Done

Our taxes are done.  What a relief.  And what stupidity not to have gotten it all done sooner!!!  I still have the property taxes to pay and a visit to the bank regarding my IRA but that's small beans compared to the taxes.

I got all my gardening done.  The ajuga dug out of the back bed.  A "ride along" donation from someone when I took a plant home and planted it back there.  I know I will be digging ajuga next year( and many years after) but it's nice to see the bed without it right now.

I sprinkled herb seeds (dill, parsley, cilantro) in the herb bed and planted my package of pea seeds. I also raked up the raised beds to make them look more "proper".  The kale I never picked is now sending out new leaves.  Who knew? And it tastes good.  I sprinkled some dinosaur kale seeds nearby.

We are now going to buy dogfood.  And our dinner.

Memories

Of past difficulties with my right leg.  Same thing.  I forgot about it until I was standing in the shower and I remembered.  Bursitis of the muscle that crosses over my hip bone.  The remedy?  Exercise. And those famous orange pills.  That was when I was first given the orange pills.

So, last night I took the orange pill and everything was good.

And today at work, when my right Croc stuck a bit on the floor, I felt my hip weaken just a bit.  So that's what has happened the last two times (when I wasn't paying attention).  My foot has stuck on the floor and I pulled against the hip muscle and it did what it does.  Hurts. And then as I keep moving it eases up and finally goes away.

The more I move the better it will be.  The Pilates exercise must have bothered that muscle when it rubbed against the hip bone.  Don't worry.  The remedy is exercise, not walking on uneven surfaces, and orange pills.  That's what my orthopedic doctor says.  It worked last time.  It will work this time.

I have strong bones.  I know. I saw the x-rays.

Remains Of The Day

Today.  Is over.  My daughter is home where she can privately pass all the gas they injected into her belly during surgery.  The Linus Project volunteers have packed their car with my 4 shopping bags and five boxes.  And they liked what was in the bags and boxes and plan to "keep" most of it and not sell it.  It is fun to make pretty things.  More fun to make pretty things.  Some donations are old and tired.  My stuff is bright and cheerful.  This little pile of brown checks and plaids was removed from a box at the last minute. I don't know why.  I followed my intuition.  We'll see.

Today, just about at the time I should have been in the car driving to pick up the dog, my right leg "gave" way again.  This is the second time this week.  It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to recover and then everything is good again. Everything was perfectly fine up until the moment I realized my leg might not hold me up.  I wonder what is happening to me?  Pinched nerve?  Tired muscles?  Cement floors?  I have been walking, reaching, lifting for two full days at work.  No problems.  And the "weakness" occurred at about the same time of day, afternoon, 3 pm or so.  And by just standing quietly and waiting, it went away.  What it is, is the feeling that if I place my weight on my right leg, I will fall.  I stop myself at the very first instance of this feeling.  Standing still and waiting is okay with me.  Falling at work is not.  I don't want to be treated like an invalid.  Not yet.

Just before this happened I was walking down towards a delivery truck, uneven gravel, to pick up trays of plants, one tray on each forearm, and carry them back up into the greenhouse.  It was after carrying the tulips and Easter lily containers in that I felt unsafe.  I had decided to skip my Pilates this morning.  I just had too many things to get done and was still late to work.

My lunch, at 1.30 was wonderful.  I especially enjoyed the toast with my still hot breakfast thermos of coffee.  If Sam's boyfriend can't walk and feed Riley tomorrow, I will drive home and eat my lunch here between classes.

Fragmented

Editing this post.  It's 10 am and Sam is out of surgery and without a gall bladder. The surgeon did it the "easy" way but it took a long time and was the second worst gall bladder he has ever removed.  She will stay overnight just to be safe (infection).  She has obviously lived with a great deal of pain for many years so I am wondering what life will be like for her-pain free.

Yesterday I was very busy getting four large shopping bags and 5 banker's boxes filled with fabric and brought downstairs by the front door.  The Linus Project co-ordinator is picking this donation of fabric up tomorrow afternoon.  I also sent the dog food samples to the lab for testing, paid and mailed the household bills, made homemade pizza, got my hair cut and moved the plant auction plants outdoors for the day (and back inside for the night).  It's 24 degrees right now.  Frost covers the lawn.  I lucked out at the resale shop and got an LLBean anorak for Spring dog walks and a ten dollar brown cashmere sweater for now and next winter.  It's very cozy.

G was up very early.  Our daughter is having her second surgical attempt at removing her very sick gall bladder.  They admitted her for day surgery at 5.30 this morning (larger hospital about 45 minutes from home) and took her into surgery at 7 if all went as planned.  The surgeon will try to do the surgery laproscopically but if that won't work (again) then he will do an abdominal incision.  A week in the hospital for that.  I am hoping and praying to hear from G in a few hours that it was done the easy way.  And Sam will be sleeping in her bed, at home, tonight.

The Year of the Rabbit for G and S has been filled with pain, doctors and lab tests so far.  Let's hope this is the end of that.

We watched Survivor last night and I can't imagine it was chance that they had a foot challenge on the day that Matt cuts his foot on Redemption Island.  Or that he is now back on the island (the best place for him since he is a train wreck running his mouth).  G went to bed early and I turned off the TV and read my book until Riley decided it was time to go to bed.  10.30.  Right on the minute. I swear that dog has an incredibly accurate internal clock!

I can't really concentrate on anything.  I have to take the dog to daycare and go to work soon.  I may try and do my Pilates (I didn't fit it in yesterday).  Perhaps that will make me feel more peaceful.

Teaching Gardening

One Saturday at a time.  April 9th is Outdoor Gardening with Annuals and Perennials. I found out yesterday.  The past three days have been wonderful and very tiring.  Good customers with lots of questions.  Good conversations relating to life and gardening.  Still too much standing around, but each day there is more to do.  Still too much drama from a few of the younger employees.  I have resorted to covering my ears with my hands and saying "na na na" when this one young man goes on and on about the never ending breakup with his girlfriend.  Enough!!!

The Nursery is getting ready to open and the employees working with trees and shrubs are extremely happy.  Nursery is separated from everything else--they even have their own cash register out there.  How I wish I had a cash register where I work.  Not really.  A garden hose that doesn't knot up and kink?  Yes, please!!!

Tomorrow I am off.  Haircut.  Post Office.  Bank.  Target or TJ Maxx for bras. Pilates mat for floor exercises. Dog Walk. Book Reading.  Homemade pizza for dinner. Survivor.   Way too many things plus I need to pack up the fabric bags for the Linus Project.

My horoscope keeps mentioning a choice I am supposed to be making--regarding my future.  And I am so bogged down with my "To Do" list that I can't find time to even think about anything else.  I had a hard time this afternoon trying to figure out how to turn off my windshield wipers.  They just kept going faster.  Is that the message?  Slow down?  I did manage to be very nice at work and smile a lot.  That felt good.

Riley is enjoying the new bags of food.  Eating with renewed joy and appetite.  Bouncing around like the puppy he still is at four.  He has even returned to his hobby of chasing squirrels.  Makes me very happy.  I know you were worried, also.

Green Bananas

I did my grocery shopping for the week on Sunday after work.  Green Bananas with lots of colorful stickers, no yogurt and the cereal shelves (the ones at the top with the least expensive boxes) were empty. Today on the weekly floral trip to the hospital, I stopped and filled a container at their salad bar.  I got salad greens, beets, peas, kidney beans, olives and a scoop of tuna for protein.  I also bought more salad than I had money.  Oops!!  Tomorrow I have to go back with an extra $2.  It was like that show "What Would You Do?" in a situation like that.  I got my salad in exchange for all the money I had.  Three dollars and 94 cents.

Today is Riley's Fourth Birthday.  G bought him a Moo toy which Riley doesn't like.  First toy he has shown no interest in.  G is disappointed.  But things could change at any time.

Dinner is being cooked.  I am going to take a shower.  Not exactly dirty but cold.  Rain and sleet today. More cold rain tomorrow.  G is having pork steaks, mashed potatoes and applesauce.  I am having baked sweet potatoes and steamed kale with carmelized onions.  I hope I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

My Jo Nesbo book is excellent.  For those of you who would like to try this very violent but good author, start with Redbreast.  It reads like a thriller movie.

Riley enjoyed his new, fresh bag of food.  The manager of our Petco said that Labs can sometimes "smell" something relating to the food and decide not to eat it.  Then we can return the bag for a refund.  He pre-sniffed the bags that G bought today and they are, indeed, delicious.  Just like the old days of eating Eukanuba.  I guess we are lucky that in the four years this is the first "bad smelling" bag we have purchased.

Here's the birthday boy and his new Moo toy.  A white and purple cow.

Riley pre sniffed the bags--not the Petco manager.  ROTFL

Saturday & The Big List Of Things To Do

I realized, yesterday, that all the  big things I have been listing on To Do lists since December, are still not Done.  Except for laundry and ironing.  I can't continue to blame "working" for this discrepancy.  I have to set the blame squarely where it belongs.  The Internet.  Before blogging, I got things done eventually.  Now, I spent larger and larger amounts of time just sitting here opening things up, reading, looking etc and not doing anything but increase the size of my spreading rear end.

Today, I am going to try and get two things marked off my list.  I figured out how to manage my Pilates.  As soon as I get out of bed, I put on my exercise clothes and go directly upstairs to exercise.  I don't stop off in the kitchen to "check for comments" first.  And while upstairs, I look for something I can bring downstairs and put in the recycle box or the donation box.  My arms were full this morning and I won't miss any of those things.  I changed my desk top calendar to April and changed my bulletin board calendar from February to April.  I also removed all the old bits of paper and notes from the desktop. I still have dust bunnies to sweep up.

Yesterday I made meat sauce with the ground beef I forgot I had purchased (for a meatloaf I think) and finally breaded and fried the slices of eggplant I had, also, forgotten in the fridge.  Today, I am making marinara sauce.  G and I shoveled the snow off the driveway.  I finished reading my book.  I had guessed, correctly, who the murderer was and the motivation.  It was too easy.  Today I start my next book, The Leopard by Jo Nesbo.  Once I begin, I won't be able to stop reading.

I have committed myself to having three (and perhaps four) large shopping bags of full yards of fabric ready for pick up by the Linus Project on April 8th.  I  just need to go through the fabric once more to see if any of them is still "needed" for any project.  Each time I have resorted I have found one or two items which shouldn't have been included.  One or two out of 100 isn't too bad a percentage.  I can usually see why I added them to the bags.  It helps to sort through the unfinished project boxes to see what I have "going".  Which is stupid since I haven't worked on any of these things in over 8 years.  But that is beside the point.  Until I decide that I am no longer a "quilter", I need to keep these projects.  I'm not ready to say that yet.  Close.

I have eaten breakfast, have the white laundry ready to wash, need to vacuum the floor and clear the dining room table and make the "list" for the taxes on Turbo Tax.  I think the actual "doing" of the taxes was just shy of 2 hours last time.  Ours and the daughter's.  I could have done them in February.  Was on the list.  Anyway, I am moving forward.  Head down, nose to the grindstone.

April Fool From Mother Nature

My sunny spot on the deck.  Not so sunny this morning covered in heavy wet snow.  I am dressed for work. I even got into the car and drove on my unplowed street to the "sort of plowed" main road and then ran into a road block of fire trucks and a downed power line.  That's when I decided to turn around at the first opportunity and return home and call work and say I'm not coming in today.  I have upped the thermostat temps to get the house good and warm for the impending power failure.

The dog is depressed as he had a "hell of a good time" on his walk yesterday and now--well, he won't be walking there today.  We'll be snowblowing.  G is up and I got him to shower and toast his bagel quickly just in case.  But he's having cereal.

I found the lawn chair picture to be very amusing so I wanted to post it before the power flickers again and we go dark here in Maine.  Will winter EVER end?

Gardenia

One of the "returned because it isn't working out for me" plants from the weekend.  Now, watered and repotted and blooming at my house.  Just in time for the big snowstorm.  The weather report is for rain, snow or more snow.  Six to Twelve inches depending on where the storm tracks.  Tonight into tomorrow. Can I just go on record saying that "I have had enough"?

I was so exhausted yesterday that I basically got nothing done.  I even asked G to take me out to eat dinner. The bed wasn't made, no shower, no domestic chores, no reading, no art, no journal.  I did pick up dog created trash (sticks and shredded plastic) in the yard and I walked the dog.  I even had a small bowl of ice cream after watching Survivor.  I changed out of my jammies at 3.40 yesterday just before walking the dog.

I was up early this morning, did my Pilates on the machine and then tried a few of the floor exercises (which are way harder) and then had breakfast, coffee and talked to G and the dog.  Now I am dressed and ready to leave for work in about 20 minutes.  I could very easily return to bed and fall asleep.  And I am chilled.  Can't get warm.  My hands are freezing.

The bananas I bought this week are very delicious.  Dense and filling.  I haven't made a bacon egg bagel yet but perhaps tonight for dinner.  I am eating alone while G does EOM.  Tomorrow is April 1.  Taxes. And all my library books are coming due on Monday and I can't renew them.  Where does time go?  And why do I always have time for work?  Is this one of those things I will regret when I am 90?

Slow Wednesday

My Cape Primrose continues to delight.  I bought a second plant last weekend and it also seems to be thriving in the glow of the "twirly" energy saving bulb in the table lamp overhead.  The second plant has pale blue and yellow flowers.  Not very interesting.  I should have purchased the white with dark blue veins.  G likes yellow so I was thinking of him and not of how dull the combo was. Next time I choose it will be "all about ME".

I have been awake for 90 minutes and the internet has been "off line" all that time.  My life is such a pattern that I was quite beside myself when I couldn't read the NYTimes while sipping coffee and chewing on cereal.   I had to get my news the old fashioned way--the newspapers.  Only a local paper, but it still had "news" so I read it.  Then decide to try once more to fire up the internet.  I felt like I had won the lottery when Google opened.  Yay!!!

Our new Governor continues to "shock and amaze"' Mainers with his utter stupidity.  Tea Party all the way.  He has removed the 2008 mural in tribute to labor that was in the State House, rescinded environmental laws passed in the past 20 years, unfunded public services and has called protesters "idiots who make me laugh".  My neighbor said we had nothing to fear with his election.  I think she may be sorry to have said that now.

I was SO exhausted yesterday after working 6 days straight.  I was helping a coworker alphabetize the seeds in one of the display racks (take all seeds out and start over) when I realized I could not get up off my knees without help.  It was near the end of a long day, but still, it hurt my pride just a bit.  It's bad enough that one of the guys calls me "granny".

Riley had a very busy set of days starting on Sunday and I think he is relieved to be able to sleep this morning.  I will do my Pilates after my breakfast is digested.  I appreciated the slow start to the day myself.  I have eggplant to prepare for my dinner and chicken and portobello mushrooms for G's dinner. The laundry is all washed and I just need to dry and fold and iron.  My daughter is coming over later.  She called just as I typed the period at the end of that sentence.  So, sooner not later.  Better get out of my jammies.

Redaction

The word I found in the dictionary that most resembles the word that was repeated often in my dreams last night "redaction" which isn't a word.  Redact: to put in writing; to select or adapt for publication; to edit.

My subconscious mind was telling me to edit the things in my life.  To choose those things that I most enjoy and need in my life and let the other stuff go.  A reverse "bucket" list, if you will.  Or.  My mind was saying that I should write, select words and thoughts more carefully for publication.  Here?  Or should I watch what I say in public more carefully?  Edit my spoken comments.  All of these things are possibilites.

This week I am enjoying the opening of petals on this tiny pink ranunculus.  Can you see the tight petals still hugging that brown center rectangle?  I may not have this tiny flower long enough to see it open wide.  I had three and only one is opening and still surviving.  An otherworldly being looking up at me.

I have an orphan gardenia visiting.  With several white flowers opening.  The fragrance may be too much for me once they open.  Then this lovely orphan will have to find a new home.  I repotted a night blooming cyris (I think) and while doing my Pilates this morning I noticed I have one here at home.  I thought it was an orchid cactus.  But it wasn't.  Isn't.  Blooms one night.  Gone in the morning.  And then nothing for another 364 days.

Fringe was renewed for a fourth season.  Reason enough to be very happy today.

Open House De-Construction

The display gardens were taken apart today.  All the forced trees and shrubs that were in bloom at the back of the greenhouse, and now it is gone.  The masses of forced daffodils were pulled out and the blooms cut off to be sold in blinding golden yellow bouquets.  Spring. While snow is still unmelted.  March coming in like a lion and going out with a roar.

The book I am reading is "Mind's Eye" by the Swedish author Hakan Nesser.  A man wakes up, not remembering his name, but he feels the space he is in, is his home.  He needs to use the bathroom.  The door is locked.  He breaks in and discovers the body of a woman  face down in the full bathtub. He remembers his name and that the woman is his wife. He calls the police.  Of course, the police believe he killed her.  The detective is not 100% sure.  That is as far as I have gotten.

The Japanese situation is evolving into something that will change Japan forever (or at least as long as I will live) and will change the way we choose to make electricity.  Nuclear reaction just to boil water to run a steam turbine to make electricity.  To power a lifestyle of limitless perfection.  It is all so very sad. I wonder if this is one long thread that began with the atomic bombs dropping from the sky?

The world is changing so quickly. I remember when I was a child and time moved so slowly.  Summer lasted almost forever.  In college I typed my papers on a typewriter powered by electricity (new) and drew any diagrams freehand or by tracing them from books.  If I needed to calculate a percentage I did it by hand.  No calculators.  Phones were dialed after inserting a coin.  Long distance was for emergencies. Television had two colors: black and white and three channels. And now, 40 some years later I am writing this to you on a computer I have no idea how it works, where I just watched an episode of Detroit 187 I missed,  and you are are someone I don't actually know, out there, somewhere I have never been, and we are friends.

In the words of an 85 year old friend; "fascinating".

Pizza, Pizza

Working one weekend day is hard.  Working both is so much worse.  But, I stopped at the grocery on the way home and bought the week's groceries and stuff for pizza.  For tonight's dinner.  Because I didn't get to eat lunch.  And I am very hungry.  Onion, red peppers, Greek olives and mushroom pizza.

One of the teenage loaders called out and the other was asked to stay for a longer shift.  He didn't have a lunch with him.  N gave him her yogurt and I gave him my carrots and hummus.  His other choice was the cookies and donuts being served for Open House.  We ran out of peanuts.

The book I started reading yesterday is Very Good and the Swedish author has written many more.  Some of which are described as "creepy".  I am pretty happy to have found another Swedish mystery writer.  I have no idea why I like them so much.  Perhaps I have lived in Sweden in another lifetime. I know that I always have an emotional response to the Swedish landscape.

My clothing is starting to fit differently.  I wore the men's large company shirt this weekend and buttoned it. Usually I have to wear it unbuttoned because of my hips.  And on Tuesday I wore a fleece sweatshirt that was always snug.  It skimmed over the curve of my back and from the side, I looked nice.  My posture is so much better.  I naturally stand taller and straighter.  My "core" is getting stronger.  The Pilates coda is that I would "feel" the difference at 10 days, "see" the difference at 20 and "live" the difference at 30.  I didn't do my exercises this weekend but will do them tomorrow morning.

My "whole foods" diet is starting to work.  If it isn't made from "whole" food I think twice before eating the item.  Usually, if I decide to eat it, the food is too sweet, too greasy or just too much of a waste of time (leaves me still hungry).  I don't think I am losing any weight.  But I AM changing the way I think of food.  No calorie counting.  I have as large a bowl of cereal as I want in the morning and it carries me till 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  I have a banana or a whole orange if I feel hungry with one ounce of cheddar cheese if I feel really hungry.  I think if it was possible for me to eat my dinner at this time, I could go until bedtime without needing any other food.

There are so many things going on with my life right now.  Good things.  I feel comfortable with myself -- just as I am.   I haven't been able to say that often in my life.  That's a very good thing to be able to say.  To feel.

Working

I had 60 people listen to me talk about vegetable gardening yesterday.  And I got a jelly filled donut so I was happy and covered in sugar crystals.

Today my fourth straight day at work and I still have Monday and Tuesday to go.  I am very tired and my back hurts from standing on cement flooring answering questions. My skin feels like dry paper and while talking, my throat would dry up and I had to stop. I need to drink water but I don't have time to go to the toilet during the work day. I took a big orange pill last night, had a very hot shower and fell onto the couch to read a book.  Skipped dinner, but G felt sorry for me so he made me a small plate of cheese nachos (light on the cheese).  We were both in bed by 9 pm.

 G had to get to work early yesterday (5 am) when the person who was supposed to unlock the store, didn't show up and then, while making the nachos after 6 pm, G got calls from work about a fire alarm going off.  He had to make several cell phone calls (in the second story bathroom which is the only room with bars for cell service this week).  It's getting to be a real circus around here.

And Riley woke G up at 1.30 this morning because the dog wanted to go outside.  And bark.  I had woken up about 10 minutes before the dog--perhaps he knew I was awake?  There's no such thing as a good night's sleep around here this winter (even under the influence of big orange pills).  We are all in various states of sleepiness and fatigue.

The Season Begins

We are all involved in getting the business in tip top shape for the Spring Open House.  Lots of flowering plants, pansies, violas, roses etc.  Today I cleaned up the handmade Bonsai House.  Washed it's windows. rubbed vegetable oil soap into the wood and then buffed it to a nice shine.  Added bonsai grit to the bonsai starter plants.  Looking ship shape.

The Pepsi guy brought in the soda fountain for "soders" to go alongside the fried peanuts. potato chips. donuts, cookies and coffee we are serving.  Donuts.  My downfall during these Open Houses.  I am working on my Vegetable Class outline.  Using some of the items I found in the latest Martha Stewart magazine. Updating the class notes I have from last year. Changing things up a bit. My boss said the class participants will still be able to shop as "early birds" whenever "Joanie stops blabbing".  Geez!  Why schedule the class for 9am ?????  If someone holds up a jelly donut, I'll stop pretty darn quick.

We are having more and more issues with the Eukanuba food.  As was suggested, we purchased a small bag of adult retriever food to feed Riley instead of the bag he doesn't want to eat.  He ate it. I opened the bag to smell the food and compare the smell with the "other" food.  It smelled different.  And guess what; it looked different.  The adult Eukanuba bag had puppy food inside.  Small little nuggets of puppy food.  I am calling the company tomorrow.  What the hell have I been giving my dog?  I'm really upset if they can't even get the correct food in the correct bag.

Time to eat.

Everything Chartreuse & Spring

I found this photograph in a magazine I brought home from work.  The newest 12 by 12 challenge is Chartreuse so I am seeing that color all over now.  I love that we have just one color.  Chartreuse has it's own story to tell and the cast of "extras" can be whatever the artist wants.

Yesterday wore me out.  I was up early (7.30) and noticed the snow on the driveway. I was already in my Pilates clothes (black pants and tee) so I added a coat, gloves etc and went out to shovel off Riley's back stoop.  Then the front porch steps and walk and then the entire driveway.  Finished at 9 and then upstairs for Pilates and at 10, I was on my way to work until 7.  I "worked" the entire day.  Unloading, moving, rearranging etc getting ready for our Open House on the weekend. The tables at work are just low enough to cause my back to begin to seize up.  Arrived home to find G waiting to be served dinner.  I picked up the pasta pot and filled it with water (my go to start when I have no idea what to make) and found everything for Carbonara for G and I had the remainder of the pasta with a tiny pat of butter and some Parmesan.  If I had been more alert, I would have sauteed an onion in some EVOO and steamed a pile of kale on top.  Served that with the pasta.  I just couldn't deal with another pan on the stove.  And I had had tomato kale soup for lunch.

My mother's "go to start" for dinner was to heat up the Club aluminum dutch oven and start a few onions frying.  This could eventually turn into chili, goulash, spaghetti sauce, chicken fricassee or smothered round steak.  Everything was quite similar.  I think she added a can of tomato paste to all  of them. Pork chops was a separate category. My mother wasn't a natural cook and didn't enjoy cooking for her family of 6.  But she had to as there wasn't any prepared food available yet and no "fast food".  Her favorite part of any meal was the dessert.  She did make a very good pie. I can't imagine the stress that dinner time must have been for her in the late 40's and 50's.  And she had our school clothes to WASH and IRON.  No automatic washer and dryers.  No permanent press.  And I had to wear a dress everyday.  Girls could only wear pants to school under a DRESS in those days. How she must have hated ironing my dresses.

By the time I was ten or 12, I was the one starting the onions in the dutch oven and I was the one down in the basement ironing all the clothes for the family and the sheets and kitchen towels.  As punishment, I even had to iron all the underwear.  I liked being in the dark, cool basement by myself with the radio playing all the "new" rock and roll.  I never let her know I liked it. I never let her know I liked anything because that meant she had a new weapon to use. This may have been when I developed my grumpy exterior and gave the impression I was always mad at everyone.  I was. Usually.

It's strange where these daily posts take me.  I can sometimes write about things I had no idea were on my mind.  I thought my mind was on Spring.  Instead, we get therapy of a sort.

I have my usual domestic chores to work through today.  The usual suspects.  And I will actually make a proper dinner.  Chicken.  I do want to go back and try and finish the top stitching (super zig zag) on the wabi sabi placemats.  I enjoyed that.  And I like the way they look on the dinner table.  Makes me smile. I have a new QA magazine to read, my journal needs a line drawing or two.  Right now, I need to do my Pilates so I can have breakfast after.  It's been two weeks and I can see a difference in my posture. I am standing up taller.  Feel it at ten days.  See it at 20.  Live it at 30.  I think there is too much fat over the muscle for me to see much of anything.  I will have to be happy with "feel it".  I do feel stronger.

Tomorrow my daughter is having gall bladder surgery.  In at 9 and out by 4.  Amazing. The gastric upset wasn't gastric.  It was gall stones.  She just wants the pain to stop. Her dad and boyfriend will be providing support. Her boyfriend's mom even made soup for her last weekend.  I'm not the one you want to have around in this sort of medical time.  If I had followed my 10 year old dreams and actually gone to nursing school--whoa, what a mistake that would have been!!!!!  Nurse Ratchet.

My Tiny Toy Watering Can

My garden bed over the septic outtake line is thawing nicely.  More and more brown dirt and more daffodil tips showing.  And the packet of crocus bulbs I planted is showing itself as well.  I alternate between floral overload at work and not much of anything here at home.  The one constant: the watering can.  This one doesn't actually work.  My tiny red can came with a full set of garden tools.  Little shovel, trowel, fork etc. I, at one time, had my little Muffy bear all dressed up for gardening, surrounded by her "tools" of the trade and a few tiny, tiny pots of tiny, tiny flowers.  I had way too much time on my hands.

Today age is evident in the pains in my back and weakness in my legs.  Riley got me up at 7.30 even though it is my day off (from paid work; I have plenty of domestic work to do).  The sun isn't shining, Riley isn't interested in eating breakfast, I don't know what to try and do first as I have so many things waiting to be done.  G managed to install my tax program, install a new toilet handle on the upstairs toilet and exchange two window blinds, one broken and one working.  Now the broken one is in the workroom and the working one in our bedroom.  He also did some of the more urgent grocery shopping.  Orange juice, milk, yogurt, bananas.  We run out of breakfast sooner than anything else.

Our local Dairy Queen opened yesterday.  We went for a "treat" after a quick dinner.  I worked yesterday and was very tired when I arrived home at 5.30.  It was interesting to watch the line grow and the parking lot fill as G waited to order our ice cream at 7 pm.  We Mainers love ice cream and especially Blizzards I noticed.  Blizzards in various sizes were the most popular item followed by a simple vanilla cone.  I always have hot fudge because DQ makes the best hot fudge of any of the ice cream places in town.  And it's really not that good.

Next week is.........well, I guess it's THIS week.... Spring Open House at work so we will be busy cleaning, fixing up and setting up for the big event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Lots of free food and drawings for gifts.  I will be working Thursday thru Sunday.  Every day. Plus teaching the big Vegetable Gardening class on Saturday.  I hope we are busy. Yesterday I had some watering to do (my boss watered the fuchias on Saturday !!!!!!), I answered questions (what I do best), repotted some things (not near enough to make me happy), mixed up a big batch of potting soil, and stood around doing nothing much at all for longer than I like.  When I did sit down to have lunch, a customer with two orchids came in and that was the end of my lunch break.  It could have been worse.  K had to fry peanuts all day.  V & A will have to weigh and bag them today.

Riley has gone back outside to forage for things in the melting snow banks.  His bone and a blue dog toy have surfaced along with a lot of sticks and branches.  His soccer ball is out there, also, having survived yet another long winter.

I read a very long letter (linked from a comment on a blog) from an American who has lived in Japan since the 80's.  He went on and on about how the Japanese government (even though he stated that the government officials were incompetent) was going to do what it did best and take care of everything.  It would all be neat and perfect in no time as evidenced by the recycling piles behind one of the shelters in the tsunami area where everything was being sorted perfectly.  He seemed to be leaving unsaid that in other places (Katrina) the waste would just be thrown anywhere. Food was expected to arrive any day now (how many days since the event?) by efficient train service as the government had billions of pounds of rice in warehouses along with "little white houses" to be built in straight lines, on even ground, for the homeless. All major roads were clear and in good repair. We shouldn't worry about the damaged areas as they were under populated anyway and of little economic value (old people?).  Took my breath away as comments (from Japan) thanked him for  "telling the truth" about the situation.  Utopia.  The nuclear problems would be solved, perfectly, also, with the GREATEST upside as Japan becomes the greenest nation on earth. I hope he's right.

Guess What's Back?

Snow. It wasn't there when I went to sleep last night (after trying to catch a glimpse of the "Silver Moon") so I was surprised to see the snow when the dog asked to go OUT!!!.  He raced off the porch in the direction of squirrels.  And I stood, speechless, seeing snow where I had basked in 63 degrees and sunshine the day before.  Why?  Why?  Why won't winter quit?

The Full Moon today is in Virgo, my sign.  Either big trouble or change.  I think it might be a good day to lay low and read my new Jo Nesbo book which I picked up at the library after work yesterday.  Big. Lots of words.

I need to clear a path through all the unsorted piles of fabric in the workspace so G can get to the window. I had one of those "thoughts" yesterday.  We could exchange window blinds between the workspace and the bedroom.  The mini blind next to G's side of the bed has been "broken" for quite awhile.  So I can't turn the little wand and get sunlight nor does anything else work.  But the workspace blind is never used.  And it's little wand works.  So tomorrow G will work on that.  Plus, he will install my new Turbo Tax.  Tax Time.  Which wasn't so bad last year.

I didn't do any Pilates yesterday.  My day at work caused my back to hurt so I took an orange pill and called it a day.  G bought home take out from the deli in town.  I had the egg bagel with homemade fries and G had a steak and onion sub.  All freshly made of whole ingredients.  I had written about egg bagels in yesterday's post and to actually have one for dinner was amazing.  I think I could eat them every day.

I am going to make a meat sauce to go with pasta today.  Clean out the remainder of mushrooms. Use the package of ground sirloin in the freezer.  Maybe use the marinara I made this summer and have stored in the freezer.  Clean the floor space in the workroom.  Walk the dog.  Eventually, do my Pilates. Vaccum.  Change the dog bedding.  Since there is nothing worth watching on television, I will then have the evening to spend reading.  I work all day tomorrow.  I also need to make some collages in my journal or at least do some drawings.  I saw an interesting white crayon blind drawing with a watercolor wash over the top on a blog site.  I can try that.  So, a busy Saturday.  How about you?

The Mystery Of Why The Dog Wouldn't Eat His Breakfast

I got up this morning and tried every which way I could think of to get Riley to eat his breakfast.  He absolutely refused.  He wouldn't even get closer than 3 feet to the breakfast bowl.  But we ran out of time and had to leave for work, so I packed his lunch and mentioned to the doggie day care staff that Riley hadn't wanted breakfast. I thought he might be a bit sick or something. We get home at 4pm and Riley goes over to the breakfast, looks up at me as if to say, "can I eat this?" and goes ahead and eats.  This is when I call G and find out HE fed Riley breakfast.

Mystery solved.  Riley had already eaten.  What a polite Labrador Retriever.  "oh, no, thank you, I've already eaten and couldn't possibly scarf down a second bowl".  My friend has a black lab that once ate an entire ham dinner including dessert off the buffet table.  And didn't even burp.

Work was incredible today.  It was 63 degrees and sunny.  Imagine being in a glass house with all the windows closed.  So, pretty close to 90 degrees in the greenhouse.  And my blood is still in "winter".  I thought I might pass out a few times during the 6 hour shift.  Fushias arrived today.  The bane of my existence until Mother's Day.  Needing to be watered twice a day which means holding the hose over my head and getting water running down my arm into my armpit.  Cold water.  Cold, wet clothes.  Oh, let me count the ways I despise those hanging baskets.

I packed an extra large (for this whole foods thing) lunch today and ate it all in less than 10 minutes.  I thought I was starving to death or something.  Two small slices of bread, 1 ounce of cheddar cheese, one banana and a navel orange.  I had another slice of bread and I T of peanut butter when I got home.  Then I walked the dog.

I wonder if buying a tiny little electric frying pan (6 inches square) would be a good idea?  Then I could have egg and cheese bagels.  I could fry the egg at work, while the work toaster, toasted the bagel and the hot egg would melt the cheese.  It sounds like a good idea.  But I haven't thought it thru. I do know that eating an egg or two really fills me up.  I am not having near enough protein in my lunch.  Which is why I am  nearly, always hungry.

St Patrick's Boiled Dinner

I made it yesterday with all of this lovely Veg.  Cabbage, carrots, red potatoes and turnip.  It's all gone.  We ate every bit of it alongside the corned eye of round which was surprisingly tender.  Of course, G didn't think it was "fatty" enough for his taste.  Today is one of those days when I wonder why G and I are married.  It's like the couple who lived in the pumpkin.

I was dressed completely wrong for work today.  The sun was strong and the greenhouse vents were closed and geez was it ever hot in there!!!  I spent the first few hours watering a bunch of wilting plants in a dark long sleeved tee layered with a short sleeved company tee, corduroy pants and wool socks.  It had to be over 80.

I also had to repot and refurbish a very old, overwatered cactus.  I have cactus needle sores in my fingers and they hurt.  I think the needles have some sort of chemical that "hurts" and probably keeps predators away.  I had the bulk of the plant wrapped in a collar of newspaper but the nasty spines still found their way into my thumb.

The New York Times. com is not going to be free anymore (after you view 20 items per month).  I view lots of things and read some.  Now I will have to be more "discriminating" in what I think I might want to read.  I have been reading quite a lot about Japan.  It's like watching a horrible accident in slow motion.  The Russians dug tunnels under Chernobyl, filled the reactor with incredible amounts of concrete and even had volunteers dive into the radioactive pools to open valves that were stuck.  The Japanese are spraying the reactors with fire engine hoses.  Why can't someone (be allowed) in to help them?

The US has spy drones and satellite coverage of what is (or isn't) covered with water.  That's one thing I am certain of: the spying capabilities of the US government.  It would be nice if GE stepped up with a few helpful hints.  Just my thoughts on the subject.