What a wonderful weekend! We had a very happy Easter brunch with the neighbors - Mimosas, pancakes, omelets, and egg dyeing! After a nice afternoon nap I worked in the garden, then we were off to an Easter BBQ with the grad students in Dan's department. Mike smoked ribs which were FANTASTIC. Most folks brought their dogs and there was a huge yard for them to frolic in - Hannah doesn't always play well with others so that means leaving her at home is best for al involved. All in all a great time. Spent some time in the garden, didn't get everything done, but enough to signal progress.
Our plan for a composter is here! I've cleared away the space, now we just have to find some concrete blocks! I think we'll go with a two-bin system, which is about 45 blocks. Should look pretty sharp. Coming Soon!!
Pictures from the weekend.
Two Highlights:
Friday we saw two lizards gettin' it on in the backyard...pictures in the link
Our first tomato is growing!!
xo
ct
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
A-Day...A-Day!!
Yesterday was A-day. Unfamiliar with what that means and why it's such a big deal? For a quick guide to A-day, click here. Normally I wouldn't link to the student newspaper at Alabama (The Crimson White), but this is about all they are good for - talking about football..
So A-day is basically the last scrimmage of the Spring season. That's right...it's a SCRIMMAGE...meaning we play each other...but still, tens of thousands of people descend upon T-Town for this day. It's like a game day, but everyone you see around town is your friend - no pesky rival school to muck up the streets...
Dan and I participated in A-day...Entry into Bryant Denny stadium is FREE FREE FREE...so we took a self tour around the stadium, got some pictures of the landscape from the highest structure in our fair town, and all around enjoyed the day. It was nice and sunny and the event provided for some primo people watching. The unveiling of the new Nick Saban statue also coincided with the day's festivities (every coach who wins a national championship gets one here at UA - his was in 2009), so we finally got to see the scary bronze statue that, as one commenter put it, has an eerie liking to Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes.
You be the judge:
Garden Pics!
Our A-day pics!
xo!!
So A-day is basically the last scrimmage of the Spring season. That's right...it's a SCRIMMAGE...meaning we play each other...but still, tens of thousands of people descend upon T-Town for this day. It's like a game day, but everyone you see around town is your friend - no pesky rival school to muck up the streets...
Dan and I participated in A-day...Entry into Bryant Denny stadium is FREE FREE FREE...so we took a self tour around the stadium, got some pictures of the landscape from the highest structure in our fair town, and all around enjoyed the day. It was nice and sunny and the event provided for some primo people watching. The unveiling of the new Nick Saban statue also coincided with the day's festivities (every coach who wins a national championship gets one here at UA - his was in 2009), so we finally got to see the scary bronze statue that, as one commenter put it, has an eerie liking to Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes.
You be the judge:
maybe you just have to be here to really appreciate it...It actually is not AS scary as the initial model statue was...
AND...we got a pic from a photographer who was taking random A-day photos for a Tuscaloosa mobile socializing network - we are now part of history...
Our A-day pics!
xo!!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Busy weekend!
Yippee!
First weekend of not working in a while, kept busy and here are the pictures to prove it! More recap in the future, but basically: garden, beer, food...
xo
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Busy bees...
Howdy!
Quite a week has passed.
I've been working a lot at the lab - went to Coweeta again this weekend to collect invertebrates for Mick's project. It was good to stay out at the station for a couple days and get to enjoy the area a bit more. We were busy both days in the field but it was enjoyable work and the weather was quite nice and sunny!
Last Friday Dan and I along with 7,498 others went to the grand opening of the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater where we saw Band of Horses totally rock T-town. I didn't bring a camera (doh!) but here are some pics from the Tuscaloosa News website. It was a shame that they only played a 45 minute set opening up for the Avett Brothers, but anytime at all made me happy. Sadly they did not play my much anticipated Cee-Lo Green cover "Georgia" - I guess they knew their place in Sweet Home Alabama and didn't want to make waves. All in all the amphitheater is AWESOME. The sound was great, we had center section seats which was great but really there isn't a bad seat in the house. We were able to rally a pre-funk at our house before the show and then walked down to the show which was an easy 1.2 mile walk - less than 20 minutes!
Now all we need to make it perfect are some additional killer acts that Dan and I like (read: NOT Kenny Chesney if you can believe it). Patti LaBelle and the O'Jays played on Saturday and Dan reports he could here the music here in the house with windows closed - it's like we live in a big city!! Although the sound maybe annoying, all in all I'm glad we have such a venue here in Tuscaloosa and even country pop blaring through the house will be bearable.
Two weekends out in the field has left me itching to get in the garden and get dirt under my fingernails. This weekend is the UA Arboretum plant sale as well as a rain barrel workshop I'm attending! We had a crazy thunderstorm blow through T-Town Monday night and oh how I wish I had a rain barrel to collect all that free water for the garden!!
I need to take more pics of the garden -soon!! We've already had a few strawberries to savor and the tomato plants are growing well!! Yippee Spring!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Hey ya!
This past weekend we had work and fun. Dan studied hard for his aquatic entomology test that he took on Monday and I processed benthic samples from Coweeta.
We managed to take a break Saturday evening and had fun at the 2nd Annual Druid City Art Fest that was FREE and held downtown in the new park that opened up this summer, just a half block down from the Alcove...There was a proper stage setup with musical acts throughout the day - we caught the last couple and they were....not for us let's just say. But it was nice to enjoy some nice weather, eat some hot dogs and sip a beer in the open. Plenty of people watching opportunities as well!
Our neighbor was one of the featured artists at the festival and it was great to see his art displayed - about 4,000 people showed up which is up from last year (3,000) so it was nice that he got some foot traffic!
After taking in the Art Fest we headed downtown for an evening stroll. We were surprised by a whirlwind of bikers swerving throughout the downtown streets. Unknowingly we had stumbled upon "Tour de Tuscaloosa" which is held annually for the last 5 years. Timing had it that we could watch the Men's Pro "criterium", which I was unfamiliar with - but basically it was a 1.2 mile loop bike race around downtown for various time intervals and gain points depending on their placement. We found a seat in Temerson Square (a row of bars downtown usually peppered with the undergraduate crowd and smoky as all get out) and watched the bikers whiz by...It was like Nascar, only with bikes...Since they were the Men's Pro, these guys were FAST. It was a little unnerving to watch them take one of the downhill corner turns at such speeds! I haven't gotten that fast on my Trek just yet!
Right now there's a nice sized thunderstorm (complete with lightening) keeping me awake - oh how I love a good thunderstorm! Sadly, Hannah freaks out at the thunder, I had tried to teach her to enjoy thunderstorms a couple of summers ago while in the field in Icicle Creek. While camping, every time thunder rolled I gave her a generous lick of peanut butter from her pb jar (yes, she has her very own pb jar). That got old fast as booms of thunder were common each evening for a good couple of hours... I don't think she learned much from the experience except confusion - "The sky is falling, but at least there is peanut butter before I die" maybe I should've kept at it...maybe...
I need to do a lot of work on the yard, but it's been delayed due to bad weather and me working on the thesis (boo, hiss)...right now it is in massive disarray due to a wood pile score (Thanks to Dan's helpful lifting skills), but a plan is forming in my head...
Oh yes, I put up a new picture link in the photo shortcut area - this is an old set of pics from our friend Ben, who took us shooting before leaving Idaho last summer. It was on my list of things to do before leaving Idaho..Thanks to him, it was happily checked off the list...
xo
This past weekend we had work and fun. Dan studied hard for his aquatic entomology test that he took on Monday and I processed benthic samples from Coweeta.
We managed to take a break Saturday evening and had fun at the 2nd Annual Druid City Art Fest that was FREE and held downtown in the new park that opened up this summer, just a half block down from the Alcove...There was a proper stage setup with musical acts throughout the day - we caught the last couple and they were....not for us let's just say. But it was nice to enjoy some nice weather, eat some hot dogs and sip a beer in the open. Plenty of people watching opportunities as well!
Our neighbor was one of the featured artists at the festival and it was great to see his art displayed - about 4,000 people showed up which is up from last year (3,000) so it was nice that he got some foot traffic!
After taking in the Art Fest we headed downtown for an evening stroll. We were surprised by a whirlwind of bikers swerving throughout the downtown streets. Unknowingly we had stumbled upon "Tour de Tuscaloosa" which is held annually for the last 5 years. Timing had it that we could watch the Men's Pro "criterium", which I was unfamiliar with - but basically it was a 1.2 mile loop bike race around downtown for various time intervals and gain points depending on their placement. We found a seat in Temerson Square (a row of bars downtown usually peppered with the undergraduate crowd and smoky as all get out) and watched the bikers whiz by...It was like Nascar, only with bikes...Since they were the Men's Pro, these guys were FAST. It was a little unnerving to watch them take one of the downhill corner turns at such speeds! I haven't gotten that fast on my Trek just yet!
Right now there's a nice sized thunderstorm (complete with lightening) keeping me awake - oh how I love a good thunderstorm! Sadly, Hannah freaks out at the thunder, I had tried to teach her to enjoy thunderstorms a couple of summers ago while in the field in Icicle Creek. While camping, every time thunder rolled I gave her a generous lick of peanut butter from her pb jar (yes, she has her very own pb jar). That got old fast as booms of thunder were common each evening for a good couple of hours... I don't think she learned much from the experience except confusion - "The sky is falling, but at least there is peanut butter before I die" maybe I should've kept at it...maybe...
I need to do a lot of work on the yard, but it's been delayed due to bad weather and me working on the thesis (boo, hiss)...right now it is in massive disarray due to a wood pile score (Thanks to Dan's helpful lifting skills), but a plan is forming in my head...
Oh yes, I put up a new picture link in the photo shortcut area - this is an old set of pics from our friend Ben, who took us shooting before leaving Idaho last summer. It was on my list of things to do before leaving Idaho..Thanks to him, it was happily checked off the list...
xo
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Garden pics!
The link above are recent pictures of the garden! A weekend of A LOT of yard work! But fun!!
Here are a couple pics from Dan - The update is he and Post-Doc Jim FINALLY successfully sampled streams 7 and OH2...I don't know what OH2 stands for, perhaps Dan can translate...
Come Wednesday Dan will be have gone for 2 weeks in Iceland! He's had RIDICULOUS weather in Iceland - snow, wind, cold..yikes! Here are a few pictures:
Jim digging out the rental car:
Stream 8 on the right (geothermally heated), Stream 7 is on left (not heated)
Jim sampling in the "hole" in OH2..most of the stream is covered with over 6 feet of snow!!
The landscape picture of Hengill: a snowy wonderland!!
The landscape picture of Hengill: a snowy wonderland!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)