All in a Garden Green

Spring has sprung! Summer, even... it was 80 degrees today. It's going to be 84 tomorrow. I was barefoot in my driveway on Sunday, after washing my car, when it was 78 degrees. We've gotten the little grill out twice, and will probably do so again tomorrow. This is insane. The cats like it, though.


Happiness in a sunbeam... A bit ridiculous, really. Lancelot was enjoying himself waaaay too much.


Spring Peepers are out. Heard them for the first time yesterday, driving home from fencing. Out in force today at the nursery. Plants are coming in, we're opening this weekend. Still kinda disorganized, but it'll be mostly mulch that moves anyway. TIRED, though, from the warm weather and sudden 'ack! we've got to get things organized!' flurry of activity. There are things I must dooooo before spring really gets here!

Looks like most of my plants made it through the winter just fine. The Oakleaf Hydrangea in the terrace was what I was really worried about, and there are plenty of green stems, just waiting for leaves. So. Happy! Iris are coming up with new leaves, Sedum has woken up and is budding, and from the looks of what I pulled up this evening, I'll have plenty of volunteer Nasturtium from seeds dropped last fall... My potato starts should be arriving in a week and a half or so too, very excited to try them!

The bad bits: Ticks. In the backyard for all of 5 minutes on Sunday, picked 2 deer tick off of my jeans and shoes. Ick ick ick.

Washed the car! I have a RED car! Who knew? My poor, dear car... hopefully she'll make it another winter (and then another summer, since winter is the hard part)... New rear brakes yesterday, not cheap, but I certainly got my money's worth out of the original set. Almost 180,000 miles. I'd say we're doing OK. Timing belt is due soon... hnnggghhh... :\

kurlon has shiny new glasses now. He's amazed at the world in HD. I guess they've been a while in coming. We picked them out last Monday, and I think he's glad to be seeing things again.

ninian_vesalius and I are headed to New Jersey and MUDTHAW this Friday night. Getting there laaaaate (or earrrrrly, depending on point of view). Glad things don't really get going till 11:30. Aiming to be onsite by 11. Lots and lots of fencing, I hope! Can't wait to see everybody and play OUTSIDE!

Ok... too tired to catch up on details from the last couple weeks/weekends... let me sum up.

Have made gallons and gallons of pickles. Almost been long enough to test the first batch of dills I did. Cucumbers are done, I think. Not many more coming on the plants at work, but the crop was good this year. Same for tomatoes, once most of the chipmunks went away and stopped eating them. I am currently drying/roasting tomatoes in the oven. Hoping to be done pretty soon... I need to go to bed.

Two weekends ago - Pictures from the Steampunk Picnic and Windsor Fair. Still no photos up from the ballgame, though I got some good ones. To be sorted soon.

Work is work. Blergh. Getting into the really really sloooow fall time. Nobody is shopping anymore, hoping for lots of landscape jobs to come in, but who knows where that'll lead...

Rode Giovanni to work just a few days last week. Fall is here. It's a bit chilly in the mornings. Beautiful rides home under the waxing moon, though. Not sure how much more motorcycling I'll get in before it gets seriously cold.

Last weekend - Found the garage! Lost the basement... but boxes are somewhat unpacked/organized, and we have space in the 1st garage bay for Suzi, Murray (our lawn tractor), and hopefully a bunch of other stuff from the 3rd garage, because...

Tomorrow - we are going to the bank to talk to them about financing options to properly repair the 3rd garage roof. I'm still not entirely sure what the plans are, but it'll at least end up not leaky.

Have skipped practices/meetings/etc because I'm trying to finish two scrolls for this coming weekend. One I am much happier with than the other... but the second one is getting there. They'll be done by Friday, and then I can SCA again. Once I find my fencing garb... argh. Am tired, a bit burned out, and need a shorter commute. Haven't even gotten a chance to think about making a lovely, period, from a period pattern, shirt for pet_spider... just make sure you're still doing the Civil War thing next year, OK? It's a winter project...

I have a grand sense of accomplishment today, which is wonderful. Got lots of stuff done! Which is good, because my cold seems to have relapsed, so I may not get much done tomorrow... sleep. More tea. Hm.

Today I:
- Made up a bunch of Queen's Favor kits. Started one, just to make sure I was putting enough thread in. Hopefully I've got the right color cloth... Will be able to double check next week at 12th night, at the very latest.
- Found my feast gear, still in the same place from when we went to Ruantallan a few months ago.
- Shopped. Got stuff I needed. Like kleenex. Ugh.
- Bought 3 yards of beautiful soft purple wool for Astrid's spiffy fancy apron dress (to be done by Birka! No worries! At least, not till I get to the wolf...). Also some golden yellow for the wolf, and deep red, for details. Oxford Mill End Store is a wonderful, wonderful place, and I could get in a lot of trouble there, had I an unlimited budget.
- Finished my gown, in time for Feast! 3 weeks early! There is still some tweaking to do, but nothing major...
- Organized my music, finally. It had been in a state of semi-organized for some months now.

Winter Feast! Did not take any photos... hopefully there are some good ones out there. Max? :) Food was delicious, company was excellent, entertainment was entertaining, and I didn't skewer anybody with my hennin (I don't think so, anyway). The hat stayed on my head, once I got the clips and hair where they needed to be, and I still fit through doorways without having to duck. The new gown is incredibly comfortable, not too warm either. I win.

And apparently even though I cannot talk very well (my turn, now, to have Deep Sexy Announcer Voice), I can still sing. I expected to be joining the basses, but evensongs_fall and I held down the soprano end of things quite well, I think.

Sleep now, recover from busy busy day, hopefully will have a voice in the morning, we will see.