gardening

Learning to Play Nice

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So last week ended on a bit of a crazy note. Well a family member’s wallet got stolen, so they needed a ride around town to do a police report, notify agencies with phone calls, and other urgent, panicky duties. I had to leave work early to be an impromptu chauffeur. So not a lot of fun there, but things are beginning to quiet down now at least. Had movie night with friends over the weekend and did a bunch of work on the front bed of our house. It’s coming along quite nicely, even though I ache all over today. Digging trenches and lugging stone blocks around is definitely tiring before starting the long work week. But it’ll all be worth it once it starts wrapping up.

In other news, our new kitty Watson is playing along quite nicely with our resident kitty athlete, Salem. Watson was even allowed to visit downstairs and hang out all day yesterday, a privilege Salem had been reluctant to give up for the last few weeks. They were sharing windows, playing, and even had a good time chasing each other up and downstairs. I’m pretty sure Watson’s going to lose his extra few pounds with Salem playing with him every day. Winking smile

WindowsWatching

In other news, I got some news last week from Pink Narcissus Press that I’ll try to post about in more detail later. Complete with images!

More Productivity Than You Can Shake a Stick At

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This weekend was pretty damn awesome. I admit when it started out I was exhausted and Friday afternoon kind of crept up on me.

Friday: Got delicious Moe’s for dinner with friends and played on Guild Wars the rest of the evening. I was so zany for the weekend, but I think my guild mates are pretty used to that from me. 😉

Saturday: Decided when my sis and I got up that we were going to work on our bed outside. So we made a trip to Lowe’s and picked up lots of top soil, mushroom fertilizer, and black mulch. As you can imagine, watching the trunk of my Corolla sink as each bag was dropped in was a wee bit nerve-wracking! Then we went about removing 4 old bushes in the back of the front bed. That place was so crowded with shrubbery that it’s no wonder they weren’t growing well.

Well they were a bit more determined than we thought they’d be, so my Dad came by and brought his pick axe to help out. I was amazed: that axe made such short work of those sad bushes! So that took a lot longer than we’d expected, then my Dad mowed our lawn for us while we went grocery shopping for our gaming that evening.

Headed over to play some Pathfinder with friends, and Tim grilled some delicious ribs and squash, zucchini, and mushroom shish kabobs. So yummy! Pathfinder was fun, and while we ended the 3-week battle we’d had with a race of underwater creatures, we set ourselves up to be in a tournament next weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing how my dual-wielding ranger holds up on her own in a one-on-one battle!

Sunday: My sis had to grade papers today, so instead of hopping onto a game I decided to write instead. Trying to get myself into the writing mode more often! I was editing for so long that I’m needing to ease myself into it again. I finished one story and ended up submitting it to Pill Hill Press’ Big Book of New Short Horror. Their forums are always hopping, and while I’ve never had a piece accepted by them, I’m eager to try! Here’s the stats on it:

Project: A Slippery Customer
Deadline: Submitted!
Commentary: A hooker for hire picks up a man that’s loaded with cash. She figures he’ll be an easy catch, especially since she has a few tricks up her sleeve. But is this customer more dangerous than he seems?

Total Word Count for 2011: 18,603

Overall, I’ve had one productive weekend! Now to get back into working mode again. =P

Edits and Climbing Roses

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Forgot to post my updates yesterday, but edits are moving along smoothly. I love the Moral Indecision Aftermath that I created, and I’d almost forgotten about it. Thank goodness I’m reading over this & editing it before I let others read it. I’d hate it if they brought up a scene that I totally forgot about. lol

Went to the HOA meeting yesterday, and boy was that a mess. I’ve haven’t heard so much arguing and complaining since… well I can’t even recall. It certainly made the entire environment awkward having one person repetitiously complaining about the fees for most of the hour, but I’ll not rant on that silliness. This weekend’s my birthday and my mom wants to take me clothes shopping. And we’ll be figuring out what to do with that front bed too with its numerous bushes which are too big to fit there. Also mistress_kabuki had a good idea about where to put some roses we’re thinking of getting. Along the side of the house, and we can train them to grow around the windows. Should be pretty!

Of course, I was worried about them damaging the house itself when they grow like that, but she says they’re not like ivy and you have to manually train them which is interesting. A quick Google search gives me an example.

A vine’s distinction, of course, is its willingness to grow vertically. Vines and other climbers achieve this in one of several ways. Some, like ivy, are clingers. They attach themselves directly to a surface with sticky rootlets on their stems. Others, like wisteria, are twiners and wrap themselves around supports. Still others, such as clematis, are grabbers, latching onto the nearest support with special tendrils that they produce from their leaf stems. Finally, there are sprawlers, such as climbing roses. Their elongated branches lean on whatever is convenient and stretch up or across it.
From Philedelphia Gardening Book: Introduction to Vines

I learn more about this stuff everyday. Now if only I could get a handle on lawn care…

Oh, and I think I’ll just leave this here for you too. 😉