Week 18 - Gardening Between Storms

The week started with cat drama but that was resolved quickly and then the gardening began. Throw in some culture and it was a good week. 

So, the cat drama. First thing Monday, emails started flying about the feeding station by Love Library on campus. I got a report that it had been vandalized and was completely trashed. After not getting through to the person who reported it, I called the campus police and the Monday feeder only to get a call back from the person who originally found it, who went outside and met the officer and feeder. Not vandalism at all but rather blown over by the wind and it was back together in minutes. Who needs drama like this to start the week? No one. Now for some happy garden talk....

I went right out after work on Tuesday and started attacking the purple leaf winter creeper in my east bed. Had I known how vigorous it would be, I never would have planted it but I keep it under control by completely cutting it back every year, which didn't happen last year because of my knee. Well, it was a job getting it done. I rolled, cut, rolled some more, cut some more - I got almost all the way down the length of the house, loaded it into the car and drove it to the city burn pile. Done! After a shower, I had some dinner and got ready for Wednesday work on campus.

Early in the week, there had been a sale for UNL staff on tickets to Come From Away, which is a perfect musical - a play with actual spoken words and songs rather than Hamilton-esque operettas with only songs. HATE that! I had bought tickets happily (I'd watched the play on Apple+ with Connie last fall and loved it) and Rene and I would be grabbing burgers with tots at Honest Abe's before the play. There were donuts and cookies at work and I met with my Fidelity rep on some retirement stuff so it was a great day. The play was wonderful but then I knew it would be. 

I was outside after work on Thursday and got the entire front bed planted. I planted the bare root weigela near the wonky dwarf Alberta spruce (the huge yews had killed the branches on one side) in hopes that it will grow big and fill in the hole. I moved 2 hydrangeas from the back to under my bedroom window. The rest was hostas from the east bed, more hostas from by the garage, vinca and a few other shade perennials from my other beds. This is a north bed so mostly shade. It will take years before it all fills in but it felt good to get it done so it can start growing. The timing was perfect with overnight rain coming to water it all in.

I had scheduled 2 hours of vacation on Friday afternoon so Lorri and I could go to Spring Affair. We usually volunteer but they'd changed the hours this year so neither of us did. We were there an hour after it opened to the public (the preview party was Thursday night) and about half of the plants were already sold out. I managed to find a few to buy and then we headed to Starbuck's. Severe storms were supposed to arrive ~5:30 so I'd nixed dinner but we had a latte and pound cake and chatted a bit before beelining it home. The storms held off and I suppose I would have known that if I had a smart phone. I know, I need to get one. But there's nothing bad about an early start to the weekend. I watched BBC Gardener's World and enjoyed dinner at home.

It was a rainy, cold Saturday so I watched the last Ozark episodes, caught up on Gardeners World and puttered inside. It was gorgeous Sunday but the yard was a soggy mess so I did some transplanting on the deck to avoid the mushy lawn and beds. No complaints from me on the rain, which we desperately need. I think we might be edging out of drought after a bone dry winter and the world is greening up at last. Yay!

So a nice week, right? Gardening, a play, plant buying and those are just the fun things. I love working from home and being able to go right outside at 5:00 to garden, using the time I would have been driving home to actually be productive. Here's hoping we get to keep working from home. Here are some daffodils in my yard with some of the yew wood for my firepit. Happy spring!

Week 17 - Long Overdue Gardening

It was a good week with our first food day in 2.5 years at work and finally some decent weather for gardening. It had snowed the previous Sunday (just flurries but still - in April?) and by Friday it was pushing 90 but in between was some spring weather.

I cooked a bunch on Tuesday night, not just for food day. I had already made my cranberry walnut cole slaw on the weekend but decided to make a sheet pan apple pie and I wanted to make pea soup because it's Anne's favorite and I could see her on Wednesday. I also put the chicken bones in the crockpot to make stock. I cooked until just before bed.

The food day was a big success. We were hosting Ben's staff from his business center across campus so with all the Canfield people, there were 40+ coming. It took some coordination, which fell on Cindy and me, but was lots of fun. I took home enough leftovers for a couple of suppers too. While I had grand plans to run errands after work, I made a beeline home instead and finished the blackberry socks that I'd redone the heels/toes on after being completely done. I love the results and so will not be giving them away as bad karma socks, which is nice because the yarn was a birthday gift from Andrea.

Friday was going to be HOT so I went right outside at 5:00 on Thursday and did some yard work. I got all the back beds raked out, which felt great. It was raining by dark and we got 1/2" overnight, which we desperately needed. After the rain, the heat set in. I closed up the house and survived fine but in retrospect, I should have tried the AC since it's supposed to be replaced this year (I had freon added last year but that was just to get me through summer 2021). Missed opportunity so I'll have to wait until the next hot day.

At some point in the week, I got an email from Southwest that they'd changed my flight back home after my beach week in August. What had been a normal RI > Chicago > Omaha flight was now RI > Tampa > Omaha. Seriously? There was no other option to leave on Saturday so I changed to a Sunday flight and got great times. And since Southwest changed the flight, I got a princess flight for no additional money. I'll stay that Saturday with Deanne. All good.

I had my first mow of the spring scheduled for sometime on the weekend and when I got a text that it would be Sunday, I called Andrea and we headed to the west edge of Omaha in search of a Koreanspice viburnum. I struck out at Lowe's so went to Lanaha, the fancy nursery just down the road, where I scored one - expensive but in perfect condition. Even with stopping at the Aldi across from the nursery, we were home in 2.5 hours. Nice.

Tim, who built my deck years ago when he and a friend had a construction company, was bringing his youngest son over to mow. I'd asked Tim to bring his chain saw and he cut down the last yew in my front bed while Camden mowed. I loaded up the branches and ran them to the city burn pile so my bed was ready. I'd found a bare root weigela bush at Aldi so that would be going there with hostas that were had been frying in the full sun since my neighbor took her tree down. I'm sure I'll find other things to go there too.

So it was a good week. I finally got some garden time in, we got some much needed rain and I have big plans for my yard that I'm excited to start on after doing nothing much last year because of my knee replacement. It's also getting easier to work on campus on Wednesdays and the food day was a resounding success that felt like a return to normal. Now for more spring weather so I can get outside. I just hope we don't go right to summer heat and ship spring.

Week 16 - Some Crazy Weather

In another quiet work week with Cindy still on vacation, the weather was worthy of a mention and not much else.

The weather was a total roller coaster. Monday was gorgeous (I put 2 loads of laundry on the line to dry) but by Tuesday morning it was dreary, windy and cold. But right at noon, the weather started to change and within a couple of hours it went from the 50's to 91 by dinner time. Then at 7:00 the storm started. There was hail with huge wind gusts and then the tornado sirens went off. I headed down to the basment but the sirens stopped so I went back upstairs to wait out the storm. As soon as it passed, the temp plummeted again and we were back into the 50's. Here's a video of the hail on my deck. At least it was tiny and my pansies survived unscathed.

The office was boring on Wednesday without Cindy. Ben's door was shut most of the day and Brook had his headphones in. I could hear the accountants laughing but no fun for me! I had arranged to meet a woman who was giving away partially made afghans, which I'd be sending to my sister for her charity crocheting. It was a bit of a fiasco with a last minute plan change but I met her near campus at lunch and then ran some errands. Yhe highlight of the day was meeting Dodie at CostCo after work.

The last time Dodie and I went to CostCo was the week before the world shut down in March 2020 so this was much nicer. We chatted our way through the aisles then had pizza and a sundae and chatted some more. I managed to spend $100 on just a few things, which is easily done there. I'm stocked up for awhile.

The work week was just busy enough - plenty of work but nothing stressful. I was plugging away on some data for Mary on Friday when I got the word that we could stop working at 3:00 to start the Easter weekend early. Since I don't do Easter, I usually spend it outside in the garden so used the extra 2 hours to start some flower seeds. Then the knitting began.

Andrea was teaching a class at spinning on helical knitting and I figured some people wouldn't have done the homework - knitting the cuff of a sock - so I pulled a bunch of yarn and knitted the cuff on some hats. I did 2 on Friday night then 2 more on Saturday morning. It was the first Saturday morning I'd been at home in a month so I enjoyed knitting in the sun in my nightie. All 4 hat kits were claimed so it was worthwhile making them.

Saturday was also the first day of my break from dieting. I'd lost almost 10 pounds so wore jeans for the first time in 2 years. After enjoying a burger and tots for lunch and dressed in my hard pants, I picked Andrea up for a full Fremont run. We went to the Habitat ReStore before spinning and we both found a few treasures. Spinning was fun and then we went to the Estate Disperal Store for more treasures then on to Goodwill. Aldi was our last stop and I needed lots because I hadn't been to Aldi in a month or more. We didn't get home until after 7:00 so it was a long day but fun.

I woke up on Sunday to more gloomy weather and before long, there were flurries. In mid-April. On Easter. Seriously? Will spring ever get here? My usual personal Easter celebration of gardening was toast so I spent the day doing just a few chores and doing a bunch of cooking. The snow that fell melted immediately and the sun did come out for a bit mid-afternoon but it was too chilly to be out long.

I'm looking foward to warmer weather and Cindy being back at work. The weather is thwarting my desire to get out and garden. This is the first year with my new knee and without any pressing deadline like last year when I had my knee replaced on May 18th so had to fast track all my gardening. So would spring weather just get here please! I live in hope.

Week 15 - Gardening and Yarn

Things are feeling more normal with every passing week and this week included a garden conference with so many people. Very pre-Covid feeling. But first the work week.

We were all going in on Tuesday instead of Wednesday so we could meet my boss' other staff across campus. We all drove over at 11:00 for a tour and a meet and greet. I had ordered my favorite Panera salad and hit some thrift shops on the way there, where I scored some yarn, mostly for my sister. I went grocery shopping on the way home and picked up a rotisserie chicken, which I chowed down on as soon as I got home. Delish.

Wednesday was Cindy's last day before her vacation and she was slamming to get everything done for the training that would happen while she was gone. I helped her with various things throughout the day but we when we had our delayed morning zoom at 2:00, Ben said it was all going to be put on hold. Payroll is the barrier to all progress. Oh well. Work for the rest of the week was boring without Cindy but it didn't drag but I had some fun on Friday.

My friend Lori had an appointment in town so brought Chinese food for lunch, which was a nice interlude in my day. The afternoon mail brought a huge box of sock yarn that I'd bought from Facebook Marketplace. I know, it's the last thing I need but I'd share. The afternoon flew because I was still slamming through grad allocations to get them posted before 5:00, which I did. Nice. Then I got to open my box of yarn and sort it all into what I was keeping and what I was sharing. I updated my Ravelry stash the same night and have lots of fun socks to look forward to.

Saturday was the West Pott Master Gardener Conference, which I hadn't been to in a few years, even before Covid. I carpooled with my friend Lorri and 2 other master gardeners and was looking forward to the sessions. I had cast on a new pair of stockinette socks to knit while I listened and got most of one sock knitted. It was a lovely day that felt SO normal. Here's the sock, which I finished on Sunday evening.

After being inside all day on Saturday, I spent Sunday outside. With cold weather in the forecast, I was leary of raking out my beds so started with pruning roses. I got them all cut and then drove the thorny branches to the city burn pile. It felt so good to be outside that I kept going, cleaning up the driveway beds and then got 2/3's of the way around the deck before stopping. It was wonderful to start outside and I could only hope the cleared beds would be OK with the coming cold weather. Spring has to come eventually, right?

Week 14 - Mid Century Fun

It was a fun week full of mid century loveliness plus some productivity and socializing. 

So I'd passed on the fun glass fronted case in Beatrice the past Saturday and was fine with that decision until Tuesday. I got an email from Changing Spaces: Senior Relocation Services with their weekly auction. I saw a picture that spoke to me and instantly knew I had to have it. It was a seragraph print by David Weidman. Never heard of him but googled and learned lots, which also worried me that it would be too expensive. I placed a bid immediately and upped it twice over the next 2 days. I had 2 different people bidding against me and Cindy and I zoomed to watch the last minutes. I won! I couldn't have been happier. And with the new print in mind, I'd called the antique shop in Beatrice and they were holding the bookcase for me. I had a plan for a mid century corner in my back room.

All this meant I was headed to Lincoln to pick up the painting then drive back to Beatrice to get the bookcase. But if I was heading to Lincoln on a weekend, I was going to do as much as I could so I started with breakfast with Darla. When I picked up the print, I was so happy that they took my picture. After stopping at Trader Joe's for the high fiber cereal I'd forgotten the week before, I hit the highway to Beatrice. I wanted to get home early so minimized my stops and was back home before 1:00. After a quick lunch, I hung my print and started moving furniture. Finding yarn for inside the cabinet was easy but I tried many, many groups of things on top looking for the perfect grouping. What do you think? I LOVE it.

Other than my mid century fun, I met with my retirement guy at Fidelity (zoom, of course) and got all set up for 2021 and 2022 Roth contributions and confirmed that I'm on track for my earlier retirement plans. Yay! Helen also came by for lunch on Friday, which is always fun. And I ended the week by clearing off my deck of all the winter detritus, which included taking down my deck Christmas tree. I'll miss waking up to the lights in the dark morning but it was time.

So it was a fabulous week full of new things, crossing a few things off my list and starting to work outside. I'm excited for spring. And I started rotating and was already down 5 pounds by the end of the week. All good!

Week 13 - Fun in Beatrice

After such a lovely spring week, a touch of winter was coming back but the snow was supposed to turn to rain, which we desperately needed and so I ran out Monday at lunch and planted yet more seeds. Just couldn't resist and the rain would water everything in nicely.

I woke up to an inch of snow Tuesday morning, which was only the 2nd snow we'd had all winter and it was gone by mid-afternoon but we did get the promised rain - an inch! It was bitter cold when I had to go to campus on Wednesday and as usual, it was still not easy getting ready and setting an alarm but I lived. I ate lunch at my desk and made a beeline home after work because it was just too cold to be out and about. It stayed cold and dreary so the rest of the week was just work and chores. I actually dusted! That's even more rare than snow was this winter. : )

Rene and I had plans on Saturday morning to explore Beatrice, which is the county seat of the county south of Lincoln. I had been there once before I moved to Nebraska (so more than 25 years ago) and I just wanted to see what there was to see. After grabbing treats at Sunrise Donuts, which was recommended by my friend Darla who loved going there when she was a kid, downtown was mostly thrift shops and used clothing stores. After that we went to the Homestead National Historical Park, which was quite interesting. They were doing a controlled burn so we couldn't walk the grounds but it was really too cold to anyway. 

On the way back to Beatrice, we stopped at an antique store and I fell in love with a mid-century modern glass fronted bookcase but didn't get it because my house if full. If any furniture comes in, something else has to go. The woman in the shop recommended a place for lunch but warned us that the service was slow. Indeed it was - we got there at 1:20 and didn't get our food until 2:30. After eating our burgers, we headed back to Lincoln. After a stop at Trader Joe's and dropping Rene, I took Sunrise Donuts long johns to Darla. She wasn't home but I got a happy phone call the next morning.

Anne and I had been working with an agent at Arena Travel planning our next, long overdue trip to the Faroe Islands. After being super responsive, we hadn't hear back from her. Anne had emailed Thursday night and we got no response Friday so I sent one Sunday afternoon. Despite it being after 9:00 in the UK, we got an immediate response. Our original agent was "out of the office" and this one got right on it and we booked the trip. We had intended to look at airfare later but I got right on it and we booked our flight and then to finish it all, I booked our hotels on either end of the trip. So we went from hanging in the wind to completely booked within a couple of hours. Yippee! It's been 2.5 years since I used my passport and I couldn't be more excited. Nice way to end the week, right?

Besides the weekend, it was a quiet week, which was fine. I was recovering from the budget stress and appreciated it. There was lots of knitting going on, of course. I finished 2 pairs of socks and cast on several more plus some yarn I'd ordered from Norway arrived on Friday. And in the spirit of relaxing, here's a picture of my cat, Tot, sleeping in the sun in the front room.

Week 12 - Budget and Gardening

My budget woes continued but gardening and friends got me through it. First budget.

I had hoped that I was done when I'd rerun the files last week but there were more zooms. I was able to answer their questions on Monday but on Tuesday I was clueless. For every question they asked, my response was to check the spreadsheet. After I said that 3 or 4 times, the head of budget said he'd try to come up with more questions I didn't know the answer to and laughed. And that was the end of my budget woes for the week. They never asked me another thing. Yay!

With that over, hopefully for good, I had other fun things to look forward to. After taking a little blueberry pie to knitting, I had a long overdue birthday dinner with Lori and Andrea for their birthdays schedule for Wednesday after work. Two years before, our annual dinner was cancelled when the world shut down and so I was looking forward to it. 

We were meeting in Ashland at 6:30, arriving from 3 separate directions. Because I'd have to time kill after work, I took a long lunch and thrifted all over town with the plan to work late to make the time up. But at 3:45, right after the team got back from a walk to the parking office, the internet went down. When we heard that the entire campus was down and they didn't know when it would be back up, we all got to leave. But with all my errands done, I had time to kill so hit Sam's with Cindy then Dollar Tree and the new huge liquor store before giving up on retail therapy and calling Lori to see if she could get to BW's earlier, which she did. We ordered beer and Brussels sprouts while we waited for Andrea and then had a yummy dinner when she arrived. It was the most normal I'd felt in ages.

A friend dropped off leek seedlings at lunch on Tuesday so I prepped the end of one veg bed and planted them after work. Having gotten my hands in the dirt, I couldn't seem to stop myself from keeping going. Over the course of the week, I planted the little potatoes I'd dug last fall from a volunteer potato plant and then started going through seeds planting most of one bed with old seeds just to see if I'd get any to germinate. Then I dug a little bed by my neighbor's chain link fence and planted a few peas I found in the bottom of my seed basket. Not sure what they are or if they're too old but I had nothing much to lose and it was fun starting to garden.

I had spinning in Fremont on Saturday but Andrea didn't go. I hit the Habitat Restore on the way there then Aldi afterwards. Then it was home for the rest of the weekend for the usual chores, knitting and general puttering. I watched the new season of The Bay on Britbox. Gotta love an good UK crime drama.

So all in all, it was a good week. Budget seemed to be done, gardening had started, I even started some flowers indoor and there was pie! Spring weather had arrived too. Life is good!