The daffodils are coming up!!
As I was coming up the driveway yesterday, I could see a stiff stand of leaves about two inches tall in the bed at the front of the house. Today, I stepped out to check on them, and could see that pods of daffodils are up all along the face of the house. YES!!
Last week, as I fed the birds, I could see that the oregano was greening up. No doubt the other herbs will make a showing, especially tomorrow when it is supposed to be 44 degrees.
This little bit of greening is just the start of a rush that will come during the next month, but it’s always the best. It confirms that spring is coming, that things will renew, and that there is hope that the cycle of our days will continue as expected.
I think I’ll spend a little time with the White Flower Farm catalog, dreaming of just how beautiful the grounds could be.
I’m SUCH a happy camper!
Baby Quilts
I’m so behind in my quilting! There’s just never enough time to do all I want to do in my sewing room! Can you tell I’m addicted??
I have pieces for five baby quilts sitting on the work table. Four of them are in every shade of pink, with sashing that has tiny pink rosebuds. Two more are sailboat patterns that are in bright colors with a multi-colored microdot background.
What will likely happen is that four of the pink quilts will come together quite quickly. I have the fabric for the sashing and borders to cut, but once they are cut, the rest will go together in no time.
The sailboat pieces are cut, but I have to sew and then sub-cut about 150 pieces, At that point I can assemble the sailboat blocks, and the pinwheels that alternate with the boats.
Both of these projects came about because I wanted to see what I could create from the stash I have on hand, and because my family is so darned busy making babies!
I need to get several of these done so that I can give them before the little girls are 21. I’m waiting to hear whether I need to make a quilt for a boy.
There must be something in the water…..
The Amaryllis that Saved Itself
Remember the amaryllis that I was going to throw away??
Well, that bulb that saved itself by sending up a bud on a two inch stalk, eventually grew to be THIRTY-SIX INCHES tall! It’s so tall, I had to add a bamboo stake to the pot to help it stand, and I’m going to have to find something sturdier to hold it now that all four blooms are open.
This, is what I have been blogging about:
Bob
We have a daytimme racoon, which is a bit unusual. For the most part, raccoons are nocturnal. However, this raccoon seems to have a problem. The first thing you notice is that it walks oddly, protecting it’s back right hip and leg. The second thing you see is that it’s missing a large part of its tail. The guys in this household have taken to calling it “Bob.”
I’ve watched this animal for several days. It comes to gleen what it can from under the bird feeders. Its winter fat has faded, but it’s not gaunt. When he, or she, walks, she puts the right foot down carefully, so I think the damage might be higher up. She doesn’t limp as much as she shuffles.
Either this animal has been clipped by a car, or a larger preditor may have hurt it. We have learned not to feed the raccoon population, but it’s very hard to keep from helping this one. I really don’t want to encourage it to stay. I suppose it would be best to let it sink or swim on its own, but I hope it recovers.
A Job
I HAVE to find a job!
How do you go about figuring out what to do, especially in THIS job market, when you have done only three jobs in your adult life? I know my strengths, but I also know my weaknesses, and I’m having trouble believing that someone would care to hire someone my age, with the skills I have to offer.
I feel a bit overwhelmed.
I knew there would come a day when my husband and his partner disbanded their company. Our partner is older, and has already reached retirement age. Dear Husband is coming up on it quickly. Unfortunately, I’m a bit younger than they are, and still need to work.
My youngest sister suggested that I might be working for MickeyD for a few years. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to do a job that requires I stand all day.
I can remember driving my mother somewhere, talking about this situation. It must have been eight or ten years ago, so I was concerned about it even then. At the time, I was worried about having to work away from home, when Mother might need me. I turned to her and flippantly said, “Pehaps I’d be a success at phone sex!” Not a rise……not even an eye roll.
I am so envious of those of you who can reinvent yourselves and move on with your lives. I need to get out of my rut, and figure out what I might be able to do that pays more than minimum wage.
I presently manage an office of one. I use Quick Books (with occasional help from the CPA), Word, and Excel. On the right keyboard, I can probably type roughly 60 wpm. (I plan to ditch the streamlined keyboard I have and go back to an older model with higher keys and a caps lock light.) For my present company I am responsible for Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, banking, filing, and I am the back up Payroll person. I determine expenses per job and provide material waivers. I am a notary public. I also manage an LLC which rents two business condos. I can do double entry manual bookkeeping, but I doubt there is a company left that doesn’t do it’s books electronically.
In another life I was a grade school band director. I don’t wish to substitute. It’s a whole different world out there since I last taught, and I’m not prepared to deal with kids on a daily basis. However, from that experience I bring the ability to organize large groups of people, to plan goals, and determine the steps necessary to reach those goals. I’m trying to apply those abilities to my current situation, but it’s easier to do when you are not focusing on your own needs.
I have the feeling that this is going to be an on-going series of posts. Feel free to jump in with suggestions, or tell me to stop whining. The door is open.
Swathed in Ice
We had the oddest weather yesterday. We had a little bit of everything except warmth!
There was sunshine early in the day that gave way to our usual gloom. We had a bit of snow, but nothing that amounted to anything. Then it rained, and by ten at night we had lightening and thunder, along with a major downpour.
When I woke this morning, everything was swathed in ice! The trees are gorgeous, glistening in the sun. It won’t last long now, but the first half of the day looked like a fairyland, with all the glitter from the shrubs and trees. Unfortunately, the road had pockets of ice that made driving very dangerous. On my way to exercise I saw the first accident on our road in the 20 years that I’ve lived here!
It’s actually supposed to be colder tomorrow, but the forecasters are teasing us with the possibility of temperatures in the forties on Friday.
Wowwwwwwww…….a heat wave!
At least 34″
The amaryllis is at least 34″ tall, but since I last wrote about it, there is another bud stalk coming up, and there are at least four leaves. The longest leaf is about eight inches long, the others are just starting to come up.
The bud on the tall stalk is just beginning to open. I noticed a slit on the outer shell, and you can see the tips of the flowers within.
Perhaps most people are not as interested in how an amaryllis grows, but it reminds me of my father. The last year or so of his life, I lived in Missouri in a cabin on my parent’s property. I worked for my Dad, and ate meals with them. Dad had built a rustic fireplace in the dining room and that particular year, Mother was growing an amaryllis. Dad’s chair at the head of the table had him facing the fireplace, and as the amaryllis grew, he kept track of its height by measuring it against the stones of the fireplace. We received a daily report, and it created a sense of anticipation as the stalk grew taller and taller.
I’d forgotten how tall this particular amaryllis was. It might have skipped a season of bloom, or perhaps I was just too busy last year to make a mental note about it’s growth. My Mother would be thrilled to see it blooming again. I’m sure she would encourage me to take pictures and print them out for her. She truly loved these flowers.
I’m blessed that such simple things bring good memories.
Peanuts!
How does a squirrel remember where he’s stashed his food?
I just fed the birds, and I had half a bag of peanuts in the shell that I decided to give to the local squirrel population. I use the top of a recycling bin when I don’t want to set things right on the ground, so I poured the peanuts out onto it. It doesn’t take the grapevine long to announce that I’ve put out food, so by the time I was in the kitchen the back yard was a beehive of activity.
I stood at the window and waited to see if the squirrels would show any interest. One did. I think he might be at the top of the pecking order because none of the other squirrels went near the peanuts. Alpha found them right away, picked one up, secured it in his mouth, and charged off. I watched him repeat this procedure a dozen times or more. I know that he will move every one of those peanuts within the next fifteen minutes.
He’s buried them all within the cleared area of our lawn and gardens, on the north side of the house. Several are under tufts of grass, and more of them have been tucked into my herb garden. Some of them are under piles of leaves at the edge of the lawn, and at least one of them has been tucked into the dirt at the edge of the raised veggie bed.
But…..there are no little markers saying “Peanuts, here.” There’s nothing to remind him where he put these things under piles of leaves. HOW is he going to find them again? Thank God these were roasted, or we’d have peanuts growing all over the place this summer! I can see how the chipmunks have repopulated the dill and cosmos and tiny tomatoes, and I think it’s possible that their bigger rodent cousins have helped!
It was fun to watch, another of the gentle amusements that are a part of living here.
31″ going on…..
I mentioned in an earlier entry that I have an amaryllis that I was going to pitch out that decided to bloom. I moved it out into the sunlight and started watering it again, and it has grown at a phenomenal rate!
There’s a stalk, with a bud at the top, and now two leaves have pushed their way out of the bulb. This morning I measured the stalk and it topped out at about 30 inches. This evening, just out of curiosity, I checked it again, and it’s a tad over 31 inches. I think the growth of the stalk is slowing down and we may see the bud begin to develop.
I hope it it one of those gorgeous white flowers with the pink stripes down the center of each petal. Pictures to follow!
Dichotomy
I love my youngest sister dearly, but there is quite a dichotomy between her life and mine. Lately, I’ve thought her life is MUCH more interesting than mine!
On Face Book last night, she quoted Thoreau: “We live meanly, like ants.” She asked what we thought he meant by that. Her reading is extensive, and she frequently finds concepts to apply to her own life, and she’s had an incredible influence on the lives of the students she teaches.
The most involved passage I’ve read lately is a recipe for Bolognese sauce!
Way to go, sis! Keep up the quest, and you’ll be young forever!