It has been F-O-R-E-V-E-R (yes, it is a Sandlot reference)

Yep, it has definitely been awhile. July sucked but August was great! Newfoundland rocks... if you'll pardon the pun! Sadly the indoor garden is no more. Some jalapenos were harvested, along with grape tomatoes, but the mites proved to be a mighty opponent and the remainders had to be destroyed :(

Here is the first injury of the year. My fault, really. A filing cabinet beside your work desk really should not be left open - even one inch. View the open wound in all of its glory. It has been two days and it is still leaking. I only wish I had gotten a photo when it was dripping blood and grabbing the attention it deserves. I used hand sanitizer to disinfect and 1.25 hours later a kind person at work shared her first aid kit with me. Hopefully I come out of this better for the experience, although the scar will likely last a lifetime. Pantyhose it is.

The plants they are a-bloomin'

Wow. It has definitely been awhile. End of school. Beginning of more school. Yuck. The morning glories have grown as have some of the wildflowers. Flowers on the pepper and tomato plants but since we don't have an electric toothbrush I doubt that they will pollinate :( That's ok because we got 46 - yes 46 - beans from our 3 bean plants and they were mighty tasty! Some tomato plants have found their way to the real outdoors hopefully to actually produce some fruit (the pressure is on!) Went with a friend on a run to the Brickworks today and saw a very small turtle - diametre approximately 2 inches! Check out the new poll on the right.

Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat... 

(I'm sure you all know the rest :)

From the "Wildflowers" collection.

The morning glories. So far there has been no interference with the tv signal. 

Strangely enough it has improved...

This is our dead crayfish. We are not terribly sad to see him go. 

He had a $25,000 bounty on his head as he was responsible for numerous deaths. 

Were the pellets not enough??????

Can you spot the turtle??? It's TINY. 

Thanks to my running buddy and her iphone :)

Fan of the Month

Todays post is to give credit to the only person whom has commented on our blog.  This individual has also shown outstanding dedication to the success of this site by checking often for updates, voting in our polls, and even inviting us to his house for food and drink.  The rest of you are a bunch of bastards (pronounced bay - steads).  Therefore, I declare June's fan of the month... Hein99!!  Congratulations, and thanks for your support!

                                                          Fan of the Month:  Hein99

Belly buttons

Lint-Free Button

First of all: check out our simple new poll: Innie or outtie? This poll was inspired by something that we heard on tv the other day: there has been a study to determine why/how people get bellybutton lint. We heard of it on Breakfast Television so it must be legit but of course at this moment we can't find reference to the study they were mentioning... but here is a similar one. Anyways, we have both been witness to this phenomena (I laughed until I cried). Not from our own buttons of course (yes, you know who you are). I originally thought that this would only result from poor hygiene habits, however, have since been set straight. Belly buttons come in all shapes and sizes and depths (I swear I saw blue/green mould growing there once. Not in mine, of course.), however, we are all most familiar with the "innie" or "outtie". Unless you made your "outtie" an "innie" (yes, you know who you are!) we are all born with one or the other (temporary outties due to pregnancy DO NOT count). Yes, we are rambling. Take the survey and off with you!

More Visitors!!!

Robinsby Acres has gone universal!  We thought we were hot cheese when we reached out to Germany with the Smurfs... we also have noticed some visitors from Greece... welcome everyone.  However, and this is truly amazing... it appears that there IS in fact extra-terrestrial life out there in the form of living robots.  

Optimus Prime (from the 80's cartoon... not the current Transformers movie... that's complege rubbish!) has decided to visit us from the planet Cybertron.  Welcome Autobots.  We humans hope we can share our technology for the greater gain of both races.  Though we don't have much to offer you in return, we do have IPad 2's... and CEO of Apple Inc,. Steve Jobs recently announced ICloud... i have no idea what it does (or care for that matter), but i'm sure it will help the Autobots defeat those bastard Decepticons into oblivion!!  Speaking of Oblivion, I'm really looking forward to Skyrim!  I will not stop until all dragons have been killed, and I  have been proclaimed the supreme ruler as dictated in the Elder Scrolls.

Alright... enough is enough... here is proof of Prime's visit

The dude abides...

It has been many years since I set the family screen saver to continuously scroll "the dude abides" and I got to thinking that it has been a least two months since we have seen The Big Lebowski. There are Lebowskifests all over the U.S. and none in Canada :( If anyone knows of any please let us know! This inspired us to do our inaugural weekly poll (at right). If I ever get ahold of a big old phone I'm totally dressing as The Dude for Halloween.

Check out The Big Lebowski 2 - the best thing Tara Reid has done in a long time.

Avocado Bomb

So some friends of ours have moved out of town and we were feeling a little bit lonely, however the loneliness quickly faded and we found a replacement friend.  Actually we've been meaning to try this for a while... every time we eat guacamole.  So we finally took the initiative and planted ourselves an avocado tree.  After reading about it, it seems that this can be a bit difficult so we are hoping for the best.

Also our morning glories are becoming more glorious and have started to twist their way around our TV antenna.

And I got my blue belt!!  Watch out evil doers... I'm coming for you!

Friendly Visitors

Well we were awakened this morning by what I thought to be rats trying to steal our produce, but it turned out to be a few Smurfs.  I was still in a half dream state and at first thought we were being invaded by little blue demons straight from the bowels of Hell.  I was terribly frightened and was about to take drastic measures, but the Grandpa Smurf must have cast a charm spell on us as we quickly realized they were visiting from Germany.  It turns out they are HUGE fans of our blog and was checking out Robinsby Acres as a possible tourist destination.  Grandpa and I negotiated a very nice vacation package which is all inclusive.  Do Smurfs have a high alcohol tolerance?  I mean there is no way they can drink more than a thimble full of spirits... or can they?  Did I have the wool pulled over my eyes?  Dooohhhh!

I asked Grandpa Smurf about the upcoming Smurf movie and questioned why he would consider a project that was sure to bomb at the box office.  It turns out that things aren't so peachy in the Smurf village.  Gargamel had a heart attack and collapsed in the village centre; destroying 2/3 of the standing structures, and killing 17.  The deceased include Jokey, Brainy, and Vanity... however as they were the most annoying on the cartoon show, they won't be missed.  In fact grandpa said they seen as abominations of the Smurf community, and would thus not be buried in the regular graveyard.  Anyways Hollywood offered lots of $$$ which will be used to repair the damage caused by Gargamel, so that's why there will be a movie coming out this summer.  I won't be going to see it, so it won't be reviewed on this blog by me.

Checking out the damage to Smurf Village

The graveyard which Jokey, Brainy, and Vanity will NOT be buried at!!!

A critical review of Eric and Aileen's garden

The Rival Gardeners!!!!!!

Some people like to rub it in our faces that they have outdoor space and can have a so-called "real" garden. Eric and Aileen have sent us a photo of their new garden. Here are our thoughts:

The good:

1. The colour coordination is great - pink and yellow definitely go together.

2. The spacing is superb - we see a lot of symmetry happening here.

The bad:

3. Nothing is bad per se, however there is a lack of variety. I see no vegetables in sight...

The ugly:

4. Ugly is a pretty harsh word. The garden space itself is quite nice. What we do take issue with is the fact that the garden could have (and should have!) been much larger!!!!!! When we last saw the space there was no sod - just fertile soil... What happened guys?????

In conclusion: a good effort, however they should have taken full advantage of the space they had and planted a pear tree. A consultation with the Peterborough gardening guru is recommended.

Day 20 - A B&B review

From now on,  whenever we stay overnight at someone else's place, there will be a review posted on this blog the following day.

Last night we stayed at Eric & Aileen's as they were hosting an end of the world BBQ.  Upon entering their place, i was immediately handed a delicious cheeseburger, which was followed by a wide assortment of cheezies, salads, meat sticks, and sausage.  Aileen was constantly making sure that everyone's drink was topped up.  After many drinks and some hilarious conversation, we retired to the guest suit for some rest.  I was only expecting a mint on my pillow, but was delightfully surprised with a chocolate covered After Eight mint.  In the morning, we were treated to large quantities of bacon and eggs.

While most of the evening was fantastic, as this is a review some of the following was also encountered.  The room temperature in the guest suit was a bit on the warm side... a fan was not offered.  Also, a train travelled close by at about 9am... this should have been either rerouted or postponed until a later hour.  I also had to make my own tea... true the water came pre-boiled, but the sugar and milk had to be added manually.  Finally, the cable package of the household is only basic... and while i did enjoy watching the 10 biggest blunders on the NFL channel, it would have been nice to see a wider selection of channels.

Despite the above complaints, it was a great night, and i'm forced to give Eric & Aileen a ***1/2 rating.  It would have been a four star, but the guest bed is a bit small and as it was a hot night, was difficult to spread out.  Thanks for a very nice experience.  I recommend staying overnight at Eric and Aileen's to all who might find themselves in the nearby area.

Day 18? - Sunshine!!!!

So since we had sun yesterday and today that must mean that the end of the world is near! The plants are happy and once again reaching for the sun. The sunset was amazing tonight and we tried to capture it but it it didn't really work. (See below - facing northwest)

Also, our morning glories are getting CROWDED! Here is an "action" shot of them leaving our apartment for greener pastures.

And finally, on a completely unrelated note: most clothing stores in the Eaton Centre seem to be having a 30% sale this long weekend (2 t-shirts for $15 at Jacob - YES!). Bargains abound. BUT they still want $55 for a laptop case at Apple (ripoff!) so I plan on wrapping it in a towel instead (seriously). If anyone knows where I can get one that is reasonably priced (I mean less than $10 - let's face it all they really do is prevent scratching) let me know :)

Day 15 and no sun in sight?????

We can't remember the last time the sun graced us with her (his?) presence. Neither can the plants. No exciting growth to report :(

We now have a grand total of three (3) followers!!!!! Yippee. We have changed the comments so that now anyone should be able to comment.

Coming up in the near future: the best gardening-related song (once we figure out how to do the voting part).

Day 13 - Supplemental (a fat toe!)

Just to let you know i jammed my left big toe this weekend in karate.  Thus in addition to our regular blog, we will be tracking the healing of my toe.  It is swollen right now and is beginning to bruise.  On a side note, you may notice how freakishly huge my big toe is.  What you are witnessing is the next stage in human evolution.  If you would like to come by for a live peak, i will charge no admission.  If you have some weird toe fetish, then please feel free to add these pics to your collection.

OUCHIE!!!

Day 13 - Too much cheese

Okay, so Jonathan LOVES his cheese. Specifically cheddar cheese (preferably old cheddar, but whatever is on sale will do). This is a photo of his salad with cheese. It seems like a bit much. Especially since he then had another chunk that was about 5 cm x 10 cm... How much cheese is too much???????

On the gardening side we had a northern export of morning glories. Still nothing from the lychees. The "drawer seeds" have produced one sprout that looks a lot like either a tomato or pepper plant.

On the counter drying are two red grapes from the grocery store. Might try to plant those later, although now that I think about it they were seedless...

Day -10 Jonathan gets a make-over

Okay, so Terra and I had a bet that the plants wouldn't be 6" in two weeks.  I lost, so she got to make me over.  Personally i think i look like a 25 cent hooker, but all the ladies seem to like it.  God damn I'm sexy!  See my fetish page at jonathanisafreak.com.

P.S. Eric i love you.

Day 9 - The Advice

Sorry for the delay, but we felt we needed the advice of an avid green thumb.  After days of consultation, we realized that we were in fact doing everything right!!  If anyone wants some wild flowers or morning glories, please let us know and we'll put you down on a list.  We tended to get a little over zealous when it came to spacing our seeds and now have an over crowding issue... which is easily solved.  Oh the glory!  Mr. Camel sends his regards.

Day 4 - More i say!!!!

Our army of flowers is growing and soon we shall be unstoppable!!!  Grow my little children... grow i say!!!  Soon the world will be ours!  (It helps if you read the above with Megatron's voice in mind) I think Jonathan planted too many wild flowers as they seem to be a bit crowded.  But they didn't look like seeds but rather some destroyed pulp.  Life uh uh uh uh finds a way!

Day 3 - Growth!!!

The wild flowers and morning glories have burst through the soil after a mere 3 days.  These plants must be mutants and will likely develop a death ray at full maturity.  We'll have to keep an eye on them with one finger always on the kill switch.

Day 2

Nothing has started to grow BUT the garlic bulbs and basil twigs we planted haven't started to droop so we're calling this one a victory.

Day 1 - Soiled

That's right beeatch... Robinsby Acres has begun.  This means the end of the world's food shortage and beautification.  We are talking about a revolution (fill in your own explicitive)!... Our wait is over!  While some of you are waiting for the second coming, our prayers have been answered.  All hail the mighty bean stalk! Check out our set-up: we planted tomatoes, beans, garlic, lychees, morning glories, wildflowers, basil, peppers, grape tomatoes and hot peppers. They join our other plants already in progress: orange tree from Florida, aloe plant from the store underground near the subway and many other plants whose names have been temporarily forgotten... (help us!).

Hopefully our future plants enjoy their temporary view of downtown TO and the CN tower and mostly southern view of the sun...