More friend excitement!!!

You will recall that Brooke has mad photo skills! As Meghan is leaving soon, and we are all "adults" now with terrible schedules, Meghan and I decided we should do a photo shoot with our other two best friends from high school - Meredith and Becka. We called upon Brooke for her photo talent, creativity, and bubbly attitude to help us out. Below is a sampling of the results!

We LOVE the pictures. We are super happy. Thank you Brooke!!!

Jane & Meghan go to the Cape!!!

I have a list in my cell phone of things I want to blog about. I know, that doesn't count for anything. It's July 1. My garden is flourishing, I'm (kinda) tan, I have been baking and cooking (a lot). Most excitingly, Meghan and I went to the cape for 2 days. It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. :)

Bourne Bridge. 

We left on a Wednesday morning and headed off down to the Bourne Bridge. We made it to Chatham, starving, and just in time for lunch. We found a hole in the wall boasting super fresh seafood so we decided to try it. $40 later we had two amazing fish lunches. We ate standing up at the pier watching the seals. (More about them soon)

Lobstah Roll

Fish Sandwich

Hole in the wall. No bathrooms. No tables.  Just fish, a kitchen, a cash register and a few humans.

Off we went to Chatham town and "explored". Meghan and I encountered a few characters...most outstanding was the middle aged man with dyed red hair swept into a comb over. As he stood in his typical socks and sandals (eww) he informed us of the white sharks off the coast of the cape. He told us not to worry because the seals were uniting against the white sharks and were going to war with them. Soon, the seals will obliterate the threat of the sharks to humans!!! It would probably be worth mentioning that he owned an antique store and was (slightly) sketchy. We left shaking our heads and continued to rack up our points in FourSquare, trying to beat each other in checking in. It was about 90 degrees so we searched for a frozen lemonade venue and decided to go out to the ocean and take a little tour of the local light house.  

Chatham Light House

The inside. No elevator! ;)

Frozen lemonades in hand we were escorted to the light house entrance by an adorable retired coast guard officer. We had to leave the lemonades at the entrance, but we followed our patriotic and very (politically) conservative officer up, up, and up. Eventually we made it to the top and stood in a small round room with a really bright light. It was probably 110 in the look out area. 

Good bye Chatham. We headed off to our hotel for the night. The Colonial House Inn of Yarmouthport, MA. For $140 we got dinner, a bed and a ((very) small) breakfast the next morning. The breakfast was puny, but dinner did NOT let us down. And, it was 3 courses and included in the price of our room. SCORE!

  

                                                        Meghan and I are (kinda) food oriented! 

We walked down a LOOOOONG pier and chatted with locals and an array of photographers. Together we all watched the sunset.  (I'm a sunset freak - brace yourselves!)

We finished the night with a round of minigolf (Meghan won) and some gross ice cream. I took a 30 second dip in the pool. Off to bed...we had a big day come dawn.

(Not my picture) Our Colonial House Inn.

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Meghan scoped out a kayak place for us to go around the coast on Thursday morning. In a nutshell, it was worth every penny. The best $45 I have spent on anything. There was a group of 7 people and 1 super awesome guide/instructor. We learned all about the wild life on the marshy coast. We learned about ospreys (even though I don't like birds), saw fiddler crabs, and the most amazing...a horseshoe crab. All fascinating subjects. 

Our awesome tour guide! 

The tour was about four hours...we were starving when we made it back to the main land. We didn't get too far...just one drive way down from the marina we were at. Another $40 lunch, more amazing seafood. :)

Off we headed to Sandy Neck Beach. We spent the evening on the beach and did we ever have some adventures/run ins on this beach!! It ended in being kicked off the beach and receiving a $50 "noncriminal" ticket from a power-trippin conservation officer who had barely begun puberty. (We drove the wrong way down a little road that led to the beach.)

It was an awesome trip and something that I will remember for a long time to come! :)

Back from Hiatus!

Well hello there!!! It's almost summertime! My favorite time of year. (Second to my favorite, favorite time of year - fall.)
I have decided to start blogging again, mostly because my new found passion needs some advertising and I need a way to keep organized! Oh, by the way, this passion is gardening! Although, I should really call it "gardening". My dad has the knowledge, expertise, and vision (thank you horticulture degree and farmer background). He lacks the childish (almost naive) enthusiasm and time (thank you real-world).

I will give you a little background:
Last year I decided to garden so I started a little late but built 3 raised beds, bought some loam from a local nursery. My mom and I screened it and my long-suffering bestest helped me build the beds and gave some realistic support criticisms. She did drive me to Home Depot (wayyyy better than Lowes) in her SUV as ours was unavailable for some reason on Saturday morning, early. I used vegetable starts for most of my veggies. But direct seeded carrots, peas, onions and of course potatoes.

Then convention came along, then camping, then friends, them more conventions and my cousins from Ireland and somehow the garden was sort of...neglected. My parents stepped in as they could but I realized a few things.

With all the experience I gained last year, I have set out to be more productive this summer. I don't lack ambition, but perhaps...focus?

In April, my dad took our potatoes and laid them all out in the sun in the garage to spout tubers. We ONLY eat Yukon Golds around here...
A month ago I fertilized my beds which my dad QUICKLY sowed to potatoes. ALL. MY. BEDS.

So, I ordered more soil, bought some wood and most importantly...STARTED PLANNING. I did some research, found tons of awesome sites. (My favorite being this one: http://thefoodproject.org/sites/default/files/GrowingGuide2010.pdf ) I focused, refocused, and reminded myself to focus again on what was realistic for both my time and my family's need.

One rainy evening, an old dumb truck rumbled into the yard and my dad guided its driver to my newly constructed beds. My dad and Davey (thank you) shoveled and shoveled. I generally inspected, approved, encouraged, questioned, bossed, made sure my orange crocks got supper muddy, and even managed to fertilized the soil amid my busy delegating duties. That evening we planted peas, beans, carrots, and onions. By "we" I mean I tore open the package and my dear father worked his magic.

Two days later my mom and I visited our local nursery and purchased the veggies on my post-research garden plan. I planted. Watered. Sighed. The beginning of a long impatient wait!!!

All done filling. Left is planted with seeds of peas, beans and carrots. (Yes, it was raining)

Beet seeds. Oddest seeds you have ever seen!

Square foot gardening! <3

One of many lists. This might qualify as the Master Master List.

Pretending I'm sophisticated!

That last picture is a decent representation of my must-haves in the garden. Gloves -get yourself a pair of Atlas Nitrile garden gloves - you won't regret it!, (orange) Crocks, hand cultivator (yes, I just googled that to see if that's what it's called. I call it a mini-sprong. Donegal roots...) You can also see my Master Master List on the left there! :)


It's Memorial Day Weekend - What are your plans? I am going yard saling in the morning! (Yes, I really am!) Just wait till you see what I am going to be doing with my finds!


I am also going to plant my tomatoes!!! I have a plan of action to combat last year's failures.


What's growing in your garden?

Happy Birthday Sarah Brooke

HAPPY NINETEENTH BIRTHDAY, BROOKE!!!

Paris - Day Three