ETA: to add links I was too lazy to do yesterday and clarify a point here and there.
It seems like a century since I was last here.
~
The travels for health and pleasure are finished for a while. Jack has been checked out tip to toe and the upshot is he’ll be a woodworker for a long while yet. A cranky, deaf woodworker, but nonetheless. The doctors’ visits will yield at least one post about hearing loss, but that will keep for another day.
~
The peonies and irises are the best I’ve seen in years. The storms have mostly spared their blooms, an amazing thing considering the amount of rain we’ve gotten. Days and days of it. So much, that a few of the plots at the community garden have tadpoles swimming in them. The only harvest there will be frog legs. ewww
~
Some creature has been digging up my transplants, going after the bone meal I use in the soil. Not unusual in itself, but the way the plants appear to have been picked up and placed out of the way makes me suspect the raccoons.
I solved the problem with little cages and coffee grounds to mask the bone meal odor.
~
Last night a young raccoon was on the deck drinking the hummingbird nectar. He laid down flat on the railing and looked so forlorn when I came out to get the feeder that I let him finish drinking it before I took the feeder away. sigh
~
I’ve been knitting, but not spinning and I need to get my spinning mojo back because Tour de Fleece is coming up in another month. TdF is a month-long spin-every-day project timed to coincide with the Tour de France. Unlike that endurance event we don’t have to undergo any doping tests. But then our winners also don’t get pretty boys handing us flowers and stuffed animals and kissing our cheeks either. Cookie, can you do something about that?
~
There’s been a pair of socks (the same pair) on the needles for nearly a year. The second toe is in sight.
~
I like physical exercise when I can see results. Let me haul straw and push wheelbarrows and I’m a happy girl. Make me go to a gym: cranky girl.
~
My reading has been eclectic:
How to Win Friends & Influence People (let people know it’s all about them) and How to Stop Worrying & Start Living (don’t worry, be happy). It’s taken me 3 months and I’m still not finished. It went back to the library today.
The Twitter Book. I learned two new terms: ambient intimacy, a lightweight but meaningful connection, and attention economy: distributing ideas and comments about what people care about. How do you measure the value of attention? Oh and this blog got it’s first tweet mention. Amazing.
Carrots Love Tomatoes. Don’t plant garlic next to pole beans but it’s OK to plant it next to bush beans. Wah?
Sally Melville’s Mother-Daughter Knits. The patterns don’t sing to me, although the Classic Shirt and the hoodie are possibilities. However, there’s an excellent, concise explanation at the front of the book regarding getting sweaters to fit. I’ve taken Sally’s classes and it sounds much like her. As well as this post from TECHknitter on designing and fitting knitwear. I’d knit more sweaters if I knew they’d fit me when I’m finished. Perhaps after 15-odd (very odd) years of knitting, it’s time to figure it out.
~
I killed all the zombies by uninstalling the game in an after-midnight fit. Up till all hours, not getting any work done, throwing corn cobs at pixels. Enough already.
I hope the marigolds are doing OK without me (in the Zen Garden of Plants v. Zombies, that is).
Your peony photo is superb! The various shades of pink are beautiful.
Me thinks you have a bunny that’s wreaking havoc in your veggie garden- they l.o.v.e bone meal! But if they’ve been plucked/ picked up then you’re probably right about the raccoons.
I’ve gone off P vs Z’s for a bit too.
You may have been awol, but you made up for it with this post. I’m sorry about Jack’s hearing loss. We depend on our senses and take them so for granted. Prayers and good wishes coming your way. Diane, you are such a softy;-P Letting the baby raccoon finish the nectar made me smile. What a sweetheart. Congrats on the Tweet mention. I don’t, Tweet or Facebook, so I’m rather clueless. Your peony is exquisite. It’s so good to get caught up! Hugs.
If you need more marigolds, I hear Norma’s got a few extras…
I want to nuzzle right into your peony, hmmmm, sounds naughty,eh?
I also smiled in regard to letting the young raccoon finish the nectar.
Interesting bundle of books, I’m no twit, and FB… well, I still don’t enjoy it that much but am finding a few old friends and happy about that. A cranky, deaf woodworker had me giggling, sorry about his loss of hearing though, it may make for a cranky you somewhere down the road.. or not :^)
Yes, Norma may have cornered the market on marigolds at the moment but I understand she’s got them all planted ;^) TdF.. ooooh, pretty boys? now that I could get on board with. Cookie?
same here, no like gyms.
great chatter :^)
WHA!?!? You uninstalled zombies? They’re gonna get you!
Yes, Cookie should do something about those pretty boys. Considering I’m just cheerleading from the sidelines this year, I think that I should get to supervise them for the month. Maybe put them in training camp. *ahem*
Beautiful peony (mine are sadly over for the season) and I loved the raccoon story – something knocked one of my hummer feeders down, but I suspect squirrels as they’re known to frequent that area.
You what?!
/dies
I love brain chatter!
WHA!?!? You uninstalled zombies? They’re gonna get you!
Yes, Cookie should do something about those pretty boys. Considering I’m just cheerleading from the sidelines this year, I think that I should get to supervise them for the month. Maybe put them in training camp. *ahem*
Glad you’re back! Animal lovers are animal lovers be they cats or raccoons – wait until you see the photo of our latest foster pup Wiley. And Dad told me about the ENT doctor’s visit. I told him to text and get on the computer
The peony is pretty.
The peony is exquisite. Of course.
I uninstalled Zombies too. So far they are nowhere near my house. Yet.
We have a raccoon that is decimating not only the nectar but the squirrel proof feeder. Apparently it is not raccoon proof. We are taking steps. The top of the hummer feeder had raccoon tongue marks on it. Little bastid.
Lovely peony photo. They always make me think of Gram. I tried to transplant one from her house and after two years I don’t think it’s going to make it. Apparently they don’t transplant well and apparently they need sunlight to grow, of which we have little on the mountain. Then again, we don’t have racoons either. Lovely raised beds, too. Ian keeps trying to convince me to have fewer gardens. As if. After five summers in my house, I’m finally accepting that shade gardens are reality and am shooting for a big begonia bed. Please keep us updated on the gardens, I love watching your stuff grow.