Another Saturday

Both last weekend and this, Jonathan has had to head out of town for work on Sunday.  Last week it was off to Boston and Philly and today he drove off to Purdue University as an invited speaker and meet with researchers there until Tuesday. 

Yesterday we took our first trip to Home Depot in a long time.  We are trying to improve our community garden plot soil so we got some organic enriched planting soil and the makings for an herb planter for our back porch. Here's a photo if it with cilantro, oregano, and dill started.  We want to add basil but we'll do that from seed.

We turned the soil in the half of our plot that we plan start in May and also measured off our square foot garden blocks in the other half and planted some more seeds.

Here's our carefully protected kale and also the beginning sprouts of the pea plants.

At the garden we met our friend Abram hard at work on his plot with his 4-year old son Simon.  He invited us over for dinner.  An hour later we 4 adults were enjoying the cool night air and a tasty dinner on their back deck.  Love these cool nights in St. Louis.  They won't last long here as summer closes in.  

Oh, I must also mention that on Friday night I tried out a vegan Caesar salad recipe that was amazing!! Roasted crunchy chickpeas top the salad.  

 http://www.eatlifewhole.com/2013/11/the-best-kale-caesar-salad-made-vegan/

A Meaningful Weekend

I mentioned to a dear friend that Jonathan was going away in Sunday morning and that I would finish my night shift on Saturday morning.  She encouraged me to make the most of it and that we do something meaningful together.  I woke up from my sleep around 2 pm on Saturday and first off we walked to our garden to see if any seeds had sprouted. None yet but it's still early.  Then we headed to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, one of the wonders of St. Louis. It is filled with beautiful plants and flowers, meandering walkways and hidden benches in quiet forestry spots, as well as actual vegetable gardens where you can look and learn about having a garden at home. We are trying out "square foot gardening this year.  Here is theirs:

Just look at that beautiful spinach below the mustard greens!!! I hope ours looks half as good eventually. 

We wandered and basked in the sunshine and talked and connected.  We also became members, which we've been planning for a while. So, if you come to visit us, we'll likely take you here. 

Above is a mini-bamboo forest!!!

What garden would be complete without a statue honoring science? ;)

After all that walking, I realized I'd skipped lunch AND it was 4:00. Tea time!!!  The London Tea Room, a St. Louis favorite of mine has moved to Tower Grove, mere blocks from the botanical gardens.  This place is run by Brits and it's wonderful!!!!!  We had a basic pot of tea and a scone and relished the simple Britishness of it.   

From there we had the audacity to continue our decadent adventure and made our way to south city and a French rooftop restaurant/bar called Vin de Set. More conversation, laughter, plans, and of course a glass if wine by the setting sun.

Finally it was home to make that spinach lentil beet salad previously gushed about in this blog.  

We had 8 hours together and made the most of it.  I guess there are some perks to having a family of two at present.   

Bad feet? Who cares!

Yes, this is my best present effort at pointing my flat feet, or foot in this case.  Not too impressive.  I'm sure my turnout is dreadful and my flexibility is a joke.  It's so great being in your thirties and you can go to a ballet class for the first time in 23 years and not care about these things. I have no aspirations to be a ballerina and I'm sure no one expects it.  

I signed up for this class because a colleague suggests vans it begged me to come, the studio is 3 blocks from my home, and a groupon offered 6 classes for $19.  Sweet!! 

I had no idea how much I would love it!! Yes it hurt!!  My arms were burning after each routine (arms at your sides almost never happens), my quads were screaming, and my head was spinning from the turns, not to mention the lengthy instructions on each routine that took place in fast-forward every time.  But, I adored it!! I love that almost every joint and muscle from your toes to your nose matters!!!  It's definitely a mental and physical workout.

I also adore the timeless nature of ballet.  It really was just as I remembered it.  We started at the barre for at least 40 minutes first with simple tendus and plies and then more leg lifting and arabesques and faster more complex barre work. Then we moved to the middle of the studio and learned some simple routines working to be in sinc with the music and with our classmates. Then we went to one side to practice turns and jumps.  Finally, exhausted we return to the center for a final farewell routine with lots of bowing and plies and luxury arm movements. Ugh!!  I was in heaven!!  This is just how we did it at Ms. Duvalls back in the 80s and 90s and at most studios I've danced at. I love that continuity and history to the art of ballet. It actually reminds me of surfing in that it's not easy and never will be. I think that's part of its charm for me. 

Time to get some shoes ;) 

Staying up late for science

Tonight is my third night in a row of performing MRI scans at midnight. Why? Because the scanner charge is $600/hour during the day, and $60/hour after midnight. So, until I get a nice sized research grant, this is a great way to make my funds stretch a little bit further. I just have to cross my fingers and hope my subjects stay awake!