Saturdays in the Garden - I'm Off to Hunt Butterflies

OUTSIDE

Well I haven't taken a single picture this week and don't feel like I've spent any time outside at all really.  Not truly outside. I took some time this morning and cleaned up the garden; removing the dead sugar snap, tomato and zucchini plants and pulling some weeds.  I also went ahead and planted some more sugar snap pea and radish seeds in the spaces where I pulled things just to see if I could get a fall crop.

Harvesting has been mostly of cucumbers, green beans, blueberries and the Juliet tomatoes.  With the tomatoes I don't have enough yet for any canning and they're not very good just slicing and eating.  I don't really have time to process them because life is about to get very hectic for the next 6 weeks - I likely shouldn't have planted them this year.  Ah well.

LIFE

As I alluded to above, I am headed out to do field research for the next six weeks or so.  I'm looking forward to it but also nervous because it makes life super complicated.  I'll be spending most of my time hiking around here:

I head off tomorrow and I'm pretty well prepared.  I'm stocked up on books, the dogs have been groomed and are ready to stay in rentals, and the car has had an oil change and some tender loving care.  Bring it on!

WATCHING, READING, and BLOGGING

Watching
I've been desultorily (awesome word alert!) watching Avatar: The Last Airbender for the 478th time.  It's nice to have on in the background while I futz around with other stuff.  I've come to the realization that as much as I just want to universally love everything about this show, Season 3 does disappoint me more than a little bit.  I need to move on to Korra but I can't deal with Aang being dead. 

Reading

Finished Last Week:

• In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker:  Immortal cyborgs in Elizabethan England!  Despite an awesome premise that is fairly well executed, the characters did not draw me into this one.

Currently Reading:

• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: So maybe some day I'll pick this up again?  Until then it will sit here on the currently read and look encouraging.
• The Founding (The Morland Dynasty #1) by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles: This is the first book in a series that follows a single British family through numerous generations into modern times.  This first book takes place in the early 15th century.  This is such a fascinating idea and I have high hopes but I have to say the characters in this first book are shallow and are doing nothing for me.  This book is officially on hold at the moment but I'll get back to it one day soon. 
• World After by Susan Ee: The second book in the Penryn and the End of Days series.  It's super grim - grimmer than book one - and I'm loving it.  What is wrong with me? Almost done with this one.
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: I am almost done with this and so far I have really loved it but I am so worried about what the series has in store for all the characters!
• Of Noble Birth by Brenda Novak: I may DNF this one.  Despite the presence of pirates it is not making me happy mostly because of deficient humor and boring main characters. 
• Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole:  My other two device audio books (Of Noble Birth and The Founding) are not doing it for me so Doctor Who it is!
• Skin Game by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #15):  This will officially catch me up with the Dresden Files series.  I'm a little sad there will be no more.

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

SUNDAY: LONGMIRE - the second part of season 2. The fourth in a series of obsessive posts about this show.  Sorry. When will season 4 come out???
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I've read many books by.  Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
WEDNESDAY: RE-READ | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
THURSDAY: Tough Traveling: Forbidden Love. A fun meme hosted by Fantasy Review Barn to explore all the beloved tropes of the SFF genre.

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK

SUNDAY: Fifth Longmire post featuring the second half of season 2.
TUESDAY: Review of Hostage Taker by Stefanie Pintoff

***The Blog is going to be on semi-hiatus for the next few weeks.  As far as I can tell I won't have reliable access to the internet during that time.  I'm hoping to write and schedule a few more book reviews but I don't expect to be able to participate in any memes. I guess we'll see.***