The weather has been, well, "moody." There is sometimes sun, and sometimes rain and hail! When there's been sun, I've been pruning the heck out of the blackberries, and I got quite a bit of pruning done on the two big apple trees.
Note: never try to lean back for a little rest on the branch you just recently pruned away, or you might fall down into an awkward sitting position (still in the apple tree!), receiving some nice bruising. This is what I get for actually having to climb up and through the tree and branches to do the pruning.
It is possible, however, to get a lovely shot of a sunset while in an apple tree.
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| Sunset 28 Mar 2013, as seen from apple tree |
The blackberries are quite vicious around here, and will attack you during pruning. I'm not making this up. Last year my folks learned I wasn't joking about it when my dad decided to prune the "in the way" vines while riding the mower-- yes, those vines reached out and grabbed at him! Anyway, I still have plenty more blackberries to prune.
Part of the "pruning" process has included clearing a path/trail on the "back" of the property, which was a bit of arduous work. The other path/trail I made was to the railroad tie bridge built by the previous owner where, after clearing the trail there, I was able to take a few moments to drink in the sound of the trickling stream, and take this snapshot with my phone:
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| Old growth tree stump, hollowed out. Prettier than this pic! 27 Mar 2013 |
On April 2nd our family went to the peninsula (Sequim) to meet with my folks for a picnic and light stroll. My mom is recovering from her total hip replacement that she had done in Feb (and is having her other hip done next month) and my Dad is managing moment to moment. The kids had a blast running around Dungeness Railroad Park, and Hubby along with them. My mom wanted to run around with them, of course, but my dad and I successfully stopped that accident-waiting-to-happen. Although it was chilly and overcast, it was a pleasant visit. The one bummer was that I had to drive, and I don't do well with long trips (anything over 50 miles).
So for another rarity, I'm posting the pic that some nice passerby took of all of us at the picnic table:
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| Family Picnic, 2 Apr 2013; I'm wearing one of my latest crochet items! :-) |
This past Wednesday I had a lovely day with a friend. We went to brunch at my favorite breakfast place in town, then went antique "shopping" (which turned into real shopping, because I found several things I've been on the hunt for!) and some lurking in the big craft store in town where I've become known by first name! Though my favorite antique shop--introduced to me by this friend-- was closed, we went to two other in town, both of which were recommended by our favorite shop's owner & worker. I was very pleasantly surprised, not only of the two of us being able to talk nearly 7 hours straight (!), but also of the little treasures I was able to find, like the incredible blue Sampsonite (R) suitcase I found for displaying my crochet wares. There was also the nice compliment by one of the shop's clerks, who twice referred to us as "pretty" and "good looking," though I'm certain he was referring more to my friend. She had a great shade of red lip color on and looked great even dressed "casually." By the end of the "girls day," I was happily tired.
But there was still Yarn Yoga at the craft store, which I have been trying to attend with more frequency in order to keep "social interaction." So, I ate a quick dinner after unloading and grabbing up a couple of projects and headed back to town. I'm glad I went-- this time I was less nervous (it was my 3rd or 4th time attending), and felt a bit more. . . accepted as part of the group.
Yesterday I finally finished getting the pantry empty and repainted. Tweaked my back (again) in the process. I am completely reorganizing the under-stairs pantry, which has made the house messier (didn't realize that was possible). One small step in the whole "getting it together" and "moving in" process.
And I'm finally learning to delegate! I delegated the tax filing this time (I've been doing it for ten years), hiring out to a person referred to me by someone I trust. With all the changes, including having a rental property, I didn't trust myself. I also delegated part of the insurance claim concerning the fire to dear Hubby to relieve some of the burden and the stress that was causing me; I do need to finish up the rest of that quickly.
Last night I finally finished designing my Hobby Cards (like business cards, basically), as I often get asked for one when I display my crocheted work or get asked if what I'm wearing (such as the capelet above) is something I made. Now I can finally answer "yes!"
Concerning the crochet, I've built up a decent stock that I hope will show the variety and quality of my work and help me make a bit of cash (then I can afford haircuts again, and food). I still need to uh, "re-show" my newer works to the Art Gallery to see about being accepted there.
Spring will be very busy for us once it stops raining! I'm glad I got a lot of pruning done, but I'm still far behind the yard work, particularly with a broken lawn mower (new fangled "metrosexual" machine!) The mower should be fixed (under warranty) next week, and is much needed as the grass is quite long. And for some reason, we're starting to get a bit of a flowing stream going across the driveway, so the longest grass (around where there's all that water) can't be mowed because the mower would get stuck in the muck. Ah, the joys of property owning.
The kids enjoyed spring break, and Hubby is on vacation so he took them on an overnight trip. I got to enjoy the quiet in the house. The kids got incredibly worn out with all the playing. Now they're back at school, and we're trying to get back onto a routine schedule.
Okay, so, that covers the basics.
~Cedeham~
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