Making lists

Now that spring is here it is tough not to start making lists of all the stuff we want to do up north.

The new picnic table we built last fall needs staining. And it needs to be broken in as we haven’t even christened it yet!

We have a lot of gardening, painting, and repairs to get on with, both indoors and out. That front door needs painting and so does the bathroom.

We have also managed to accumulate a pile of stuff here at the condo that will end up at the schoolhouse so we will have to figure out where it will fit. We are never without stuff up there.

So this long weekend we are making our lists. Here’s hoping we get some of it done!

Balcony dreams: simplify, simplify, simplify

Last year’s balcony garden was too ambitious.

By the time fall rolled around the beating western sun had burned most things off and I was left with skeletal stems and wiry vines. Not a pretty picture.

Oh the herbs fared well and we had fresh rosemary into January which was great. The catnip kept everyone happy and the chives made my scrambled eggs a lot nicer. But the rest was a not a bountiful harvest.

Carrots seemed a good idea at the time but I’ve not got the space to let them grow into something that doesn’t look like one of Gollum’s appendages.

The peppers went well both hot and sweet. We’ve always got dried chilis for soups and well, chilis. They may be on the list. Or maybe we just stick with herbs and flowers and a couple of experiments like a lemon or an avocado.

It’s back to basics on the balcony so I can contend with the actual garden at the schoolhouse!

Building green: An infographic

Here is an interesting infographic on the benefits of building green.

There appears to be some solid reasons to build with a thought to considering the environment as you go. I think a lot of this would be relevant whether you were constructing from new or adding on to an existing site. That would sort of be the best way to recycle don’t you think?

Why build green? infographic