All In A Day's Work

Where does the day go? I meant to get so much done today and comparatively accomplished very little. My to do list looks so pathetic, so many boxes unchecked. But tomorrow is another day. I guess I'll focus on the things that did get done.
I raked up a ton of pine needles from the lawn and laid them down as a mulch for the 5 in-ground strawberry plants. I also raked enough needles to fill a bucket, to be laid down later when I put the other plants in. I was going to get myself some straw to mulch the bramble berries but, in keeping with the use-what-you've-got theme I think the pine needles will work just fine. Nay, better! I picked spinach and emptied some buckets of last year's soil. Found a nice collection of fat, disgusting grubs and squashed them. I'm planning on growing all of the tomatoes (except those slated for the compost pile grow heap experiment) in buckets this year. The one's in buckets did so well last year and were not systematically destroyed by japanese beetles. Which is more than I can say for the in-ground tomatoes. Looks like we'll have quite a few tomato plants, most of the seedlings have come up and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the rest.
A few days ago I tried to plan out meals we could eat once the garden starts producing and the eggs start rolling in from arranged barters. We've been trying some of the meals, to make sure we like them. Tonight we had a frittata with spinach, canned tomatoes, onion, and parmesan cheese. It was delicious. I can only imagine how much better it will taste with fresh from the garden tomatoes or roasted tomatoes (I love making those!!!) The frittata is perfect for our meal plan because it can be adjusted for year round enjoyment. When we are inundated with zucchini, we'll have zucchini in it, and when we have lots of spinach, spinach, or tomatoes or peppers. See how it works? So many possibilites. I'm also looking forward to including lots of fresh herbs in the dish.
To make the frittata all you do is saute a bunch of vegetables in a 10inch pan with some oil, beat about 6 eggs with a little milk, pour that over the top of the vegetables, cover, turn the heat to low and let it cook until the top is set -about 6-8 minutes. I sliced it into wedges, not unlike a pie, and we ate it with some toast. I'm excited to eat this with a side of berries or melon in the summer.
Today I was determined to set up a clothesline. Amanda has reinspired me. We had one set up last year, essentially a thin rope strung between two patio awning posts. I took it down when I set up a hemp trellis for bucketed green beans last year. All the beans died of fusarium wilt, which is pretty much karma for using the dryer so much (and buying fusarium riddled manure from back east). The trellis remains so I'm at a loss as to where I should string up the new line. I'd like to put it up in the basketball court area but am lacking a second pole. What's a girl to do? Also, where can you buy clothes pins? Last year I just draped. I've looked several places and I'm still pin-less.
Til next time.