague is where we got the couch. Best furniture selection on island (in my opinion), great service, free delivery anywhere! Check them out when you go to visit your sister. Unfortunately I had over a half dozen bites, was a bit shell shocked after that. Could have been worse though I suppose, at least I'm not allergic.

Lannie Good said...

Hi Marguerite: Wow, a lot of life goes on at your place..if I was there I'd take pumpkins off your hands..and the good news is that Frank and Caron are coming this way either middle or end of November so Jim and I will be reunited for winter..hooray..I love Beck's furniture too..and like Jane I'll be in the market for a new couch..Your's look just so comfortable for curling in a corner with a book or taking a nap..I cut a picture out of a magazine for a couch I like and of course it's red! Sorry to hear you got bitten, we had bees in our fire pit..someone said it means a milder winter..wish I lived closer, I'd help you with your fall clean-up..getting excited about getting to island until Feb. at least..will list house when I leave..Jim and I have to decide on a house color too, leaning towards a dark blue/grey tone..wishing you luck on the house colors! all the best Liane

HELENE said...

Good to see you back again, and what a bumper harvest you have had! Love your sofa, I had my first NEW sofa 7 years ago, and I am almost 50 years old, loved it when it arrived and still love it, my best purchase! Your roses will grow up again, they will just take a bit time, but even when cut to the ground they come up again – at least they did in my garden here in London. Good luck with arguing, ehrm, debating over the colour of the house, very important decision, you are going to live with that colour for a long time :- )

Diana Studer said...

our sofa is staying in Porterville. Next time, we are going to get a pair of club chairs (small armchairs) to go with our 3 IKEA chairs. Somehow no one wants to sit on our 3-seater sofa so we'll have a chair for each guest in future.

About Google (I know you have a legal background compared to me, but ...)
Wait, deep breath. You can opt out of Google using you in ads. I have. I use AdBlocker, so I wouldn't see any endorsed ads in my turn. In Google Plus I am informed by people who use and experiment with the Shiny New as it happens. We live in interesting times.

Anonymous said...

Hi Marguerite, what a busy summer you have had ! Now you can curl up on your new sofa with a clear conscience and read your way through to Spring ! We are enjoying some fab weather here in the UK (yes, you did read that correctly !!) and it is like summer today. No frost so far so it has really prolonged the growing season. Can't last but loving every day ...

Laurrie said...

You and the compost pile are just never going to get along. It is your everlasting nemesis, but your bumper food crops make up for your compost disasters. What major projects you tackled while away from the blog. I'm not sure about the upside down car in the roses, but the rest of the major improvements are great.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

Love your new couch, looks very stylish and comfy! mega ouch on the compost front, you clearly need "somebody else" to take over the compost heap management... Such hard work preparing your house, I foresee a long winter of interesting conversations about what colour it finally gets painted. Good luck! Mostly, though, I am just impressed at your harvest, such bounty. Fabulous. Time for an additional freezer?
PS Welcome back, and I hope your rose hedge recovers from its unfortunate car encounter, Bad enough to crash your car, but ending up in a rose hedge? Very bad placement...

Marguerite said...

That's wonderful, your first winter on the island!! A co-worker suggested Becks and we were really impressed. I'm sure you'll find something just perfect. Funny, we almost got our couch in red :)

Marguerite said...

I think you're right Helene. From what I understand these roses will grow back with no trouble, just might take a little time. I think the idea that I'm stuck with a house colour is why I'm so argumentative on this issue. I'd hate to be looking at the colour ten years from now and wishing it was different.

Marguerite said...

We have some comfy chairs which we love but there's nothing like being able to curl up on a couch on a cold winter night. So glad we got the couch, we're putting it to good use already :) Very glad to hear there's an opt out for Google plus, frustrating though how our information continually is getting used against us. Feels like we're constantly battling the internet to keep our privacy safe.

Marguerite said...

and have we enjoyed curling up on that couch! So comfortable and perfect for the long winter ahead. Lucky you having an extension on the season, enjoy!

Marguerite said...

So frustrating, me and the compost have been getting along so well up till now. and I won't get those bumper crops without it. A conundrum.

Marguerite said...

Hi Janet! you're right, crawling out of your crashed car into the thorns could not have been fun. Although the driver was just lucky to be alive. Funny you should say stylish and comfy about the couch. Those were the exact requirements :) Jody wanted something that looked good and all I cared about was the comfort factor. Luckily we both got what we wanted.

sweetbay said...

Your vegetable garden sounds like it was a huge hit!

I love your house. Whatever colors you end up painting it, I'm sure it will be beautiful.

Your couch looks like the most comfortable thing ever.

HolleyGarden said...

Ouch! Sorry to hear about the wasps. But I love your new sofa! Congratulations! I know you are thrilled every chance you get to sit down! :) It looks like a lot of hard work scraping the paint, but your home is going to be gorgeous with a fresh coat of paint on it.

Rose said...

What a busy summer you have had! Hope you resolve the paint color issue by spring...hopefully, that will be enough time to wear down your husband:) I think I'd give up on the compost pile and start a new one somewhere else! In spite of all these misadventures--and a car in the rose bushes!--what a bountiful harvest you have had. If I lived closer, I'd definitely take some of those pumpkins off your hands.

Casa Mariposa said...

You have turned into an impressive vegetable gardener! :o) Color can be such a hard compromise. Is there a shade in the middle you can both agree on or a palette of historic colors that were used in your area when the house was built? So glad that car only ended up in the grass and not your house!

Marguerite said...

It is SOOO comfortable. Kicking ourselves for not having bought one sooner.

Marguerite said...

The scraping and sanding took forever! (well, approx 2 months). Painting, with a sprayer, just took a couple days in contrast. If we could just agree on the colour scheme...

Marguerite said...

Like your thinking Rose ;-) wear him down with time. I think my issue with the compost is that I've let it sit too long. All the critters thought I had abandoned it and took up residence.

Marguerite said...

Thanks Tammy! This was our 4th year and we really took in quite the haul of veggies. Feels good to finally have a proper producing garden.

Melanie J Watts said...

Have no fear all those creatures in your compost pile are helping turn it into soil. Bright colours make me happy too, wear him down. I eagerly await your decision, come spring:)