Life at LittleBird

Spring symphony

2009-02-26T00:44:00.000-08:00

I'm ready for spring, how about you?
Not just ready--I'm Distracted by waiting for Spring!
It sneaks up and takes over my thinking. Packs of seeds whisper to me "plant me- watch me grow!". Imaginings of flowers and scents, bumblebees and blueberries whirl in my mind. Seeing one hummingbird is a joy and leads me to smiling thoughts of when the finches will be back darting through the fences and clustering at the feeder. The blooming hellebores draw me to stand in the rain and admire them. My mind wanders to compost and soil, vegetables and flowers, trees and flower food for bees and butterflies.
Slowly slowly small green things are pushing upward everywhere, determined despite chill and wind. I can feel them, it's as if I can almost hear them! It's like the world is waiting to burst out and the energy is out there buzzing. All it will take is some sun and warmth and the buzz will erupt in a blazing Growth Symphony!

The conductor takes his baton, steps onto the stage, gazes at the players. He quietly taps his baton, then slowly lifts his arms, all instruments lift and are ready to play. A pause, we wait, gently we hold our breath for the first crystal note.....

If each blade of grass has an angel bending over it whispering "Grow, grow!" then the angels must be preparing to sing in harmony right now!

2009-01-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wake up with a message in your head? I woke up just the other day and had a very clear message in my mind telling me that my house should be called LittleBird. I'm really not used to talking to the house, or calling it by name(!), but that was the message so who am I to decide otherwise? LittleBird it is, and I think I like it. Am I the only one that this has happened to? I've changed the blog name here to fit in with the houses new chosen title. Why Not!

On another naming note -Yesterday was a meeting of a new quilt guild satellite group that I'm participating in. It's about 8 of us so far. I missed last months meeting where they chose a name for the group and when I heard it I just couldn't figure it out. What do you come up with from "(SOS)squared"?

Turns out it stands for Saving Our Sanity by Sewing Our Scraps! I'm sure I never would have figured it out!

new year refocus

2009-01-13T05:43:00.000-08:00

Amazing that we're almost 2 weeks into the new year! I guess it's past time to take down the holiday lights! Ha!
It's been an interesting winter so far. Snow! I love it when it snows - how everything gets all soft looking and bright, and things get really quiet, and life kind of slows down as nature enforces some stay-at-home or go-play time. We were snowed in around here for a little while, even the university closed up! I made soup, and baked, and read books, and played with the cat, and cleaned closets. Okay - that closet cleaning did come pretty far down on the list! The phone went out for a few days (turned out the answering machine checked out on me and turned away all incoming calls!) So I was not only snowed in but incommunicado. And since it wouldn't last all winter -I loved it! In 26 years I don't think I've ever had a break that resulted in 100% personal time lasting for several days. A little disconcerting at first, but once you get past that, it can be very relaxing!

Now I'm reading seed catalogs and imagining a garden. What I wish I was doing was imagining finishing some projects at work but my productivity has been alarmingly low. It's been hard to get myself in gear lately and I'm not sure what's causing my lack of focus or motivation. It's at the point that I'm pretty far behind in the work and a few days out due to snow is not all to blame for that. How do you kick yourself into gear when you just can't seem to engage in what you need to do? I could really use some suggestions!

Change Coming

2008-09-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

We're getting another chance at summer here. Days in the 70's and nights in the 50's. I'll take it -Thank You!
I'm eating cherry tomatoes and blueberries from my garden. Until I grew them I had no idea how fabulous tomatoes just picked and warm from the sun could taste!

As fall comes closer though, the elections come closer too.
So OK- I've really tried to avoid this subject -but I just can't. I've been watching presidential campaigns and I've gotta say when I see the recent media coverage of the last couple of weeks and hear comments on the radio -I sometimes fear for this country. Where is the common sense? Where is the informed public that our democracy depends on?
What I've been seeing and hearing is sheep who want an easy answer for things that actually require hard work, dedication, and sometimes even some sacrifice. What I've seen is media that doesn't ask tough questions since real answers don't fit in a sound bite. What I've seen and heard are people who feel entitled to a certain way of life without having necessarily earned it themselves, and who don't really engage in democracy, the foundation of the country. But they do engage in entitlement and blind partisan flag waving. I've seen people who believed the lies told to them for the last 8 years because it was easier and they just wanted to be told what to do so they could sit back and feel better. And these people can Vote! What I'm hearing on radio and reading on blogs and newpaper talk-back pages is scary dumb! Ideas like "so long as I get mine and my taxes don't go up I'll just sit back and go along".
Dim Bush has abused this country so badly and in so many ways that I think some people must just close down and give up on any scale of things beyond their own wallet, like on thinking about whether the government is run well and actually represents them, or whether it's just a playground for sleazy cronyism and profiteering among the powerful. Maybe folks feel too overlooked or underserved to worry about international relations, or about the future of our ecomony, or about trillions of dollars in public debt, or what we can do about environmental change, or if their opinion can make any difference at all. I actually heard a radio guy, a music station-not political talk radio, saying that if you're not at least a millionaire you really don't have a voice anyway so why bother worrying about it!
Oh C'mon! Sitting back and saying "it'll all work out without me anyway" will literally kill the country! Bush's damage to courts and national policies and especially public trust will take a very long time to overcome. The ecomonic damage will be difficult to repair and our childrens children will still be paying on debts Bush generated. But we just can't let things continue to get even worse!
Now I see Bush's boy McCain actually daring to call himself a maverick and adding Palin -who has NO qualifications at all for federal office, let alone potentially the presidency- and I cringe that these tools, these puppets of the rabid religious right and Big Oil and Bush advisors, are actually campaigning to run the country.
Real Change Must Happen! We Need intelligent leadership - two things sadly lacking in the last 8 years. Ghandi said You've got to BE the change you want to see in the world. Not talk about it - BE it. There is only one presidential campaign that can claim to BE the Change. And it isn't the campaign being directed by the same old Bush advisors.

Be the Change.

wait, just wait

2008-08-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

WOW, has it really been that long since I've written? Time flies when work and a new house collide.
Summer has flown and, after a few hot days, now we're in clouds and rain. NO NO Not Yet!! I'm Not Ready! - I Need some more blue sky behind green leaves and days when the air feels soft and warm on your skin and the light dances on everything. I need to stand in a warm wind and scuffle through dandelions, sending those little blowy things all around. I need time for the tomatoes to ripen and I need more roses. I still need to play outside! I want to make s'mores and watch stars wheel and listen for owls flying. I didn't go to the ocean yet. I didn't fly my kite or stand in icy water. I haven't smelled the blackberries in the sun. I love Fall, but I'm not ready, ....please can't it wait a while?

Happy America Day!

2008-07-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Today's colors are definitely red, white, and blue. Don't you love this holiday!? My niece used to call it America Day. I know I'm glad to be an American, part of this young experiment in democracy and independence, and I know that I'm blessed to have been born here. Really there aren't so very many opportunities to share that feeling and that fact (without political siding interfering) and to celebrate it with the community, so I really enjoy this day and all the crowds and fun.

My flag is flying on the house today. I always like that and my family has always flown the flag for the national holidays. I always wonder why more houses aren't flying the flag to celebrate today? Barbeques are great, and Seattle does an Awesome fireworks show later over Lake Union, but the heart of the holiday for me is flying the flag in the neighborhood and being proud and free to do that.

I went to my hometown Parade today! Went with my parents, my sister, her husband and MIL, and of course both of my nieces! But before that we went to the Pancake Breakfast at the nearby fire department. Yum!! The pancakes are hot, made by our firemen, and the kids are welcome to climb all over the fire engines and ladder trucks after munching on pancakes. My friend Fireman Dave showed the girls around the trucks. It was the first time Little Girl (age 1) had been in and around the engines and she was Ecstatic! Her eyes got big, a Huge Grin came out, she shrieked Oh Wow! (her newest language skill) and ran to a big red truck with her hands in the air to pat it and jump up and down and shriek some more --she was so excited!! Her older sister did nearly the same thing a few years back when she first encountered firetrucks. Litttle Girl stands about half as tall as the wheels on these trucks but she is In Love with them! And we all think Fireman Dave is pretty cool too!

Then we all went down mainstreet to find our places for the parade. To get front row seats folks set out chairs along the parade route the night before because the crowd gets several layers deep by parade time. Luckily we had chairs! Our parade runs through town from the post office to the football field, probably a mile and half or so, and the route is lined deep with people the whole way. And there are so many kids it's hard to figure where they all come from! Before the main parade there is a Kids Parade where all kids can participate. They decorate themselves, their bikes, their dogs, their wagons or even their parents, then waves and waves of them move down the paradeway, taking part in their own parade action and throwing candy to the crowd. It's also a big deal for the kids on the sidelines to gather as much candy as they can. Some collect more candy on the 4th than on Halloween!

I love the parade even though, or maybe because, its Hometown. It always starts with all the police and fire vehicles of all kinds coming through with all the lights and sirens going. Absolute Sound and LIght! And there is the summer marching band playing "Tequila!", the many decorated trucks filled with baseball team champs and boy scouts all throwing candy, the fancy cars and the military vehicle collectors. There are the Veterans and the Sons of Norway, the red hat society float, the cheerleaders and the clowns. Local drill teams, gymnastics groups doing flips and handstands the whole way, drum corps (I really loved Blue Thunder this year!) and of course some politicians. We have the Red Coats and the Revolutionary Militia holding a musket battle on main street and the rowdy Seafair Pirates shooting off a real (and LOUD) cannon from their well known ship-float while scraping their swords at the folks at the front of the crowd and handing out stickers after almost scaring the kids. Elvis even showed up this year to sing Heartbreak Hotel! It's long, it's chaotic, it's loud, its tiring, and you may be hit at any minute by flying candy, but the kids love it and there are lots of smiles and surprises. It's what we do!

And this year it was followed by home made ice cream and cookies back under the shady tree at my folks place.
All that and the day wasn't even half over!! Gotta love it! Now comes the Fireworks!!!

I hope you enjoy your own traditions to celebrate our country today. It's not perfect, but that's a discussion for another day. Today is about being together, and taking a moment to be aware that we all have some special things in common as Americans, and being proud of it. Happy 4th of July!

June, but not really June!

2008-06-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hello again! It's been a little while since I've written. Busy with Spring stuff,- but is it really Spring? Today it would be hard to convince me, if I didn't know better. It's chilly outside, and dark, and it has been raining continuously since late last night. Only the rhododendrons in bloom give the season away. Everything else seems to be on hold! I'm hoping that the real June arrives soon with weather warmer than the 50's and some sightings of Sun!

I got together with some new quilting friends late last month for a day together making patriotic table runners before Memorial Day. I arrived to find them already drinking Mimosas and laughing together. Now there's a start to a fun day! I can't claim to have finished my table runner but I did really enjoy myself. I now plan to have the runner finished in time for 4th of July . This month we're all getting together again for Shop Hop. I sure don't need any more fabric or patterns but I can't resist a good time!

I'm having fun with my nieces on Sundays. Happy Little Girl has learned to frown when she disagrees with what you want. It's so Hilarious to get an "Oh I don't think so Girlfirend " look from one so little she mostly can't even talk yet! They do make themselves clear though don't they! Ha!
Both nieces love the new kitty and Emma is happy to let them pet her so long as they don't get too carried away with it. Emma has been very accepting of everyone who has come to visit, young and old. A good thing in a cat.
The dog next door is a pointer and the other day he and Emma caught sight of each other and each froze with one front paw in the air and at full attention. They just stared at each other that way for a full minute. I've never seen a cat on point before! She does keep me chuckling.

My garden isn't coming along as well as I'd hoped due to the chilly weather. My brother fertilized the lawn - so that's definitely growing!! I'm keeping it mowed but the rest of the gardening ideas haven't been realized yet. Tomatoes, green pepper, peas, onions, herbs, strawberries all need some warm sun!
Soon I hope. Come On June!

peaceful spring garden

2008-05-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
If you were anywhere near Seattle last weekend you know we enjoyed some lovely weather, but unusually warm for us this time of year. It was just a couple of days, and it was so nice to feel the suns warmth and know Summer is coming! But it was a bit too warm for me to work out in the yard "sodbusting". I want various growing beds for flowers, shrubs, or more veggies where there is now just bad lawn so I'm hacking it back a bit at a time with a half moon edger and a spade. Hard Work! Since it was so warm on Saturday I waited until evening, but then I got distracted visiting my brother W. When I got home I noticed that the moon was nice and bright --so about 10pm I went out in the yard and got to digging out lawn by moonlight! Very comfortable working weather then! I'm thinking the neighbors may be shaking their heads a bit though.

Working on transforming the yard is hard but I think I'm bonding with it. On Sunday I sat outside in the early evening and listened to all the little birds - wrens, finches, chickadees, and probably others I haven't figured out yet. I watched them in the cedar tree, or hanging 6 at a time off the niger seed feeder, or enjoying my very low tech bird bath. They flit in & out from the field through the chain link fence, stopping to rest, chatter, and look around. A hummingbird zoomed in & out snacking at its feeder. A bit later the pink geraniums in the hanging basket I was given kind of glowed, the sky slid into a great color of late evening blue, the trees on the horizon were becoming silhouettes, a frog was croaking, and the fragrance of lilacs floated in. It was the most peaceful few moments I can remember in months.
And it happened in my very own own back yard. aaah

Raccoons In Spring

2008-05-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've written. I've been a bit "under the weather" with allergies, sinus infection, cold...kinda that sort of spring so far. But - Onward immune system! We're fighting it out.
I wish it actually felt more like Spring. The weather teases, but then it doesn't actually warm up the soil. I've got a few things planted out that can take more cold though - like spinach and peas. Predicted weather next week is for showers but warming-- daytimes in the 50's and low 60's, nights in the 40's. Maybe things are improving! I'm looking forward to seeing something Grow besides the weeds in the lawn!

Last night I got home from work late and in the headlights as I pulled into the carport I saw tree limbs waving wildly on the backyard cedar tree. Then 3 big raccoons came gamboling out and into the neighboring yard. Another went back up the tree. Now I know what the funny backyard noises have been in the last few nights. Hmm- wonder if the bandits will raid the veggie garden as things grow? I think they're carnivores but they seem like opportunists too! Has anyone had problems with raccoon raids of their gardens? Should I be coming up with a plan to fence off the garden area? Always new things to think about....!

Snowing in April-when is last frost now?

2008-04-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

I rechecked the hardiness zone of my address recently -- turns out I'm in zone 7, not 8. OK, good to know. But we had a blanket of 7 inches of SNOW on Friday!!! Go figure. I'm in supermild western Washington--some winters we don't get snow at all! The neighborhood has tulips and fruit trees in bloom, the forsythia are already past, the lilacs are showing buds. I can't remember ever hearing of snow around here this late.

My new house is in what's called a Convergence Zone north of Seattle, where Pacific ocean and/or arctic weather that swerves around the Olympic mountains (through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and up through the Puget Sound) collides back together as it heads east toward the Cascade mountains. Apparently if there is strange weather to be had around here this is where it will be. This weekend I could drive from Winter into Spring just by going south a few minutes on the freeway and without significant change in elevation. What a difference a handful of miles makes in this weather pattern!

Friday's 7 inches had mostly melted by the time I went to bed Sunday night but this morning the week started by showing a dusting of new white, though it was melting fast as the sun finally showed itself. Looks like gardening in the new place will have more surprises for me than I anticipated. And I now have no idea when last frost could be around here!

Not watching TV

2008-04-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

TV in the evening has been a long time habit of mine. It's background noise and a way to empty my brain at the end of the day by just passively watching. TV doesn't require me to think and doesn't ask questions or need anything from me, which can be relaxing after a busy day. With limited choices (no cable) I used to just watch whatever was nonviolent and not too precious.
I noticed recently that in the 3 months since I've moved I haven't bothered to plug in the TV at all. Not a conscious act, just haven't paid attention to it. There has been plenty to do - reading, planning the garden, unpacking and arranging the house, or playing with the kidcat for instance. It kind of surprises me that I don't really miss the TV. Maybe occasionally I think about seeing the news at night, but not enough to plug the TV in.
Now that I've noticed this I wonder about it. Am I missing anything about the presidential election debates that would make a difference to my vote? Or will reading various sources fulfill my info needs with at least no more noticeable bias? I doubt that any of what is described as entertainment will change the course of my days. (Truly, I have no idea who is still dancing with the stars.) But sometimes I think that there is a certain amount of social self defense in watching whatever the latest TV trend is. How can I participate in general conversation without the knowledge of the latest trivia from TV? So far that problem hasn't happened. ( Maybe everyone is watching boring TV and there isn't anything to talk about!? ) I've read a great deal more in the last 3 months than I would have and I don't have artificial TV scenes as background in my mind.
I'd say no TV watching has been a good thing for me. I think I might keep it that way for a while!
Have any of you ever stopped watching TV for a few months, by choice or by accident? What did you notice about the experience? I'd like to hear about it.

A New Kitty in the Family

2008-04-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

If you could take a look at my hands you'd wonder what rose bush attacked me! It wasn't a rose bush - I have a new kittencat!!

I've been wanting a cat since I lost my last cat due to kidney failure, arthritis, and old age last August. So I took a look when I saw a rescue shelter Adoption Bus a couple of weeks ago near a local pet supply store. Not too many cats in one place is good for me. It would be really difficult for me to go to a big shelter and see 100's of cats in cages knowing I could only pick one and I'd have to leave the rest in their cages. I had been looking at Petfinder though and it helped me focus what I was looking for.
I saw a little cat on the bus that I liked and decided to think on it for a week. Once I connect with a pet I have them for the rest of their life so I wanted to be sure. The following week I took my 5yo niece M with me to see the cat to make sure the litle cat tolerated kids. I'd told her she could help me pick my kitty and she agreed this was the one for me. She named her "Emma". As she says " This isn't a baby kitty and she isn't a grown up cat, she's a kid cat!" And a rowdy one sometimes-- If it moves she'll chase it! At around 10 months old she has a few things still to learn but we're having fun working on it. She's a very cute little brown tabby. Pictures soon! So far Emma is adjusting well, (or am I the one adjusting?) although she isn't sure what to make of the tiny shoots growing under lights beneath the dining table!

Oh Drat- Horsetail!

2008-03-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

I'm glad this week is closing since I'm looking forward to the weekend. I hope to accomplish more on getting the house together- I really want to corral the piles of fabrics out of the living room and hall and into the spare bedroom that I plan to use as a sewing room. It's a pretty small room and I have a *Lot* of fabric so this may not be so easy! Sometime soon I'd like to be able to invite family/friends to dinner in my new home - I just want to get it looking a bit more like a home first! Sorting out the fabric will let me revisit several quilt tops that are waiting for blocks or borders or quilting too. If I can just make some open horizontal surfaces!

I've got my little veggie seeds replanted now and I've found a spot for them that is less likely to be knocked over. It's not as convenient of a place for looking at them (it's beneath a table with the lights attached to the underside of the tabletop!), but I think they'll be safe from my bumping them around. It's been wet and chilly all week outside so I haven't tried to work on the veggie garden space any further.
While I was out 'surveying the domain' last weekend, wondering when I'd be able to mow, I discovered that there is dreaded Horsetail coming up inside the back fence. Excuse my mental language here!! They're coming up from a soggy part of the school ground behind my yard. NO!
Where I used to rent, the yard had a few difficulties-- like blackberry stickers, and rampant uncontrollable choking Morning Glory growing from an old and unused compost pile, also a 100-foot Pine tree growing right in the middle of the patio and pelting me with cones while covering everything with big needles, and a huge messy birch tree unfortunately grown right over the parking area so the car was covered with pollen or sticky stuff or leaves depending on the time of year.
Moving here I thought "Good-- no big problems". The yard has really bad grass but nothing way overgrown, or horribly misplaced, or invasive (except dandelions). But Wait! There are Horsetails.
Does anyone know of a reasonable way to rid a yard of these without poisoning everything? Help!

Happy First Day of Spring!

2008-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring!!!
I usually notice the first day of Spring mostly as a time to be very glad the days are getting longer. Here in the Pacific Northwest the winter is not usually wicked cold but it is dark, cloudy, and damp for months and months, so Spring is always welcome. I'll have to look forward to actual spring weather a little longer though! Looking out the office window I can barely see the one flowering tree on the other side of the grassy area outside. A cold rain is falling sideways in sheets in the breeze. People are moving briskly, hunched over to avoid rain in their faces, wearing multiple layers - turtlenecks, fleece jackets, rain jackets with hoods, and gloves. Ah, but Spring has officially arrived - so there is Hope for sunnier weather ahead!

(for those of you still in snow, I understand this may sound trivial. But as you look at crystal blue skies over your snow imagine months of gray drab soggy chilly skies hovering often at treetop level. Our first daffodils are truly Rays of Light!)

Sorry to report that my seeds for the growing challenge have had some significant extra challenges. Last night I was moving some things around in the house and bumped the tray of little pots off the table they were on, along with the lights they had been under. Crash! Yikes! The tray landed mostly upside down and I'm not sure what's what now. What a mess! Mystery veggies for a while? - I may start some more just to cover the bases. The lights still work and I've got more seeds, so I'll definitely be able to get back on track but my plants will be a bit delayed. There aren't too many places to put the seed starting area in this little house but I'm sure going to try to find one less likely to be jumbled.

I'm on my way out to go to dinner at my sisters - my youngest niece has just taken her first independent steps today! She's very happy with herself, giggling into the phone with me, and we are going to celebrate!
Happy day everyone!

Busy weekend

2008-03-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Monday already! The weekend flew by. I volunteered to help with quilt show security on Friday and didn't even have a chance to go through and see all the quilts or take pictures. I was amazed at the creativity I did see. And I did have a great conversation with a vendor of hand dyed fabrics ("Just Imagination" Hand dyed fabric by Judy) They're Amazing fabrics and I enjoyed learning about how to effectively use them and about how she runs her business.

I took care of the nieces for a day this weekend. So fun! Miss Big Sister and I looked through a book I have on gardening for birds and butterflies and she made some great drawings of butterflies and flowers. She also made a "boat" out of two kitchen chairs on their sides and we toured the ocean collecting colors from islands on our way to England to make a rainbow. Imagination is a wonderful thing! And Little Girl is so close to walking-- a couple of times she found herself standing and not holding on to anything and was so surprised she sat down and giggled!

This weekend saw a remodel of the outside storage shed courtesy of my brother, D. The shelving in there needed work so he came over with tools and scrap lumber and knocked together some L shaped shelving in this closet-like space. I have room for storage and garden tools now!
I'll be baking pies this week - something my brothers always like by way of saying Thanks. Both of my brothers should put out signs saying "Will Work for Pie!".
I got a lawn mower this weekend too - for free. My younger brother W broke his mower last year and got a new one. My older brother D managed to fix the broken mower last week and W gave it to me. Hurray! I won't be a neighborhood outcast for having a neglected weed yard, hopefully. There are always so many more interesting things to do than mow a yard (this grass can't really be called lawn it's so poor) but I promise to try to keep up -as I also try to reduce the grass area. A yard full of lawn is so boring! I think I could use a really small grass-like area for playing on, but beyond that I'd rather see flowers or veggies or shrubs or trees or even clover- anything other than grass.
With our dry summers turf grass mostly goes brown unless you waste a lot of water on it. And a good lawn requires a lot of fertilizer and pesticide, which is Not for me.
Take a look at the article about Raisin and animal pesticide exposure here. It's shocking and far too common! I just think that there is No reason for the use of poisons to avoid some weeds or bugs. It's lazy, or greedy, and also counter productive. It ends up putting other living things at risk- like wildlife, and beneficial bugs, and soil organisms--and ultimately even people.
How to explain that to Monsanto et al and those who buy into this chemical use? Wish I knew. C'mon - think about giving the earth a break. It's all connected - kill part and it'll come back to bite ya. Food for thought.

Setting up a Quilt Show

2008-03-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy day- more new things. Last Fall I joined a quilting guild and the annual guild Quilt Show is going on this weekend. I volunteered to learn to do the Check-In this year and to be the lead for that position next year. So early this morning I was driving through the mist up northeast toward the fairgrounds where 450 quilts were to be Checked-In to confirm they were received, so they could then be placed and folks could start hanging them. It sure is a big show, and the whole effort takes a lot of hands. Quilters tend to be really nice folks so the work went well and I learned some of the behind-the- scenes work. I sure wish I could remember names better - I'll recognize faces but I have trouble getting the names straight for people I don't see often.

So tomorrow evening is the members Preview Party and then on Friday the doors open. A friend and I have also volunteered to spend a couple of hours as security persons making sure no quilts walk away. If I can figure out how to manage pictures I'll try to post some! I don't have a quilt in the show though. The registration period was when I was going through buying the house and moving, so I was far too distracted to think about it. Next Year though!

Then I came to work, even though I had planned to take the whole day off. That's mostly because yesterday didn't go quite as planned and I thought I'd catch up a little and also make it to the lab meeting. I didn't get all caught up but I did make it to the lab meeting, and heard whinging about my not having been here earlier this week. Gimme a break - I took Monday off! But I'd neglected to alert the masses that I was going to be away on Monday and my hours on Tuesday weren't my usual so the grad students of course flung my reminder for them to let folks know when they take time off back in my face. Darn it
- I hate it when they're right!

seeds and early spring

2008-03-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

Indoors, some home progress was made over the weekend. But more exciting, I bought some seeds and some compost to start in on the growing challenge. I admit to going a little crazy with all the beautiful packets of seeds. I thought I'd just pick some simple tomato and basil seeds but of course I came home with a lot more - beets and carrots and lettuces! And more than one of everything. I seemed to have no self control at all!
Now I have little pots of soil with tomato, basil, or lettuce seeds. Do root veggies transplant well, or should I wait to plant those seeds directly outdoors once it warms up? Maybe I should try both and see what works best!

I picked a spot in the back that will get a lot of sun and started pulling sod, which is Really Not Fun! Can't say that I've got a great garden bed put together yet, but it's moving in the right direction. And I realized the house doesn't have a hose outlet in the back yard, which will need to be corrected. sigh.

Had some fun this weekend taking my 10 month old niece on a walk outside to check out the spring flowers. She was fascinated and wanted to pet all the flowers. So many things to look at and explore, she'd point and babble and twist around to try and see everything at once as I carried her around, getting her close to the flowers. Daphne was blooming and smelled so good! Daffodils, forsythia, bergenia, camellia, pieris...so many, it was great to share the early spring with her!

The Growing Challenge

2008-03-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

Last night I was wandering through some blogs, linking randomly like a pinball through one to another to another, and fell upon something called the Growing Challenge. Intrigued, I followed it along and I've already started to learn so much! I've asked to join the challenge where each person commits to trying to grow something edible from seed this year. I've been planning to make the yard a pesticide free zone for birds and bugs and worms (and people!) so I'll learn to grow organically. Serendipity!

I'm hoping that joining in with others will help motivate and sustain me in getting the garden going and in growing something useful now that I own a backyard, even though I'm a vegie novice. I'm excited about this! The only thing I've ever grown from seed was some sweet peas long ago (not great) and last year when I helped my 4 year old niece grow pumpkins. We had so much fun, and she was so good about taking care of her little one-hill pumpkin patch! They were for Halloween, not eating, but it was a really good experience for both of us and she was so proud of herself. I was proud of her too! Maybe she can help me grow some basil and tomatoes in my yard this year!

One of the things I'd like to do this weekend is to pull some sod out to free up a small garden space and dig in a couple of bags of compost to make a bermed area for the tomatoes. If I had more time and already had the grass out I'd have a wish list 20 items long to grow, but I'm trying to start realistically with what I'll actually have time and money to do and what I'd like to eat. Later I hope to build on success! Mmmm...tomatoes, basil and some mozzarella. Yum!

And wonders continue! As a side benefit - I'm figuring out more about this blogger thing. Despite being clueless about computers, and having only had a blog for a couple of days, I managed to figure out how to add the link button for the challenge (after a couple of tries).
Hey--I claim success where I can find it!

being Here Now

2008-03-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

What is it about Friday that makes me feel there is far more to do than time to do it? I have to try and remember to keep focused on Today, here and now, instead of pushing past it toward some illusive magic time when the To-Do list is done and all is "perfect".

Why has this come up? I had been thinking of taking some scattered days off to help me get through some things I need to do at home. With moving and all there is quite a lot to do to make it feel like home and also to get started in the yard. I'd mentioned this to a co-worker friend but since then I had let the "To-Do List Monster" convince me that taking time off from work would just trade moving forward on one list for moving backward on another one. Just as I was settling on not taking time off and having to become superhuman and not take time even to sleep I received an email from my co-worker wishing me a good weekend and a good Monday off. She included a quote from Erma Bombeck, written after she'd learned she had terminal cancer. It is called "If I Had My LIfe To Live Over"- maybe you've read it? It speaks to really living Now, appreciating the daily ups and downs, and not "sweating the small stuff". Life is short.
Reading Erma's words helped to lift me out of a To Do List driven couple of days and into remembering that I deserve to live all of my life, not just my life at work. Also, it reminded me that I'll feel better about what I get done if I take time to enjoy the process along the way. And I won't get everything done. (Back to lesson 1: This is going to take a while!)

So here's to co-worker friends with wise hearts, and to a reduction in the frantic feeling of the To-Do list, and to being productive enough while spending a long weekend living in the Now, and to getting done what I can reasonably do.
Aahhh. I feel more sane already!

Hello There

2008-03-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

Its a good day to try something new! So I decided that instead of just reading blogs I'd try starting a blog of my own. This is my first post! I'll be here living and learning and having fun sharing how it goes. And who knows what might happen!

This year has already seen some new things for me. I've bought a house and moved! I've wanted to be a homeowner for a very long time and have finally taken the plunge. So now I've been in the new house for a month and a half and haven't upacked all the boxes yet. It's a small house, so part of the delay is in sifting what I can keep and what needs to go. But there is something else too....even though I've really wanted my own house I now realize that I haven't any idea where to begin! Renting sure didn't prepare me for choosing paint colors, or hiring an electrician, or renovating a bad yard. I'm really learning a lot, although more slowly than I'd like, and the first big lesson seems to be: This is going to take a while!!
Thankfully I have family and friends nearby to lend a hand, an ear, some encouragement (and hopefully even a lawnmower!). Now that I'm doing this I'm more amazed than ever at people who can actually move across the world and start up somewhere new without a support network to lean on!!

I'll share something with you that I had memorized a long time ago. I don't read much poetry and certainly don't memorize much of it but this piece has stuck in my head as a hearts desire for quite a while. I don't know who wrote it but wish I did (please let me know if you're familiar with it).

I want to have a little house
With sunshine on the floor
a chimney with a rosy hearth,
And lilacs by the door
With widows facing west and east
A crooked apple tree
And space beside the garden gate for hollyhocks to be.

My Little House isn't the perfect resemblance of what this poem brings to my mind but it's a start!
Should be an interesting year.
On a practical level.....someone stole my garbage can (really!) the first time I put it out for trash pick-up. So another lesson - Label the new garbage can with the house address! Ha! Something to learn every day!
Talk with you again soon...