Welcome to our blog.

This was our original purpose for creating this blog:

We are both baby boomers fast approaching sixty. This blog will chronicle the time leading up to reaching our significant day. Our mutual goal is to complete sixty specific tasks each by our 60th birthdays, and to both celebrate our experiences and our accomplishments.

We are "the fabled tortoise" in this effort. Our blog will begin with a slow start, so we ask for your patience. We are aiming for a strong finish, so we ask for your encouragement. We invite you to join us on our journey, laugh and cry with us, and celebrate with us. We encourage you to leave us your comments and feedback. Most of all, we hope you become inspired to perhaps create and complete your very own "___ by ___ list."

We borrowed this idea from a blog one of our nieces told us about: http://makingitlovely.com . The author is working on her list of "30 Before Thirty."

As we progressed we continued to reflect on the process and the progress:

We would like to make a point of clarification. Because we did not begin our endeavor until April that left us both with less than a year to complete all 60 tasks on each of our lists. Actually, JR has about four months and CEA has about seven months. For that reason we agreed that we would both use CEA's birthday so that we both have the same amount of time to complete our tasks.

Now we are both 60 and moving forward. We have decided to continue the blog, setting goals and celebrating our accomplishments, sharing our experiences and voicing our thoughts, and enjoying life by making the most of every day with which we are blessed.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

JR's list #12 - (done) Create a hanging basket herb garden.

I love cooking shows. I don't have cable, so Rachel Ray and the chefs of PBS/PBS Create are the shows I watch. I must confess, I am sort of addicted to the Rachel Ray Show.

I have never done much cooking with fresh herbs, but I decided I needed to learn to grow them first. I created two baskets each of Italian Flat Leaf Parsley and Cilantro. Then I planted one basket each of Sage, Rosemary, and Sweet Basil. Finally, I planted Tarragon, Oregano, and Thyme in one basket.

Because I have no roof overhangs and only one tree, I thought I could just hang a chain from the branches of the tree and then hang the baskets on the chain. Armed with a folding chair, plastic cable ties, Duck tape, and a 20' chain, I went to work. An hour or so later, I was done.



I now have my hanging herb garden. It may not be pretty, but it is functional. To quote the George Peppard character in TV's A-Team fame, "I love it when a plan comes together."
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2 comments:

The 60 by 60 Ladies said...

Good for you! I'm impressed with the number of herbs you planted. You will love being able to go out and clip some for cooking. I whipped up some potato soup for lunch on Wednesday with dill, oregano, and thyme, I think. The soup was fresh and tasty; adding beer may have helped a bit. What about mint for iced tea? CEA

April 16, 2010 at 10:33 PM
The 60 by 60 Ladies said...

Mint, of course, a staple in any great herb garden. I thought that I needed to add dill and chives, but mint never came to mind. Thank you, ma'am.

I am going to change from the chain to dog collars. After the late night thunderstorm we had last night, I started worrying about the tree getting hit with lightning. The nylon woven collars shouldn't harm the branches and they come built-in rings to hang the pots.

April 18, 2010 at 8:38 AM

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