Saturday, April 16, 2011

Twitter Machine

I tweet a lot. One of the things I like about twitter is it makes me feel less alone. In the sense that other people, especially women, feel things the way I do or are living through similar situations. I also like the instant access to support if I need it; something that is not always available in the real world because of other people's schedules.

Could I live without it? Sure, but luckily I have the choice not to. I'd rather see the positive aspects that twitter brings into my life than focus on the negative ones that other people want to focus on. I find it interesting that those that complain about Twitter use Twitter to do the complaining.

Long live the Twitterverse!

Anti-Depressant Kit

I am not a hoarder. But I do recognize that I have hoarding tendencies. Maybe we all do to some extent.

I can't remember the title of the book I read; about ten years ago, and it really has been a savior but after reading it I got in the habit of going through certain areas of my house a couple times a year and getting rid of things I haven't used in the last six to eight months. It is really a hard thing to do because: a/ I probably paid money for it and b/ I always have that "what if I need it in the future" question in my head. Then I won't have one and will have to spend money to get another one or do with out when I had already had one. While these things still go through my mind I also ask the question, "Can someone else make better use of it?" And that question helps me give things away. Not everything obviously, some things I have emotional attachments to that I have no desire of breaking while others are less painful. I still feel pretty cluttered at times even though I know that overall we live a less cluttered life than we did about fifteen years ago. It took a few years but Jeff eventually followed suit.

Which brings me to today's mini-project. Cleaning out my desk drawer. I haven't cleaned out the drawer in a while and I noticed it has been increasingly hard to close this past week. There are basics I always use like pens, post-its, scissors. And there is the stapler, playing cards, more pens, my Wacom drawing pad and a few mice, the computer kind. There's packing tape for BIW prizes once a month, an adapter for some computer but am pretty sure it is not my current one. There are a few candles, sage, a large empty Ziploc bag, recipe cards, and a bag of blue marbles. And a few other things I'll show you in a minute.

Should I get rid of some of this stuff? Maybe one or two times but for the most part I'm just going to spend a few minutes organizing the small space and maybe moving a few things to another space. I'm not in the getting rid of frame of mind today although a few things will find their way into the trash -- pens that don't write.

Here are a few things I thought were interesting:

My hoard of post-it notes and stickies which I use often but seldom share. One of my favorite things to get in my stocking at Christmas is Post-it notes. If there are no post-it or "stickies" I'm very sad. Which is kind of sad.


I bought this little goddess online. I like the shape and feel of it but still haven't decided what to do with it. I still like it so it will go in another drawer.


And the best find? A "Anti-Depressant Kit" I was given some time ago and had forgotten about. It made me smile as I read the note: "For those times when you need a 'pick me up', just open this anti-depressant kit and you're sure to feel better soon. It contains: An eraser, so you can make all your problems disappear. A penny, so you can never say 'I'm broke!' A marble, in case someone says, 'You've lost your marbles!' A rubber band, so you can stretch yourself beyond limits. A string, to tie things together when everything falls apart. A hug and a kiss, to remind you that someone somewhere cares about you!"


What truly amazes me is that there was chocolate in my desk and I didn't eat it. Have a lovely Saturday!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Starting from Scratch

For some reason when I was at the hardware store last week looking for new clippers I decided I wanted to grow some plants from seeds. I did this when we first moved in to our house with little success (but what did survive I still have in the garden, surprisingly). I didn't want to go crazy so I picked up a 72 peat pod kit which has twelve short rows of six.

I planted one row of pumpkin seeds, two rows of pink fluffy grass, two row's of Jeff's dad's poppies, one row of ground cherries, three rows of blazing star (got the seeds from a lady who wrote an article for Oh Canada magazine), one row of heliotrope, one row of white clematis (from another lady I met online), and one row of blue fescue.

Today when I checked in on them I found the pumpkin seeds already sprouting. It hasn't even been a week! There also looks like a spring of grass. It is looking pretty promising so far if I do say so myself. Hopefully, I didn't just jinx it.

Friday, April 08, 2011

30 Days of Photos: Day 22

It is day twenty-two of my 30 Days of Photos challenge (feel free to join me at any time).

For the most part, after the rain and wind are finished their bit, spring is one of my favorite joys. Especially when I can go out in the back yard and find surprises like this:

I wouldn't be surprised if they are open by next week! I love watching my back yard come to life.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

It's Spring!

You know it's spring when I start filling up the blog with plant and gardening pictures. I wanted to get an early start on cleaning the flower beds because I have a lot to get done before the excruciating hot weather and humidity start and I become a hermit (yes, more so than now).

So far I have cleaned the biggest garden and the left side garden. I made the mistake of cleaning the big garden all in one day. After six months of no yard work, I was sore for three days afterward. At least I'm broken-in now (although I was feeling pretty broken).

Here a shot of the back garden all cleaned up. The shot is taken on an angle to include the back corner garden which is still not awake (if you click on it you'll get a bigger view):

There are some tulips coming up in the center and the hostas which I've been growing for over five years are breaking ground already.

Here is the side garden. The black eyed susans and purple coneflowers have started. And of course there are tulip tips coming up here and there.

This is wear most of the work will come in after I've cleaned all the other flower beds (another side, back corner, back stairs, by small shed, and front yard). I'll be adding a yard of soil along the back to bring the ground back up to the neighbors and then I'll put back the flagstone path I removed last year. I'll extend the garden forward a bit to give the hen & chick border some room. To the left out of shot are some cedars whose roots are showing so I want to cover them with another yard as well as the trees on the other side of the yard. If there is soil left over I'll top off some of the other gardens. Then I want to lay down new mulch as it's been a few years. Finally, I want to re-edge all the gardens. I'm hoping to have this all done by the end of June. The sooner the better because it will already be stinking hot by then.