Monday, August 13, 2007

Red With Envy


Two of my blogging friends, Carmen and Sandi, have given me the nice matters award and I really need to say thank you to them.
Thank you for the award and I hope you feel the same after reading this. I also want to make sure you both read the fine print when passing this recognition along. I hope they understand that once it has been given it may not be rescinded under any circumstances (i.e. no backs).

That being said, I think now is the time to come clean. Here it is: I have been harboring feelings of envy toward my new blog buddy Catherine at Red Shoes. I know it is wrong, but I just can't help it. She has a store and I have always really wanted a store. As a child I never played with any of my toys because they were always on display in my "store" - price tags and all. I don't think my merchandising was all that great because I had lot of lookers, but not many sales. My brother was always good for 50 cents every once in a while, but the 6 kids that lived across the street were a much harder sell. Anyway, I have really always wanted a store.

Then, Catherine showed her fellow bloggers the vegetables she grew in her garden. Well, since moving to this place we haven't been able to grow a single vegetable in our garden. Okay, we did grow a few tomatoes in raised beds the first year we moved in, but they never ripened and some had these weird boils. Anyway, we decided to try again this year, but in pots on the deck positioned just right to catch the maximum amount of sun. Imagine my delight when this appeared:

Green Tomato

Isn't she a beauty? I watched her turn a beautiful deep red and dreamt about the post I would write taunting my new friend Catherine. I was going to tell you that she may have a whole bowl of vegetables, but with a tomato as perfect as this, one was all that I needed. Well, before I could get the picture taken some ferocious beast ravaged my one and only red tomato.

The Masked Bandits Tomato

Just look at those teeth marks. Can't you just see one of those masked bandits standing up on his hind legs sampling my prized tomato? Again, I was left with feelings of jealousy - thoughts of Catherine eating her vegetables in her store filled my mind... I got to thinking that maybe I had jinxed myself with all of those envious thoughts. Then we had a few days of sun and imagine my surprise when I looked out and saw these beauties:

Bounty

Cachow! Catherine, feast your eyes on these. Not bad hunh?

Tomato

*Don't believe everything you see - unless it is a nice award for me. No backs - remember?

The one on the right, the not so red one, that one is really mine. By the way, after investing well over $20 in pots, soil, plants and water, next year I think I'll stick with the hydroponic tomatoes for 89 cents a pound.

Thanks again Carmen and Sandi.

11 comments:

Sue said...

"Red With Envy" is so funny. I just came by to see if you had been awarded the nice award because I was going to include you in it but sure enough there was the award front and center and deservedly so. No backs, here. Your humor brightens my day.

Greenie Gardens said...

I so understand the big tomato investment. As you know the garage is full of last year's failed tomato cages!

Janet said...

I so understand. I've fed, watered and worried about my one plant all summer, only to get 4 tomatoes. Count them 1,2,3,4. I waited patiently for the first two to ripen, plucked them with care and guess what? The bottoms had some fungus crap!! Ate the tops though...delish.
Janet

RED SHOES said...

please don't feel envy!
the grass is always greener right?
i can't bake cakes....and most of those blueberries have some freezer-burn bad taste to them...never used..picked more for the experience really.....and those tomatoes were just dumb luck...in fact, yes, I do have a nice big bowl full on my counter...but the majority has black rot on the bottoms and the plants look like crap.
I think my things thrive with neglect....maybe you could try THAT technique.......works for me! ;)
I think you are doing just FINE...with all that you do!
big hugs.
xoxoxo
catherine from Red Shoes.

ShabbyInTheCity said...

Oh I want to put a band-aid on that boo boo!!!
Open a store!! So easy and free...I got one today at cafepress...come have a look...and of course there is ETSY if you'd prefer!

Sheryl said...

I've never visited your site before, but so glad I did today. You are so funny......! I went one further with my tomato plant - I bought it already mature, with several promising tomato's already well on their way! Somehow I managed not to kill the plant and have enjoyed several delicious meals with fresh tomato!

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

You're not alone. (and I'm not implying an alien invasion here!). My tomatoes did about as well as could be expected. In other words, they didn't do well...at all. I got a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes and then my 2 plants turned to scraggly lookin', shriveled up, pitiful little yellow twigs. Don't know what went wrong there. My bigger tomato plants produced a whoppin' 3 or 4 tomatoes before they just self-destructed completely. I can't even find the remnants of them. If I didn't know better, I'd swear someone snatched the whole things, roots and all, up and chunked 'em. But I will not be defeated! Well, I will THIS year, but NEXT year...I'm all over this tomato thing...I WILL win. (Or I'll just carry my self on down to the farmer's market, buy THEIR tomatos and just TELL everybody I grew them. lol)

Blog a Blurb said...

Those are darn fine tomatoes. Your 89 cent hydroponics will never compare -- not in taste or satisfaction. Bravo!

Elle Jay Bee said...

You're a hoot, you are! And yes, you are nice, too. Hmmn, maybe I'm gonna get myself a case of the green-eyed monster...
I love stopping by everyday. You're one of my "Girls"!!

Linda

couragetocreatewriteandlove said...

You deserve it! You have the kindest heart in blogland!

Thimbleanna said...

Hahaha! Love that last picture -- very funny -- sticker and all!!!