You could not have asked for a more perfect spring week than this past week and it seems like all the plants responded. The azaleas and redbuds are stunning, the lilacs make everything smell nice and I have a ton of flowers on my blueberry bushes! I'm not seeing many pollinators despite letting the "wildflowers" grow in my yard. Last year I harvested exactly 1 blueberry, lol. I'm hoping for two this year so lets get some cross pollination going! At the farmer's market this morning I bought a nice hanging basket for the front porch - it's gorgeous up close but unfortunately doesn't have as much of an impact from a distance. Note to Self: It's best to buy gaudy hanging baskets.
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| My Wildflowers |
My peppers and tomatoes have made no progress since last week and I am starting to worry about their readiness. In fact all of my starts except the onions have all germinated well but then sort of fallen into a state of arrested development. I'd say it's not enough light but they are in a south facing window and have fluorescent bulbs on them so I'm flummoxed. I gave them a little meal of fertilizer this morning since they are being grown in a sterile medium (coconut coir).
LIFE
So just imagine me lazily draped on a Chaise Lounge eating bons bons. Or grapes if you're health conscious. Point being, this is the first day of a week off from work for me! I am staycationing my little heart out as what I mostly need is to avoid people as much as possible and to putter around my house. Mid-February through early May is a particularly intense couple of months at work (I've had one weekend off since the second week of March) and a lot of that intensity is people oriented. By mid-April I am super crabby and unpleasant to be around - everything, everybody else does annoys me and I have no patience. This is what I call introvert overload. I'm burnt out and done and for my own sanity and everyone else who unfortunately has to deal with my crabby ass, a week off is just the ticket.
My perfect staycation is one balanced between productivity and relaxation. I like to have a few projects around the house and yard to tackle as well as perhaps some time to focus on some personal improvement. This week I'd like to make a list of healthy meal ideas for the next couple of months and maybe make some to go in the freezer. I also want to give the house a good cleaning, particularly my "study", basement, and garage and I have a list of garden/yard stuff I want to work on. The dogs and the car also need a wash. I won't get it all done, especially since it's supposed to rain most of the week, but I will feel more in control (less out of control?) by the end of the week. I will also of course take copious amounts of time to read and blog and binge on TV shows as well. And I've got a couple of plans to get together with friends. Basically it's going to be fabulous! I started it off this morning by going to the opening day of the Farmer's market in Ames and then treated myself to a bagel and coffee at Bruegger's and brought home a bunch to put in the freezer. Ahhhh.....
WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING
Guess what?! I'm still watching M*A*S*H:). I'm most of the way through season 9 now. Hawkeye has started to annoy me, I've developed a crush on B.J. and Margaret seems like a completely different person from her early days with Frank Burns. I think Colonel Potter may just be the most adorable commanding officer anywhere. The thing that has really started to be weird is that this show lasted 11 seasons but the Korean war only lasted three years so a season of the show should only = 2-3 months. And sometimes they say things that remind the viewer of this - Margaret was married for a season and 1/2 or thereabouts but she just mentioned in a recent episode that her marriage only lasted 3 months. They packed in a LOT of trouble in 3 months, LOL. It is also made more confusing because they've had multiple Christmas and thanksgiving episodes. They've also gone through several cycles where the weather is too hot and then is too cold - Korea must have the most mixed up weather on the planet:). The point is, if you're going to watch the whole series, particularly in a compressed fashion, be prepared to be constantly a little bemused about time. I'll likely finish the series up this week and then I may think about embarking on a Farscape re-watch.
Reading has been good this week though I haven't quite finished The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons as I had hoped to. I am getting close though and will certainly finish up in the next couple days. I did finish my car audio, Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey, a mystery which had a key part played by a Sumo wrestler - a little odd but kind of cool. I've also made good progress on Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon - it's been a wild ride and I have a bunch of thoughts on it! In the car I started listening to Turn Coat, book #11 in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher. It's been a while since I picked up one of these books (according to Goodreads I read book 10 in 2010) and I am feeling a little lost and think I may have missed a couple books? * shrugs* Thankfully it isn't rocket science so I'm still enjoying it pretty well:0).
On the BLOG LAST WEEK
SUNDAY: Re-read of The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis. Kind of a weird, scary book but good. The contrast with more modern YA/Middlegrade books that I have been reading was pretty interesting.
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday - Books with characters who aren't what they seem. These are some of my favorite characters and it was a fun list to make!
THURSDAY: Tough Traveling - The Big City. This meme explores the tropes of the fantasy genre. This particular topic was also pretty fun to address which surprised me!
On the BLOG NEXT WEEK
SUNDAY: Review of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I was supposed to do this last Wednesday but it didn't happen. I hope to catch up on writing down my thoughts on books this week as I'm very behind!
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday (Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) topic this week is Ten books I will never read. Interesting....
WEDNESDAY: Review of Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens.
THURSDAY: The Tough Traveling topic is Moms, lol. Should be interesting. Hosted by Fantasy Review Barn.
FRIDAY: May do a sign up post for Bout of Books??
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