armlessbear.com

Seasonal musings

Just before I got sick I caught the first scent of autumn air – the cool, damp, breezy morning.

Then I got sick, it got HOT and HUMID and started acting like a proper summer.
My garden in all it’s dark green leafy splendor is already showing signs of the harvest around the corner.

Summer Colds

How do you know you’re sick?

When you can take NyQuil (original flavor) and not even notice it has a taste at all.

When you can smell and taste milk that is apparently “off” and not be able to tell until someone else nearly gags at the smell.

Also, “Non-drowsy formula” is a damned dirty lie, I tell ya.
I’m nearly asleep at my desk, unable to smell or taste much and desperate for a nap.

HP and the DH

I didn’t go the bookstore at midnight. Late Saturday morning we strolled into Target, turned left, and practically walked into a display of the books.
All too easy and so much less angst than staying up all night.

Then we drove up north for a family picnic and I read the book. For the first time in my life I didn’t get carsick reading a book. I got 300 pages into it before we switched drivers so that I could navigate to the family picnic site in Turtle Lake.

I finished the book at about midnight last night. I sleepily decided that i needed to re-read the last few chapters when I was more coherent. So I did when we got home this afternoon.

IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I had Abba’s Super Trouper pop into my head and since I hadn’t actually ripped the entirety of Abba Gold I pulled out the CD and apologized to Mike in advance.

Tonight the Super Trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Smiling, having fun (Sup-p-per Troup-p-per)
Feeling like a number one

This morning it was still rattling around in my head and I decided to save my sanity I’d rip it and pull it and a few more Abba songs on my blank sob iPod.

Aaaaaaagh!!!!! <scratch, scratch, scratch> Aaaaagh!!!!!!!

Saturday afternoon I took Adam to the Goodman Pool for some swimming fun. Foolishly, I waited until I got to the pool to put on my sunscreen. I could only reach so far down my back and wound up with SUNBURN on areas that haven’t seen the sun in ages. And the dumbest tan-line ever. ugh.

Saturday night Mike was gone and I called someone to come over and spray me with Aloe. Sunday it REALLY HURT. Monday I stayed home from work to avoid having to put a bra on over the blistered areas.

Last night it started to ITCH with a vengeance. I managed to get it to stop itching and was able to get about 4 hours of sleep.

One Good Turn Deserves Tequila (apparently)

At my previous job I worked with a woman from Mexico who was up here working as an Oracle business analyst. Since she was scheduled to be here through May and didn’t have much in the way of creature comforts in her studio apartment I lent her a small TV and a mini-microwave since I had no plans to use them and she needed them for a short while.
Happily for her, her work visa has been extended for 3 more years and she’s here for the duration. Today she stopped by with the TV and microwave (anyone need to borrow small appliances?) and a bottle of Don Julio white agave tequila as a thank you for being kind enough to lend her stuff that would have otherwise been taking up space in my basement.

Nifty. I can’t wait to try it out, but first I think we need a baby sitter.

Early Morning Gardening and Stoned Cats

In a fit of uncharacteristic ambition I got up at 7am, got dressed and headed out to the garden. I hoped I could dig up some of the soil, mix in a couple bags of top soil and get my peppers into the garden before the wasps woke up.

I managed to get in the hot green “garden salsa” peppers and some red and green bell peppers before Mike spotted a wasp a few feet from my position.

Winged Backyard Creatures

Last night I got home and went to inspect the progress of my recently fertilized, watered, and slightly more buried in topsoil plants.
Thats when I noticed it.
Long, black, skinny, winged creatures with orange legs hovering over the dirt.
Normally I don’t have that P-A-N-I-C feeling when I see flying bugs. These, however, made me nervous. After extensive googling I determined them to be wasps. eeeuuuuurrrrgggghhhhhhh
I showed them to Mike when he got home. “Yep, those are wasps.” he pronounced.

Help Me, I'm an Addict

Yesterday I went to Farmer’s Market. Just the little one, mind you. It spans a whole city block and has, at most, 30 vendors. They sell flowers, plants, cheese, baked goods, produce, and some meat and eggs.

Last week I bought herbs and spent my Saturday morning planting those in both pots and the garden.
Apparently that wasn’t enough for me. Noooooo.
I realized at the end of Saturday that I still had 2 large faux-terra cotta pots I bought this spring. They are currently living a purposeless existence in my tool shed and it’s a sad, sad situation that needs to be rectified.

I also didn’t feel I had enough herbs and other vegetables for my herb garden and had to buy more.

I bought:
9 flowering plants for my gigantic planter

Furry Backyard Creatures

Last weekend I was loading A in the car and felt something squishy under my foot. I initially assumed I was stepping on a pile of semi-rotted helicopters. When I looked down it was a little gray rodent. Dead. Mostly intact. No obvious signs of what might have killed it except for the part about me stepping on it for a good 2 minutes.

We speculated briefly as to which of our kitties had been the mighty hunter and delivered us this grand prize. I assumed Clio because she is always trying to catch squirrels. Spike just wants to chase the neighborhood cats off his territory and shows no interest in other critters, rodentia or otherwise.