Month: May 2024

Dead

siunkelan12 Comments

It’s official.

My palm tree has died. According to the Hubs it’s been dead a while, but I’ve been watering it and holding out hope that it was just sleeping.

Today the guys from the nursery came out and pronounced it dead. Then questioned me about what I did.

Exactly what you told me to do.

Now I have to wait for the owner to call me and let me know what he plans to do. The tree came with a 1-year guarantee.

This is me holding my breath:

Honestly, I don’t want another potential failure tree. I want my money back and I want to put something I can actually grow in that space. The Hubs thinks another tree will appear at some point. I wonder how long it will take me to kill that one.

What’s hilarious is, the neighbors bought a palm that is guaranteed to die in this zone. And what’s it doing? Freaking growing, that’s what.

WTF house? Why is this whole property cursed?

Whatever

I’m so over it.

In other news, this happened:

And as if this was not bad enough, the poor kittens were just vibrating wanting this bird so much.

Then he invited some friends:

Seriously? What assholes. I hate birds. It’s not even like they can’t see the 2 black faces with murder on their minds. They were just hanging out having a chat while my poor deprived kittens looked on.

It kept them busy for about 30 minutes, so that was nice.

The thrift store this week was weird. Not a lot of great donations, not a lot of fun to be had. Fridays are usually my favorite day to work, but today was just a grind. First we had nothing to do and people were asking me what they should do. Really? Go clean something. Go straighten a section. Why do you need to ask me? Then later stuff was coming in and the other lady sorting through it with me was unbelievably slow so the pricers were left hanging. I kept telling her not to even fill a bin, just put some stuff in and set it loose. Turns out it took her as long to decide on 5 things to put into a bin as it took me to sort 5 bags. And she kept asking if she should toss this or that.

Good night people. It’s not rocket science!

The store was crazy busy, so I try not to get too upset about it. I was super glad when the Hubs came to get me for lunch, though!

Next week I’m gonna prep and paint the “gym” and I guess do some gardening. Or errands. Or nothing. I might pretend I can cook and actually prepare a couple meals. I might just sit on my ass and knit as much as I feel like.

You just never know.

Things

siunkelan7 Comments

It’s taking me a while to get over things this time. I’m feeling like I need to make a big change. I’m desperately trying not to, because I am a little long in the tooth to recover from a catastrophic misstep.

I’m still mad about the fence thing. It’s happening now and then, summer is coming and I am expecting the worst. But maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe the offenders will move. I really can’t spend a lot of energy looking at it anymore.

The other night the Kraken and I were house hunting near her. She was suggesting some nice properties for us to come back “home” to and be near her.

I won’t lie, it’s tempting.

But little things like the Hubs’ job always get in the way.

I did make a tiny change. I have decided I don’t want to volunteer at the store on Tuesday afternoons. This gets some pushback from my new friend, but she’s always teetering on the edge of quitting anyway, so I’m not too worried. I did work this morning, and it was entertaining:

The Tuesday morning crew never disappoints!

But I think the next 2-3 weeks I will not work on Tuesdays at all and instead take the beginnings of the week to make changes around here.

For instance, I have picked the color for the “gym” and put up a square as a test:

At first I was thinking it was too dark, but it’s growing on me. I think next week I will do the patching and then paint the rest of the room. I need to find other places for certain items, and more artwork, but it’ll come together nicely.

In other news, we harvested potatoes last week:

It’s not a great haul, but respectable. I think the ones in bags did better, but we will need larger bags next time. We have turned our attention to sweet potatoes for the summer months.

We have a smattering of things growing in the circle:

I’m getting tomatoes, the peppers are starting to turn red, we’re harvesting catnip, and my herbs are doing OK.

I’m still working on the seeds I planted, and some of the other gifted plants:

I scored this pot at the store last week and planted an Agave from Dominique in it:

I’m not sure I’m really helping the aloe, but it did have a pup:

I dropped some vinca here last fall, and much to my delight, it’s growing again!

Work continues on this gravel bed:

It’s gonna take a lot more work to get this finished! We picked up 2 bags of gravel over the weekend. Now I’m waiting for Home Depot to send me a coupon. I might be waiting a long time!

I’ve been spending a lot of time knitting while I try to make a decision about staying or moving. I’m really no closer to a conclusion, but I’m almost done with this blanket:

You can’t tell, but the color is mint and I’m aiming to finish it off in time to be sent on a mission trip in June. It’s very much taking my mind off a lot of stuff I should be working through, but this is way more interesting right now.

Blip

siunkelan16 Comments

On Monday the wheels kinda fell off the Bungalow wagon.

After dinner we heard a loud thump, then another that knocked a couple flowers off the fence. This continued, accompanied by maniacal giggling, for a while. Every time something dropped off the fence, we could see shadows against the fence looking to see what fell.

Great, my very expensive 8′ fence is now a perfect backstop for the games urchins play.

My first inclination was to climb over the fence and start cracking skulls. But the Hubs said no, it would only make it worse. Instead I went out and collected the items from the ground and put them on the patio.

And went inside and seethed.

And looked at Zillow for other options.

Of which I found 2.

I calmed down a bit after I did the math.

Needless to say not too much got done in the way of improvements to this place this week. I am happy to report the games have not been repeated, and I have been advised to go to the office of the complex and lodge a complaint. Which feels a little like spitting into a hurricane.

I am rethinking expensive projects now. I mean do I really want to spend money on concrete pads, nice garage floors, and shiny new showers?

Nope.

For now I will turn my attention to other things. Like the thrift store. Maybe another shift so I don’t have time to dwell. I have been knitting a lot. Of course it’s been raining so what else does one do while home?

This is supposed to be a slouch hat for a kid. I have about 3 more inches to knit before the decrease. It’s pretty clear I overestimated the amount of yarn (I got it for $.50 at the thrift store) I have. I’ll probably do a few more rounds and then hope I have enough to finish!

Yesterday in the rain we went to a new place for breakfast – CJs – a little Cajun-esk hole in the wall, and man was it good!! We decided to try beignets for the first time. They reminded me of malasadas. If you’ve never had them and get the opportunity, you should try them. I know, I know, it’s fried dough, big deal. Just try them, you can thank me later.

Afterward we went to poke around some antique stores. I’m always on the lookout for glass for the Kraken. And we were richly rewarded yesterday!

First we found this:

We sent her a pic and she said she wanted it. The Hubs was happy to secure it for her. I think she will make a candle out of it.

As we were leaving the first store, I looked in the cabinet under the register. I never do this because things are stupid expensive in those cabinets. But I was rewarded with a pretty awesome find.

A little background. Friday the Kraken sent me this:

Don’t judge, my kid is a very old soul and I give her shit about it endlessly. Anyway, she collects these boxes that have hives and bees on them.

Well, to my delight, sitting there in the cabinet, was this:

Not only was it about 1/3 of the price she was telling me these go for, but it is actually one she’s been looking for and not finding!

Score one for the best mom ever!

I told her all she has to do is come down here and get it.

Home

siunkelan7 Comments

The Hubs arrived home, 3 hours later than planned, on Thursday. It messed up my perfectly timed day, but I was able to stuff a couple errands into the mix, so it all worked out.

Well, mostly

I was sitting at home checking on the timing of his flight. I knew how long it would take me in “rush hour” traffic to get to the airport. (I say rush hour with derision. After 30 years in DC traffic, nearly any other rush hour is a slight delay.)

Anyway

I was monitoring the website, and it was saying he would land at 5. Great, I’ll do a couple more things, and get on the road. As I was about to leave, I checked again. 4:35. WTF??? Now I’m late. And of course, because I am broken, I can’t be late. For anything. Ever.

I grab my keys, and just for fun, refresh and check again. 5:00. WTF??? I refresh again, 4:35.

OK, now I’m ticked off.

I leave the house and head for the airport. I’m about halfway there when I get a text, “We’re on the ground.” Which means there is still taxing to the gate and baggage claim. I’m gonna make it.

I get a few more texts, then finally call him. He’s moseying toward baggage claim. I’m sitting in a parking lot across from the airport. We chatted til he got his bag and I went to meet him.

Another satisfying airport excursion. One of the many reason I really hate to fly.

Whatever. He’s home and all is right in my world.

Theirs as well:

Can’t you just see Mayhem’s smile:

Friday night while the Aurora was visible to most of the country, we were battling a termite swarm. Gross right? They get in somehow and you gotta catch them, and keep as much light inside the house as possible. We have a big light at the street, and normally that keeps them at bay, but not Friday:

Thanks to the kittens, we were able to find all of them and kill them. But not before a panicked text to my bug guy!

We missed the lights, if they we even visible here.

Saturday, I noticed this:

So raised beds do pretty much nothing to deter whatever is eating my plants. I picked all the peppers and put some sevin on everyone. Maybe it’ll save them for a week.

In the front, I have balloon flowers:

They are supposed to be annuals here, but this is from last year. Not complaining, I love these flowers!

We planted some sweet potatoes today. In 4 months we should have a decent harvest. We need to get better at when to plant things here. If we are vigilant, we could have a well rotated crop of somethings all year.

3200

siunkelan8 Comments

I took RTs comment to heart, about adding 100 meters every rowing session. This morning I was going along, paying attention to form and noticed I got a little sloppy around 3000m. I pressed on, but have decided to stay at 3200m for the next few sessions. I want to see if that is my limit, or if I’m just getting tired. Until I build up strength I won’t go farther.

I am happy to report that my shoulder does not seem affected at all by the rowing. I was concerned it would show signs of pain pretty early on, but it has not.

Cat asked for a Kitten update, so I started taking pics of them:

Mayhem is still treating my laptop like it’s his heating pad. We are working on a better set up, but in the meanwhile, this is my classy boy.

Tonight they are missing their daddy:

Don’t they look sad?

The Hubs will be home tomorrow, and there will be no kittens anywhere near me. But for now, I am enjoying their company – even if they are largely ignoring me.

Around the yard there has been some measurable progress.

That is in fact a lemon! Not sure if it will survive to progress into something edible, but this is exciting!

Dominique gave me 3 random vine-like plants last month, we planted them and are now waiting to see what they are:

Looks like we won’t be in the dark too much longer with this one.

I am enjoying success with peppers:

Each plant has about 3-5 fruits already, but no one has even thought about turning red. Of course I have been picking and eating the jalapeños as needed, so they may never get red.

In the back of my mind, I’m getting interested in painting the master bath. It’s a bright blue that does not go with the bedroom. At all. Today I picked up some chips based on research of what colors compliment the bedroom color. I have whittled it down to these two:

The pink is a dead on match for the shower curtain I bought, and some of the art I got earlier in the week. The green looks pretty good with them as well. If it were just me, I would do the pink, but we all know the Hubs will say he doesn’t care and then make remarks after the work is done. So I think I’ll go with the green and save myself some re-painting! Still have to figure out how to get into the tight spaces and whatnot, so this won’t be done very soon.

But what will get done, perhaps, is the gravel area:

I have a long way to go still, and I’m spacing it out over weekends, so maybe 3-4 more sessions til it’s ready for gravel. I feel bad digging up all this high quality grass. Not.

I still need to call the concrete people. For some reason I think it’s going to cost a million bucks and I just don’t want to know. I also want to paint the gas meter – because I can. But it needs to be taped off and I hate doing that. I have left messages with 2 muralists regarding the fence, but so far no returns. I think if I want to paint my fence, it’s gonna be up to me.

How much do I actually want this?

Tomorrow I am doing a shift at the thrift store, having lunch with my new friend, and then picking the Hubs up from the airport. I didn’t do everything I wanted to do while he was gone, but I did enough.

Whoops

siunkelan10 Comments

I have felt like I have nothing to say, so I have not been saying it.

I still don’t, but I have pictures, so you’ll have to slog through this with me.

I did meet Dom for lunch last Wednesday. She was really excited about all the plants I passed along. I was glad I made her happy. We ate at a food truck with music we could not understand blasting at us. The food was really great, the music unpleasant. We muddled through and went our own ways afterward.

I headed off to the prayer shawl group. I didn’t want to go, but I had things to drop off and it was the last time I was going to see Lise. I dropped this blanket off:

It doesn’t really look like it, but those bumps are circles. I didn’t block it, and now I regret that.

When it came time to say goodbye to Lise, she looked at me and said, “You I won’t miss.”

Um, Really?

Honestly, I won’t really miss her much, I just met her and I find her negative and self-centered. I find myself wondering why I felt it important to say goodbye.

I think I’m gonna go back to my stance of, if I don’t want to, I’m not doing it. In fact, just today I exercised that. One of the Friday Ladies had her annual lunch for all the people who work Fridays. I decided I didn’t want to go. I told her last Friday and she fussed at me. Sort of. She started to, then she got sidetracked and went away.

Again, I find myself wondering. I really do put a lot into friendship. I don’t have many, but with the ones I do, I leave it all on the table. I very rarely get that back, but I don’t much care. I pick people and they are stuck with me til they do the Unforgivable.

Anyway

After the stitch and bitch I went to the beach. I felt like I needed it. And now I’m sharing it with you:

Don’t say I never gave you anything.

I planted some of my starts:

Some of the more hearty ones went right into the ground, and others went into pots. Still researching how to take care of others. I did start digging out the new area getting gravel. I can’t help but feel like I missed my window, it was pretty humid Saturday. Blah. I got about halfway done, but now I think I need to make it wider. On the upside, it has not rained in a coon’s age, so it was easy digging and shaking off roots. Maybe I’ll work on it this week.

I dropped the Hubs off this morning for a 3-day business trip. He used to go for a week once a month when we lived in RI. I loved the time on my own. But this trip kinda snuck up on me and I didn’t really make a great plan. Which is fine. My upcoming projects kinda suck and I don’t really want to do them anyway!

I am down to 3 (new) colors for the gym:

I’m leaning toward the top one, it’s called Art Nouveau Glass which appeals to me. I’m just not sure if it’s too saturated for that space. But who am I kidding? I love color, it’ll be fine. If not, I’ll repaint it, no big deal.

On rowing, I’ve been watching some YouTube on the matter and have been learning and trying to improve technique before really trying to progress. I spend about 15-30 minutes a day on the machine paying close attention to form. We’re in negotiations for getting a small TV in there so I can follow along with routines. It would also make it easier for me to do some yoga.

One thing I am doing while the Hubs is gone is making a New England boiled dinner. Except I don’t have any chourico (Portuguese sausage), so it’s pretty much just a boiled dinner. But the ham will be amazing and I will be fed without having to cook again. And by the time he gets home, the house won’t smell like ham anymore! But right now, it smells amazing and I can’t wait til dinner!

I am doing 3 shifts at the store and getting my hair cut Wednesday. So really, there is not too much time to dive into a big project. But I will do something. Just not sure what yet.