elainegrey

Happy Summer Solstice, in some hours from now.

My travel to Ohio has been, so far, uneventful. I read Neogenesis, twenty first book in thr Liaden universe series, late into last night and then finished it when i got into the hotel tonight. I then went through my "books to get" tags to look for other things to read and checking to see if Overdrive, the eBook library site, had any of them. I'll probably buy an eBook set in Bujold's World of the Five Gods tomorrow.

I seemed doomed when it comes to shoes, which is probably due to essentially wearing slippers or flip flops and doing most of my walking in yard shoes. I thought the nice pair of thong sandals would be essentially the same as the flip flops i've been wearing for a few months -- but the little bits rubbed raw on the top of my foot beg to differ. (Nothing like the blister from Baltimore!)

I made a horrible mistake and read the twitter feed of the president elect. There's something about the rhetorical style, exclamations of "Sad!" "Special!" "No more!", which ... are the verbal equivalents of emoticons, now that i think about it. And now i feel uncomfortable, but i suppose "more articulate than smiley faces" is yet a low bar. I suspect i've been exposed to emoticons for so long that i am inured to the shorthand.

--== ∞ ==--

Friday i had a bit of a migraine. "Bit of" in that i was not laid completely out, but "migraine" as it was preceded by a scintillating scotoma. I was restless and raked leaves and unloaded all the unboxed books into the bookshelves: they fit! We had plumbers fix a leaky faucet, and it is truly fixed. I suspect it was about two quarts a day. Every little bit conserved helps, right?

Saturday was planned to be a bit busy. I started with burning a pile of brush, and pulled a great deal of honeysuckle and grapevine out of the near by bit of woods. I went into Raleigh to meet up with my sister. Instead of our plan to meet at the Unity rally, we met up at the art museum where i collected my niece E. We spent a while together enjoying both the modern collection and the antiquities, and then we met up with my mother at a Scandinavian Yule Fair. E had $13 burning a hole in her pocket and we went to every booth multiple times as she looked at little trolls and small figures.

Sunday, Christine and i went to the Mark Hewitt pottery and bought a 2 gallon jar as an anniversary celebration. Come the winter solstice, we will have been married 25 years. The jar was in my arms as the potter came in and we had a lovely chat with him, and he asked questions of us -- it turns out he knows our neighbors and, well, it is a small town.

Today we thought we might go see the swearing in of our new county commissioners, but instead stayed home and discussed dental insurance. We are so very very delighted that the governor's race is finally over and the progressive candidate won. Huzzah.

We saw a doe behind the house in the morning, looking delicate and magical. At lunch i found all my pansies had been munched along with the collards. Harumph.

So, here it is, Monday morning, and i'm dithering. Email triggered some work and i was productive on personal things (putting things up) while listening to some folks describe a new tool for doing certain software development practices.

The weekend was rather productive, though. I borrowed my dad's tiller, made some initial passes over the 15' by 30' garden area, and then created the beds. The long dimension runs north to south. The west side of the garden faces the house. So there's a border that goes around the north to the west and from the south to the west. The border opens in the center of the west side to have isles on both sides of a narrow center bed. What's left are two 10' by 10' beds, and those are divided into three. That was the size recommended for a "three sisters" planting.

Here's a sketch of the lay out and what i intend to grow. I made a mistake in the labeling: the basil, squash, and peanuts are for after the *potatoes* are harvested, not the pumpkins.

In the three sisters square, ( corn, beans, squash.... )

Yesterday i skipped Meeting to stay home with Christine who had been feeling fragile. Many times the fact that i'm a morning person and she's an evening person work in our favor, but it's not conducive to togetherness at ends of the day. By staying home, she could wake up on her own schedule and not feel rushed by me having to get out to meeting for business. I need to remember to set the Saturday mornings aside before early Sunday meetings.

In the afternoon ( more gardening. )

I did a little research this morning: dehydrated potatoes sounds like a great way to preserve any surplus potatoes. In some time, i'd like to be able to grow most of the potatoes we eat. I don't have anything like a root cellar to keep them in, though. I chose later to mature varieties that were "good keepers" hoping to extend the period when we can eat them fresh. Nonetheless, it's theoretically possible that i could have 50 lbs of potatoes come in over two months. I don't think i'm going to get 1 to 10 returns, but even 25 lbs of potatoes is a bit much for the two of us over a short time. Dehydrating would be great way to preserve them. I'm not excited about other ways of preserving food. Freezing is expensive and risky (due to power loss). Canning seems miserable.

I read the Weather Underground blog entry this weekend about how warm this October has been and reflect on my observations: lilac budding, four flowers blooming on an azalea, a violet. Looking at the trees that are almost bare (elms, tulip poplar) i assume they are driven by day length. The others must be thinking to photosynthesize while the process is still good.

On my drive to Meeting on Sunday, i passed critters that have been hit by cars. It seems there are more now than in the summer, although it may be i became very sensitized a few months ago when i hit a squirrel. I now drive with as much concern for little darting critters as i can.

I also passed a pretentious neighborhood entry way (likely filled with McMansions) where the cherry trees were in full bloom. Poor trees. I am appreciating not having to heat and having this extended period of idyllic weather, but we haven't had rain since Hurricane Matthew and really, cold is not a bad thing. I saw even more violets blooming as i worked in the septic field Sunday afternoon. I suppose i should find a candied violet recipe.

As a log of the weekend:

* Friday night raked the glade, dinner out with Christine's sister at The Mod.

* Saturday morning, appreciated being together given the rest of the schedule. Christine cooked part of a lovely breakfast while i created rather disappointing corn flour+rice flour biscuits. Christine had an afternoon gig; i burned brush (and got rather exhausted). I do wonder about the exhaustion and pounding heart i experience when doing a good deal of bending over. I would think that bending over would be easier on the heart? In the late afternoon i finished watching Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell . I'd gotten a bit creeped out by Thistledown's stalking of Arabella; i'm glad i returned to finish the series. Christine was home in time for a light dinner: we listened to the world series as i faded to sleep.

* Sunday morning i was to be at the meeting house at 9:30 for a lecture about the local Revolutionary war battle. It turned out to also involve a great deal of historical context, which was very interesting. Also, the battle was between neighbors, essentially -- not many British soldiers brought over for the war itself, but men born in the colony. I reflected on the neighbor vs neighbor quality of the revolutionary war, the civil war, and the local & current political rhetoric. I'm not sure what insight i gleaned from the reflection. Meeting for Worship had little waiting worship, and the person who visited to speak to us was from Durham Monthly Meeting -- someone who has a passion for addressing the injustices in our legal system. Afterwards we all went to the site of the Battle of L's Mill and had a lovely walk to the existing markers, listening to a recap of the morning's lesson.

I do want to know where the road from Hillsborough to L's Mill traversed. (And i keep getting distracted to see if i can find hints online: i've found groups who work on this sort of thing.)

Christine was in a bit of a dither when i got home as she prepared for an afternoon gig. I headed out and walked around the familiar areas of our lot, then decided i's work out on the septic field area "tidying." I now have a large pile of stuff to burn and have added to the chipper piles. I spent late afternoon on the screened porch reading until dark. I managed to bestir myself and get the front light on just as Christine returned.

We had some disappointments trying to use Sling TV to watch the World Series. Apparently, we need to get an attic antenna if we want to receive channels over the air beyond a very unpredictable PBS. Instead we watched a Kenneth Branagh episode of Wallander.

I didn't sleep well, and so this morning has not been very focused.

Hoping the week turns out well.

Sunday had some elephants. I also killed the weed whacker -- and Lowes replaced it.

Monday's holiday and low humidity allowed for delightful working in the yard. I found a downy rattlesnake plantain (a native terrestrial orchid) much closer to the house as i worked in the mess that is right off the deck. Mess? Yes. It seems the sellers must have had someone come do something quick about honeysuckle and jungle right next to the deck. There are some tall trees cut down leading away from the deck, and stilt grass now grows in the area cleared by the fallen crown. An area about 20 x 20 foot is mostly cleared with a few stunted and twisted saplings -- evidence of honeysuckle infestation.

On the ground are long abandoned items of cloth, busted whirligigs and other plastic decor, dog toys, children's toys, plastic plant labels, and so on. They are hidden by a carpet of weed whacked weeds which include honeysuckle coming back.

My biggest issue is knowing how much shade this area, historically very shaded, will continue to have as we clear up the mess to the west. I am transplanting the native plants of which i approve (ferns, violets) into an area with a very sad redbud. There's not much of the tree that was sandwiched between autumn olive and honeysuckle.

Just getting a little work done back there, though, has made a world of difference.

Tuesday - blur.

Wednesday night i was cranky after work and the humidity had returned, so we went to see Star Trek Beyond: it was surprisingly delightful in entertaining me. Admittedly, the bar was low, so there's that.

Yesterday was disordered by the failure of an upgrade to my work laptop. So midday we ran into Carrboro to overnight the machine to the home office, and followed with errands and a very nice lunch out. We didn't go outside to work, and we watched the second episode of Julian Fellow's Dr Thorne.

Tonight we are going up to Wake Forest (which is not where the university is: hmph) to see a friend's crochet creations on display.

Late now for work! And feeding the cat, says Luigi.

I'd felt like a little unproductive lump earlier this week, but today i had a glimmer of confidence: i really do know useful and important things that other people need to know. I do earn my keep.

Last night Christine and i spent an hour and a half on the phone looking at Zillow postings of NC area houses together: that was a pleasure.

Today my ankle has ached a bit more than in the past week. I've written my doctor and hope to have it poked and prodded next week. A colleague at today's meeting had a broken thumb that went untreated for a week or so until he finally took it to a doctor. I do hope that i will find that, no, i was doing just fine with my standard first aid.

Tomorrow i fly to see my folks, Sunday i go home! Yay!

Boringly yours....

Yesterday work was full of various responses to issues. Today, we wait for an customer to get back to us so we can fix their issue. I imagine they're making do today, i verified they're closed tomorrow. Monday will probably be all a-dither: i think the person who took over my role is back on Monday, and i won't have to deal with the less attractive parts of the issue then. Fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, buttermints. Such decadence. Must not go back into the kitchen yet again to get one out of the container.

I took an online class in targeted communication. My mind is a jumble with awareness of areas i can improve as well as concerns that the feedback i have received is gender biased. Since no one is giving me demerits for my current communication abilities, i am trying to accept the feedback and improve.

I was very tempted to take the afternoon off. All my todos are not particularly critical. But, after actually looking at them, all of them are the type things that never get done because they aren't critical.

Back to work!

Yesterday we went to the city to see the Asian Art exhibit about the influence of Japanese art on Western art. I fell in love with Paul Signac's pointillist "Portrait of Saint-Cast" while Christine got to visit the Van Gogh postman and a number of Monets.

We drove home via the Twin Peaks and then highway 1: there was the most wonderful sunset.

I've spent hours making my own catalog of the exhibition with photos from the web and from my iPad, along with various commentary from the web. (Oops, forgot to add the youtube video and the iPad tour app as sources.) The catalog wasn't that expensive, but it didn't seem to have the juxtapositioning of images that the exhibit had. Now i have my interpretation of the show interspersed with the photos from the day. It's 100 MB. (Edited) It has loaded to Google Drive: here if curious.

I dropped my new phone while walking on Friday afternoon. Fiddlesticks! I had ordered the case just that morning.

Rain today, huzzah.

I am so happy to have found that Ghirardelli chocolate is environmentally and socially sustainably sourced. Yippee!

I am feeling a little guilty about eating in with microwaved frozen entrees and carrots and olives and a nice but unexpectedly garlicky cheese. But why go out to eat? It's dark here before 6 pm, as well, which removes my usual woodland walks as an evening outing.

I'm in a flare, with various bits of my dermis screaming, "Itch, itch, itch," or at least presenting small swollen lumps of discomfort. Is that an excuse? (Or is staying in introducing too much temptation that i will go scratch scratch scratch?)

I was called upon to make a presentation today, a bit unexpected. Poor voice: i was trying to project to the large room, and i felt i was straining it a good bit. That and public speaking nerves. I feel i did well, so i'll pat myself on the back for that. One particular colleague engaged in a bit of eye-rolling around a particular response. This particular person seems to have an issue with our team or our team's work or something. And unfortunately, he's pretty highly placed in the organization.

[Next morning]

Christine and i had a very enjoyable long conversation last night. The topic itself was not very enjoyable, starting from the violence of Friday night in Paris. Christine's favorite contemporary philosopher, Slavoj Žižek[1], had been part of a round table discussing the film Children of Men, and she had just finished marking up her transcription of the discussion for her blog. (I don't see it at http://ideaspeak.us/2015/11/ ... maybe it's going up in an undated section?) Ten years out and the discussion (and presumably the film) is remarkably pertinent, she notes. I never watched the film -- it looked depressing, and i don't need help in that direction -- but i might read the book.

[1] It took a number of attempts at a phonetic spelling before Bing figured out which "philosopher and social critic" my following jumble of letters was supposed to mean.