I am finally getting sort of back up to speed. Behind on everything but still trying. Turns out my meds were making me tired because my blood pressure was too low so I was napping to extremes. (I was going to do a writing book for my next non-fiction but now I think I’m going to do one on Extreme Napping.) Then I went to lunch with Cathy Maxwell to discuss writing, found a great bookstore, and followed her to the library where I tripped on the last step and fell into a grand piano. Later I said, “I wish I hadn’t fallen into that grand piano,” and Cathy said, “That’s a great line,” and I said, “It’s yours,” so if Max’s next heroine falls into a large musical instrument, that’s on me. Our new book, tentatively titles Arresting Anna, is finally shaping up as Bob and I push and pull each other to the center again. This collaboration stuff is not for wimps.
So what did you work on this week?
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Dipped our toes into the housing market on Sunday. We have plans. The house was good but lacked the “this is it.”
Being a great care giver to DH who is recovering well. Mainly monitoring meds and fetching stuff. He is walking with cane. No crutches. . Starts physio today. This is the best he has been at this one week point in all the knee ops.
Now to work on this house. Listening to a lot of music. Lots to do. But that’s home moanership as Gary would say.
Good luck with the house-hunting! We did that 4 years ago and I don’t miss it. 🙂 Sending healing vibes to the hubby, hope he’ll recover fast.
I’ve a feeling that my productivity is going to take a severe hit. DH came home with a kitten.
So, this past weekend, DH went camping with a group of scouts sponsored by his church. They met up at the church Friday morning and went to the outer banks, coming home Sunday evening. When he got there, there was a little kitten running in, under, around the car, crying. They caught it, and calmed it, and DH then tried to find out where it came from to no avail. I told him to bring it home. He’s tiny (about 3 lbs) almost solid black (with some darker gray tabby markings) and a bundle of energy with a big purr.
It turns out he was one of three kittens born to an outdoor mama cat this past April. He hitched a ride in a car to church where he found DH. The original owners are glad he’s safe, and are looking for homes for the other two. Meanwhile, he’s in quarantine while we make sure he’s healthy enough to integrate. (Turns out he has some worms, but we’re treating that and he’ll be able to make his formal introductions to the clowder probably today.)
So, here’s Charlie.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLmkLYUxC2A/
Other than that, I did do some more work on my mystery quilt, hand stitching the Dresden blocks to a backing square. I’m over halfway done with this. I also worked on one Nearly Insane block.
I also included a picture of my small, overgrown daylily garden. I brought the original plants from my mother’s garden when they sold their house over 10 years ago. They’ve multiplied since then!
Charlie is adorable!
I agree with Gin, that’s all the way to insane. I’m glad Charlie is taking his responsibility to lie on fabric well. Such a beauty.
Gorgeous kitten!!
Kitten!! <3
Welcome to the family, Charlie! It was fate that brought him to you. <3
Charlie is a beautiful cat. That photo of the day lilies looks like the patch at the edge of my yard!!
So so cute! Congrats on Charlie joining the family:)
Charlie is adorable…and lucky!
That was almost his name!
The daylilies are lovely, but oh, the kitten! He’s gorgeous. I’m so glad he found your DH and you. 😀
Ohhh. Be still my heart. I read someplace that short-haired black cats frequently bond strongly to one person, like some dogs will. My black cat was that way and a sweeter cat I have never had.
The daylily looks to be a very old variety that I was told (about 40 years ago) was named “double Otto”. I have searched my plant reference library and haven’t found verification of this name.
I’ve always found that cats insert themselves into my life right when I need them, so maybe you needed a Charlie and you didn’t even know it! He’s adorable and I bet he’ll be a wonderful new addition 🙂 Also your quilt is looking lovely, can’t wait to see the finished product!
Yesterday was Canada Day, a national holiday. It’s strange having it on a Tuesday – it breaks up the week into chunks. My brother is visiting from the US and we spent some time with him and my SIL at her family cottage about an hour from us.
My radishes bolted in the heat so I’ve pulled them out and planted beans and lettuce in my raised bed. I started harvesting garlic scapes and am looking for recipes that feature scapes. I always make pesto with them but I have a lot of scapes.
I’m starting to plan my wardrobe for our Danube River cruise. We leave a week today and I’m working at convincing myself that I don’t need a new dress. Even though I tried one on and it was very cute.
Happy Canada Day. Celebrate not being the 51st state!
Oh he is so cute!
I worked on getting my drip irrigation set up. Realized that I’m trying to add too many shrublers to a zone, so I’ll need more zones which reduces the coverage at the end of the line, but I only have a 3-zone timer, so when we’re gone on vacation at least most things will live, but some fringe carrots might get thirsty.
Also, I’m only half way done.
I’ve been following the developments in Congress and writing calls suggestions.
And getting very little done otherwise.
Debbie, I was just sick about it yesterday. It’s hard to work with your mind in turmoil.
Lupe, I really think this will come back to bite them. A majority of Americans hate this bill, the more they learn about it. If it passes, and they find out firsthand what’s in it, they will be even more upset.
Jan, the bill’s going to generate a lot of inflation, but the thing about inflation, as the Biden administration and others have learned the hard way, is that you often get away with high deficit spending for a while before the bubble bursts and the inflation kicks in. The social services cuts will be felt immediately, but probably not too many of those victims voted for the orangutan and his minions anyhow, so what does the administration care? The inflation (and the measures to control it) are going to hurt more people, but possibly not until the next administration.
Unfortunately, I agree with Patrick. The timeline of the proposed cuts will muddy people’s perceptions as to who is to blame. At least the sale of public lands got cut out for the time being. We managed to save that much.
Since all I can do right now is wait for physical therapy to start (six more days!) Congress has been getting all my attention. I thanked Rand Paul for his vote, even if his reasons were pretty much the opposite of mine. I have written 168 letters since February 1, and I’m considering what to write on the Fourth that references the Declaration of Independence without sounding too inflammatory. Skipping the obvious comparisons to George III. (I will write something tomorrow, but based on the day’s news.)
We invited ourselves to a friend who has a pool for Canada Day. Then we invited our stepdaughter, and a mutual friend and her daughter. Plus our two dogs. Our hostess made lunch, dinner and a mid afternoon charcuterie board for us. We are terrible guests. But Happy Canada Day!
I survived the dentist yesterday with no cavities found. Not much exertion involved, but I was wiped out for the rest of the afternoon. Either post-tension reaction or something to do with the weather, I imagine. Front came through and temperature dropped considerably. I worked on reading and writing mostly, plus fiddling with my phone and tablet.
Plenty of chores to choose from today, but I think the kitchen gets highest priority.
The collaborating stuff may not be for wimps, but you both produce some superbly readable, funny and nicely written books between you.
I’m easing into rewrites to get my first manuscript out to an agent in September. It’s nerve-wrecking, but feels good to be getting things done.
Did the grand piano injure you??
A writing + extreme napping craft book would be GOLD.
I finished my jury duty service yesterday. It was interesting, my first criminal trial. I served on a civil case some years ago. The defendant was a moron, a sovereign citizen who was defending himself on charges that he escalated and were mostly avoidable because he was going to take the cops to court with his vast knowledge of the constitution… Sigh. The jury that I served with seemed really good, all there trying to do a good job. We had a bunch of law students in the first half in to watch him make a fool of himself. Apparently you do actually have to have a driver’s license to operate a vehicle and it does have to have up to date registration and you do have to have insurance and have it inspected. Even if it is held in trust in Belize. Weird. Also, you do have to submit to fingerprinting if you got hauled in because you refused to provide ID.
Otherwise I feel somewhat mired in muck. There are lots of things to do but I don’t seem to be making progress on any of them. I don’t entirely know where my days go… Too many family events and commitments have my energies sapped, I expect, especially when coupled with the impending doom that is our government.
With that in mind, I am doing a series of patriotic drawings for July, with protest lyrics and quotes from relevant things like the Declaration of Independence, etc. Thoughts on phrases or imagery welcome!
I was going to talk hydroponic gardening (big surprise) but one of my basement sump pumps is dead and the rug in the Owner’s Suite is a trifle damp. I can’t lift the lid on the sump, but I have a small submersible pump coming today and I will pump that sucker dry. Then hang the rugs to dry.
This will all be behind me by tonight.
I finished what was supposed to be the final draft of my secret project novel, but decided I wanted to do one more really quick run-through, and I’ve got about a quarter of that done, but it’s not as quick as I was hoping for. Really, really, REALLY want it done, so I can take the long weekend off to play with fabric.
As to napping, I consider it to be one of the perks of being a writer. When I get stuck, I go lie down and mull over the story problem, and sometimes I fall asleep and sometimes I find the solution to being stuck, and jump up and write past where I was blocked. Either way, it’s a win!
But it is inconvenient when the napping is drug-induced and constant. One of my heart meds makes me sleepy, and it’s generally recommended that patients take it in the morning, but when I did that, I ended up intolerably sleepy about an hour later, right as I was settling down to work, and throughout my peak productivity hours. I checked, and it turned out that I COULD take it in the evening, even if it’s not the recommended time, so I switched, and subsequent test results have confirmed that it’s doing its job without making me dysfunctional.
I’m working on not working. My boss is off, I have no deadlines and I’ve had a busy year up to now. But I do have things to do so I alternate between determination to take it easy and guilt for doing so…
I used to get that guilty feeling when I had slow periods at work. But once I’ve scoured the calendar and worked ahead on docket and the inbox is empty, I now feel completely guiltless about sitting and reading while I monitor said inbox. I know what’s coming on the calendar, can’t hurry it up, might as well enjoy the break!
It cooled off a bit so I cleaned off the deck and hubby used the leaf blower to clean off the dirt and leaves. Working on the current story and taking a plotting super class to plot a story idea that my former editor had rejected a few years ago. I still like the idea so decided to come up with a plot and pass it by my agent. The editor that hadn’t liked it is no longer with Harlequin so…
Carrie, My impression was that Harlequin had or has a very definite and structured idea of what they want. If that is so, I would think that an idea they rejected could well be viable elsewhere, even apart from the editor being gone from there.
The thing is (judging by my limited experience with Harlequin) that there’s quite a bit of leeway — it depends on the editor.
I’m working on moving prep. Placed a supply order with U-Haul today, for delivery this afternoon. Standard timeline is 4 business days, but same-day is only $20 extra, and this way I can pack all weekend.
Did a ton of yardkeeping last weekend. The backyard remains a wilderness.
Took down the drapes I want to keep, which need to go to the cleaners; put up some drapes I don’t want to keep. They can stay to keep the house private while our BFFs / landlords fix it up for the next tenant.
Wrote up a new week-by-week moving prep timeline and sent it to DH, who has still not taken any visible steps. I told him a time would come when I would get in his face about it. This is that time.
Jenny, I’m glad your meds are now under better control. Medicines such as the blood pressure ones are giving most of us in the developed world longer lifespans, but they certainly do interesting things to us as we live them. I’m eagerly awaiting Arresting Anna.
I’m working on surviving the heatwave that’s hit The Netherlands. I don’t handle heat very well, and we don’t have AC, so I’m taking things slow. That, combined with having got myself a nice bladder-infection and antibiotics for that, is pretty much all I can do. And eat ice-cream. I can do that, too.
I have finished the knitting-part of the knittycat (thanks for loving the term, Aunt Snack and Mary Anne!), now it’s time to sew up and stuff. Just had to take a little break from it first. My Sib confirmed the colour-combination is not insane, so I’m relieved about that.
Have started knitting a scarf in a multicoloured yarn just to do something completely different. It’ll probably either turn out fabulous or completely nuts. Time will tell.
Cats will tell you they can be Any Color They Please.
And I’m sure that they are figuring out a way to change color even as we speak. Although if, like dogs, they are color blind, it probably doesn’t matter to them.
I hope you’re OK, Jenny.
It cooled off some, and the humidity went down to better levels, so I got both lawns mowed, with a long break in between for a battery to recharge, and me to recharge. It turns out that it takes a lot more battery to mow 6″ of grass, and batteries do not like heat. When I took the battery out, it was almost too hot to handle. The final mowing, I did close to sunset, and it went much better, with the mower not quitting from heat stress every time I stopped, as before.
I took a big load of longer dresses off the tall hanging rack in the basement, brought them upstairs and sorted through them. Two looked like something my granddaughter might wear, so I sent photos. Waiting to hear back. Out of that big pile, I kept two, and packed the rest into a Chewy’s box to take to Goodwill. These Chewy boxes are handy for things like that. I could lay the clothes out flat. Making progress in the Swedish Death Cleaning feels so good!
You are my inspiration. I never traded my sweaters and t-shirts in my drawers this Spring. I’ve just been pulling more shirts off the shelf in my closet and adding them to the rotation. But I swear that I will do that tonight after I get home from the big grocery run. The humidity is down today so I should run errands before it goes back up to unbearable on Friday but I feel really sleepy, so I think I will go to the far away store tomorrow. I just hope that they do not sell out of the good stuff before then. But maybe I can do my laundry today and hit the in neighborhood store tonight.
The “Swedish death-cleaning”-thing is so funny to me, because I have literally never heard about it until a few years ago via Argh, and I am Swedish. one’d think that if it was a traditional Swedish thing, I, or someone I know, would’ve heard about it. What counts is that it works, though!
I should go through my closets again, too. Thanks for the inspiration!
I was glad to keep the battery every time my Sears battery mower died (always just within the warranty period.) I could swap them out and get the whole four-tenths of an acre done in one swipe (if I wasn’t too tired.)
I gave up and got a mower with a cord, which is just as much trouble as I remembered from my childhood. Now that I have an acre, though, I pay someone else to mow.
(Which my leg problems for the last year and more have made necessary anyway.)
Sorry to hear of the leg problems. Back in the Dark Ages, in the days before tools with batteries, as a teen I had gardening responsibilities at home. We had a slightly cantankerous gasoline mower (which never wanted to start), but electric hedge clippers with a cord. I managed to slice through the cord once, but my dad was able to repair it. I was glad I never had to mess with an electric mower and its cord. In the early days we had a muscle-powered mower. That was before I had serious mowing responsibilities, but I think I remember using it a little bit, probably under close supervision.
Hedge clipping and grass mowing may be more “yardwork” than “gardening,” as I realize upon rereading.
My father’s electric mower was passed down from my grandparents when they moved to the city and went back to the hand-powered mower they’d had up until 1938 when REA came in. They went electric on everything! My grandfather went from a straight razor to an electric shaver without a disposable bladed razor in between.
The leg is making yardwork just as impossible as gardening. Weeds are weeds wherever they are.
This week’s been gardening, especially defending against cats, badgers & slugs, plus preparing for a week’s holiday down south seeing family followed by an old friend. Apart from having to cross London on an extremely hot day (a hair under 35C), it’s going extremely well. I much preferred travelling by train, and met my great-niece today, who’s definitely a keeper.
I think I have most of my lines down by now, finally. Have come up with *some* things to do at work while I’m bottlenecked by waiting around on others’ approval. Still knitting the same projects, but I need to start another shawl for my costume soon, need to go get the yarn for it that matches the dress this weekend.
I will be working a food booth on the 4th, I can’t say I’m looking forward to that, but it needs to be done. I actually have no plans, no rehearsal, and nobody who wants to socialize on the 3rd, so I’m looking forward to a night off.
Tonight I have the board meeting and see if I get voted in or not (probably?). I’m fairly nervous about it because it sounds like there’s a lot of drama going on behind the scenes. I’m both dying to know and know it won’t be good.
In my working days I did sometimes wait a preposterous length of time to get a given piece of paperwork approved or kicked back for revision, but in my case I always had something else to work on on the meantime. Since you often seem to be left through no fault of your own without a lot to do, I suspect you would do well to periodically remind your immediate boss of your situation, lest you get blamed for the tardiness of others. But since I was never in quite your spot and my experience is dated, others here may have more relevant advice.
Hope you’re okay, Jenny, and glad the meds are getting straightened out.
We had fun at my annual week-long family reunion in northern Wisconsin, despite weather swings from 90 degrees to 52.
Now it’s time to catch up on work–as DH puts it, like trying to run in sand.
We’ve been pushing hard to get all the yard work done and I’d say we are 80-90% there. There are a couple of things I can do by myself but the bulk of the big jobs are done. The fountains are out and operating which is great.
Starting tomorrow Paul is working 2 weeks straight and I’m working the bulk of the last two weeks of the month so getting a jump on things now is really important.
We went to Edmonton today for an ophthalmologist appointment for Paul but it was a bit of a waste of time. He was in the office for nearly 2 hours, with the doctor for about 15 minutes, and he did a less thorough exam than the optometrist who referred Paul to him.
And we came home to a storm and tornado warning so that’s just peachy. We will most likely just get hail and a thunderstorm.
Glad you’ve got your meds straightened out. I had a similar problem with beta blockers several years ago. Low blood pressure-too much of a good thing.
I’ve mostly been keeping Pixie under close surveillance. She seems to be doing well. Another day closer to getting her stitches out and cone removed.
I’ve been following the BBB votes but not too closely. And calling my rep and senators.
Time to mow the lawn (wildflower meadow? weed plot?) again. I went to an electric with cord several years ago. Maneuvering the cord got easier once I figured out how to mow away from the outlet. The big plus is not having to store any gasoline at the house.
Glad to hear you’re doing better, Jenny! I have been soothing my work stress with Murderbot and a new knitting project. A friend with rheumatoid arthritis has been given pressure gloves to help with her hand pain and grip strength, and while they do seem to be effective they are also violently ugly. She was sighing about having to wear them at her office so I offered to make her some fingerless mittens with the leftover wool from her dog’s winter coat. It’s been a bad week at the airport, so I’m already almost finished with the first glove.
Glad to hear you got things with your meds sorted! The constant pill-juggling when you have Weird Health Issues is hellish. (Or well, even if you have normal health issues, mine just happen to be of the distinctly weird variety.)
I’ve mainly been doing my best to distract myself from obsessing about my cat’s cancer (the first round of chemo worked, second round not so much, so now we’re trying the first type of chemo again and crossing our fingers) and going to my day job while visiting with friends and family.
I’m inspired by all the people spending time out in their gardens, I desperately need to rescue what used to be my rose bed and is now a miniature jungle from the strange creeping vine that’s growing weird tiny black watermelon-looking berries. iNaturalist tells me they’re edible but knowing my luck I’d eat them and they’d turn out to be Swamp Death Berries that just so happen to look like Harmless Aside From Possible Stomach Cramp Berries. However currently they’re Strangling My Old-Fashioned Roses Berries and I *do not approve.*
Hope everyone’s staying safe in this heat wave. Take it from someone who lives in a semi-tropical zone, Pedialyte is your best friend if you start getting overheated.