Broken computer, broken camera, busy = few posts

I am afraid Leila and I both have posted very little over the last month. Part of that is I have been busier than expected at work. The other part is our computer hard drive started making strange sounds and then sometimes wouldn't spool up. The operating system wouldn't boot and it just sat at the Compaq startup screen for as long as you sat there.

I took it to Best Buy and they said if the hard drive was dead it would cost 1500 dollars to recover our pictures and files from my dissertation that we desperately wanted to keep. The guy at the desk said that if I put the hard drive in the fridge and hit it on the corner with a hammer just right it would start working again, for a little while. So I put it outside in the cold and then hit it on the side of the desk. I got it to start up and then took it back to Best buy for them to transfer it to a new external hard drive. I am still amazed at how advanced computer storage has become. The smallest one they had was 320 gb! I still have my laptop I bought in college that has less than 200 mbytes of total memory.

The camera is broken also. So no pictures and only a computer if I bring my work laptop home. We are still here and we will try to post more often. Heaven knows I have opinions and stories about my kids.

Fall Gardening

When my mom was here visiting this August she helped us plant a small garden by the kids playground. She planted a circle of lettuces, a mix of greens, two lines of carrots, two lines of spinach, some onions, and a pumpkin plant. I planted some cabbages and collard greens later. It is now November and we are still harvesting lettuce and small carrots. It has been particularly easy since most of the weeds are done for the year.

We also are trying to grow greens and herbs in our sunroom this winter. So far the lettuce and the cilantro are thriving but the basil is weak and spindly.

So the plan right now for next year is to replace some bushes in the flower beds with berry bushes, finish the raised beds, replant our fall garden space, and put peppers and strawberries in the flowerbeds. I think kale and cabbages look great in flower beds also.

It is odd not having the little farm in Indiana. I still miss it. I miss the idea of it maybe even more than the actuality of it. The simplicity of a smaller yard with established landscaping is so much easier. And I do so love our house here in Iowa. No pig to root up the yard, or cows to round up, or worrying about raccoons and the chickens. But at the same time, I was very proud of dealing with all of our farm problems.

Maybe I will get bees. Or try to farm chickens under our porch or out of our shed. Or buy a cow and put it in a rented pasture.