One year ago Today

One year ago today we were at M.D. Anderson where my Dad was beginning an experimental treatment.

He was so Alive.

It's hard to come across pictures like this and remember that he is no longer here. Look at that life in his face.

This was 3 short weeks before he passed away.

Day 7

I am obsessed with this new gardening project. There are sprouts coming up on everything except the peppers now. I sit in front of this little plot and inspect every bit of it. Aaron's always asking me if something new has sprouted since I looked at it 5 minutes before. Snarky boy.

The tomatoes coming up!

Check out the salad mix... it's growing like crazy. Unfortunately, I do not know what sprout is what plant. There are a couple of red sprouts at the back that I am excited about eating!

Another view of the growing half of the plot (the peppers are to the left and not sprouted through yet)... some of the herbs on the far right are slowly making an appearance, but they are teeny-tiny little plants.

The cellophane wrap is serving as my "greenhouse." You're only supposed to keep them covered until they have sprouted, so I keep having to re-position the wrap.

The herbs over the sink do not appear to be working as well... I'm afraid I planted those seeds a little too deep. However, the Basil is starting to make its appearance (and let's be honest, that's the only one I really care about).

I'm thinking I may need to transplant the salad mix to a bigger container soon. Those suckers are growing so fast!

Mmmm, apple butter

I made homemade, no sugar added apple butter today. Stuck it in the crock-pot last night, blended it this morning, cooked off some excess liquid, and then got to canning. I have never canned anything, so this is quite the experiment. I don't have any professional canning equipment, so I did a boiling water bath. Apparently you have to let them boiled cans sit for 8-12 hours and hope the seal holds. If it doesn't, I may have some extra apple butter to give away (if not canned, it only lasts in the refrigerator for 3 weeks)!

My "canner"

The four canned cans

Yay for yummy apple butter!

My future garden

It's planting day at the Cooper household! I couldn't wait to start my garden by transplanting plants in late April, so I bought some indoors seed starters and seeds and got to work. I planted a bell pepper mix, hot pepper mix, sweet salad mesculun mix, yellow jubilee tomatoes, basil, chives, cilantro, oregano and parsley. I bought a windowsill planter for the herbs, but went ahead and did some in the seed starters so I can have enough of my favorites. Sometime this spring, Aaron's dad is going to bring us some big tubs for outdoor planting (since we're renting and can't really actually sow a ground garden). Hopefully I can get these plants to a good transplant height before then.

This is just an experiment... I have no idea if I inherited my Dad's green thumb, but I hope so!

The seeds...

My windowsill herbs.

My individual basil pot.

The seed starter filled with all the good stuff!

-- Post From My iPhone

A Whale of a Tale

I went fishing this weekend with Aaron and his Dad. I caught TWO fish. It was fabulous!

This one is my baby fish.

Aaron and Mr. C

The people whose land we were fishing on sent us home with some fresh eggs... I was so excited! And they are delicious. Check out the blue chicken eggs (from a type of Chicken from Chile).