Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 

the birthdays and more

This afternoon, we had the annual birthday celebration for my Mom, Dad and Grandma. The festivities took place at my brother’s house and we split the food duties between us.

After we got home, I worked on a knitting project that I’ve been trying to finish (I should be able to wrap things up by tomorrow at the latest). I probably should have gone outside, but the weather is looking good for this week, so there’s always another day for that.

Today is the last day of summer for Jake. It’s back to school tomorrow. Not just school, but high school. Four years to go! I remember how long that seemed to take when I was in high school, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to go a lot faster for me this time around.

captain phillips

We watched this movie last night. It was quite engrossing. The movie told the real-life story of Richard Phillips, a man whose cargo ship was overtaken by Somali pirates. With the exception of a little setup at the beginning of the story, it was nonstop action until the end.

My rating: 4/5

25th class reunion

Brian’s 25th class reunion took place at Pit Stop 271 in Nanty Glo. It was an ok evening for what it was. There was a pretty small turnout–they were expecting less than 50 people and that included spouses (out of a class of around 100). They handed out “save the date” cards for the next one. Not sure if these are necessary every 5 years…

garden update

I feel like I didn’t pay enough attention to my garden this year. I’m not sure if it’s due to the crappy weather or just because it was a busy summer. But, here are the highlights.

Tomatoes: I’ve been having a fungal problem with my tomatoes the past few years and that continued this year. I’ve been researching the problem, but haven’t found any solutions that work, unfortunately. My only real recourse is to plant in a different area (if only I had one). This year I just let them go and they’re about in the same shape as past years (where I sprayed them and kept up with removing the damaged leaves). This has been very disappointing because I’d really like to can a bunch of tomatoes.

Pole beans: I got a nifty pole bean tower at the end of last season, so I planted some pole beans this year. Those things grew like Jack’s beans–the tower wasn’t tall enough! I got (and am still getting) a nice harvest from them and that’s just from a few plants. The funny thing is that I don’t even eat green beans (but the guys love them).

Garlic: I had a nice harvest of garlic this season, but that always performs well for me.

Swiss chard: I planted some of this in my “shady garden” and it has been producing all season.

Cukes: I had a decent harvest of these, but not enough to make canned pickles, though I did make some refrigerator pickles to use up the harvest. I had to tear the plants out last night as they were done for the season.

Some other items performed well; some others average; and some others below expectations, but I guess that’s how it usually goes.

enough said

This was a move about a divorcee (played by the always wonderful Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who unknowingly started dating a new friend’s ex-husband (played by the late, great James Gandolfini). That’s all there is to it, really. I thought it was a good, solid movie.

My rating: 3.5/5