Random Saturday Morning...

  Yesterday was "let's get this crap organized" day and I did ok. Ish. I can't see much floor in the office, but I can see desk space. I organized the yoga stuff, at least in the same pile. I filed the Estate stuff. I stuck the music sort of where it was supposed to be. And I plopped a bunch of knitting patterns into a separate pile. 

I also downloaded all the pictures off the Sky Drive onto the NAS at home. I still have to clear out the Sky Drive so that the new phone/camera has a place to store stuff. All that was left were the yoga videos from various trainings I've taken. I find it easier sometimes to watch the instructor and tape what's going on so that I can take notes later. 

Hey, organizing is what you make of it. I didn't get it completely where I want it, but it's coming along. 

Knitting...

Pink Sock Progress

But I didn't knit a blessed stitch. Anyway, this is what the Pink Sock looks like so far. It's about 2.5 - 3" along on the foot, so I have another 2" or so to go before I can even contemplate the toe decrease. I'm just taking it easy. 

I think that after I'm done with this, I'll plow along on the Blue Jacket for my "carry along" project. I will alternate it with the February Lady Sweater, which really, truly needs to be at home. You don't want to deal with lace when you're at work. 

I also think there's a frogging in my future. The blue lace scarf -- it's just not possible for me to figure out what I did wrong with it. So I'll frog it. Set the yarn aside to relax. Then re-start it WITH LIFELINES to help keep me straight.

And as always, there are socks, washcloths and the like to just get stash busted. 

Garden...

Actually, I had a really hard time concentrating yesterday. The seeds came in!!! And then it was all about do we get starter pots? Do we plant straight in the ground? What's the weather say? 

Veggie seeds

And that's even before we concentrated on the fact that we still have some herb PLANTS to get, as well as a couple of tomato plants. Not to mention the rest of the flowers to complete the floral part of the yard.

There's a farm locally that I found, but I need to know if they have non-GMO plants or are certified organic. If I want to buy "mystery" plants, I can go to the local big-box. But I'd rather get some stuff from the locals. I e-mailed them, and I'm awaiting their answer. I suppose I could call, but I'd rather e-mail. 

It seems more healthy to try to buy organic, and it's certainly better for their bottom line if I buy from a local farmer. I haven't even begun to contemplate the hanging baskets yet. We're concentrating on hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. The birds will come because we have a whole "feeder complex" that we'll be stocking. Also have to think about what we'll be doing to keep the bird bath's bubbler going. We have a solar one, but the water is so gunky... Have to find a solution to the algae which is healthy for the critters. The garbage that floats in there (floaters from the trees)? We'll just have to skim more. 

By the way, all the seeds were from The Seed Exchange, and most are certified organic. I love the website; it's easy to navigate and you can actually participate in helping to keep heirloom varieties alive as well as helping people plant seeds that are good for the planet instead of the Monsanto-fied crap that you can get if you're not paying attention.

Flower packets

I see the seed packets for the flower garden look a little "purple-heavy" but like I said -- there are still the hanging baskets and some other stuff we want to put in. And we have to see what survived the polar vortex. We know for a fact that our Icelandic Poppy survived - it's already greening up nicely. And the Monster Bleeding Heart is back for its next year. That thing just loves that north/west corner. 

I haven't seen any lily of the valley yet, but I've seen a few randomly planted snow drops - thanks to the squirrels. We'd dug up all our bulbs years ago. But I think there are a few rogues on the south side of the house. 

Hubby bought us a planter called a "Herb Trough" which will be nice. I can get rid of the various pots I lined the sidewalk with, and this also has a nice net to keep out the pesky squirrels, too. It came in, so if he's on the ball, it might actually be full of dirt by the time I get home today. If not, we have plenty of time; the weather is set to get near-freezing (welcome to Spring in Illinois before Mother's Day), so I'm partly champing at the bit to get planting, but the common-sense side of my head tells me to just relax. We have plenty of time. 

I'm not even sure where we want to put the trough. It doesn't have wheels, which makes it something we really have to think about. 

My agenda for today is to work till about 1 p.m. (seriously - our Pathophysiology professor is amazing -- even I get what he's talking about and I'm not exactly conversant in this stuff!) And then if all is well, perhaps Hubby and I can drive out to the garden center a bit north of us? Not sure yet. Frankly, I need to be patient! I always get nuts about the planting, but we still have lots of bed prep to be done. So maybe I get my Vitamin D while digging up the dandelions.

I know - I should probably save them, since dandelion greens are now "gourmet" and about $3.99/lb! My great-granny would be rolling in the aisle at that. 

Miscellaneous Happenings...

Chocolate chip cookies

Kid #2 decided to bake. A new chocolate chip recipe. I had two. They were really good. He needs to stop... No, really, I'd rather he baked than wasted his money buying stuff he's perfectly capable of making himself. 

I'm starting on the Atkins program in May. I need time to finish the book, so I know what's going on, and stock the kitchen with me-friendly items. At least this gives me a similar plan to work on that I've had success with before. I think this will help get rid of the weight I gained back after my brother's death. I need to get rid of it. 

I have some of the protein shakes (the vegetarian powder ones) that I need to use, and I'll probably use this next week to clean out my system a bit. I not only fell off the wagon, I rather jumped off whole-hog. 

And I'm feeling it. Not happy, sluggish, the "fat pants" are back out. I really think I need to ditch those once the weight comes off. Let's face it: if I know they're in the closet, I always have something to wear, right? If they're not there, I have to pay attention to myself, which I haven't been doing. 

Since it appears that I'm going to Florida to our club's Convention, I really would like to go there healthier. Slimmer wouldn't kill me either, but just healthier would be nice. 

African Violet

I'm trying my hand at propagation again. No, not PROCREATION - propagation like I used to do with African Violets. I trimmed up the one in the office and I had 2 good leaves. Didn't want them to go to waste, so I clipped them, rigged up my little "propagator" device and we'll see what happens. I have several of the Texas Pots - they're a self-watering pot that works very well with the Violets. They've got fuzzy leaves, so it's important to water from the bottom. 

The Texas Pots have 2 parts and seem to handle the vagaries of this plant particularly well. I have enough sunny windows at the campus to have these in quite a few places, so why not?

The one that's blooming right now is a dark purple, very pretty. If this works out, we'll have 2 little clones. 

Way back in the dark ages, I used to grow and exhibit them. So propagation was a way of life; I always had a shelf of leaves sprouting. It's taking me back, but in a good way. It'll be nice to raise seedlings again. 

Random Picture...

Husky-cat

Not that this post hasn't been full of random pictures. Raisa's in heat. Finally. It's gross and messy, but I think the importance of the hormones will be seen later on in her life. 

Yesterday, she actually was contemplating getting all 4 legs up onto the bird's table. You could see the gears turning in her head. 

Unfortunately, Kid #2 gave Hubby a harmonica. And of course, Raisa sings to harmonicas. Loudly. And piercingly.

I told them both yesterday that I was taking away all the noisy toys. Then I asked Kid #2, "What were you THINKING???" 

At least he admits that the idea seemed "like a good one at the time." But not so much in real life, right?

Anyway, it's after Easter, so we're into "relax" mode for church, and I can just chill out this weekend. Maybe it'll finally be time where I can mark The Pink Sock at 100% and get them all done! That would be cool.