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livingdebMy quads sure ache today. So I did some gardening today, to even things out. See, now the backs of my legs will hurt, too. Or maybe not, because I had the post-exercise peanut butter and the stretching.
Today I could actually imagine how people like gardening. The weather was beautiful. I even noticed and enjoyed the birds chirping. And I assume most people don't need a saw to garden.
I still have two more plants to plant. I planted my daisies in my moon garden, also known as my rose garden. Many roses are alive, but none are blooming. The other plants are all pale so they will look good in the moonlight. The dusty miller has died, but I can transplant one from my little planter out front. The white lantana is taking over, in a good way. I had to cut down some mulberry again.
And since I was walking by, I did a clean-up of the johnson grass next to the driveway again.
Then it was time to plant some trees in the back. I found a spot for the wax myrtle. Then had to move a fallen branch. Which required some sawing. Then I planted the tree. Tiny, hard to notice, easy to mow. So I carried out my new mowing prevention program. I cleared out a bigger circle and transplanted some iris bulbs to guard the new tree. Since those bulbs bloom in the spring, you're supposed to transplant them in the fall. And it's fall now! (So far, all my iris transplants have been successful, even when I've done it at other times of the year.)
I also covered the area with mulch and left the plant container upside down near the new plant, just as a little added head-scratcher to make someone with a lawn mower remember that there might be something to watch out for. R. recommends that I tie yellow ribbons on the new plants. I fear that these will fade and disintegrate instantaneously in our powerful sun.
Okay that all took two and half hours. So then I planted the Barbados cherry in the planter and watered it. Oh, I also tried to dig out the tree trying to grow there, but the root went too deep, so I just had to cut it. Again. Just about everything I cut down today had already been cut down one or more times and keeps growing back. Don't plants need leaves to gather energy? Stinking storage-facility roots.
I remembered to wear my burr-covered sneakers and I remembered to put on gloves before touching too many itchy things. Still, I did get two minor injuries. One was a scratch that was already swelling so I cleaned it and added antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. The other was where burrs kept scratching me at the edge of my shoe where the sock had fallen down. I threw away these socks. I need to find socks that are icky enough to not risk ruining them when I garden but good enough to actually protect me.
**
Then time for a shower and brunch with R. on our way to guitar class. We learned some new riffs. And I learned that if I want to do a lot of strumming, I want a pick. I still want to use my fingernails for note picking or songs that have some note picking and some strumming, but for all strumming songs I want a pick.
Not that I've tried a pick yet. But I will sometime this week. What I really want is to not keep scraping the same part of the back of my thumb across the strings because that hurts.
**
Then I decided to check out the Mueller Family Day for some "good food and family-friendly activities [and] ... to see the Mueller redevelopment up
close and get an update on the project." (Mueller is the old airport near my neighborhood which they are turning into an exciting high-density development. Sometime during the next millennium.) Sounds like a very mediocre time, eh? But I figured it would be nice to see how the pedestrian access was going.
The location of this event was not given, but the location of the parking was: "Parking is available along Mueller Boulevard in the Mueller redevelopment." So I figured I'd take Cameron across 51st down the sidewalk there until I got to the first street, whatever that was called, and wander around until I found a lot of parked cars, and then look for a building or a tent or something.
The first street is not called Mueller Boulevard but it does intersect that street. At the very end. Meanwhile the curbs all have that fencing with the black plastic to keep construction silt from clogging up the drainage. Even where there was no construction at all. So I had to walk in the street all the way down that first street. Mueller Boulevard didn't have this, so I could walk in the grass, though perhaps not officially: there were some no trespassing signs.
Forty minutes after I left the house I came to the end of Mueller Boulevard and there were no parked cars the whole way. And it was starting to rain. No problem--I had brought my umbrella.
When I got home I saw that this event actually is scheduled for tomorrow. I had been very careful to double-check that I had remembered the right weekend, but I had not double-checked that I had gotten the right day of the weekend. Besides, it feels like Sunday since I had yesterday off.
But I did find out my answer to the pedestrian question. Although the situation currently sucks, each corner has a sidewalk carefully sloped and textured for people in wheelchairs, so one day the situation should be better.
**
I recently got a friend the book Apartment Therapy for her birthday, and then decided to use a bookstore gift certificate to get myself one as well and it came in today. It's more than a home decorating book--it's about how to fix up your house for the things you want it for.
I like one situation they described of a couple in a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen that was way too small for them, a crazy bathroom, and a living room with huge expanses of built-in couches. They weren't comfortable working at home or cooking; basically it was terrible for them. But it had been perfect for the previous tenant who had done the renovations (apparently people renovate rental apartments in New York). She was a single artist who liked space and parties but mostly ate out. So the book is trying not to have one standard answer of what is the best way to organize your house.
There's a diagnostic test. I was surprised how well I did. Terribly, but it reminded me that we are comfortable doing all the most important things (such as sleeping, getting dressed, doing bathroom things, cooking, eating, listening to music, reading, watching movies, and staying cool in the summer). And when it's clean, I think it's mostly beautiful and comfortable. If you're familiar with the book, my first priority is the "bones," and my second priority is the "head." The "heart" is already good enough. In fact, their idea to bring flowers into the house would just make things worse, so I'm ignoring at least some of that advice.
The first exercise was to list everything that needs to be fixed and then come up with an idea of how to fix each thing. When I saw that, I thought that would be basically an infinitely long list. But actually, even making allowances for having forgotten a few things, it's actually a refreshingly finite list.
I haven't actually done anything yet. I want to read the book and see what I think. They recommend cleaning the entire floor of your house as one of the first steps. Uh, no. Not happening. Can't get to the entire floor. That's the problem. Just rub it in. I still think there may be helpful bits in the book anyway, though.
I also gave in and got Cube Chic which is a very silly book showing you how to make your cubicle at work not be so boring. Every two pages, they show you a different theme for decorating your cube in an over-the-top way. There are pictures, directions, and other helpful hints. Except of course that you should never actually do this unless perhaps you work at home. Well, maybe the inside of one of those covered bookshelves that you normally keep covered could be decorated in a crazy festive way, but you would still be disguised as a serious and professional employee most of the time.
**
Then we watched the whole first disk of the first season of "My Name Is Earl." We saw two episodes at the redneck party, and now it's out on DVD. I have to say that after watching seven episodes (six new to me), I still like that show. It happens in a strange land where karma is pretty instantaneous and where when you try to help people it always eventually works out for the best.
Today I could actually imagine how people like gardening. The weather was beautiful. I even noticed and enjoyed the birds chirping. And I assume most people don't need a saw to garden.
I still have two more plants to plant. I planted my daisies in my moon garden, also known as my rose garden. Many roses are alive, but none are blooming. The other plants are all pale so they will look good in the moonlight. The dusty miller has died, but I can transplant one from my little planter out front. The white lantana is taking over, in a good way. I had to cut down some mulberry again.
And since I was walking by, I did a clean-up of the johnson grass next to the driveway again.
Then it was time to plant some trees in the back. I found a spot for the wax myrtle. Then had to move a fallen branch. Which required some sawing. Then I planted the tree. Tiny, hard to notice, easy to mow. So I carried out my new mowing prevention program. I cleared out a bigger circle and transplanted some iris bulbs to guard the new tree. Since those bulbs bloom in the spring, you're supposed to transplant them in the fall. And it's fall now! (So far, all my iris transplants have been successful, even when I've done it at other times of the year.)
I also covered the area with mulch and left the plant container upside down near the new plant, just as a little added head-scratcher to make someone with a lawn mower remember that there might be something to watch out for. R. recommends that I tie yellow ribbons on the new plants. I fear that these will fade and disintegrate instantaneously in our powerful sun.
Okay that all took two and half hours. So then I planted the Barbados cherry in the planter and watered it. Oh, I also tried to dig out the tree trying to grow there, but the root went too deep, so I just had to cut it. Again. Just about everything I cut down today had already been cut down one or more times and keeps growing back. Don't plants need leaves to gather energy? Stinking storage-facility roots.
I remembered to wear my burr-covered sneakers and I remembered to put on gloves before touching too many itchy things. Still, I did get two minor injuries. One was a scratch that was already swelling so I cleaned it and added antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. The other was where burrs kept scratching me at the edge of my shoe where the sock had fallen down. I threw away these socks. I need to find socks that are icky enough to not risk ruining them when I garden but good enough to actually protect me.
**
Then time for a shower and brunch with R. on our way to guitar class. We learned some new riffs. And I learned that if I want to do a lot of strumming, I want a pick. I still want to use my fingernails for note picking or songs that have some note picking and some strumming, but for all strumming songs I want a pick.
Not that I've tried a pick yet. But I will sometime this week. What I really want is to not keep scraping the same part of the back of my thumb across the strings because that hurts.
**
Then I decided to check out the Mueller Family Day for some "good food and family-friendly activities [and] ... to see the Mueller redevelopment up
close and get an update on the project." (Mueller is the old airport near my neighborhood which they are turning into an exciting high-density development. Sometime during the next millennium.) Sounds like a very mediocre time, eh? But I figured it would be nice to see how the pedestrian access was going.
The location of this event was not given, but the location of the parking was: "Parking is available along Mueller Boulevard in the Mueller redevelopment." So I figured I'd take Cameron across 51st down the sidewalk there until I got to the first street, whatever that was called, and wander around until I found a lot of parked cars, and then look for a building or a tent or something.
The first street is not called Mueller Boulevard but it does intersect that street. At the very end. Meanwhile the curbs all have that fencing with the black plastic to keep construction silt from clogging up the drainage. Even where there was no construction at all. So I had to walk in the street all the way down that first street. Mueller Boulevard didn't have this, so I could walk in the grass, though perhaps not officially: there were some no trespassing signs.
Forty minutes after I left the house I came to the end of Mueller Boulevard and there were no parked cars the whole way. And it was starting to rain. No problem--I had brought my umbrella.
When I got home I saw that this event actually is scheduled for tomorrow. I had been very careful to double-check that I had remembered the right weekend, but I had not double-checked that I had gotten the right day of the weekend. Besides, it feels like Sunday since I had yesterday off.
But I did find out my answer to the pedestrian question. Although the situation currently sucks, each corner has a sidewalk carefully sloped and textured for people in wheelchairs, so one day the situation should be better.
**
I recently got a friend the book Apartment Therapy for her birthday, and then decided to use a bookstore gift certificate to get myself one as well and it came in today. It's more than a home decorating book--it's about how to fix up your house for the things you want it for.
I like one situation they described of a couple in a one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen that was way too small for them, a crazy bathroom, and a living room with huge expanses of built-in couches. They weren't comfortable working at home or cooking; basically it was terrible for them. But it had been perfect for the previous tenant who had done the renovations (apparently people renovate rental apartments in New York). She was a single artist who liked space and parties but mostly ate out. So the book is trying not to have one standard answer of what is the best way to organize your house.
There's a diagnostic test. I was surprised how well I did. Terribly, but it reminded me that we are comfortable doing all the most important things (such as sleeping, getting dressed, doing bathroom things, cooking, eating, listening to music, reading, watching movies, and staying cool in the summer). And when it's clean, I think it's mostly beautiful and comfortable. If you're familiar with the book, my first priority is the "bones," and my second priority is the "head." The "heart" is already good enough. In fact, their idea to bring flowers into the house would just make things worse, so I'm ignoring at least some of that advice.
The first exercise was to list everything that needs to be fixed and then come up with an idea of how to fix each thing. When I saw that, I thought that would be basically an infinitely long list. But actually, even making allowances for having forgotten a few things, it's actually a refreshingly finite list.
I haven't actually done anything yet. I want to read the book and see what I think. They recommend cleaning the entire floor of your house as one of the first steps. Uh, no. Not happening. Can't get to the entire floor. That's the problem. Just rub it in. I still think there may be helpful bits in the book anyway, though.
I also gave in and got Cube Chic which is a very silly book showing you how to make your cubicle at work not be so boring. Every two pages, they show you a different theme for decorating your cube in an over-the-top way. There are pictures, directions, and other helpful hints. Except of course that you should never actually do this unless perhaps you work at home. Well, maybe the inside of one of those covered bookshelves that you normally keep covered could be decorated in a crazy festive way, but you would still be disguised as a serious and professional employee most of the time.
**
Then we watched the whole first disk of the first season of "My Name Is Earl." We saw two episodes at the redneck party, and now it's out on DVD. I have to say that after watching seven episodes (six new to me), I still like that show. It happens in a strange land where karma is pretty instantaneous and where when you try to help people it always eventually works out for the best.