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Entry tags:

(f&f)

Written Sunday midday

So humid. Yesterday i was soaked by sweat picking mulberries. That's in the shade and hardly moving. Admittedly, late morning, but still.

After showering, we went to the Mexican restaurant my Dad favors for a family lunch. My sister joined us. My brother is in the states and arrived Friday to study for the California Bar at my Dad's - fewer distractions. He complains frequently that what he specializes in is not covered.

Home, to prep for a dinner visit from Christine's sister D. We took a break to watch Clarkson's Farm, which was about stressful preparations by a deadline. I will admit to spoiling things for myself by using google maps. Christine was not relaxed by the episode. I did not manage time well, so my dream of making blueberry bread did not come to pass. However, we had plenty of food and didn't get to desert. I did have a couple glasses of sparkling wine, as D enjoys her wine. This bottle has been in the fridge ... since the pandemic? It did not want to come uncorked.

D also brought her dog Lula who is somewhat bigger than Carrie. 55 to Carrie's 40 pounds? I hope that Christine and D see each other more often, and i think that will happen if Carrie and Lula can get along. The dogs were somewhat distracting as we tried to watch a Jaws documentary, but it was a good first visit.

I had a text from sister asking for a call that i had missed during D's visit; sent a message apologizing and noting where i would be in the morning.

I woke early to ferry my dad and brother to the airport. They head to the Chicago area to watch nephew D graduate from the Navy ROTC New Student Indoctrination course. To get them there i needed to leave at 6:15. It was a beautiful morning with the humidity in the air -- and fog, and low clouds -- creating lovely atmospheric effects.

On the way back my sister calls, distressed about REDACTED. I join her, and we have tea, and she cries and i hold her. It is reasonable distress, and i affirmed her. I also recognize an tendency i have in myself, which is if X is a possible outcome, wanting to just get X over with. Instead there is messy, uncertain work to get where she needs to be, which may or may not involve X. Instead, we talked about step B. I suspect (because it's what i would do) that she wants to rush through and be done with the distressing things, and we talk through the steps of just starting step B and how that will take a while.

Current Mood: happy

Entry tags:

good things happening

We did it :)

After a morning of wondering if the seller would work things out with the title company in time, a lunch break full of signing lots of documents and asking questions about them (we got a refund on one of the fees, always good to ask), and an afternoon of wondering when our wire transfer would go through, suddenly a bunch of savings blipped away from us, and we were able to go pick up our house keys 😊

We went over tonight to get started on cleaning the place - it's been empty for a while, and it's covered in dirty footprints and spiders - and in the midst of thinking about a bunch of things that we need to fix up and work on, I stepped into the backyard for a break. A foggy moon was rising over the trees, and the yard was covered in fireflies that must be enjoying all the plants that were left wild, blinking so quickly it looked like the bushes were glittering.

It was a very stressful process, and there is a lot going on in general, but I feel really happy right now.

(And bonus, a big paper that we've been working on that represents two years of work got accepted today after our second round of revisions!)

Some literal ups and downs

Skating has been going well, despite ongoing boot issues (and I'm probably not going to get new ones from Graf before they go on summer vacation). I'm finally getting my free leg in front in spins! I conquered the stupid cassette tape crossover mohawk pattern!

Then, last week, I slipped on the stairs and fell the equivalent of three to four steps onto one foot. Be careful about stairs, everyone, that's not the first time in my life I've hurt myself on them.

I tried to look up sprain types out of curiosity and I... am not sure I actually sprained it because the pain was primarily in the front of my shin. Either way, I learned a month ago at my workplace that RICE is not really evidence-based, but we don't have much of an alternative that is. I did ice it at first to help with the pain, and I spent a day hopping around the house; heat seemed to help after the first few days when it started feeling all bruised. It's almost back to normal now, and I'm definitely looking forward to spending time on an ice rink again with the heat we've been having.

Z and I had a relaxing weekend of packing, making a snickdoodle cake, and on the second try (first ended with an anxiety attack) traveled out a bit to a pick your own lavender farm. The lavender plants were up on a beautiful hill overlooking a valley below with a swimming pond looking temptingly close.

lavender laying in basket

We thought we had two bundles, but they only charged us for one. (We also thought we had two varieties, but we were told they were both 'true blue' at different stages.) They smell amazing.

And finally, we are sooooo close to closing on the house. In fact, we were told we were going to close tomorrow! And then today I got a call saying that there were last minute issues that everyone involved was trying to wrap up. So we may or may not close tomorrow. We will learn in the morning. (I also had a stressful time because I don't have a bank branch locally, but my bank's website said you can't wire transfer the amount we needed. Turns out they can if you just call them and carefully spell out every name to the operator. At one point the operator had me on hold, I put their hold music on hold because the lawyer was calling and I wanted to let them know I had figured it out after all, and also a meeting I needed to be in was starting.)

So, may or may not have a house tomorrow, we'll see! Would really like to move in before Battleship starts, especially given that I already took time off for doing so 😅

Entry tags:

f&f,
weather

Chantal (weather, f&f)

We did not wash away in the 10.35 inches of rain, but oh my was it wet yesterday. All the rivers of water up to my ankle in various places in the yard and drive -- and this morning it was all absorbed or run off.

https://vimeo.com/1099352304?share=copy#t=0

Today we went out for lunch, then into Raleigh to pick up an Edible Art fancy almond birthday cake for Christine's sister's birthday. It does not feel like it was 25 days ago that B-- died, but Christine's COVID then other infection and then my vacation certainly all created different time experiences. D--'s studio may have flooded three feet last night: hopefully a birthday party will ... be OK? Help with grief? Let her know she's loved?

Back to work and paying attention to time tomorrow. And trying to do the things that i am supposed to do instead of letting whim take the lead. Not sure i will be able to get in the yard all week except maybe sitting on the deck in the morning. Tomorrow's weather is a sauna, Wednesday is our grocery night ,and then the rest of the week is evening thunderstorms.

Entry tags:

(garden, f&f, cooking, chapter 4, reading notes, games)

Things i've done with my vacation:

"Mowed" with Mary Jane, our wheeled string trimmer aka weed whacker. I've mowed the past week with the same line. I've never had it last so long. I guess i haven't gotten it tangled up in branches and grapevines and shrubs. I've done some of the meadow and some of the future shed site, a so-so job around the outside perimeter and a good bit of the mossy glade, as well as the remaining bit of my "the best grass ever" (Dichanthelium laxiflorum) lawn.

I also mowed a tiny bit of the "orchard" this morning with our new electric mower, up until the rain started. This mower is dedicated to doing tame areas. Our old mower, with its notched and worn blade (that i sharpen, but there are no replacement blades available) i'll keep using for less tame areas. Unfortunately i hit something metal hidden in the high grass with the new mower. I hope it wasn't too damaging.

Picked berries. Shared lots of blueberries with my sister's family. Got the tall ladder set up at the mulberry tree and ruined a pair of shorts with berry juice from a mesh bag i was wearing to collect picked berries while i was up the ladder. Dehydrated a couple trays of mulberries, and have two trays of mulberries waiting to dehydrate. They are ripening up a little more, plus we're in Chantal's rain bands today. Seems reasonable to wait a day to run the dehydrator. I've got a bag of frozen mulberries, and i am slowly collecting blueberries in the freezer.

The figs are beginning to come in and i am so pleased with my pruning job. The tree makes a room, with a clear area underneath, but the branches droop down like an umbrella. And the tallest still can be reached from the shorter ladder.

Egg rolls! I made a batch of filling with carrots and mung beans i sprouted, and then have fried up a couple batches in the air fryer. Very satisfying. I also rolled up some figs with shaved Parmesan cheese. Yums!

Quick rolls - i used a Pillsbury crescent roll sheet and dabbed with cream cheese pats, blueberries, and pecans. Rolled up and cut into "twirls" and baked. Also very yum.

There was also laundry. It's almost all caught up.

I went out with my sister on Wednesday night to a high tech restaurant (order on your phone, pull your own beer (and cider) from a wall of taps paying with a special bracelet. Karaoke was happening and was mildly entertaining. Also went to her house to hang out on the evening of the 4th of July.

I've been playing a little Balatro, a game Christine's been playing for ... a year? ... mostly to delight her. Exponentile remains very diverting, like a fidget toy, although i am not playing nearly as well as my initial games. Admittedly i am listening to novels as i play. Finished a relisten of yet another of the Mary Russell novels, Locked Rooms. Next is The Language of Bees, which leads into The God of the Hive. I listened to The God of the Hiveearlier this year, randomly picking from the list, and that prompted me to begin the relistening from the beginning. I also bought a Ilona Andrews book to finish a trilogy since the public library no longer has it, and added the list of all the Ilona Andrews books i have binged on in the past months to Zotero. And yesterday i started the Retrieval Artist series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch at OpenLibrary, as that looks like enough to keep me busy while i am in this escapist mental place.

This morning i was pondering how i could set time aside to grieve and emotionally connect with the distress of the past months. (Really, starting with Jan 20.) I think i will try to do sun salutations in the evening, using adaptions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcJvBMYxQl0&t=294s.

Entry tags:

(morning writing, f&f, yard, critter watch)

Yesterday's research dive was into how the heart works specifically - i knew generally, - so i could understand Dad's echo report that has found the mitral valve failing (prolapsed) and blood being back washed into the lung. And i've read up on the surgeries and what could happen if he doesn't opt for treatment. The recovery period is daunting. It seems he'll need people to stay with him, where people are me and my sister perhaps? Although i can hardly care for myself....

I rush ahead though. His next study is on the 29th, his consult (i will join him that day) is on 6 August.

I am off work again, but this time with no health emergency, just a long break over the fourth of July holiday. Rest. And i should go use the weed burner since we had a quarter inch of rain last night. And the mowing that i need to do. Thank heavens there's plenty i can do with the wheeled string trimmer, for which wet grass is not a challenge. I did some mowing last night with the grass mower. Too much of the grassy zones in the orchard have gone over to stilt grass. If i could be confident of rain, i'd scalp everything and hope the fescues would get ahead.

Meanwhile, blueberries are coming in fast; mulberries are ripening, too. Might get enough mulberries to make a dehydrator tray worth while in the next few days. And figs are ripening, to my startlement. The persimmon has dropped lots of fruit, self thinning, still looking loaded. The single remaining Aunt Rachel's apple has fallen from the tree, and i found it with a worm sticking out and wriggling. Fie. One Grimes Golden apple remains: this is mainly due to the late frost, but generally i do not have a good site for apples.

I found one of the Tahitian squash vines had actually set a fruit, as big as a usual mature summer yellow squash already. I picked it to eat now, expecting i will see more fruit to allow to grow to winter keeping sizes. The yellow butter cube squash have had male flowers like mad, but no fruit. The plants have stayed tiny.

The Early Girl tomato has some nice set green fruit; the Better Boy has started as well. A forest of Matt's wild tomato volunteers have come up in the past weeks and i intend to move them to a place with high deer exposure in the hopes that they'll accept some pruning.

One of my new native shrubs, a St John's Wort "Sunburst", was pruned back severely by deer. I think it will be for the best, but i am miffed as it seems they never browse the many wild St John's worts.

A doe has been visible in the yard periodically - somehow i manage to dissociate the sight of the doe from the herbivory in my mind -- and cotton tails have been common disappearing into high growth. Haven't seen the hawk. Humming birds are visiting the glads and hummingbird mint, clouds of tiger swallowtails on the Joe Pye weed.

I missed seeing my nephew D, niece S, and sister in law M last week as their visit coincided with Christine in the hospital. I had thought S & M would be here this weekend, but no. They will be with nephew Z in Tampa. D is in ROTC training and i will get to see him on his return with my brother.

I worry about my siblings' job/financial situations. If i lost my job today, i think Christine and i could limp by with retirement savings. (I don't know how easily i could transfer my experience into something generally employable.) But my siblings are looking for work, more or less, and i don't get the sense it's an easy time to look.

Current Mood: creative

Entry tags:

Battle of the Space Submarines

It's been a busy spring, with all the work on the next two Dream books. (Volume five is out now!) Now that we're done with that, I was finally able to work more on my concept art series. This time with a piece that sends back to the tense encounter early on in

kantuck's novel Shadowing the Dream:

3D render of two spaceships that resemble dieselpunk submarines. One is chasing the other, firing torpedoes. In the background, planets hang in a dark sky.

3D render of two spaceships that resemble dieselpunk submarines. One is chasing the other, firing torpedoes. In the background, planets hang in a dark sky.

There's a new model and a refurbished model. You'll see the former again on the cover of upcoming volumes, too. But first to rest a bit and make another poster like these, because it's so satisfying.