If you stop updating it regularly, people will stop reading it!

People, is this true?
There's just been so much happening and I haven't figured out how to get pictures onto my computer unless HJ does it at work and emails them to me. And well, I don't know, pictures just make it all so much more interesting. But I'll try to be more active, I promise.
So what's new?
Well the weekly potlucks have been a grand slam, loads of fun, loads of great food and awesome conversations and cool little hangouts and slowly, I am learning some signs that I retain for more than the minute I need them. What's also been fun about the potlucks is that the people are always different, so there's always new conversations and new friends to meet.
Also, our backyard is in varying stages of being in full bloom, there's wild violets (that's what a neighbor told me they were and she seems to know more about these things) but they are EVERYWHERE all through the yard, it's like we have a sea of purple and I love it. In fact, I love it so much that I haven't mowed yet this season (and it's starting to show). So we'll give it until Saturday so Liz can see our sea of purple and then it's curtains for those violets, but maybe they can spread even more in the mowing. I hope so, it's soooo pretty. And there's tulips, red ones, they're really nice. One little patch of these lillies or daises or some kinda yellow flower that's pretty common and usually planted with tulips (at least in my mother's garden they always were) but I don't know the name of them, they're nestled beneath the pussy willow tree (heh heh) at least that's how we refer to it cause that's what it looks like. The little baby japanese maple tree is still oddly in the semi-center of the yard, I haven't moved it just yet, I want to learn everything I can about doing it so I don't kill it because if that happens I think our neighbor who also grew up in our house will just throw himself on the ground crying or something like that. He's very attached to this tree, particularly when he's had a few beverages. I don't want to cut it down, just to relocate it so we can have the whole yard to run around in and play catch in without the obstruction.
The biggest backyard news is the new veggie garden I prepared with my neighbor Chiara. That was a lot of hard work, we had lots and lots of bulby weeds to dig up and relocate to the side of the house (HJ's excellent idea to battle some overflowing gutter erosion). Then there was the more detailed work of picking out rocks and left over weedy roots, tilling the soil, watching it rain like heck on it and pack it back down, tilling it again and adding "bumper crop" which is supposed to be like Herbal Essence for your dirt, although I haven't heard any orgasmic crys from the yard yet. Then once all that was done we were ready to plant! And here's where HJ helped out, it was great cause you know how she get really grossed out by those "but they're so good for our garden" worms. I had previously planted some sugar snap peas (that are coming up now!!) and we planted the three beds with onions, spinach, and a salad greens mix. After mother's day we'll be planting tomatoes, peppers, squash and string beans. I'm hoping to pick up some raspberry plants to put into the garden too, that would be soooo great. Chiara planted some strawberries so we'll see how those come out. This year we'll keep it semi basic while I figure out the yard layout and slowly prepare the rest of the garden section and see how our crops make out.
On the other side of the garage....I've started to learn about composting, a little bit learning the hard way (like you really shouldn't try to compost english ivy or bethlehem star onion grass) but the other weekend I went to this really cool composting workshop and our friend Meg has been super helpful with lots of composting info, along with several other friends who I never knew composted...funny how people don't chat about rotting veggies and leaves over dinner...
I'm still not sure that I really know what I'm doing but we'll see, at some point we're bound to have some "black gold" for the garden.
Whew, so there you have it, the update on "My Big Backyard" later in the summer, potlucks will start featuring our organic yummies from the garden!