All in a Garden Green

Couldn't take it anymore... got the patio set out of the greenhouse, and have absconded with the boss's laptop, which has remote access to my computer, and wireless. Life, it is good.



Still doing mindless paperwork today, but it's 65 degrees out, the sun is on my back, the breeze is warm, and there are birds singing in the trees. I'll take it.

I awoke this morning (rather forcibly, really, but it was a good thing...) to one kitty (Lancelot) on my legs, and one kitty (Galahad) miaouing (loudly) in my ear, waking me up, and then deciding to land directly on my chest, so he could stare at my face, and fall asleep. He would stir occasionally, and I found his paws stretched out, on my shoulders, "hugging" me. Would that I could have stayed in bed all day, just like that... (no such luck, had to go to work.)

What a fantastic weekend, though. House and car full of friends from Friday evening onward, fantastic times at Bare Blade (even though I could not fence), and the knowledge that my gray cloud is fairly quickly lifting away. Lots of fun photos from the day are here:

11-19 Bare Blade

Xavier arrived Friday night, Mickel, Max, and Ninian all came over for dinner (sweet & sour chicken... mmm...), plans for the next day were discussed, garb and gear was located, and we prepared ourselves for the journey north. Wyatt, the silly man, had forgotten a rather important 21st birthday party this weekend, so he would not be joining us... pppttttthhhhbbbbbtttt!

Uneventful drive to the site for Ninian, Xavier and me. Stopped for coffee. Saw Max & Mickel on the way to get their own coffee. Stopped for gas. Were passed by Max & Mickel on the highway. Followed them for a while, passed them, and our GPSes took us different ways and we actually made it to the site before they did... amusing to ourselves, at least.

There was much fencing and treachery at the Tavern! It was strange not fencing... Jehan, I think, seemed to feel worse about me not fencing than I did... sigh... Took lots of pictures, talked to lots of folks, was wonderful to see so many people from further away than usually come up! Highlights included Sir Ivan's Roving Res Point, Sir Ivan's flailing firey death (winning Best Death), the First Bank of Neville (winning him the coveted Most Treacherous Swine), and masterful manipulation and cunning by the lovely Marguerite, Countess of Bad Ideas, resulting in the Crown of the East ending up with the Deed to the Bare Blade Tavern at the end of it all. They'll have to come up next year, make it an RP. :)

We were exhausted, so did not stay to party... perhaps another time. Post event dinner at Olive Garden was delicious, arriving back at Freegate with plenty of time to dissolve in the hot tub was fantastic...

Most of my house slept till noon on Sunday. Nice lazy day, even though we missed waffles... Xavier hung around long enough for Max to bring tools over so we could start cracking into the safe we found in the basement when we bought the house. Seems like there's some things of interest within, after drilling a few holes and poking around inside with a borescope. More on that when we open 'er up fully!

I fell asleep last night to the sound of my friends laughing and having a wonderful time gaming in the dining room. This week, I look forward to a house full (though slightly fewer than last year) of friends and family for Thanksgiving. Life is good, again.

It is done! Plants are in! Hooray! The box gets roughly 6 hours of good, direct sun... we'll see how everything does. Photos are here, to be updated through the summer...

In the left half, 2 Buttercup Squash, 2 Butternut Squash, 2 Summer Squash, a Black Cherry Tomato, a Husky Gold tomato, 1 basil plant, 12 Kohlrabi, a bunch of beets (seeded), a handful of marigolds across the back, and nasturtium seeds across the front. Once I get the majority of the loam/compost pile transferred to the other gardens and terraces, I will have another trellis, laying horizontally, for the squashes to grow on. Mmm...

(So glad that fresh tomatoes are only a month or so away, too... Have a read here, and cry... :( The Indignity of Industrial Tomatoes)

In the right half, another handful of marigolds, 4 Salt and Pepper cucumbers (going to grow up the trellis), parsley, carrots (seeded), and Brightest Brilliant Rainbow Quiona (seeded). Still some empty space, I need to find a place for my chives and garlic chives, and thyme, borage, and a couple other herbs. For now, very happy. Just have to remember to water it in the mornings before I leave for work.

As far as the whole 'moving the rest of the pile of soil' goes... it will go slowly... I cannot get a wheelbarrow up the stairs, and it's a pain to try and toss it shovel by shovel up over the wall/steps, so I find that the easiest (if not the most fun) way to move the remaining yard+ of soil to where it needs to go is by 5-gallon bucket. Ugh. a 5-gallon bucket full of soil is very heavy, and really isn't much at all once it's dumped out... Going to be a bit before everything is done.

But I have taken the damned rope lights off the steps, got three of the six solar lights working again (amazing what new batteries will do), and pulled out yet another giant pile of wintercreeper roots. I think once I do get the dozens and dozens of buckets of soil moved over to the hill, I will be able to dig without hitting solid roots. I have such plans... There are a few nasturtium seeds planted along the rocks, currently... hopefully will be up in a few more days.

My 'Green Lotus' Peonies are blooming. So cool. So funky. LOTS of flowers on one, only one on the other...

Fantastic, fun weekend. They let me and ludicrose into Canada, the fools! And back into the US again, thankfully.

Fenced lots, saw and spent time with lovely people, had lovely food, sang and heard lovely songs, and the year wait to get back to the Creperie Lulu B on Sunday morning was so worth it. Thanks again to Xavier for letting us sleep on your couch and floor.

Congrats to Asila, new Baronial Rapier Champion, and Elaine, new Baronial A&S Champion. Well deserved, both. :)

Took about 600 photos... I'll post the best ones once I've had a chance to go through them all. Which may be a few days. Major costuming project that has consumed my life for the last couple weeks is almost done...

So. Finally got to sit down and sort through nearly 400 photos from last week. Two weeks ago. Agh. Week of vacation and it feels like I never left. Finally caught up on sleep, though...

GNEW was truly lovely, even if Saturday was not a lot of fun. Tuesday and Wednesday were both frantic and relaxing, getting last-minute things done, but getting to the site in time to set up the tent and have dinner before Mosquito Hour hit. Wednesday Mickel and I went to the store, and I helped Max finish laying out the roads when we got back. Thursday was A&S tent setup and a bit of frantic scramble, and the arrival of more of the Haus. Friday was archery setup till about noon. Then I decided to dive in the pool before gate shift. This was a Good Idea.

Usual gate shift is 2-6PM on Friday. This year I was joined by Ninian, Q, and Bryn (who is now OK, it appears, with being called "Gramma Bryn". ;) hee.). We had a fantastic time. Saw lots of people! Dance class with Mickel at 6, in prep for the ball at 8. Xavier showed up sometime in between everything, and we ran off to camp to get his tunic, which fit perfectly. YAY! I Did Good. (Many thanks to pet_spider, being a perfect-sized model the weekend before when I'd finished it...) The dance was lovely, as usual. Got to play music, got to dance, got to try and get Xavier to dance with Anne Marie, with some measure of success... they're so cute. ;) Enjoyed a nice fire post-dance. Bad thing of the evening - my favorite basket broke. :( Handle pulled right out. Dunno if I can fix it or not. Sigh.

Saturday dawned bright and not terribly clear, but fencing gear went on, and off I trekked to the field. Also set up the barn for the A&S display. Tried to get organized and do fencing at the same time, which did not work at all. At about 9:30, the skies opened, and the rain came. And kept coming. Fencing was called till noon. I sat at A&S for a bit, visited in IDD a bit, discussed the merits of fencing in cleats with Dannicus and Angall, wandered back to fencing during a light lull... Fencing was called officially around noon, and the warpoint was decided by a Wager of Law. Quite amusing. And well done. At that point, I was done. Cranky, wet, soggy. Ended up going offsite, which I never do during an event, but it was necessary. Xavier and I went shopping for wool for the next garment project, with mixed success. Found wool, was lovely, but not enough. Plans are still percolating. Sigh. At least we obtained both dry firewood and Coca-cola. Essentials.

The rain did stop shortly after returning, dry enough so that some fencing happened. I did not. A&S needed to be tallied and cleaned up. Many thanks to Ninian here, helping total things.

Court was nice. I was tired, plunked myself down in what I think was a good photo spot, and did what we do during court. Most enjoyable. Lots of people got lovely awards. The gold glittered in the half-sunlight, and no scrolls were harmed in the little spots of rain that fell and struck panic into at least one scribe's heart... All better now.

Was late to feast. Important things happening in IDD. Cider with Tigger is not to be rushed, but was, a little bit. We will make up for it some other time, when we have time. Feast was lovely, as always. Saturday evening also was the addition of a new apprentice sibling, Lady Honig. A wonderful ceremony. The three of us will cause such trouble... ;) Post-ceremony was the first Woolfe's Companies gathering at Wanderstamm, then we all wandered out for socialness in other camps. Stopped by to see Tim & Einarr try to light themselves on fire (so cool...), stopped by Endewearde, and then it was just Vincent and myself, a bit of a flashback to Pennsic, wandering to Carolingia... it was later that usual, sorry we missed gryphonsinistre, but had some tasty snacks and good conversation with Valerian et al. Wandered to IDD, "just for a bit", I said. Ended up staying for an hour or so longer than "a bit", talking and laughing with folks. All in all, a good evening.

Sunday closing ceremonies - we win! By one point. Took A&S and shopping quite handily. Yay! Fencing was a draw, Archery was a slaughter... don't remember the rest... Packout happened in a most timely manner, everybody putting away Dry Canvas before Certain Impending Doom dumped gallons of water on the camp.

I learned a lot this year. What I can and cannot do at the same time. How to better use and plan for my deputy and people who are willing to help me out so they don't go as crazy as I did. Took notes. Need to consolidate them, but took lots of notes.

Photos from the event are here.
Nicholas' GrandMaster Bowman Scroll is here. Quite happy with the vinework and whitework, but I need to work on Portraiture. Next project, maybe.

Even tho I just talked to him, wanted to wish a happy happy 25th to my very own pet_spider! Happy car-insurance-payment-goes-down-day!

After temps in the 60s and hitting 70 all week, it's actually spring today. Happy Equinox! And happy Anniversary to Max and anna_mickel! Strangest. Winter. Ever. Never worn short sleeves outside while it was still winter and enjoyed it.

The four of us got together here last night, for the first "entertaining" meal of many at our wonderful home. Thanks to the weather, I was craving BBQ chicken, and kurlon did not disappoint with our wee little grill. The kitties were even mildly social, which was nice.

I got to sleep past 6:30 this morning. That was wonderful in itself. Woke up to sunshine, blue sky, and just a few white puffy clouds. I can see trees through the skylight in the upstairs where my computer is currently set up. I want to turn the area up here into the book room; we've got the space. Can't decide if I want to keep the computer up here or not; If I set my little tiny speakers up a bit, music will fill the whole house from here. The acoustics are wonderful.

On the docket today: Laundry, and raking!! SO EXCITED to find out what I've got in the yard/pseudo-gardens here. Then perhaps over to Freegate for fencing and/or archery and/or socialness. Hot tub would be nice, I think, after all the work.

Tomorrow, depending on what the weather does, I want to paint things. This upstairs nook is going to be light blue when I'm done. May keep the white trim, I may not. The bottoms of the walls themselves do need trim, but I'll get as close as I can to the carpeting without also turning it a lovely light blue... We found the living room paint downstairs in the basement, if it mixes up well, I will fix all the gazillion nail holes in the walls there, and do some touch-ups. And if I'm playing with spackle, I may as well try to repair the kitchen wall where the dog chewed it, and think about paint for there too. I've got the color picked out, just need to decide to do it.

Might even get photos up this weekend. Who knows. :)

Despite the horrid (and way early, with not enough sleep) start, today turned out pretty darn awesome.

- We have running water. We have a new well pump (and a bill for said pump... owwwwwwww... not as much as we feared, though), one that will hopefully last much, much longer than the barrel-scraping piece of (*#^$ that was originally down in the ground. I am going to take a nice, long shower soon (if the power stays on... just got a flap... interesting...)

- It was 70 degrees today. Still technically winter. I was outside, tagging shrubs, in short sleeves, and almost too warm at times. Fantastic. Even my boss was in a good mood. We got little baby plants, including our herb shipment.

- I got to play in the dirt with a bunch of second-graders this morning. Surprisingly fun, and I am pretty sure that's what put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. We planted beans and tomato seeds in little peat pots for their classroom greenhouse. I hope they all come up.

- We got the official word that one of the guys that was hired to work this summer will not, in fact, be coming to work for us. This is a good thing. I and the other ladies in the office can't figure out why, but we really, really don't want to spend any time with this guy. At all. Especially alone. Just a feeling, nothing we can put a solid reason on, but we're all glad he's gone... should really have talked to the boss, I suppose, but it seemed stupid to say "I don't want to work with this guy. No, I don't really have a reason. He just creeps me out." Bah.

- Wonderful M, who worked for us 5 years ago, then moved to Florida (hated every minute, he says), is back, and will be working for us again this summer. SO HAPPY. Gave him a running, flying hug when he pulled into the driveway and I figured out who he was.

- There was singing practice and Rock Band tonight. It's been months. Everybody missed it, and it was good to be back.

- I am going to Mudthaw next week. Should be fun. Supposed to be a darned good fencing event. It's all good, I think.

- I get to rake the yard this weekend!! Right now, I'm excited about this... the excitement will wear off, I'm sure, but I am anxious to see what sorts of plants I've got out there!

- I am going to paint the upstairs a nice medium blue, and the bathroom turquoise. I have paint colors picked out, I think. Will possibly pick them up on Sunday, since it's supposed to be rainy. EEEEE.

Oh, and I have Lancelot purring in my lap as I am typing this. :) Should go check on Galahad, since I think he's managed to jump the barrier to the (still unfinished) master bedroom again, and got himself stuck... ah, kitties.

(11:55 PM, March 17: OK. One cranky point. The power flapped, and now I have no internet connection. No amount of rebooting or kicking the router will fix this, apparently, and J is asleep, so I am going to take that as a sign that I should take a shower and go to bed. GRR.)
(12:12 AM, March 18: Figured out the problem... we really need a new UPS for the router/cable modem/stuff. Irritating to have to turn on the interrupted uninterruptable power supply...)

A beautiful, sunny (but still quite chilly) day, and me without a camera... After alternately dumping and spitting snow for four days, blue skies with white puffy clouds greeted me this morning. It was a nice change. The wind hadn't managed to quite knock all the marshmallow off the branches and bushes right away, but things have cleared off pretty well now.

Lots of icicles hanging off the office roof, too. LONG icicles. Be careful walking out the front door icicles. Here we have a perfect example of a poorly-insulated roof, unlike the new house, which, while leaky (we find out more this week on that), is possibly a bit too well insulated. No melt at all from the inside heat (which is low for the moment).

On the house front, kurlon tells me that estimates are now for it to still take a few MONTHS to get the foreclosure paperwork straightened out. Glorious. Moving during the busy work season. I love it. Won't have to worry so much about the plants, anyway.

Speaking of plants. I want to visit the planet of Pandora. We went to see 'Avatar' the other night, and it was beautiful. An amazing film, and definitely worth doing the 3-D experience, if you can. We tried to get into the IMAX, but it was sold out... perhaps another theater viewing will be in order when the popularity has gone down a bit... Would definitely like to see it again, on the big screen. Many others have said before me, and I repeat: Best remake of 'Fern Gully' Ever. I was ecstatic that the things that looked like giant terrestrial tubeworms actually behaved like tubeworms, as they should. :)

Garb is coming along nicely. I have a Hennin. Whole thing might be done for next weekend. This weekend, if I'm really, really lucky and dedicated... Also need to vacuum and lint-roll, before my life remains permanently covered in black velvet fuzz. Aieee...

It's still snowing. A lot. There's a nice, fluffy (tho probably soggy) layer at least on the lawns and cars, not sure about streets yet. It's pretty. The best part is, I don't have to go shovel it. I can stay right here, inside the nice warm apartment, and not go out. Happy. :)

And here are some penguins, chasing a light. Eeeeheeheeheeheehee!