Well, lucky for you, you don't have to listen to anymore complaining from me about how unfair my life is.
Because we DIDN'T go to Oak Harbor today, which means I got to do yard work! It was a beautiful day, absolutely perfect. As soon as I got home from church, I grabbed my borrowed gloves and borrowed trowel, and borrowed trimmers, and I chopped up everything in sight.
Okay, well, I didn't trim EVERYTHING. I did a lot though. I don't think that Art and Joe gave much thought to their plants while they lived at the house.
Observation #1: Clearly, the plants haven't been tended to ONE IOTA in about two years.
Observation #2: Practically everything that grows on our yard has thorns. Why is that?
Observation #3: There ARE a lot of spiders in Washington! I remember people telling me that, but I never saw the critters, so I didn't believe it. Well now I know where they are. They're outside, on the ground, among the plants and grasses. Where they belong. At least they're not inside.
I saw many many spiders, mostly small and black, and no, I didn't kill them. They already looked distressed, since I messed up their habitats quite a bit. So I left them. With the exception of a large one. I didn't want that one reproducing and making more large ugly spiders to live around my house.
We have two unnameable bushes beside the carport. They are thorny, and apparently, have cute orange blooms on them in the spring (according to my landlady). If she turns out to be wrong, if there are no blooms, then I'm chopping it down completely next year. I will not tolerate large, thorny bushes that don't do anything.
We have one rose bush at the back of our house, and I pretty much trimmed it to about half of what it was. I felt bad, but the thing was growing to the ceiling! So I really hope it's okay.
I tried to even out/round out/clean up the rhododendrons. I can now see out my kitchen window, although not much more. I will probably have to take more off the top. The ones in the back of the house are huge, which is nice, except huge mean unmanageable. Especially one particular bush: it's a flippin tree! The thing is taller than our house, and the blooms are coming off of a trunk, not a nice soft branch. I don't know how I'm going to get at that one. The large trimmers weren't strong enough, and neither was I. Maybe I'll get Art to try. He's taller, and stronger.
Then I hacked at some tall weeds by a shed we have but don't use. All those were thorny too. I have three or four large piles of weed branches about the yard, which is unsightly, but once they dry out, I can burn them. Thank goodness we have a fire pit. I'm not done with the shed weeds, but I had been going nonstop for five hours, and I was tired and hungry, and very sore.
I accomplished quite a lot, and I'm a very happy woman. I don't know when I'll continue, maybe in a few days, if it's not raining. I'm not as anxious now about the yard. I got quite a start!
P.S. I saw a pill bug for the first time. I didn't know what it was until I looked it up, but I saw it curl up into a ball when I bothered it. It's a nifty little creature.
October 5, 2008
October 4, 2008
Foiled! Twice!
I woke up this morning and realized that it was going to be a beautiful day! It wasn't raining, and the sun was almost out!
Art and I had some things to do this morning, but I was looking forward to being home this afternoon, and doing some yard work!!
So. It's the afternoon. And, clearly, I'm not outside. I'm inside, blogging. Because it's raining.
Yup, that's right. We had been home barely TEN minutes when it suddenly clouded over. I've probably said this before, but I know I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's the WEST COAST. It's kind of known for rain. But usually, if the day starts out nice, it stays nice. The weather doesn't change a whole lot around here.
Okay, so that's foiled once.
Foiled twice hasn't actually happened yet.
You see, I've been aware (for a few days now), that the weather is going to be agreeable tomorrow. And Art was scheduled to work tomorrow afternoon. Perfect! We go to church in the morning, he goes to work in the afternoon, and I do yard work in the afternoon!
Notice I said that Art WAS scheduled to work tomorrow afternoon. He decided to switch with his brother. So now Art will work in the morning. And guess what we're doing in the afternoon? Going to see his parents in Oak Harbor! Which is two hours away! So at least four hours will be spent just driving! Plus all the time we spend just being there! Why am I still using exclamation points?!
On a more positive note, we got a keyboard and mouse for our desktop computer, so now we have two working computers, which will be especially good when my mom and sister come to visit. In 18 days!! And if all the rain now means that it won't rain when they're here, then I guess I'm alright with it.
Art and I had some things to do this morning, but I was looking forward to being home this afternoon, and doing some yard work!!
So. It's the afternoon. And, clearly, I'm not outside. I'm inside, blogging. Because it's raining.
Yup, that's right. We had been home barely TEN minutes when it suddenly clouded over. I've probably said this before, but I know I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's the WEST COAST. It's kind of known for rain. But usually, if the day starts out nice, it stays nice. The weather doesn't change a whole lot around here.
Okay, so that's foiled once.
Foiled twice hasn't actually happened yet.
You see, I've been aware (for a few days now), that the weather is going to be agreeable tomorrow. And Art was scheduled to work tomorrow afternoon. Perfect! We go to church in the morning, he goes to work in the afternoon, and I do yard work in the afternoon!
Notice I said that Art WAS scheduled to work tomorrow afternoon. He decided to switch with his brother. So now Art will work in the morning. And guess what we're doing in the afternoon? Going to see his parents in Oak Harbor! Which is two hours away! So at least four hours will be spent just driving! Plus all the time we spend just being there! Why am I still using exclamation points?!
On a more positive note, we got a keyboard and mouse for our desktop computer, so now we have two working computers, which will be especially good when my mom and sister come to visit. In 18 days!! And if all the rain now means that it won't rain when they're here, then I guess I'm alright with it.
October 3, 2008
Some Noodles, and a Book or Two.
I made dinner yesterday. Are you hearing me? Dinner. An ENTIRE meal. I made it, three courses, all by myself. This is the very first time I have ever done such a thing. Ever. This is a very big deal for me.
I won't go on to boast about how amazing it was, but it wasn't a disaster. I made Penne Marinara, a simple salad with Italian dressing, and muffins for dessert. And I did it all in under 45 minutes.
I had timed it perfectly, actually. It was all ready right when Art was supposed to come home from work. Except he kind of ruined that by coming home an hour early, but he was still surprised and very pleased. And I guess that's better than his coming home late.
Oh, and it would seem that God answered my prayer from Tuesday evening. That was the night I had a not-warm bath. I tried again on Wednesday morning, and it was wonderfully hot.
And I'm very excited to announce that I'm pregnant. No, just kidding. What I wanted to announce was that I don't have to buy my own gardening tools anymore. I was speaking with my neighbor (who is also our landlady) about doing some trimming and weeding, and she told me not to buy anything, I could borrow anything I needed from her! So I was all ready to get started yesterday.
Except I haven't started yet, because it's raining. We had such nice weather for nearly a week, and now it's going to rain for a while. But it can't last forever, and one of these days, the sun will come out,and so will some weeds.
A few days ago, I posted about my indecision regarding my rhododendron bushes. At my neighbor's advice, I will bit the bullet and trim the plants. She said that they will come back as strong as ever, and though their blooms might be few next year, they will bloom nonetheless. And maybe I'll only trim the one by our kitchen window, and leave the rest. It's the one that needs it the most; the rest are alright.
That's all for today, tune in next time when I tell you all about how I ordered two books on amazon.com yesterday, one for FIVE CENTS, and the other for $1.98 from the bookstore in my former hometown! Or I guess I'll just tell you all about it now.
The end.
I won't go on to boast about how amazing it was, but it wasn't a disaster. I made Penne Marinara, a simple salad with Italian dressing, and muffins for dessert. And I did it all in under 45 minutes.
I had timed it perfectly, actually. It was all ready right when Art was supposed to come home from work. Except he kind of ruined that by coming home an hour early, but he was still surprised and very pleased. And I guess that's better than his coming home late.
Oh, and it would seem that God answered my prayer from Tuesday evening. That was the night I had a not-warm bath. I tried again on Wednesday morning, and it was wonderfully hot.
And I'm very excited to announce that I'm pregnant. No, just kidding. What I wanted to announce was that I don't have to buy my own gardening tools anymore. I was speaking with my neighbor (who is also our landlady) about doing some trimming and weeding, and she told me not to buy anything, I could borrow anything I needed from her! So I was all ready to get started yesterday.
Except I haven't started yet, because it's raining. We had such nice weather for nearly a week, and now it's going to rain for a while. But it can't last forever, and one of these days, the sun will come out,and so will some weeds.
A few days ago, I posted about my indecision regarding my rhododendron bushes. At my neighbor's advice, I will bit the bullet and trim the plants. She said that they will come back as strong as ever, and though their blooms might be few next year, they will bloom nonetheless. And maybe I'll only trim the one by our kitchen window, and leave the rest. It's the one that needs it the most; the rest are alright.
That's all for today, tune in next time when I tell you all about how I ordered two books on amazon.com yesterday, one for FIVE CENTS, and the other for $1.98 from the bookstore in my former hometown! Or I guess I'll just tell you all about it now.
The end.
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