busy little bee

Worn Out Pup

Last year, Cop and I celebrated Memorial Day with a hike on the Appalachian Trail.  It’s a stretch of the AT that we’re pretty familiar with, given that we’ve hiked it probably about a dozen times over the past 4 years, but that hike was particularly fun because it was both the first time I’d gone without a group, and the first time I had a camera on me.  As a result, I captured some of my all-time favorite Cop pictures, including the shot here.  (Spending 20 or 30 minutes snapping shots of Cop is something that just wouldn’t be fair in the company of others.)  I had every intention of making this an annual Memorial Day tradition – the solo hike part, not the dog photo shoot  – but unfortunately, that didn’t happen this weekend.

Instead, I used the long weekend to accomplish a bunch of things I rarely have the time to do during the work week, including:

• starting the patio herb garden!
• donating a bag full of books to Housing Works, my favorite NYC thrift store
• rearranging the closet now that warm weather is here to stay (goodbye sweaters, hello sundresses!)
• (almost) donating two bags of clothing (the bags are all ready to go; I just didn’t have the chance to actually drop them off)
• scrubbing my apartment from top to bottom
• repainting some walls that needed touching up
• giving Cop a bath (no hike and a trip to the tub instead – evil dog mama!)
• hour-long phone calls with both sides of the family, as well as my sister-in-law
•  3 hours of sunning and reading in the park

I also got in a couple of quality runs, despite the heat, including a really satisfying speed workout on Friday and an end-of-weekend run this evening that perfectly coincided with Manhattanhenge.  I even managed to get a brief shot of the phenomenon, but I’m hoping to do better tomorrow night, so I’ll hold off sharing until I have the results from then.

I will, however, share pictures of the garden-in-progress, which currently consists of a variety of herbs (mint, parsley, basil, lemon thyme, rosemary, lavender, and oregano), as well as a couple of potted plants.  I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the purple plants, as I didn’t quite pick them out myself.  The stall at the Union Square Green market where I got most of the herbs had a 6 for $20 deal going on.  I only picked up four from this vendor, though, since I’d found a few of the others a couple bucks cheaper on the other side of the market.  As I was paying, he told me that the 6 for $20 included some of the smaller, flowering plants as well, so he talked me into picking up the pair of purple guys.  (Mom – any clue on what they might be?)

Garden Beginnings

The Finished Garden

The cute little orange guy is a dahlia, which I bought from another vendor. The grassy looking plant came from this stall, as well, and I was drawn to this final plant primarily because of the deep red shade. Speaking of shade, after obsessively tracking the sun patterns on the balcony for the past 48 hours, I’m a bit concerned that my little strip of patio doesn’t get enough direct sunlight. And by enough, I mean any; I face north, and the area is entirely shaded by the overhang. Assuming these aren’t all dead within the next two weeks, I’d like to get a couple more herb plants – cilantro, chives, and sage – to add to the mix, but I figured it’s best to test my green thumb before investing too much.

Ouch! Poor The Guy

Want to know my favorite part about having an herb garden so far?  Nightcaps like the one I’m currently enjoying – a Hendricks gin and tonic, complete with a couple slices of cucumber and fresh mint from my own little plant paradise.  I do feel slightly guilty though, because I know that while I’m enjoying an icy evening cocktail, The Guy is in a world of pain after an unfortunate mountain bike tumble which ate up a considerable chunk of his back and left him feeling like he went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.  Props to him for being so hardcore.  Perhaps I should try my hand at growing some aloe plants for his benefit?

A Well-Deserved Nightcap