Amanda Takes Off...

Today we woke up in St John's, Newfoundland to the sound of rain. We had a lovely breakfast and headed out. Good thing we brought sweaters and jackets since the high was 55 F!

We walked along the harbor and ended up getting to Signal Hill National Historic Site. Although it was overcast all morning, the views were beautiful. We poked around the park a bit, hiked a little down the back side.

Cabot Tower

Cabot Tower was built to celebrate/commemorate John Cabot's landing at Newfoundland. Near this tower, the first trans-Atlantic wireless signal was received in 1901. The area also used to house several hospitals since people believed that fresh breezes would prevent and cure illnesses. Signal Hill was used during wars, as a hanging area (exciting!) and as a city outlook (St John's has gone through several big fires).

Snails. There were so many snails. I had no idea that snails lived in trees and flowers and on pavement. Good Man yelled at me, "You killed 달팽이!" Well, it wasn't on purpose!

Snail at Signal Hill

Me, at Signal Hill

We finally hoofed it back down to the city to have some lunch and to rest (and recharge my camera battery) before heading out again. Then we drove to Cape Spear.

Cape Spear, Newfoundland

Cape Spear is—if you ignore Greenland—the most easterly point of North America. At the site you find several buildings used as homes in the past, two lighthouses, and some building that housed "disappearing" guns during WWII.

Our tour guide for the Cape Spear Lighthouse was amazing. She was also extremely excited that our first trip to Canada was to Newfoundland (unfortunately, we have no good answer to "Why Newfoundland?" Um, cause it's there and we haven't been there yet?)

Side: Why are park employees in Canada so darn young?

If you choose to ignore Greenland, then when you stand at Cape Spear, you can either face all of North America or turn your back on all of it. I'm sure it'd be gorgeous at sunrise ("Good morning, North America!") but seeing as how the sun rises at 5:41 tomorrow, I won't be finding out if reality matches my expectations.

Facing North America

After Cape Spear, we headed back to St John's.

Crayola or Grumbacher should sponsor St John's. It's like a box of crayons or a palette of oil colors blew up.

St John's Row Houses

Jackets Near the Docks

Good Man

Seagull Feasting on Trash Near the Docks

My brother is a Marine. He's been stationed in Japan, DC, Beaufort SC, some part of Florida, and California. I'm sure he's been stationed other places I'm not even aware of.

My brother has done two tours in Iraq and he's currently in Afghanistan.

And last weekend my brother was injured by a roadside IED (explosive device). He's got an 18 mm ball bearing lodged in his body, near his lung, behind his scapula. It will not be removed. It's a souvenir for life.

When I got off the phone with my sister-in-law, I cried and cried. I told Good Man that after two injury-free tours in Iraq, I had been able to trick myself into thinking he'd be safe, that he'd be fine.

He's not dead. He has all of his body parts. His shoulder movement isn't hindered. It's a fairly minor injury. (Heck, he'll reap the benefits of the Purple Heart status, which he says is a bright side to the whole mess, along with getting to talk to his wife daily for several weeks while he's healing.)

But my mind trick is over. My brother is not safe.

I do not support this war in any way, shape or form, and I hate that Obama's being cagey and wishy-washy about his plan for it. I think it's our next Vietnam and I can't believe we didn't learn more than "the draft really pisses off families and makes them pay attention" from the first Vietnam.

I do, however, support the troops.

To that end, my brother told me about the Wounded Warrior Project. According to him, everything that was done in the hospital was done through the Wounded Warrior Project (including the 12 precious Percocets he got). He said they also help extensively with rehab for people who lose limbs, and they help people who need plastic surgery.

This week I set up a reoccurring donation through WWP. I finally put my money where my mouth is.

Happy July 4th, for those who celebrate it. I hope all of your family members are healthy, no matter where they are today, no matter what their nationality.

This week we had a really heavy rainstorm. I was at a class for work and Good Man called to ask if he should drag the plants inside. I scoffed and said no, and when I got home I found all of my pepper plants laid out flat. Hmm.

I did, however, get some nice post-rain shots.

Pepper Leaves

First Pepper

The marigolds looked especially nice. If you roll over this image, you'll see it in B&W. I think the texture actually "pops" better in B&W.

Marigold

I usually update my garden every two weeks, but we were out of town last Saturday, so it's been three weeks since my last update.

I do these updates to convince myself that things are actually growing. It's amazing, comparing photos, to see how quickly things grow. Every herb has been harvested (often multiple times) since the photos from three weeks ago.

The dill just wants to go to seed. I'm doing one more harvest and then letting it go to seed. If it doesn't reseed itself, I'll plant some more. I've deadheaded (snipped off the flowers) multiple times, but it's time to let it seed on.

Dill

The sesame leaves...something's been chowing down on them. Cutting off the damaged leaves has encouraged a lot of new growth. One of the six plants is just a runt. I'm amazed it's still living and growing, it's so sad looking.

Korean Sesame Leaves

Cosmos, Basil, Marigolds

I've been harvesting some of my basil from the top (encourages shorter, shrubbier growth) and some from the side (encourages taller, sparser growth). This one has been harvested mostly from the sides and I'm surprised at how tall it's grown.

Peppermint and Basil

I still think this Thai basil was planted too closely together by the nursery, but it seems to be doing fine.

Thai Basil

I don't know that these poppies will ever flower. And I still don't know what the hitchhiker plant is.

Poppies and Unknown Hitchhiker

I do like using the plant nannies, but they occasionally lead to sun scald (sun burnt leaves) like on my tallest basil plant.

Sun Scalded Basil

This is an overall view of my porch garden. You can see how tall some of the pepper plants have gotten.

I label my pepper plants 1 (Hybrid Kimchi), 2 (Hybrid Korea Winner), and 3 (Hybrid Long Green).

Overall, the Hybrid Kimchi plants are the tallest and the Long Greens are the shortest. The Winners flowered and set fruit earliest, the Long Greens are starting to flower and the Kimchi ones are so far blossom-less. I hope I didn't get a bad batch of Kimchi seeds.

I know too much nitrogen can cause large, fruitless pepper plants, but all of these have been grown with the same soil/vermicompost and conditions (I mean, as similar as they can be), so I suspect it's a variety thing.

The property management office lady came by to tell me if people seem to be driving slowly past my house, it was because she sent them there. We're not allowed to put food plants directly into the ground and she's been finding corn, tomatoes, and mint all over the property. "So I'm sending them to see how it's supposed to be done!"

She also asked where I got the plant nannies. I was afraid she'd tell me they were too ugly to stick around, but she said they're fine. I told her I like them because I no longer accidentally water the neighbors below (which is true, but they're jerks, so it's not like I really care about that side effect).

Another neighbor passes by often when I'm out there admiring my plants and comments on how beautiful they look each time.

I do enjoy my porch garden. In actuality, buying the peppers would probably be cheaper in the long run than growing them, but everything tastes better homegrown!

This is by far the most ridiculous Korean song I've heard in a long time. When it came on in my car today, I couldn't stop laughing.

The song is called "High Calorie" and it's basically a list of foods with the demand to eat. The woman sings:

먹을 걸 참지 말아요
맛있는 것을 참지 말아요
손으로 집고 무작정 입으로 넣어요 맛있잖아요

Don't resist eating.
Don't resist delicious foods.
Grab it with your hand, and shove it into your mouth because it's delicious.

The name of the duo? Fat Man.

Another song featuring the same female vocalist (정인) is "Rush."

And another one, by Dynamic Duo (one of Good Man's favorite groups).

Dynamic Duo is going into the military soon, and their newest album cover has a military theme. This song ("Keep the Change") has multiple people telling a taxi driver their hard situations/lives. One even asks the taxi driver how much training is required to get the job.

"Fireworks" is about being a trouble maker and making people uncomfortable.

And one I adore, "I'm Sorry." Soju fixes everything according to this song.

While this would be the perfect post to discuss MC 몽's teeth, I'll save that debate for another time.

"[굳멘], 노력 '력' 하고 적응력 '력'... 도같아?" [Good Man], effort "력" and ability "력" are the same root 력?

"응." Yep.

"난 똑똑해. 똑똑한 부인 있지? 나 같이 사는 것이 어려워?" I am smart. I'm a smart wife, huh? Is it hard living with me?

"아니. 내 밥 그릇 더 켜." No. My rice bowl is bigger than yours.

According to Good Man, if you say you someone has a large [rice] bowl it means they have a large ego, or very big ambitions and goals.

Trying to describe to Mother the way a woman was talking to me, I muttered some phrases in Korean. I finally settled on "거시기, 거시기."

Good Man figured out what I meant and said, "Oh, 어쩌고 저쩌고."

Eo-jjeo-go jeo-jjeo-go.

Koreans, please. Why couldn't you have something easy like "blah, blah"?

I've really been struggling with my 1,000,000 characters goal lately. First, I started reading Little House in the Big Woods. Vocab was too hard. Switched over to Alice in Wonderland. Too weird/strange/hard. Switched over to a book of Greek myths. Too boring. Tried Romeo and Juliet in manwha (cartoon) format. Not in the mood.

I have been reading a lot! I just can't seem to get through a book.

To that end, I'm reading a short story ("소나기," a very well-known Korean story). It's part of a larger book, but I figure if I can get through one complete story, I'll be back on track.

And hell, if that doesn't work, I'll read 삐삐 again. I do love Pippi!