Today's harvest: arugula, parsley and sweetpea blossoms. Sunflowers, shallots and peas are progressing nicely as well.
It has been so beautiful here all week - not too hot, perfect temp. Friends have been dropping by for wine and meals, and the knitting group met here on the deck for some fresh air knitting. My X is out of town so I get some peace. And I'm not working, but getting paid. What could be better? If the kittens would stop crying so piteously, that's what.
Yes, she's done! I'm ready to make another one. Next time I'd make it out of very thin, silky yarn. But I'm not going to just yet as I have 3 projects in the queue...
I must say being a woman of leisure is ideal for getting projects done.
Poor shot, but they were hiding under the toilet.
One of the insane interesting things I've done in the past few years is to foster kittens for the Humane Society of Central Oregon.
These are kittens who are too young to be adopted and need ongoing care. Sometimes they come with their mom, sometimes not. Depending, they may need to be bottle-fed, weaned or just socialized.
I'm known as the go-to gal for socializing the feral kittens. They come to me all hissy and terrified and they leave happy, cuddly, well-adjusted kittens ready to find their "forever family" (as we say in the adoption biz). Or at least they're supposed to. Every so often there is a kitten who prefers to stay wild, thank you very much. Those cats get sent to "the barn," a supposedly-real place where they can catch mice and play with cows all day.
So I now have four little hissies that I'm working on. It's best to separate them so they have to rely on you for companionship, but it's a painful process. Hearing pitiful kitten cries from four different spots in your house is a little nerve-wracking. And then you have to go around to each one and cuddle/feed/play with it. Good thing I'm unemployed!
My household and the whole neighborhood gets involved so the kitties can get used to dogs, cats and kids. It's fun, really. You get the cutest part of them and then when they turn into destructive maniacs you trade them in for fresh ones.
That reminds me of a story about Henry, my (adopted) son. I was explaining a few years back that it was time to take the kittens back to the shelter to be adopted by their new families. He was silent for a moment, then asked in a worried tone: "Am I going to have to get a new family too?" AWwwww.
Top 10 procrastination activities
So what's on your list? Commenting on blogs is a good one, for sure.
Nothing like clearing gutters for clearing the mind!
The gutters had not been cleaned in 9 years. I remember, because I had just gotten Henry and some kind neighbors came over and cleaned them.
It was deeply satisfying. First, because they were completely impacted with juniper droppings and dirt; second, because it was on my to-do list for, oh, a couple of years. Now that I've accomplished it, I can do anything! I'm strong and self-reliant!(gutter affirmation).
Of course cleaning up the decks after cleaning the gutters is boring, dirty, hot and annoying. Hey, that's why we have kids! If I could just find him . . .
Next up on the list: washing the windows. And then maybe I'll tackle the garage.
1. Keep his number on speed dial
2. Follow his baseball team, even though it's National League
3. Let your dog hang out with him
4. Ask him for help with your bird feeders
5. Calculate his time zone when he travels
6. Leave his photos on your screen saver
7. Picture the three freckles under his eyebrow
8. Take an afternoon nap together
9. Return his texts when he's out with his friends
10. Let him make you Sunday dinner
11. Wear your lucky skirt
12. Open a second bottle
You can teach an old dog new tricks, as long as you have liver snaps.
Do you ever get in one of those moods? Sad, nostalgic, moody, adrift? Anomie, malaise; I could go on...
This post title refers to a great version of a song by Elvis Costello (no, not the album Almost Blue), but nobody says it better (or more) than Van Morrison:
In the afternoon, baby in my room
When the lights are dim way beyond the hill
In the afternoon, baby in my room
When I'm really down get me off the ground
Melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
In the morning time when I go outside
In the morning time it's like that all the while
In the afternoon when I'm in my room
Every single day, it won't go away
Melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
And it's in my heart, when we're apart
And it stops and starts, and it's in my heart
Every single day it's always in my way
When I'm making hay, all I've got to say
Melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
Well it's in my blood and it's in my veins
Here it comes again, when I'm in the rain
In the wind and rain, well the sun don't shine
Well it's always mine, all of the time
Melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
And it's in my life and it's all the time
It doesn't go away when the church bells chime
In the evening time when I drink my wine
In the evening time when it's on my mind
Melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
It's only melancholia
Oh melancholia, oh melancholia, oh melancholia, oh melancholia
Melancholia, melancholia
They call it, call it melancholia, call it melancholia, call it melancholia, call it melancholia
Call it melancholia, melancholia, melancholia, melancholia
OK, we get it, Van! You're seriously bumming!
I'm feeling the same way today.
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Just bought my tix to the Lucinda Williams concert here on Sept. 2. It's in the back of the Athletic Club on the lawn - very pleasant, intimate venue. Because I luuurve her so, we actually got reserved seats, rather than general admission lawn tix. A mere five chairs back. Should be great! I always love her concerts - very immediate and intense.
Shaping up to be a good concert summer: on my list so far are Wilco, Beck, and Lucinda. If they could just get Coldplay, Dylan and Jack Johnson back again, it would be a great season. I think I'll pass on Lynyrd Skynyrd this week, though.
After I moved here, I thought I'd really miss the LA concert scene, but Bend is definitely on the tour map. It's a fun, easy place to see a show. We've ridden our bikes in the past, though we have sustained a few nasty injuries coming back BUI.
Hopefully we won't have any obnoxious dancing fanboys in front of us, a la Kathi's experience.
Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
—Henry James, 1934
My garden evidently decided to get busy while we were away. Roses, daisies, daylilies, arugula, hosta, clematis; everything went crazy. My peonies budded, bloomed and shed their flowers while we were gone, missing them entirely.
I'm very happy to be back. The unpacking, laundry, mail and cleaning can wait. My plan for this afternoon is to take a nap. Later I'll mix a lemon drop, sit on the porch, and watch the plants do their stuff; while the Bosox hammer the Yankees in the background.
Bug courtesy of my big bro Steve. Photo mine.
One thing I like about the East: fireflies.
We always called them lightning bugs. Nothing brings back the summers of my childhood like a lawn at late dusk, sprinkled with lightning bugs twinkling in their lovesick short buggy lives.
There don't seem to be fireflies in the West. I think it's a humidity thing. Maybe the only good thing about this East Coast humidity, other than my cuticles looking more presentable.
What are your childhood summer memories?
How about you?
I just realized that in the many years I've lived in Bend, I've never left for longer than a week. I've traveled: East Coast, California, Texas, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Spain - but each jaunt has been for 8 days or less.
I remember when I got my first real corporate-type job in NYC after grad school, when it sunk in that I'd only get one week off for the first several years. I was stunned: one week?! Cram the entire year's vacation into one week? This was after a life of summer vacations and under-employment. I felt like I'd been given a jail sentence.
Since then, I've learned to fit the vacation experience into one-week trips, extended weekend getaways, work trips that included relaxation time (Costa Rica beach, anyone?), and of course the random layoffs that occur with ad agencies. (Hard to relax when you're looking for work and close to broke,though.)
So the point of this ramble? I've never been away from my pets for this long. I really miss them.
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