Partner and I went out for the first time in ages the other evening. We are without a car so I took a taxi and met him near his work then we walked to the pub. I saw some of my friends there and had a good chat. Then we got a bus home. A taxi is kind of expensive so I really never take them but the bus only comes once an hour, unless it doesn't come at all. Which seems to happen quite a bit.
I've been planning my garden for this year with what kind of flowers I want and where. Right now I have a tentative plan for the front yard. There are lots of early and late spring plants already down, plus a few winter-flowering perennials so I will just have to fill in the gaps for summer. The back yard is a different story however, with lots of blank canvas at the moment. All my daffodils are sprouting and some already have heads on them. The tulips and wood hyacinths are just starting to make an appearance but no buds yet. Spring bulbs are really the best.
Partner got me a bouquet of red tulips and a dozen red roses. They are so pretty and cheerful. When the daffs flower I'll pick bouquets of them too but I don't have enough tulips in the yard to pick them. And when the roses flower I pick them but I have never had a dozen at a time. Well I have but they aren't the type to fit in a vase, but the type to climb up the garage wall. I pick them anyway and put them in really small vases with other flowers of the short stem variety.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Legitimate
Speaking of crochet projects, I've got half an afghan crocheted. I started it about a week ago and had planned on finishing it in two weeks, but I ran out of white yarn. It's a white daisy motif on a light blue background and while I have plenty of blue, I can't very well make daisies without white. It's actually very sweet and while it won't be a huge blanket, it will be a nice little throw. I just need to get more white.
I've been thinking about making a patchwork quilt for my bed. I learned how to do patchwork when I was a teenager and have always admired it. When I was little I had a wonderful red and white patchwork quilt with cats sewn on it. I can't remember if the cats were quilted or just embroidered but I loved that quilt so much. As a child, red was my favorite color and cats were my favorite animal. Then I got bigger and switched to purple and horses, but now I'm back to red. As far as animals go, I don't really have a favorite any more but I do feel an affinity towards bears. They're big and furry and they stand in the middle of streams and salmon just jump into their mouths.
I did actually get out in my garden yesterday. It was sunny and not too windy and the grass wasn't too wet. I weeded a bed and emptied out the hanging baskets which were looking a bit forlorn. I also hung a load of laundry on the line and it got mostly dry. It wasn't exactly warm yesterday--I wore two sweaters--but it was sunny with a light breeze. Due to the natural process of compost, my composter had some more room at the top so I forced in some garden material that had been hanging around going black: dahlias (but not the tubers), cosmos, and yucca leaves. I don't put weeds in my composter, just legitimate plant waste. In the summer it gets a lot of grass clippings. In the winter it mostly gets whatever odds and ends are left over.
I've been thinking about making a patchwork quilt for my bed. I learned how to do patchwork when I was a teenager and have always admired it. When I was little I had a wonderful red and white patchwork quilt with cats sewn on it. I can't remember if the cats were quilted or just embroidered but I loved that quilt so much. As a child, red was my favorite color and cats were my favorite animal. Then I got bigger and switched to purple and horses, but now I'm back to red. As far as animals go, I don't really have a favorite any more but I do feel an affinity towards bears. They're big and furry and they stand in the middle of streams and salmon just jump into their mouths.
I did actually get out in my garden yesterday. It was sunny and not too windy and the grass wasn't too wet. I weeded a bed and emptied out the hanging baskets which were looking a bit forlorn. I also hung a load of laundry on the line and it got mostly dry. It wasn't exactly warm yesterday--I wore two sweaters--but it was sunny with a light breeze. Due to the natural process of compost, my composter had some more room at the top so I forced in some garden material that had been hanging around going black: dahlias (but not the tubers), cosmos, and yucca leaves. I don't put weeds in my composter, just legitimate plant waste. In the summer it gets a lot of grass clippings. In the winter it mostly gets whatever odds and ends are left over.
Monday, January 15, 2007
For more
My house is such a mess right now. I feel so ashamed. I should just get down and clean it. I mean, it's really not that hard. Though I think part of the problem is the lack of storage. British houses just aren't built with closets. We have a total of two closets in the house: one built in, under the stairs, and one Partner and his dad built into a nook in the spare bedroom. So our clothes and shoes and vacuum cleaner and broom have a place to live. But everything else just kind of migrates. Other storage solutions include a small file cabinet, an extra dresser, a blanket box, and a display cabinet. So for instance, I really don't have a place to store my art supplies. They just kind of hang out wherever I last used them. And my crocheting projects? They stayed in the attic for a while, but I don't like the attic because I can't reach it on my own. Partner has to open it for me. Actually I've never really been in the attic, just half-way up the ladder. It's not my kind of place. Partner keeps some stuff up there, but what exactly that stuff is I'm not sure.
Partner isn't that much taller than me. I think maybe two inches at most. And I'm pretty tall when it comes to it. I generally give my height as 5'8" though I think I get up to 5'10" with moderate heels. The nurse at my last physical measured me as 1.75m while wearing my shoes. That's 5'10". And hey, I just weighed myself for the first time in ages and I've gone down to 145# which is a loss of about ten pounds total from this time two years ago when I started this blog. But I'm still as soft and squidgy as ever. What I really want is to be able to fit into my old skirts that I'm hanging onto for some perverse reason. I have a gorgeous little burnt orange suede number that I haven't been able to wear since before I got married. But I think if I continue on this path of weight loss, in two more years it'll fit perfectly.
Partner isn't that much taller than me. I think maybe two inches at most. And I'm pretty tall when it comes to it. I generally give my height as 5'8" though I think I get up to 5'10" with moderate heels. The nurse at my last physical measured me as 1.75m while wearing my shoes. That's 5'10". And hey, I just weighed myself for the first time in ages and I've gone down to 145# which is a loss of about ten pounds total from this time two years ago when I started this blog. But I'm still as soft and squidgy as ever. What I really want is to be able to fit into my old skirts that I'm hanging onto for some perverse reason. I have a gorgeous little burnt orange suede number that I haven't been able to wear since before I got married. But I think if I continue on this path of weight loss, in two more years it'll fit perfectly.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Fancy this
I haven't been sleeping well for quite a long time now. I went to the doctor and he gave me some pills but I'm not too pleased with them so I don't take them. I think I took them about five or seven times and they just made me all spacey and unable to concentrate. If they knocked me out, I suppose I could manage it, but half the time they didn't.
Our bulbs are just starting to perk up outside. Remember those three bags of daffodils I planted? I believe they are starting to think about showing. I really hope they all come up. I could do with some flowers. I never got my tulips, but there are already tulips down anyway, so I'll still get some this year. Those spring bulbs are the best. Lots of color and shape and they last a long time.
I've done a small bit of artwork recently, though nothing earth shattering. I've done a few sketches and quick ink drawings to try out my new pen and ink set. Partner got me a fabulous set of colored inks and the red is my favorite. It's a great color to work with. I should study a bit of calligraphy too. I've always liked fancy writing.
Our bulbs are just starting to perk up outside. Remember those three bags of daffodils I planted? I believe they are starting to think about showing. I really hope they all come up. I could do with some flowers. I never got my tulips, but there are already tulips down anyway, so I'll still get some this year. Those spring bulbs are the best. Lots of color and shape and they last a long time.
I've done a small bit of artwork recently, though nothing earth shattering. I've done a few sketches and quick ink drawings to try out my new pen and ink set. Partner got me a fabulous set of colored inks and the red is my favorite. It's a great color to work with. I should study a bit of calligraphy too. I've always liked fancy writing.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Vernacular
We visited the inlaws in London over New Year's weekend. One of my cousins is in London for a week or two and we showed her and her two friends around the National Gallery and up to Buckingham Palace. It was good to see her. I hadn't seen her in ages.
Our vacuum cleaner has a terminal illness, I think. I was attempting to vacuum the stairs and it started growling and smelling funny, so Partner took it apart and concluded that it's eaten too much long hair over time. The brush isn't brushing and the motor is burning itself out trying to force it. And I must be going bald, considering how much hair was on that thing. But I guess being bald wouldn't be the end of the world. I could always get wigs. Actually I already own a wig, a purple one. I used to wear it occasionally. Now that I have quite long hair, it's a bit difficult to get it on. I have to force my hair into a nylon net and then put the wig on over that. When I bought the thing my hair was about two inches long. Now it's about eighteen inches long. I've told Partner that when it reaches my butt I'll dye it black and curl it every night.
We took the train to London this time. It took about the same amount of time as driving, though perhaps not as comfortable. We had to take a bus to the train station on the way there, but on the way back we took a local train to the next village over and then hired a cab to take us the last two miles. We could have walked really and I have walked there before but it was dark, cold, and inclined to rain so into the cab we went. I couldn't believe how fast the train was. And cheap! Next time we go there we should get on the train.
Our vacuum cleaner has a terminal illness, I think. I was attempting to vacuum the stairs and it started growling and smelling funny, so Partner took it apart and concluded that it's eaten too much long hair over time. The brush isn't brushing and the motor is burning itself out trying to force it. And I must be going bald, considering how much hair was on that thing. But I guess being bald wouldn't be the end of the world. I could always get wigs. Actually I already own a wig, a purple one. I used to wear it occasionally. Now that I have quite long hair, it's a bit difficult to get it on. I have to force my hair into a nylon net and then put the wig on over that. When I bought the thing my hair was about two inches long. Now it's about eighteen inches long. I've told Partner that when it reaches my butt I'll dye it black and curl it every night.
We took the train to London this time. It took about the same amount of time as driving, though perhaps not as comfortable. We had to take a bus to the train station on the way there, but on the way back we took a local train to the next village over and then hired a cab to take us the last two miles. We could have walked really and I have walked there before but it was dark, cold, and inclined to rain so into the cab we went. I couldn't believe how fast the train was. And cheap! Next time we go there we should get on the train.
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