Sailing Baby Blue

In November of last year we created a budget and have been keeping track of our expenses since then. I must say that I'm doing a great job keeping track of how much we spend, and not such a great job actually sticking to the budget. Each month so far we've come up with some reason to go way over budget. I guess we do a pretty good job staying within the limits of the categories we've created, but something always comes up that we haven't planned for and we easily convince ourselves to spend. In December it was Christmas presents. Next year we will definitely set a limit on that. Yeesh. Also, we decided to take a trip to Strawberry Hot Springs for my birthday. It was wonderful, but expensive. In January, we took a snowboarding trip with friends. In February we bought a new printer, new glasses for me, concert tickets, ballet tickets, and a bike trainer for Jon. However, the amazing news for February is that we'r...

A couple of weeks ago we finally found the motivation to build the cold frame we'd been thinking about since October. It took about 10 minutes to build and probably cost about $5. We used the PVC pipe we had left over from hoola hoop making for the wedding, clear plastic sheeting, and pipe clamps. Last week I planted it with a crunchy winter green mix, two varieties of spinach, and mustard greens. I also started some onion sets in the other garden beds. The cold frame has been getting up around 20 degrees warmer than outside temperatures, and I've been opening it in back to vent it most mornings so it doesn't overheat. It definitely helps with moisture retention and I've only had to water every 3 days or so.

Jon's still hanging in there with biking to work everyday. There were a few days at the beginning of last month where the temperature dropped to 20 below zero. I gave him a ride on those days, because even my car was having trouble. The antifreeze actually froze in the lines and my engine overheated! Luckily it wasn't anything major (knock on wood) and the car was fine after the thaw.