Mesa Lane

Connie's 16th!!

2008-10-19T19:56:00.001-07:00

Sweet sixteen for Connie! A fun and delicious dinner at Dish in La Canada hosted by Liz, the proud mama. Unfortunately I was doing a lot of Jordan juggling that day so most of the pictures I took turned out blurry. I did manage to get this gem of Aunt Jane and Uncle Tom. They have always been a rather photogenic couple. I had a great time seeing family and Connie in her adolescent habitat, so rarely viewed by adults and uncool new mom/sisters like myself.

Around month 5

2008-10-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Good memories from months 4 and 5: waking up happy to see Daddy in the morning and get a scratchy hello. Rolling over and working on her push-ups (girl push-ups for now, but still). Watching the sunset and the hummingbirds rush in for their evening sugar rush, out in the front yard. With the nights coming earlier we are trying to enjoy the last bits of warm weather. And having a little more hair to wash during bathtime.

Heather's B-Day

2008-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Heather Griswold's birthday. Jim took over the planning and baked a 4 layer white cake with fresh raspberry filling and whipped cream frosting. He also decorated the kitchen with two dozen balloons (no Lakers colors this time) and purchased some fabu party hats. Our gracious friends continue to humor us with low key dinners at our house so Lady J can get to sleep easily. Thanks, peeps

Jordan's first B-day experience

3 Months

2008-08-07T13:35:00.001-07:00

I hesitate to write this for fear of the almighty Jinx--but life with our Jordan is becoming more about smiles and less about screaming. For these last couple of weeks we are so grateful! Jordan almost always wakes up with big smiles that last all day. Favorite activities include blowing bubbles and batting at any toy that rattles. And talking to Mom and Dad. And eating. The girl can put it down. She has developed some gorgeous thigh rolls and I've had to pack away some of her newborn clothes (insert overly emotional mom-sigh here). She is such a joy to be with that I now understand why our parents were so darn strict with us when we were kids. Ahhh, parenting....life will never be the same.

Six Weeks

2008-06-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

The sue do pacifier

The first six weeks

Meridith, Jordan, Cami and Anna Ruth

Nap time

Kim, Nichole, Jordan and Cami

Our new baby sitter

Uncle Mark says I have yoga toes

Jordan and Anna Ruth

Her wardrobe

Grandma Alice

Happy dad, tired daughter

Aunt Christy

Anna Ruth

Her fingers

Anna and her hiccups

Week One

2008-05-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma Marquita Griswold and cousin Jamie

The first week came and went. We have been blessed with so many friends and family visiting, making us meals and praying for our parenting success. Bouncing on the exercise ball seems to be the 'if all else fails method' and trips in the car seem to sooth her as well.
This week she has gained back her birth weight and all the questions we had for the pediatrician seemed to be par for the course for first time parents. Dr. Brennan said for us not to sweat the small stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa Griswold

GiGi and Jordan

Bath Day!

'I don't know if I like that bath thing'.

Happy Bday to me!

At Home

2008-05-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

We love having Jordan at home, out of that hospital and all the beeping machines, interruptions and blah food. Today we had some visitors and took Jordan for her first walk.

Devin and Heather

Bode came by to scope out Jordan and had fun playing with Scout. "Ace!"

Grandma Walker

Grandma Alice with big cheeks

Cami and Jordan (she only sleeps while the camera is out)

Jordan Jane

2008-05-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

She is finally here! After 9 months talking through my wifes belly I finally got to meet my little girl on Sunday May 4th. We are still getting to know each other but our time has been so precious. Today we had a staring contest on the couch for a half an hour.
Cami spent 30 hours explaining to Jordan that she was being evicted from her belly. Reluctantly the 8 pound 14 ounce (alien in my belly as Cami called it) took a breath of fresh air and accepted her position in the family.

Waiting for something to happen

"When Jimmy was born...."
Hi Mom!

Finally a girl!
Granpa Glen
Going Home
Sniff

Vermiculture

2008-03-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

I love worms!! So many people have asked me about my worm bin and vermiculture that I thought a photo 'how to' would be appropriate. Worms eat our garbage, some things around town, and as a result they create the richest compost available.

Above is a picture of my bin. It sits outside of our house next to our water heater. The bin is made of plywood and has some leftover green paint to match our house. One cool feature of a worm bin that is different from a compost pile is that it doesn't smell. The worms eat food that is rotten/decayed. The smelly stuff. So as long as they are doing their job the bin is smell free. One testament to the lack of smell is that the bin is permanently placed below our bedroom window as seen in the picture.

Here we have half an empty bin. The compost that was in the lower half is now in my garden and I'm ready to start again.

Here are my ingredients. The main ingredient in the bin is horse manure that is pictured in the blue barrel. The worms love this stuff and one of our friends has a horse with plenty of manure to go around. Going clockwise the big rectangle is some compressed coconut fiber which I use as the bed or base of the bin. It is the only purchased product for the whole process. The green bags contain coffee grounds and filters obtained from Peet's (yum). Below that we have some kitchen scraps that we keep in a tall tupperware container under our sink. And last we have newspaper. The key to this process is to balance nitrogen based products (manure and kitchen scraps) with carbon based products (coconut fiber, coffee and newspaper) by making layers inside the bin.

Here is our first product. On the left is the coconut fiber and next to it is a bin filled halfway with water. The coconut is tightly compressed so I like to crumble the fiber as I put it in for a soaking.

I let the fiber the fiber soak in water for 30 minutes so that there is no more dry coconut.

Add the soaked coconut fiber to bottom of bin until it is about two to three inches deep. The excess water that the fiber holds will just drain out the holes in the bottom of bin. (holes in bottom of bin are hard to see in the photos. There are hundreds drilled into plywood bottom but are just filled with dirt in photos)

Coconut bed is complete. Some people will add coconut fiber every few layers to keep that balanced nitrogen/carbon ratio. I follow up with loads of newspaper because it is free and readily available.

Now for the good stuff! Manure is added next. Again about two to three inches. I usually give it a little sprinkle of water before going on to the next layer.

Over each layer of nitrogen based product I add some shredded newspaper. These layers keep the worms diet balanced. It would be totally possible for a bin to have food scraps and nothing else. You would get a great product. Adding these layers makes my compost more moisture retentive, spongier (if thats a word) and helps break down my clay soil faster.

Fresh layer of paper ready for some more good stuff.

Kitchen scraps. Really the only items that don't make it into the bin from our kitchen are dairy and meat products. Worms eat most everything else like hair, egg shells, bills that are over due...

Layer of kitchen scraps

Some coffee and coffee filters added over kitchen scraps. The coffee layer is maybe a quarter of an inch thick, maybe an eighth. Now some more manure...

Thats pretty much it. I just keep repeating these layers until this half gets full. The worms make there way from one pile to another eating the fresh food.

Last we have a full bin topped with coffee filters and some grounds. The new set of layers will be ready in about three months or less.
Some days you can't pass up taking a peek at the progress thats going on inside. Day and night the worms are busy making compost. One of the only ways that I would upgrade the setup is with elephant manure. And believe me I've tried to acquire some from our local zoo here in Santa Barbara but they thought it was a liability.
Here is a pic of some early strawberries in 100% vermicompost from my bin.

Pics of finished compost comming soon...