All week long, they've been threatening me with rain every day. Heavy downpours and thunder and lightning and even a possibility of hail. Uh huh. The best I get is maybe a light mist that barely dampens the ground. My plants are upset. I'm upset. If it's going to rain, could you please do it right?
IOW, I still have to water my poor little plants. The ones I'm worried about most are some Alaskan Shasta daisies that I'd ordered. I'd hoped for little 3" pots, but I got two bags with bare root plants.
I'm good with plants. I can make a lot of things grow that shouldn't grow. But I'm death on bare root plants. I've never been able to figure out if I water too much or not enough. I just know that they hate me. So I have 6 little tiny rounded areas in my big garden out front that are supposed to house some bare root Alaskan Shastas and, so far, they look pretty damn dismal. No top to speak of and I can't tell if the roots are alive because I'd have to dig them up and shock them again. Only time will tell.... /sigh/
I did collect my seedlings from Mom last Sunday. I'm hoping to get the yarrow (Achillea) into the ground today. A cute little bed of feathery stuff down near the front of the big bed out in front. The color is supposed to be brilliant red. We'll see. Right now, each plant is one feathery tiny shaft of potential. The others that are simply too cute is I started geraniums from seed. They're adorable and tiny. I know they're just waiting to take off once I get them in the ground. But they're so darned cute that I've decided to plant from seeds again next year. LOTS of them... /g/
Oh, speaking of geraniums, I did finally get to the cemetary. Thursday, I think. I couldn't stand the guilt anymore. Now, I know that Dad totally understands that I was late this year due to the surgery, but that's besides the point. There are several stones in the area that people come and tend and do take very good care to show that they love and remember and honor their loved ones. And I hadn't been to the cemetary yet. It's like I couldn't care less anymore and that wasn't true.
Normally, I never care what other people think. Trust me on this. My family will be happy to attest to that fact. But this is one place where I do care. I didn't know my great-grandparents all that well and... er, let's just say I wasn't their favorite great-grandchild and the feeling was reciprocated because their favoritism was so blatant that it was hard to ignore. But I loved my grandparents and adored my father. So it matters that I plant and maintain the small plot at the family stone. Anyway, I had my last post-surgical follow-up on Thursday morning (I've been cleared for all active duty... YEAH!) and I loaded the back of my Jeep with all the tools and plants I needed. It took me a while to dig out the weeds, but I dug it out and planted geraniums and I have some cousins of petunias -- I forget what they're called. I also brought a hose so I and others could water our little areas. I hope no one steals the hose like they did a couple years ago.
The last two beds to weed and plant are the two by my front door. Being at the top of a hill, they're usually the last to get done because, let's face it, no one can really see them. They're tucked behind my huge garden on the hill so you can't see them from the street and our front porch is too small to really sit on unless you're taking a quick break or waiting for someone to come over. Mark and I would really love to have a larger front porch, but we have a lot more work to do inside the house before we can even think of tackling that project.
Anyway, so two last areas and then I'm down to sheer maintenance on the yard. Oh, and the purchase and spreading of a couple yards of mulch, but that's a given. I'm hoping to get to that today as well as vacuuming the pool. The water is crystal clear and the chemical balance is right. I just need to vacuum the damn pine fluff off the bottom. Have I mentioned before that I truly hate my neighbor's pine trees? Yeah, probably.
The good news is that I've been a spinning demon. I finished that first bobbin of bright red and plied it with a variegated "maple" that I'd had sitting around. Yes, I bought the red to ply with a yellow variegated fiber named "daffodil", but I had a feeling the maple and red would look wonderful together. So I tried and it worked.
So, in the past week, I kept to my plan and did get spinning time every day and I spun up a whole bobbin of red and another bobbin of the maple. Now, I'm in the midst of plying those two together.
And, yes, practice is certainly helping. My singles are much finer and much more even. I think I might have gotten a bit too much twist in some areas of the maple, but I'm hoping that setting the twist (as well as the inevitable whacking) will smooth that out. I'm going to wait to set the twist until all the skeins are created and then do it all at once.
Next I'm going to work on the daffodil because I have a lovely green variegated that will look lovely with that. Then I can finally get to the gorgeous merinos that I'd ordered from Stone Barn Fibers. Blueberries & Cream, Wild Orchids and a third in Arcade Treasures. Those will be absolutely lovely to work with and make wonderful Christmas Moebius' for the women in my life. Light and fluffy and warm as freshly-made toast.
And it also gives me a chance to catch up on my podcasts. I'm SO woefully behind on those. It's easy when I'm working because I'm sitting in my booth with nowhere to go and nothing to do but knit. But when I'm working in the yard, I usually just toss music on the radio, so I'm far behind on my spinning and knitting podcasts. But my spinning is a good time to plug in the earset and listen while I zone to the thrum of my wheel.
One more quick update for those who might be interested. I received a phone call from my insurance company. A lawyer has requested a statement from them that I don't (yup, you read that right... _do not_) have an umbrella policy. Right after the accident, we were sent a letter to inform us that one of the passengers in the other car had retained council. I agree it was a good idea since the driver at fault (who is NOT my daughter) was painfully underinsured. Yes, I believe they're going to have to sue in order to collect enough money just to cover the medical expenses this poor girl has accrued.
But the bad part in this is everyone seems to forget that my daughter was also a victim. She had no fault in this accident other than being in the wrong place when the other driver decided to turn left in front of her. Yes, I carry more insurance. But that's not my fault. My daughter was just as much a victim as this girl who landed in rehab long enough that she attended her prom almost a month later in a wheelchair. I'm sorry the other family was underinsured, but why visit that on us?
God forbid they file against us, I can only hope that a jury recognizes the fact that my insurance rates shouldn't be increased because the other family didn't carry enough to cover costs.
Oh well. This is Connecticut, a no-fault state, which means they can try to collect from us. They have two years to file. We have 22 months to go before we're safe from persec... er, prosecution. Lovely thought, isn't it? My fingers are crossed.
In the meantime, a lovely day outside. I'm going to go pull some weeds and vacuum my pool. Then I'm going to take my wheel out on the deck and catch up on some podcasts. That's a plan I can enjoy. I hope you enjoy your week!
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