Saturday, February 20, 2016

Saturday in the Garden - Seeds Glorious Seeds!

OUTSIDE

It's been in the 50s Fahrenheit the last two days. In February. In IOWA.  It feels warm enough to head out and plant the early plants.  I'm tempted to sow some sugar snap peas and other really cold tolerant stuff and see how early a harvest I could get.  Sure the ground might freeze up again but maybe they could take it?
Last Week

This Week: what a difference a couple of 50 degree days make
Speaking of seeds all my orders arrived in a fanfare of angelic trumpets.  Okay, so the trumpets were in my head but the point is, it was exciting.  I was a little nervous when putting my order in because I had a really hard time finding my favorite variety of heirloom green beans - Empress.  Not sure what the deal was and why they were so scarce but was glad to get my hands on some seed.


LIFE

Being introverted can sometimes be a real drag. The last three days of this week were almost constant social interaction which resulted in me feeling completely drained and exhausted.  I should have slept well but instead I had nights plagued by stress dreams.  Last night, I dreamed that I was being forced to work in one of two bars in a small town with no training or orientation.  It took me 45 minutes to make a vegetarian burrito this woman ordered out of bar garnishes.  Then when crowds and crowds of people started ordering drinks none of the ingredients for said drinks were in one bar or the other.  I kept having to run back and forth between the bars - gin from one, ginger ale at the other, lime back at the first one  - and everybody kept ordering these fantastically complicated drinks.  Sheesh.

As a former waitress many of my stress dreams revolve around waiting on people - what about you?  Do you have stress dreams and do they take a familiar form?


WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

Watching 

Nothing much.  I've been comfort watching selected episodes of Stargate SG1.

Reading

Finished Last Week: 

  • Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson #2):  This is the second book in this very popular middle-grade series about a modern day boy who happens to be the son of a Greek god.

Currently Reading:

  • A World Without Princes (The School for Good and Evil #2) by Soman Chainani: This is a super fun middle-grade series and is one of the series I identified as one I'd like to put in the finished column.  
  • One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein: A gardening book about maximize food production in a small space.  An ARC from Netgalley (though I think it's an older title).   
  • Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones: A stand alone novel I ran across at the local used book store knowing nothing about it except that it was by Diana Wynne Jones:0).  It is taking its time to get going so I hope it picks up the pace soon, simply because that's what I'm in the mood for now. It has an awesome atmosphere, though, that is really sticking with me.
  • American Rose by Karen Abbott:  A biography of Gypsy Rose Lee. 
  • Still Life With Murder by P.B. Ryan (Nell Sweeney Mystery #1):  This is historical mystery series set in mid nineteenth century Boston with a female protagonist.  I picked it up because it was mentioned in a Book Riot list about favorite love declarations.

Added to the TBR:

This is a list of books that I have added to my Goodreads TBR list this week.  It helps to burn the books I want to read a little more firmly into my mind, maybe get them on some other folks TBRs and gives me a chance to recognize a lot of the awesome bloggers that add stuff to my TBR!
  • Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray: I had a slightly complicated relationship with The Diviners but I liked it enough to give the sequel a try. I hadn't even realized the sequel was released last year.  It made almost zero splash in my world.  
  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi:  I'm pretty sure I heard about this on Book Riot's All the Books podcast as with a number of others on this list. It is a non-fiction book about the death of the author from cancer and it sounds really tough but it also sounds like something I should read.
  • American Housewife by Helen Ellis and The Unfinished World and Other Stories by Amber Sparks:  These are both interesting sounding short story collections - new releases recommended by Book Riot's All The Books podcast.  Several of the stories described struck my fancy and I don't read enough short stories!
  • These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1) by Tarun Shanker:  Described as Jane Austen meets X-men so yeah, I will be reading this one.  Again a recommendation of Book Riot's All The Books podcast.
  • Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins:  Last one recommended on Book Riot's All The Books podcast. This sounds like a delicious slow burn type romance.  
  • Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff:  This middle grade title was recommended on Of Starships and Dragonwings.  It sounds like a lot of fun and if I like it, Shurtliff has written a bunch of other similar type books.
  • Show Dog by Josh Dean:  A non-fiction book that follows one dog as he makes his way through the show dog circuit. I think I saw this one advertised in a daily publisher e-mail and I love me some dogs so....

Blogging 

 On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK:

It will once again be total chaos around here even though I did manage to post some things this week. My hope is to at least post a review of Steal the Sky by Megan O'Keefe.




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