An update on waiting and aquaponics.

I'm still waiting and praying for my number from State Board. I'm hoping it will be soon, as in today would be great. In the meantime I'm learning how to cook tasty vegetarian food and it's a lot of fun. I made eggplant moussaka and it came out pretty tasty. Tonight I'm going to try to make a nice coconut curry.
I've got a ton of websites bookmarked for recipes and I think we even saved a bit of money when we went shopping. It's a win win so far!

Transplanted peppers

We had so many pepper growing in the aquaponics bin that we transplanted some of them outside. At first they were a bit floppy looking, but in a few days they got used to the dirt and are now growing happily. Soon we'll have to plant them in the ground, but for now they are happy.

Baby lentil plants!!!

I tried to sprout lentils and it didn't work. I followed the instructions, but after 4 days of rinsing twice a day and keeping them in a dark cool place all I had was a smelly jar of icky lentils. I had noticed that there was a small number of sprouts in there so we carefully got them out of the jar and sorted on a paper towel. We wound up with about 15 tiny shoots. We put some in the aquaponics and planted the rest in a pot. I haven't seen any in the aquaponics yet, but 2 of them are holding strong in the pot. I just moved them outside today and I hope they survive! I've found that I actually like lentils and can't wait to grow some!

Parsley and cilantro

We've added parsley and cilantro to the aquaponics bin. Rory love them and it's fun to try to grow things there. There's even some lettuce still growing too!

Tasty yet tiny.

The peppers are great but small. If we let them get red they get a bit of a bite. The seeds were from a bag of roasted pepper that I just tossed in to see if they would grow. Boy did they!

Lots of pepper plants!

The peppers in the bin are still cranking out like crazy. They are really tasty too! I really need to replant more of them now that the testers are doing great. When I get my fancy beans to plant I'm going to need room, but for now I don't have the heart to shock them that way. 

Everything is growing now so I'm happy. It's a real warm tingly to use food we grew in a recipe! And it tastes better too! 

Sylvia the Linus Dutchi and her changes; part 2

The wheel set my dear husband got me for Christmas made all the difference in my riding. The roller brakes let me stop with out having to put my feet down and my pedals no longer take a bite out of my calves every time I stop. The 8 gears instead of 3 means I'm now able to go as fast as I want without spinning like a lunatic and I can easily get up all the hills in my area without needing to get off and walk. With the exception of the stupid overpass, but I will conquer that one eventually! I'm saving up for a dynamo light set to go with the generator, then I'll have light anytime I want it. The rims are way beefier than her originals and the spokes are a bit thicker so I don't worry when I hit a pothole or take her off a curb. Supposedly these rims are lauded by mountain bikers and BMXers for their strength and durability.

As she is now. Ready for anything.

Her grips are now natural cork because the bike shop that spread her for the new gears cut my nice foam ones and I wanted to try something different. As soon as I get a job I'm going back to the foam though. I don't like how hard the cork is. I'm a squeezer and these just don't have the give I like.

Her new basket helps balance her out and can hold a lot of stuff. It's the perfect size for my bag and has made her even more stable feeling than she was before. I definitely like the added weight in the front. It's not the first basket she's had, but I think this one is the winner!

Cyclops bike.

There are still a few small changes I want to make. I want dynamo lights,  better tires and maybe a beefier kickstand. I really want another water bottle holder and I've been playing around with where to place it. I think the basket may be where it goes. 

She goes well both on pavement or dirt in the alleys. She is cheerfully oblivious to most bumps and can carry a very nice load. We can toodle along at a stately 8.5 mph or if necessary fly along at a zippy 15 mph. (Fastest we've gone was 22 mph, but I couldn't sustain it for more than 2 blocks.) She's comfortable for long rides/distances and makes our usual short jaunts fun too.

I'm so glad we found her! She's practically perfect in every way! At least for me!;)

Princess approved.

Sylvia the Linus Dutchi and her changes Part 1

We got Sylvia on February 24, 2014 after searching for the right bicycle for me for a long time.When we were looking I had a few requirements. It had to be strong enough to carry stuff; it needed a low step through for my knee; it had to be small enough to fit me (I'm a very spritely 5'1"-3" tall. It depends on who measures me and my shoes at the time.) It had to feel right. I didn't want black; most of the bikes around here are black and I wanted a blue bike. Good thing I was flexible on the color!

I rode so many different bikes I almost gave up. I rode Treks, Giants, Birias, Raleighs, Specialized, Schwinns, a Montgomery Ward bike, and other assorted Craigslist contraptions. I rode old ones and new ones. I was beginning to think I would never find the right one for me. Then we heard about this little tiny shop that had just opened up, Transit Cycles. The owner let me take a spin on a black Linus Dutchi and it felt good and I could get on easily and just go, but I hated the grips and the brakes sucked. . Of course, me being me, I had to keep looking.

A few days later we went back and I tried out Sylvia. I didn't like seat or her grips, but the fit felt even better than the black one had. Plus she wasn't black. Duncan was willing to trade the rear rack for a front one and trade out the grips for some black foam ones so we put the deposit down and left her to be adjusted. Two days later the small size is available in blue. Oh well, she was already mine.

A week later we went to get her. On the final test ride to make sure she fit and was adjusted properly I found an old drum set. Her front rack carried home the little drum with no problem and that sealed the deal. She could carry stuff and she liked it!

The oldest picture I could find.

After a few months of riding I really hated the saddle (it pinched and not in a good way!) and my dear husband got me my Brooks. It's a B67s and has been the most comfortable saddle I've ever sat on. Now that it has some miles on it, it just keeps getting better and better. 

After about 4 months I had destroyed the rubber in the pedals she came with. Linus was really nice and offered to replace them, but I said no thanks. I tried some other rubber block pedals, but in less than 2 months they had cracked and were falling apart. I think the weather here just destroys the rubber and I hate plastic pedals. I did some research and ended up getting these bear trap pedals in green. They are nice and wide for my feet and they grip my shoes nicely. The only downside is that they really hurt if they hit you. Someday I hope to have rubber pedals that don't fall apart so fast, but until then these ones rock.

In this configuration she took me to work and on many adventures. Then I outgrew her 3 speeds and we got new wheels with bigger gears from my husband for Christmas. That's when the party really started.

To be continued.......

Spring means growing things

So far I'm loving the warmer weather. It's great to see everything in green. Soon enough it will all be back to summer brown.

My mint is going crazy.

I'm trying to have food plants again this year. I'm starting them from seeds and so far the tomatoes are actually growing. This weekend they will get there own pots. I also have two strawberry plants that are starting to have leaves. I'm keeping them in pots so the strays can't dig them up and so I can bring them in when it gets really hot.

Tomatoes ready to re-pot.

Inside we are going to try our hand at aquaponics with the fish tank. In about a week it will be ready for the lettuce seeds. It's a new experiment and I'm really excited to see how it turns out. We go through a ton of leafy greens here and it will be great to just pick as needed!

Lava rocks and water.

I love trying to grow things and hopefully this year more than my ancient mint plant will survive. It's going to be fun!