My Garden

I have this friend, Siet.  She is one of the most fascinating people ever.  We've been friends since we were 11 years old but have lead very different lives.  She's a farmer living in Colorado, building a tiny house to live in while she and her wife Jenny work on constructing an earthship.  I am pretty consistently amazing by the process of realizing dreams.  This is generally true of me and magnified by the experiences of my friend Siet.

When we moved into our new home Siet and Jenny sent a care package.  Inside I found these.

Unfortunately, for every living thing outside of my children that I had ever tried to cultivate in any of my 35 years (including some small animals- mostly fish), pretty much everything that I touch dies.

I swear to God, even that avocado seed that I have been trying to grow for YEARS only sprouted a root while I was away on vacation for a week.  It probably sounds crazy and paranoid to think that my very presence to could kill living things, but I swear it is the truth.

On a separate but related note, my husband is convinced that I have a technology killing super power.  Not in a way that makes technology difficult to use, but in a way that makes it possible for me to control the touch screen on my iPhone from six inches away.  Or, by killing the microwave.  Or my iPod displaying all of our music upside down and backwards.  Or, a stereo in the car of a friend that has not worked in years suddenly begins working when he picks me up from the airport and suddenly stops working after he drops me off at the airport.  You know... weird stuff.  My husband think that there's a normal scientific explanation.  He thinks that my body works on the same frequency as many electronics and interfere with them.

But I can't help but wonder if the same things inside of me that kills electronics also kills plants.

That said, we moved into this house that has gorgeous, well established landscaping.   I have been sincerely enjoying weeding and pruning and clipping flowers to make bouquets.  I enjoy the fruit that we grow and the blooming of all of the plants and the little baby succulents sprouting from their mamas.  My black thumb made of lead has just a hint of green... and I have these seeds.  Siet gave me some great instructions...

...so, yesterday, with fear in my heart and the lives of much vegetation at my fingertips, I planted squash and California poppy's.

Hopefully, they'll be sprouting up and thriving in this space.

I don't hold a whole lot of hope, but I will follow the instructions and do my best to see them grow into healthy, prolific, food baring crops.

Today, I will plant cardinal climbers.  The seeds had to be soaked for 24 hours before planting, and I needed to find the perfect place for them.  I am going to pot them next to our outdoor fireplace so that they can climb up the side!

I have this bed next to my front door that gets no sunlight and I am wondering what I can possibly plant here.  Are there plants that don't use sunlight?  It seems as though something must have grown there at some point.  But, what?

Calling in the armed forces

I woke up with a bite.

The exterminator that Lila's teacher recommended will be here before noon.

If we can't beat this, I am going to have to leave. I guess that I'll need to take my children and pets and run. I can't live this way. I can't constantly fear. I am on the verge of losing it.

In other news, my super-technology breaking power is in full effect and I can make my cell phone go crazy without even touching it. It plays angry birds and calls my friends all on its own. It even goes to web pages or opens texts and begins writing in letters. Jay thinks it's the craziest thing that he's ever seen. He wasn't to video tape it.

***@***@***@***@***UPDATE***@***@***@***

The exterminator has come and gone.

For the first time since we discovered our bed bug infestation I feel hopeful. He said that the entire section of center city where we were living is completely bed bug infested. He also said that he will solve this problem by using three different chemicals and coming back for a follow up visit. The first chemical will kill anything living now. The next chemical will last for 12 days and kill anything that hatches and the third chemical has a lasting effect of six months. He will also come back for a follow up and do it all again.

He'll be here at 2 and I have to have the girls out of the house until 7. They get out of school at 3:15. I was thinking of taking them to New Jersey to eat at their favorite restaurant for dinner. I'll have all of the pets with me, and I'll have to leave Sidney in the car. But we'll be there with her most of the time. By the time we get back to Philadelphia we should be worry free.

No bed bug shall be left standing.