Tomatoes No. 1 and 2

Well folks, here they are...farming isn't always pretty. Below is tomato #1, the first harvested tomato of the season. It unfortunately tried to grow a bit too fast and split its skin. Despite being an ugly duckling, however, its salvageable parts were delicious!

And here we have tomato #2, on its way to becoming the tomato of my dreams...or at least, a tomato that doesn't have an enormous gash down its side! It's already looking a little rough, but I believe it will pull through! (Note that the stripes are supposed to be there, that's why it's called a "Tigerella" tomato). Stay tuned...

Boat Slideshow

Hi everyone! I'm trying something new with this post. Hopefully, you should see a slideshow of boat pictures appear below. Let me or Noëlle know how it works for you. If this works, the slideshow should start off with some of the most recent pictures. In them you can see the new ski post that I added. You can see the straps running to the front of the boat to support the pole. We tested it out last weekend and it worked pretty good. You can also the the wood rails that I'm building. These will sit on top of the gunwales and should make the boat look a little classier. I hope you enjoy the show!

July garden update!

Lots of exciting things happening in the garden this month! Below are some photos of the veggies and flowers I've been growing.
Here are two of my jalapeno peppers. I have 11 jalapenos growing now on just two potted pepper plants!



I love marigolds! Mine have finally recovered from their two transplantings and are now blooming like crazy!

Probably the most exciting though...the Tigerella tomatoes! These are the first two that have started growing. If you look closely, you can see the one of the left is starting to turn red near the bottom. Mmmm...I can't wait!

And here's another update on my favorite pot, the herb mix! There is licorice mint at the back, cinnamon basil and lemon basil in the middle, english thyme on the left, some chives on the right, and a few lobelias thrown in for color in the front.

Noëlle's Office

Noëlle's office is one of the most bright and cheerful rooms in the house. It is also the only one with carpet. She has a nice view out the window of the front yard and lots of space for her books and things.

"I've Been Cut"

"I've been cut." That's what I announced to Noëlle as I was assembling the new electric lawn mower. A rubber grip on the height adjustment lever slipped off and the jagged metal edges underneath tore into my fingers. The picture shows my hand after a couple of days of healing. The lawn mower itself is awesome! It is like vacuuming the yard. It is a mulching electric mower so there is no gas, no oil, no maintenance, no bags of clippings to collect and throw away, no priming, no pull starting, nothing. Just sqeeze the handle and go, and fifteen minutes later you're done!

Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Noëlle's office is through the doorway that's partially blocked by the couch, but you can still get through. I like the nice big windows behind the sofa. Notice the fish tank in the dining room where the noise from the pumps isn't so irritating. We didn't lose a single fish during the move despite the four hour drive and then leaving the fish in a cooler overnight! The kitchen is relatively small, but it works really well with some high-end modern appliances, including a gigantic fridge and a stove/oven that is great.

Garage and Back Yard

In these pictures you can see how the boat fits in the garage, along with tons of other stuff! The white bench that parallels Limin' is my work bench and over on the other side of the boat (near the bicycles) is Noëlle's gardening bench. Ital is standing on top of Ia Ora in the back yard.

Cory's Office

My office is at the back of the house, so I don't have any windows or views like Noëlle does. I do, however, have lots of space, book shelves, desk space, and a view out the door to the garage so I can look at Limin' any time I want. I think it's a fair deal!

Blowout

In order to move from Durham to Beaufort, we had to make many trips back and forth (4 hours each way!) towing the trailer. On one of these trips I was heading back to Durham by myself when just as it was getting dark, near the booming metropolis of Kinston, NC, the bearings on one of the wheels siezed up and the tire tire stopped turning. These pictures show the results. Fortunately, I had a spare tire, some tools, some grease, and was able to jury rig something that allowed me to get up to about 40mph. I finally made it home and then a few days later bought new bearings from Overton's!