... and worms

My hubs is also obsessed with worms... is that weird?

We compost, I think I have talked about that before. We LOVE composting! If it were up to him, not a single scrap of organic material would go to waste--if you run in our circle, at some point you will hear about composting toilets... probably over dinner after Nico calls us from the bathroom to help him wipe... I hope you have a stomach of steel.

Anyway, my husband is always concerned about the health of our compost heap. He spends quite a bit of time digging around, assessing if there is enough heat, checking out whether there are worms or other signs of life.

Don't believe me? Look...


It is seriously something that comes up in conversation as we lay chatting at night before falling asleep:

"I haven't seen any worms in the compost. What does that mean?"

When he finds worms, he is happy, he thinks it means something very positive about the compost. He's probably right, it is just funny, is it not?




Look! It was obviously a good compost day!

Someone will sleep in peace.

Views from work

One of the things I really enjoy about where I work is the natural environment. The grounds are beautiful, it is so quiet, even the air feels different. My workplace is right at the foothill of the Andes. This is the view of the city from the floor where my office is.



This is a back view facing one side...


and here is the back view facing the other direction.


Not too bad, huh?


(I used a kind of crappy camara, pics don't even do it justice)

Have I mentioned he likes to prune...?

My husband likes to prune... I mean he really likes it. He spends a lot of time pruning and re-pruning, and trimming trees and shrubs.

Sometimes it is like one of those bad jokes when you tell your hubs that you have to get ready for visitors and he starts pruning... it is a lot like that actually.



At our house we don't throw away any organic matter that will compost back into rich soil. Leaves are left to compost in the grass, and in addition to pruning the trees, he spends even more time cutting those bigger pieces into sticks and twigs that will break down and compost. So we have sticks and twigs covering lots of ground space--just think of it as a rough mulch.


We also have piles of stickes and branches in other spaces... I like this old wheel-barrow.


Remember a few months back when I made plum jam? Well, this is what is left of the plum tree.

He says it is a "drastic" pruning. Yes... drastic is one way of putting it.

We have a running bet going about whether or not it will come back in the spring. He says it will come back. I find it hard to believe I will be making plum jam again this year... or ever again. What do you think?

The funniest, weirdest thing is that he will not touch this ancient fig tree. He hasn't trimmed one little branch!

Though I think it was the only tree in the yard that desperately needed pruning.

Sunny Sunday in the yard

It is winter in the southern hemisphere. In Santiago it gets cold at night, but during the day if the sun comes out, it can reach a decent temperature. Because of some sprinking rain we got over the weekend, the air was a bit cleaner today, the sun was out, and the sky was a bright blue. I am recovering from a cold bug, so it felt good to get some air outside.

So this was a piece of our Sunday in the yard.


G making grass angels



A sibling hug



One of the lemon trees... can you say "pisco sour"?



Our winter garden. We could only grow a few thing: baby lettuce, spinach (with some swiss chard sneaking in) onions and leeks (which have been very slow), and radishes.



Little harvest: some swiss chard that I sauted with some olive oil and garlic... and the first little radishes I picked to make room for some others--which we had in a salad with some of the baby lettuce.

Is there anything quite so divine as something you grew yourself?

I hope your Sunday was happy!

Class Rooster

Guess who cried when he was told that he couldn't take the rooster home?