welcome back to Madison, a town completely surrounded by Wisconsin. Some updates are in order so you don't think it's still march over here. Em and I lead a pretty exciting life so it will take a long time to get this all in but here we go. I had a birthday. No humans showed up, just balloons with images of a bald guy with a beard. Just kidding, we had a fun time and em even allowed her picture to get taken!
Em finished her first year of school and we went to the beach with her enviro-friends. I know you're not supposed to wear sweaters at the beach, but this one is tough to pull of without taking some skin with it.
Then em left for peru/ ecuador. Temperatures and humidity rose. Refusing to cool my house with an AC unit running off of electricity produced by coal, I turned to taking a cold shower at night, not drying off, and sleeping with a 20'' fan blowing over me. Heat was the enemy. I cooked very little and ate sandwiches instead. Cold brewed coffee kept the kitchen cooler in the mornings. It was easily 70-80 degrees by 10 am.
em and I skyped and talked on the phone, which was good fro us both. I focused some effort on the garden too. I got some cast-offs from work and they enjoyed the weather way more than me. 7 basil plants were started very close together in a medium made our of recycled plastic that
is very light.
I broke them apart and put them up in our rooftop garden. we found that the soil in our garden beds is very clay-ish, which plants don't really like.
After working at the shop, I had to use my discount for something so the rooftop garden was born. Here's the nuts and bolts of the project. this made watering all the plants much quicker and safer since I wouldn't have to get out on the roof to water every day.
Here's a shot from the roof. the white of the bags keeps heat out while the black keeps the light from the roots. I did end up putting some shims under the plants to keep them further away from the hot rooftop.
yeah, they look kinda sickly but they did grow!
I got to see part of the fam over in Black butte oregon after going to a beautiful wedding in Maple Falls. wish I took more pictures.
em eventually came back to madison only to leave for a hiking trip 4 days after getting back. ya can't blame her though, she worked hard all summer in a place that wasn't even summery.
I started making salsas and canning them this summer. Em liked the idea so now we have some jars of beets, green beans, and of course peppers.
Autumn is upon us now with temperatures dipping down to the seventies. No longer am I washing the dishes with cold water or sweating at all hours of the day. I have even been able to wear pants the last few days.
There you have it. long time comin'.
