39 weeks

Here I am growing my two favorite things.  "Pebble" and fresh veggies.  Except "Pebble" seems to have outgrown the nickname.  So what do you call a stone that isn't quite a boulder but is no longer a pebble?  I'd love to hear your suggestions!

39 weeks with Pebble

Sorry (again!) for the lack of posts recently.  We've had a lot going on trying to get ready for baby's arrival.  And, well, honestly, I am a super procrastinator!  If there was an award for such a thing, I would definitely be a finalist.

Sadly, my Grandma Dorothy is dying right now.  I'm heart broken that I can not go home to see her one more time before she goes and that she isn't going to get to meet "Pebble".  But she is ready to go and I did get to say goodbye on the phone.  I know she will be with us in spirit when it is time to bring this little one into this world.  I think of her every time I go out to water the garden and will never forget her telling me all about how much my Grandfather enjoyed gardening.

Speaking of bringing Pebble into the world, I've been starting to have little practice runs of contractions that last a few hours and then die down again.  Hopefully Pebble waits for my good friend Rhonda, a nurse midwife who I went to nursing school with, to arrive from New Mexico.  She has graciously agreed to come for a week and be our doula.

Garden update...growing strong!

The garden is doing amazingly well with all this warm weather and sun.  We have even started harvesting salad greens already!  Here are a few recent shots of the beds.

Endive, shallots, asparagus and teragon.

Lots of beets, onions and garlic.

Potatoes

Spinach, cress (which we have been pulling up to eat and will re-sew) and bunching onions.

Three different types of carrots.

Salad green in back, spinach in the front.

Inside the greenhouse.  

Broccoli, basil and cucumbers.

Basil, dill, tomatoes and zucchini.

Evening entertainment in the Clarktic Circle

On summer evenings, Tim and I often ask each other "Brain Drain (Television), or Fire Bowl?"   The answer is usually "Fire Bowl."  In fact, we've been enjoying the fire bowl so often recently, we have started calling it the North Routt TV.  

Does anyone know what kind of bird you hear calling in this video?

The exception to the fire bowl evenings, are when all I feel like doing is, this after a 12 hour shift on my feet.

Luckily, work has been relatively slow recently.  I have been able to stay home on call for many of my shifts, or at least go home early.  I have actually had to work very few full 12 hour days in the last couple of months.  Good thing, because when I am on my feet for that long, I have lots of contractions.  

Walter used to love to spoon with me when I would come home from work and collapse, in an exhausted heap, on the couch.  That no longer works so well with my belly protruding so much.  So we came up with a new snuggle position.  You should see the way he looks at me when Pebble kicks him in the head.  "Hey mom, what was that for?"

Upgrading the North Routt TV:

The copper fire bowl we bought three years ago has gotten so much use, that it was starting to wear out.  The legs were becoming increasingly unstable and the copper bowl is very thin.  Tim tried to re-weld the legs a few weeks ago, but it didn't work so well.  So Tim, being good at everything he puts his mind to, spent the day upgrading our "TV"

Tim welding legs onto the new and improved steel fire bowl

The new fire bowl, all ready for the next time we need to be entertained.

Maternity Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago Hillary Spillane, of Spillane Creative, came up to the house to do a maternity photo shoot for us.  Hillary graciously agreed to trade photo sessions with Tim.  He will be shooting a family session for them, with their week old newborn daughter, next week.  Here are a few of my favorite shots that Hilary took of us.

Ultrasound images of Pebble at 8 weeks and 20 weeks.

Aloof Bella and Goofy Walter can't wait for Pebble to arrive (well, maybe Bella can wait...)

Coming Soon...

...a sneak peak at our maternity photo session with Hilary Spillane of Spillane Creative.  

More to come...soon....

Experimenting with Photos of the Aquarium

Tim has been playing with different techniques in photographing his reef aquarium.  These photos were taken from the top of the aquarium, looking down as though you were snorkeling about the reef.

Growing Season 2012

Growing Season 2012 has come very early to the Clarktic Circle, and the Stones are ecstatic about it.  

We are at about 6 weeks ahead of the typical growing season in Clark.
At 34 weeks pregnant, Alethea is in the final 6 weeks,
give or take a week or two in either direction, of her growing season.  

This is what the garden looked like last May...

And this is what the garden looks like this May....

Farmer Tim and his Clarktic Farmlet Creations.

The un-seasonably warm spring is a welcome surprise to this expectant mama who is busy taking advantage of the weather to get some projects done before little Pebble is born.

Alethea and Pebble are covered in dust from sanding the patio furniture.

Alethea got all the patio furniture sanded and ready  for Tim to apply a fresh coat of stain,
but the weather  was fickle and forced him to wait for another day.  

Tim, being the extremely organized project man that he is, took full advantage of the early spring thaw to begin our planting season early.  He started a variety of seeds indoors on April 15th, grew them in the studio above the garage under an old aquarium light he wasn't using anymore, and moved them out to the green house today.

Interior view of the green house May 13, 2012.

We are taking a slightly different approach to where things are planted in the green house this year.  The cucumbers are planted on the north side of the green house (left) and the tomatoes are on the south side.  Last year the cucumbers grew so well that they blocked sunlight to the tomatoes.  We have herbs like basil and dill that Tim sowed directly into the green house soil on May 1st.  We are awaiting the arrival of bare root strawberry plants for the green hanging pots, and there are petunias that Tim started from seed in the flats waiting to be transplanted into the moss hanging baskets for our porch.   Also in the flats are Hollyhocks that we started from seeds gathered from Sally Gilchrist's garden last fall.

Out in the raised beds, Tim started the seeds on May 1st and installed 200 watt mini heaters.  Since we are still getting hard frosts, the heaters are set to kick on at 35 degrees to keep the frost inside the raised beds at bay.   Average last frost in our area is on June 8th!

Endive

Yellow beets, beets, onions and garlic.

Spinach (not up yet in this photo) and various lettuces

Bunching onions, cress and Tat soi.

Asparagus

The only things in the above photos that weren't started from seed this year are the garlic and onions (started from sets) and the asparagus which was given to us in the Fall of 2010 by our friend Caitlyn.  Asparagus is a crop that only flourishes for those who can withstand the temptation to eat it for 2 whole seasons!  You harvest it on the third season in order to give the roots plenty of time and energy to get well established.  It is oh so hard to resist breaking off a few stems when you are out there watering!

And finally, a chicken update.  Tim's chicken project last week was to design and install an automatic door on the chicken coop.  He has it set to a timer that will open in the morning and close at a set time in the evening.  Because, as they say, the chickens always come home to roost, the doors will close them all safely inside at 9pm, whether we are hear to do it or not.

Automatic door to the chicken coop.

However, the automatic door created another problem that Tim then set himself to solving.  We are not allowed to have fences in our subdivision, but the neighbor dogs roam freely between all of our homes.  This is great for the quality of life of the Clarktic Circle hounds, but not so great for the life expectancy of the Clarktic Circle free ranging chickens!  When one of us is home all day to intervene in the potential doggie- chicken encounter, we allow the chickens to free range.  But when we are both at work all day, the poor chickens were cooped up inside the entire time.  That is, until now!

Tim built this chicken run and enclosed the bottom of the coop with chicken wire to give them a safe outdoor space to use when we can not be here to supervise them and ensure their safety from predators.

The aforementioned automatic chicken door opens into the newly built chicken run.  

When we are home, we can open the side door to the run and allow the ladies to free range.  When we are not home, they now have three times the previous floor space to utilize.

A shot of the chicken digs with some of the ladies checking  it out.

Baby Tejas sleeping on top of Pebble

Tejas Obray is little Pebble's first little friend.  They don't yet know it, but they have many of years of fun together ahead of them.

Our good friends Becky and Neal announced their pregnancy just a few weeks before we announced ours.  Becky and I had the pleasure of growing our bellies together and she gave birth to little Tejas about 4 weeks ago.  I was honored to be a part of her journey, both prenatally and during the birth.  I can't wait for little Pebble to come and begin building a friendship with baby Tejas.  For now, Tejas is content to sleep on top his little friend in my belly.  

At 4 weeks old, Baby Tejas is about  7 pounds now. I think he looks like he could fit inside my belly,
which is supposedly housing a 4 pound baby right now.  

At 33 weeks along, Pebble weights a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17 inch mark.  Little Tejas was about 5 pounds 9 ounces when he was born at 37 weeks (if I'm remembering correctly...).  It is hard to believe that little Pebble could be here in as little a 4 weeks.  However my gut has been telling me since the beginning that Pebble will have a late arrival.  Time will tell.  I have had daily Braxston Hick contractions since about 20 weeks. Some people say that a toned uterus, from lots of these practice contractions, makes for an early baby and a fast, efficient labor.  I'm hoping for an on time baby and a fast efficient labor, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Visiting family at 30 weeks

I'm actually almost 33 weeks now, but since I haven't posted anything about the pregnancy since 28 weeks I thought I would recap a little.

I had a wonderful trip to Oakland CA when I was 30 weeks along where I spent  4 days with my sister Camille, her husband David and their beautiful 3 1/2 year old identical twins,

Caroline

 and

Sara

The girls are at such a fun age right now, it was a joy to spend some time with them before my attention is focused on a newborn.  I'm already wishing I had written down all the funny things they said while I was there.

Caroline was particularly taken with my swollen 30 week belly and her little cousin "Pebble" inside.

Caroline frequently asked if she could touch my belly,
 and would proceed to lift up my shirt and sweetly rub it.

Caroline hugging her cousin "Pebble"

Sara and Caroline both give Cousin Pebble a good morning kiss.

 Both girls are very keen on taking photos with your iPhone.  In fact Sara, who let's remember is 3 years old, can navigate my iPhone more efficiently that I can!  They both took many, many photos while I was there.

Sara comparing her belly to Auntie A's belly.
Who's do you think is bigger?
 Photo taken by Caroline. 

Visiting the gardens at the park.

Auntie A brought stick on tattoos for the girls.
They adorned their bellies with butterflies. 

When seeing herself in the mirror on this particular morning with her hair in piggy tails,
Caroline stated "YOU say I look great, I say I look SILLY!"
Photo by Sara.

Baby Pebble needed some butterfly tattoos too.
Photo by Sara

Sara (left) and Caroline (right) saying goodbye to Auntie A and  Cousin  "Pebble"
Next time we see the girls  Pebble will be on the outside and have a respectable name, in stead of a SILLY one.

Sara and Caroline kiss their Cousin Pebble goodbye.