by sandra.

since we’ll be home-bodies (instead of world travelers) this summer frank and i have finally created a garden. we’ve been thinking about this for awhile now, but now have the time and space.

first we built raised beds so we could use the square foot gardening technique. (more about that here.) in short, you divide your garden into square foot sections. then you plant a different plant in each square foot section in a grid based on the size of the full grown plant. so a tomato will take up one square foot while there’s 16 radishes per square foot.

we decided to plant starters for our peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and broccoli. you can see those in the picture below. we planted the bush bean, radishes, green onion, basil, and carrots from seed.

we’ve already harvested some radishes and lettuce, and are looking forward to eating some tomatoes soon. yum!

by sandra.

frank and i are excited to announce that we just signed a new lease at a house in ne portland.  we hadn’t really planned on moving so soon, but pursued this house when its ad caught our eye on craigslist.  it’s perfect for us in so many ways — bigger kitchen, more space from the neighbors, a working fireplace, and a spacious backyard.  we know we’ll especially enjoy it when we’re home this summer.

below are a few pictures that i stole from the ad:

by sandra.

as the holiday season approaches i wanted to let you know about some options available for buying handmade items for gifts.  i love buying handmade items (for myself and others) because they’re unique, well-made, and directly benefit the creator.

here in portland we’re lucky because our city is home to many small boutiques and the portland saturday market.  whether you live here or are a visitor i encourage you to visit (it’s open saturday AND sunday).  i recently learned that the market under and near the bridge is home only to vendors who handmake their goods.  on the side across the MAX tracks anything can be sold.

i’m excited to attend crafty wonderland’s super colossal holiday sale on sunday, december 14.  just like its name implies this sale will be super (all handmade) and colossal (it’s at the convention center).  i plan on purchasing many of my gifts there.

and finally one place that i LOVE to shop anytime of the year is online at etsy.com.  this website it home to handmade and antique items.  i browse there frequently to add things to my wishlist, for gift ideas (there’s almost everything there!), and for crafting ideas.

enjoy! and good luck with your holiday gift-giving.

by sandra.

it has been much too long since our last post. we have great intentions and plans for posts about our spring break trip, but as you can see those still have yet to be posted. trust me though it’ll be worth the wait! we are excited to share video of the car ride, the sun, the snow, and the animals at wildlife safari.

currently we are working on wrapping up the school year. with only 3 weeks of school remaining there is a lot of teaching and learning to complete. however, the students are growing increasingly restless while our minds are becoming mushier by the day.

frank and i are also preparing for our trip to london and bulgaria. frank has been refreshing his bulgarian while teaching me a few phrases. he’s even labeled some of the things in our house with bulgarian words. so far i know how to say “thank you,” “cookies, please” and “toilet.” i’m almost ready! we’ve also been planning what we’d like to see and do while overseas.

frank and i hope to post (with pictures) while in london and bulgaria so please check in periodically.

posted by sandra.

shortly after the wedding frank and i moved into our new place. it’s about a half mile from our last place and thus still has access to many of the benefits of laurelhurst including the shops, theater, and park. however, now we’re even closer to two of our favorite places, pambiche and fred meyer. hooray!

if you never saw our old place then you never got to see just how small it was. in fact frank and i were crammed together in one tiny room. even newlyweds need some space sometimes. we also had the tiniest kitchen known to man (it was pretty much a closet converted into a kitchen) and no heat. really, the only thing we enjoyed about our old place was the cool sun porch and the cheap rent. (i’ll try to post pictures later on.)

on the other hand our new place almost has too much space. we now have a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, office and basement — each in their own room. (wow!) we have a yard and are looking forward to gardening next summer. and we still don’t pay too much for rent.

doesn’t it look cozy? please visit soon — we love visitors now that we have room (and furniture) for them!

posted by sandra.

in the time between my posts, i often think of ideas for posts (which obviously don’t usually manifest into an actual post). one of those posts that i’ve often thought about (and actually started a few times) was a formal welcome to spring. admist the dreary, wet, and cold days of late have been a few wonderfully sunny and fresh days. those days have ushered in the true signs of spring — daffodils, tulips, and trees in bloom, birds and squirrels searching for food, and the sight of skirts and sandals.