Bald for a Cause

Back at Thanksgiving, my best friend Kelly was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. She has been undergoing treatment since then and two weeks ago she started chemotherapy. Needless to say, the last few months have been difficult for Kelly and everyone she's close to. She's still training to run the Boston Marathon in April. And, on her good days she still kicks my butt running.

Unfortunately, Kelly has started to feel the effect of the chemo and her hair has started to fall out. As a way to show support and to raise money, I have told people that for $1000 in donations, I will shave my head. And as soon as we reach $1000 I'm dyeing my hair pink and keeping it pink until March 12, when Kelly will shave it for me at a party her family is throwing.

We're almost at $1000 already and I've got the dye. My bosses are donationing $250 (and tolerating my pink, then bald head) which will put us over the top. So on Tuesday, I'm officially going pink.

What a Difference A Week Makes

Last week, cold and snowy. Today it was 60 degrees when we woke up. The hoop houses are consistently getting into the upper 70's when the sun is out and aren't dropping below 40 at night. The starts won't go out this weekend, probably next weekend. One of the larger Tabasco peppers was the first occupant. It will stay in a pot and can be moved inside if needed.

The other big news, we have something growing in the garden. The garlic has come up. The squirrels "moved" a few but must not have a taste for them.

I know garlic breaks ground early and is pretty hardy, but it is the middle of February.
We are off to Vegas for the weekend. Hopefully it is still warm when we get back.

Warmer Weekend Weather

Today was the first of the warmer weather. It hit 50 today and I heard it is supposed to hit high 60s later this week. I took the opportunity to get the plastic on the hoop houses.

This is the compost pile produced from the kitchen scraps from December and January.
I picked up a cheap weather station at Home Depot. I put the outside sensor in the hoop house so we can see how much warmer it gets.

Think Warmer Thoughts

Today is Sam's birthday, Happy Birthday Sami Jo!

This weekend and next week are supposed to warm up. If I get inspired I may get to work in the garden. Most of the greens/lettuce starts have come up.

Is that? Yes it is I started a couple tomatoes. These are little orange cherry tomatoes and are destined for pots. That way they can get moved outside when it is warm enough. Hopefully we will get a couple tomatoes by late may.

The Blizzard of 2011

The blizzard of 2011 is over. UMKC has cancelled classes for the last couple days so my work week, at least for teaching, is shot. I drove home in the middle of the storm on Tuesday. The roads weren't that bad but I didn't see a few stuck people.

The circle in the storm.

Just think, we will be drinking beer out there in a couple months. Can't wait.
Since the first round of seeds are started and the garage is pretty cold, I rigged up a grow light and seed mat in the kitchen.

It only took two days for the salad greens, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard, and basil to germinate. They are growing fast. A couple months from now we could have fresh greens.