Top Tracks of 2011- off topic post

In keeping with my New Year's resolution to drink more before 5pm, I'm having a mimosa and refining my TOP TRACKS OF 2011..I tried to stick to music released in 2011 but there may be a few that are a little older. Sue me!

Jelly- what did I miss here? I'm sure a ton. Fill in the blanks, mamacita!


I'm On One- DJ Khaled (this song makes me feel like I'm somewhere really fun having a party even when I am in my car driving to work and don't have any purple in my cup)

Sleazy Remix- Ke$ha (The orignal remix from 2010 with just Ke$ha and Andre 3000 is amazing as well because Ke$ha gets to rap more, but how can you deny this super group...and the best rhyme of the year goes to Lil' Wayne with "smoking neon, Kings of Leon, Dynamite Napoleon")

A Certain Person- Light Asylum (an African American Alison Moyet, how can you go wrong? I love Yaz and I love this whole EP)

Long Heels, Red Bottoms- Trina (Trina is hitting her stride...and in really high heels which makes it even more impressive. The ultimate bad b#tch...can't wait for the full album)

Good For My Money- Baby Bash (Bashtown was a great album too, now that I think about it. So many good tracks...this is my fave though. Luv me some BB)

Man Down- Rihanna (Thanks for pointing this one out to me, Jelly! Anyone who says Rihanna isn't talented needs to listen to this one. Brumm bumpa bum)

The Real Her- Drake (I love Andre 3000's rap on this one, he is on a ROLL in 2011, hope he releases something of his own soon! And this album is really good, "Cameras" "I'm So Proud" ...tons of goodness)

Fancy- Envy & Fancy (first heard this one on Basketball Wives when Royce twerks it to Ludacris and shows all the girls how much more flexible she is than them. it was WAR after that...love me some Basketball Wives in 2012!)

Still In Love With You- Sade (Have always loved this Thin Lizzy track...and Sade doing it makes, well not BETTER, but more Sade-ish so that's great)


Teenage Dream- Katy Perry (Would I let my 8 year old daughter listen to this? Tough call, probably. With a speech beforehand* but I don't have an 8 year old daughter and mommy is kind of slutty.)

Claudia Lewis- M83 (this is a remix/remaster/release something or other of an album that came out 10 years ago but it's a great album and this version came out this year so it counts. If you aren't familiar with M83 listen to "Graveyard Girl" just once and you'll be hooked.)

Compliments- Tank (man, he really gets it doesn't he? i wuv woo, Tank)

Shut Up- R. Kelly (In addition to Love Letters, Kelz did another full album "mix tape" and this track is the gem...although "So Magical" a close second. It's on the web somewhere...not easy to get though, you have to want it. Now about that R. Kelly Cruise in October, I am socking it away in my piggy bank, where there's a will...)

I'm Beaming- Lupe Fiasco (He took me a while to get in to, sounds too polished and Kanye-ish at first listen but upon further listening a few songs stand out this being the best. Why it's a bonus track I'm not sure.)

In For the Kill (Skrillex Remix)- La Roux (I hope she's not a flash in the pan, this gal is rad. There are a zillion remixes of this track but this one is my fave)

OSU posts 100 years of farming research, homemaking advice online

This is really cool...and easy to use, I went to this link and just picked one thing at random and it's a really interesting article from 1957 about how to grow pole beans in Oregon. Well I guess it all depends on what one finds interesting.


FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.agweekly.com/articles/2011/12/22/news/ag_news/news44.txt

CORVALLIS, Ore. - More than 6,000 documents from Oregon State University that cover a century of agricultural research and homemaking advice are now available to the public online.

Dating as far back as 1888, the publications were produced by OSU's Extension Service and the university's agricultural research centers around the state. The materials include annual research reports and instructional guides covering everything from agricultural techniques to housecleaning.

The project was the result of a partnership between OSU Libraries and the university's department of Extension and Experiment Station Communications (EESC).

"These publications represent more than 100 years of communicating the university's research advancements for the benefit of Oregon's communities, natural resources and economy," said Peg Herring, the head of EESC. “Now they're digitally preserved, searchable and free to anyone in the world with an Internet connection."

The topics of the publications offer a glimpse of Oregon life over the past century and will delight Oregon history buffs. "Bulletin No. 1," issued in 1888, outlined how OSU's newly created agricultural research centers would operate. "Low Cost Menus for One Month," published in 1933, advocated giving three teaspoons of cod liver oil per day to young children to ensure healthy development. And a 1971 booklet titled "30 Days to Reality" explained what a credit card was and how it worked.

Oregonians can also find information from current publications to help with modern life. Recent titles in the database include "Canning Seafood" and "Composting With Worms."


All publications are available through OSU's institutional repository, ScholarsArchive@OSU. A direct link to the EESC publications is: http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/3904. Users can also find names of specific publications through the library catalog (http://oasis.oregonstate.edu/) and Internet search engines. The descriptions for out-of-date publications contain a disclaimer advising readers to search for the most current information in the OSU Extension catalog (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog).

"It's a great publishing model, and a valuable partnership between EESC and OSU Libraries," said Sue Kunda, digital scholarship librarian. “The most current research-based information is in the OSU Extension catalog, and all publications are preserved online for the benefit of the university and the public."

Sparkley Blue Hydrangea

ain't it purdy? i think so...it's a white hydrangea that has been spray painted and glitterized. i saw it and just couldn't NOT take it home with me.


NPR: Sugar Hiccup by Cocteau Twins, The Real Her by Drake feat. Lil'Wayne and Andre 300, Compliments by Tank

UPDATE: Disneyland!

Here is the 2011 Anton's 4th Birthday version...we sure did have an exciting, memorable, fun, exhausting, exhilarating, Disneyrific time!




Super excited for our trip...Anton, my dad, and I will have just as much fun as Ann and Mark I'm sure!

off topic post: what a week!

I saw The Cure live (mind boggling) and The Pixies (damn good) and a lot of Morrissey fans camping out (Occupy Gloom), all of this on Hollywood Blvd. I brined a turkey and made stuffing and sweet potatoes with marshmallows (Anton helped with the marshmallow resizing). I ate a LOT. I also ran up dimple hill from the other side twice.

I'm thankful for my family (Colin gave Anton that shave after accidentally buzzing the top of his head...I am thankful it's just a haircut and not something more sinister), friends (like my #1 blog reader, Jelly) good health and that I get to do things like the aforementioned highjinks.

NPR (now playing on runs) in a BIG way: "I'm On One" by DJ Khaled feat. Drake (this was the first song on the radio when i landed in LA...sums it up!), "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry (don't judge), All Cats Are Grey (the best song of the evening...which I kind of knew it would be).

Hmm...what to write about

It's getting cold, the last of the flowers are turning brown and gooey. Winter is coming. I"m going to do a little more ho'ing (the garden tool kind) and maybe plant a few favas but other than that i'm done in the veggie garden for the year. i did make these placemats with Jenni's awesome veggie fabric. That's the last of the veggies for this year.













I did my first run since the Silver Falls half last weekend with Jelly (Jelly- that was awesome, lets be in there like swimwear next year!) I did Dimple...it was so cold and foggy all the way up and then I found the sun at the very top. I was so cheery when I got there I even marveled to a couple of hikers how pretty the view was, to which they looked back at me like i was insane. well i do think it was pretty.














then it got foggy again on the way back down...












NPR: Nobody Does It Better by Nate Dogg, Drinking in LA by Bran Van 3000, See You Again by Jenni Bliss and the best timed iPod shuffle moment in a while Stretch Out And Wait by the Smiths WHILE I WAS STRETCHING.

off topic post: depressing birthday songs...

i'm making a list:

those before and after pix of Damon Albarn really drive home my point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMY9s-Dog1k

this is about me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9QCbvikqCI


look how young and cute bjork is. f#cking b%tch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69R_Uf57R0U

pile on with your faves...

Winterizing

Today I finally got out there and weeded and snipped and got everything a bit more tidied up for Winter. I swear those little dark clover-ish weeds in the front yard are making me hyphy, they seriously overtake the damn mulch and are very vein-y and hard to rip up.

These pix are a few weeks old and are of the veggie garden after i ripped up all of the tomatoes, peppers and summer crops. anyone want any green tomato relish? if so, you have come to the right place. the garlic is already really going to town. the kale is not doing so great thanks to pests. the potatoes are going nuts which is an experiment that seems so far to be paying off. the onions are taking off too...but i've saved a lot of space for spring which i may throw a few favas in to. this is all just me talking online to myself so i remember what i did. thanks for your time.







this last pic is from my run today up Dimple Hill. The light was pretty amazing but my cell didn't properly capture it. This reminds me...I'm going to start a feature on this blog at the VERY END called "npr" which stands for Now Playing on Runs" and features the songs that are making me zone out enough to actually enjoy running up a steep hill in the early morning fog:


NPR: Joy Division "Dead Souls" DPG feat. Snoop Dogg "Real Soon, Drake feat Nicki Minaj "Proud of You", E-40 feat. Nate Dogg "Nah Nah"

September- the month of change

I love Fall...it's my favorite season for food, weather, nature's scenery, the whole megillah. My daily life has been something of a mishegoss the last few weeks but I'm not letting it take away from my enjoyment of this season and the work that needs to be done in the garden. Below are some pix of what's going down up in here:



This is the front yard today. Flowers and fruit trees are growing in nicely. The lighter wood chips are courtesy of the trees we chopped down. The big pumpkin vine is gone, thank god (more on that below). And we'll see how it holds up when the cold weather sets in. Keep it poppin' boys, it's gonna be a long one I think.



Last weekend I ripped up all of the summer squash, zucchini, most of the peppers, sweet peas...anything that looked tore up from the floor up, which was everything practically except for the tomatoes which are now on their last legs and the perennial rhubarb which we can't harvest until next year. I have planted onions, potatoes, leeks, garlic and kale in their place...we'll see how it goes! Threw some manure and mulch down but didn't give it a ton of thought...the story of my life.


The eagle eyed Jane's blog reader will notice that the large pumpkin vine is gone and it's in place are 3 strategically placed pumpkins. The fruits of the pumpkin vine's labor on display early for Halloween and grown by us, not Fred Meyer. We'll carve one and I wanna cook stuff with the others (soups, pies...we gonna make it rain pumpkin up in this b.i.-itch). Also, the big shrubs are gone in front of the house. Another one of Colin's manic urges that I'm actually very happy with!


The tomatoes are basically done. I don't think these are gonna get ripe, it's getting to cold. Most likely i'll pull them this weekend. The good news is that I came across a canning recipe for green tomato relish (with sweet peppers, onions, cabbage and celery seed) that is damn good and Colin downs the stuff straight so the green ones won't go to waste and last us in to the winter (maybe). This was not a warm summmer, i think all said and done we did better with our tomatoes than most. It just wasn't a banner year for summer crops. Oh well, Mother Nature makes the rules, not me...whatever, i'll have to see what I can do about that.

wildflowers

Today was fun, got to hang with Jelly in Whorevallis and do:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/18/5-farmers-markets/

needless to say we liked it!

I'm a busy little beaver this evening making garlic marinated green beans (thx Jelly's mom for the beans), a boat load of green tomato relish (thxs farmers market for the cabbage, onion and peppers), and dried tomatoes. it's tomato d-day...and they are pretty good but it's getting too cold too fast so i'm not confident they'll last. gotta plan ahead! it really feels like Fall.

I'm about to pull the plug on the lemon cucumbers so i'm picking those like mad. what to make? what to make? when in doubt...infused vodka, solved!

this album was great background music especially this song that Dolly wrote (Colin, schooled).

Chocolate Zucchini Bread and Pizza sauce

Yesterday was eventful...I ran a 1/2 marathon (13miles). Am happy with my time but it was a fairly brutal and hilly race. It was also the hottest day of the year so far. But I did it! Kelz helped me through, so did Young Dro and Trina. Then I came home and got this strange desire to cook in the heat.

Watermelon Vodka

The garden is blowing up!

Those Ludacris' are coming in great!

Los Angeles vs. Corvallis (off topic)

I've lived lots of places...LA being one that I actually go back and visit from time to time. I like it in small doses because it's so different from where I've chosen to "put roots down" (Corvallis, OR). You might be saying to yourself "come on now, how different can it really be, Jane". Well a run I took up Dimple Hill the other day made me realize just how different. I'm having trouble lining these pix up so see if you can guess which is which!

8/9/11 Garden Update brought to you by Jonathan Richman

I've been trying to enjoy all the fruits of my labor...

but it's hard because only two tomatoes have fully ripened and there are like a grillion green ones just sitting there. i'm looking up recipes for Fried Green Tomatoes and now i think i should re-watch that glorious movie too since i capitalized it just now.

so what do we have at this moment? zucchini, lots of it. i read that it's the sure sign of a novice gardener to let their zucchini get huge and then think they are some sort of miracle earth goddess who with only their deft and loving touch could create such an amazing specimen. i thought this just 2 years ago when I grew a Dirk Diggler sized zucchini in our sad Portland garden. only flaw with this way of thinking is a) it's easier to grow zucchini than hairs on your chin b) the bigger it gets the worse it tastes. I am not going to make a witty pun on part B by the way although I really want to.

What else do we have? A large variety of peppers and a few tomatillos...I find that a great way to use up peppers when you have too many is to buy some chorizo and sizzle them up together.

We have a decent amount of strawberries...we have a few DELICIOUS snap peas (note to self, grow a full row of these next year). We have scallions. We also have a lot of chamomile. But once the flowers dry it do

esn't seem like alot (see my previous blog and the picture below for proof).

In the next couple of weeks i know i'll have lots of bright red vibrant tomatoes and crispy, scrumptious lemon cukes. Oh and summer squash is getting there too. I will have them all at once, get overwhelmed,not know how to cope and freak out. Can't wait!

Trippy Garden - THE MOVIE

This garden update brought to you by AC/DC....

I’m just sippin on chamomile watching boys and girls and their sex appeal

Ok that's not a Lucinda lyric...it's No Doubt (blech) but it seemed appropriate.

I am glad I looked up how to harvest chamomile because it turns out I had to do it right this very instant if I was going to keep the plant healthy and it will become a daily thing through the Fall (if I don't slack). If ehow.com is right....and of course it always is... you must pick the blooms as soon as they, well, bloom. Then you must lay them in a dry, dark, warm area and let them dry out, which takes a couple of days. Then you must place these dry blossoms in a sealed jar and let them accumulate. If all goes well, in about 3 months I'll have an abundance of ready to use chamomile. A cup of these blossoms equal less than a 1/4 cup when dry so i gotta keep my pick hand strong to make this worthwhile. By picking them off of the plant daily it promotes the growth of new flowers. Got that? Good because there is a test at the end.

I planted this chamomile plant on a whim because i wanted something "flowery" in the garden to offset all the veggies. The downside of this stylistic decision is that, unlike the painfully stylized Ms. Stefani, I'm not a particularly big fan of chamomile tea. I do think i can find other uses for it though...maybe a chamomile scone or some kind of baked good. Well I have plenty of time to marinate on that idea (as Baby Bash would say) since I won't have a meaningful amount of dried blossoms for a couple of months...or will i? Time will tell.

POST READING TEST:

(if you scroll up to looks at the blog for answers I'll psychically know you were cheating and be very very disappointed in you).

1. How many cups of dried blossoms = 1 cup of fresh blossoms?

2. Blossoms should be stored, dry, dark and ____ area.

3. What craptastic British "grunge" band from the 90s is Gwen Stefani's finely chiseled husband in....and because of this should he be publicly hanged?

Lemon trees don't make a sound...

til branches bend and fruit falls to the ground. Baby, sweet baby.

So today is day #2 of my staycation. I spent the late morning doing some reconnaissance online and at Shonnards about WTF is up with the yellow leaves on my Meyer Lemon tree. Anton actually pointed them out to me and it caused great concern. My lemon tree is my second child...people ask, as "people" do, when are you having a second child? The truth is I already have a second child and it's my lemon tree. I love it...it brings me great joy...it also causes great concern and anxiety much like a human child. It doesn't wake me up at 3am or pee on the rug, so it's actually better than a real child (kidding....sort of).

So the lemon tree was ailing...and I online diagnosed it with needing fertilizer due to the yellowing inner leaves. I also know that it has been suffering from scale attacks for the last couple of months . I've been hand picking them off but they won't go away and it's highly frustrating not to mention totally gnarls in charge.

My ego got a much unneeded boost when the no nonsense lady at Shonnards agreed with me about the need for fertilizier and suggested an organic fertilizer for palm, tropical and hibiscus plants. Of all the options this one is said to provide more blooming advantages (and is also the most expensive). We'll see...but I feel like I'm being a good mommy. I'm not getting the cheap, generic formula that they sell in bulk at Home Depot...i'm getting the organic, perfect formula made with unicorn dust (as my mother would say). Just like I did with Anton, the sky's the limit when it comes to nutrition. As for the scales she said picking them off is a futile exercise as they just lay eggs and never go away unless you KILL them. So I bought the stuff that kills them. It's organic and expensive...don't judge.

Aww what cute little lemon tree..I wuv woo!!

I found these purple flowers..

My good friend who shall remain nameless except for the fact that her first name is Ilka (hope I didn't give anything away there) said that the title of my blog sounds suspiciously like a "mommy blog". The thought of that made me want to drag something sharp across my throat. Lucinda Williams Live at the Fillmore is such an amazing album and the song after which this blog is named I can assure you has nothing to do with children...haters be damned. I will continue to reference this song in my blog until I run out of ways to. On that note, let's take a look at the back and side yards shall we? I am planning on doing some major work this weekend and during my staycation on these parts.

Backyard before...they had this strange pond thingy which we turned in a firepit. Eventually I want to turn it in to a McMenamins-esque soaking pool. It WILL happen.

backyard now...Colin added lots more grass by transplanting from the front yard and finding cheap sod on craigslist.

Herb garden. Parsley, oregano, chives and sage are doing great (cilantro and dill need some help)...and it's wonderful to have them right by the kitchen so I can just walk outside and hack off a piece as needed when cooking.

Hostas are the purple flowers I speak of...they are shade dwelling perennials and do really well in Oregon apparently. These were just planted a few weeks ago and so far so good. Hopefully by next year these really come to life. This area gets neglected so I hope they can get by without much love from me...sorry guys, I'm busy.

My much adored potted Meyer Lemon tree. I will write a whole blog about this tree (control your excitement).

My favorite place to walk...the Japanese maple grove. This area really needs no improvement.

The sun facing side yard...Colin just ripped up all but one of the weird trees that were there so that we can plant a big raspberry patch. Not sure when the best time is to plant raspberries but it's probably not right now. Project for later.

Some photos to get things going

This is my first blog...I am sure I am the only person on the planet who has started a first blog by saying that. Get ready for more groundbreaking revelations along these lines dear readers. And by "dear readers" I mean me because no one else is aware I am doing this yet...consider this the "soft launch" if you will. Things will really get rolling soon...book deals, three martini lunches, publishers clamoring for my "next big idea". I'll look back fondly on these simple days, the salad days...the days of wine and roses. Roses actually aren't a flower I care for very much, at least not in my own garden. Not a big fan of lettuce either...I rarely make salads.  But I digress...here are some photos of our lovely house BEFORE we bought it and painted it and "Cigarran'd" it, followed by the starting of what I hope to be a long term project of learning how to garden, landscape and grow food. I've only just started and I have no previous background...probably because I've never had an interest until now. But now I'm obsessed...if gardening is crack then I'm a crack ho. And on that note...the first round of photos:

Front yard before...

Anton and Colin preparing the veggie garden for the first planting of fava beans (suggested by Misty to help the soil). We had just ripped up the lackluster rose garden. Pantsless gardening...Anton is a leader in this field.

The artichoke...it will get to big for this spot soon but i've already moved it twice. And now it's got that cute lil' choke growing in the middle, I don't want it harsh it's mellow. Dilemma!

Front yard beginning to take shape...i ripped up the lawn and used the debris to build those little coffin shaped hills. There may or may not be a body under there too...great for the pH of the soil. Beekman's Antiques in Corvallis thank you for that adorable rocking bench, what a steal!

Another front yard shot...that pumpkin in the foreground reminds me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. It's growing so fast it's scary...again, it's those bodies, works wonders! Shh...gardening secret #1!

Front yard on the other side of the path, still major work in progress...that's an apple tree Colin wanted to plant in place of the huge tree we tore out. We tore the big tree out because it had these horrible spiky seed pods that dropped all year long much to the chagrin of barefooted children.

Sun flower, set to pop any day now! Zucchini behind it already has about 3 little guys on it and several more flowers...'bout to get BUCK up in here!

My veggie garden...has already yielded more fava beans than any 10 people could ever eat. Also harvested some great onions and garlic. Now we are waiting on the tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, peppers which are starting to pop up amongst other things (leeks, marionberries *not to be confused with the mayor of DC*, grapes, rhubarb *can't harvest until next year* , basil which is sort of doing blaah, snap peas). I pulled up most of the cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Those were a fail...too wormy and weird. Won't be planting them again.