Tired...

Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats. ~Woody Allen

Okay... yesterday really did me in. I spent the late morning outside whacking down all my dead plants (bye bye clematis, see ya later hosta, au revoir ageratum...) and then planting my bulbs (I bought too many, and had to get creative with planting!). Then, immediately following lunch, DH announced we were going to start work on cutting up the trees our neighbor took down over the summer.

There are eight of them.

I decided I much prefer working with newly felled trees, because everytime I tried to pull on a branch, it broke. DD and I worked on clearing all of the branches so DH could see the logs. She and I are covered in bumps and scrapes from the stupid things. Then it was time to go around and pick up all the smallish logs DH cut and move them into a pile closer to where we could haul them out. The area where the trees were felled was uneven and damp so made for some interesting times. We only worked for about three hours, but I was pooped.

This morning I'm pretty certain there isn't a muscle on me that doesn't hurt. And we're nowhere near done. There's more to be cut and more to be moved and then we still have to haul it over to our house and stack it out back to season.

Anyone want to come help? We pay in pizza...

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I was going to start writing this blog earlier, but I got sidetracked by one of those links at the top of my gmail account. It was from Discovery and was about "Great Science Hoaxes". Then, once I finished reading that, I saw "Barking Dogs Explained" which wasn't anything new and then "Why Does Soda Taste Good?" and had to read it. Next, this caught my eye, "Hurricane History Recorded in Earth's Noise" ... And... why does Discovery have to be so dang interesting??

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You Are Archive

You are competent, organized, and careful. You know how to stay on task and focus on the most important thing. You like to have everything in its place. Messes and chaos completely stress you out. You have a system for almost everything in your life, and you don't like to deviate from it. Calendars, routines, and having things in a certain order keeps you calm. You don't like to shake things up too much.

What Email Function Are You?

LOL... yep that's about right! *G*

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Tarred...

The idle man does not know what it is to enjoy rest, for he has not earned it. ~John Lubbock

Worked all day, yesterday, on cutting down and clearing more trees. Oy. I am so tired. And sore. We took down two more oaks, a maple and a little clump of birches. The oaks were diseased and full of ants again (my SIL tells me that is pretty common around here... who knew?), the maple had been attacked by woodpeckers and was leaking sap year round (and, given the holes, probably had bugs inside, too) and the birches were a casualty of felling the maple.

One oak was felled in the yard (and nearly took out the deck... if it had been two feet longer...), so that was a real pain because we have to clean up every last stick and acorn. DD handled the acorns and sprinkled them liberally around the bird feeders for the vast rodent population that we have. Only hours later, all that was left was gnawed on caps. Happy chippies!

I was so tired, I crawled into bed at 7:30. However, apparently my brain wasn't as tired as my body, so kept me awake -- chattering constantly -- until well after 9:00. Then DD and Dd woke me a 12:30 to go out (well... Dd needed to go out, and I won't let DD go outside at midnight with our weird neighbors) and again at 3 a.m. (this time the dog just wanted to sleep somewhere else, so she and I curled up on the spare bedroom bed). Cat let me sleep until nearly 6, though!! Woot!

In any case, today I play catch up. I have somewhere between 20 - 40 pages to build for LASR next week (that includes reviews), promo, my own personal website has broken buy links (ACK!) and I have two reviews that are due next week and I have only finished one of the books.

So despite being "tarred", I have to work! Hope you all have a great day.

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Your Surfing Habits are 70% Male, 30% Female

If we had to guess, we would guess that you are a man. You use the internet to make your life more efficient - and to make you smarter. For you, the internet is like a vast encyclopedia. You search and surf extensively. You look up everything online.

Do You Use the Internet Like a Man or a Woman?

Um... well... not a man, but have to agree with the rest!

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Rock Moving on Vole Hill

"I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children; and our labor keeps off from us the three great evils - boredom, vice, and want." ~Voltaire

So... yesterday I tore Vole Hill apart and reconstructed it. It's bigger, faster and stronger than before.

Okay, not really... but it does look pretty good. I really should have taken "before" pictures, so you could see the utter destruction of the garden, but I didn't.

I moved rocks. Lots and lots and lots of rocks.

I dug up all the plants that were left because everything had to move. Why? Because my DH asked if I'd make the garden round instead of oval (it's easier to mow around that way).

I scrounged in my other gardens for more plants (thankfully, there is seldom a plant shortage here -- I jokingly call it "M's Nursery" because I give away TONS of plants every year. The ones I have propagate like crazy).

Then... I decided what needed to go where based on height and when it blooms. I have my huge chrysanthemum bush in the back now, because it blooms last and everything else will be cut down by then. I circled the tree with my miniature iris, because it only blooms for about five minutes, but stay green all year. Columbine is in the back because it blooms early and the flowers get quite tall, but the foliage isn't very pretty. The liatris is near the back on the edges. It has healthy, spiky green foliage and pretty spectacular tall purple spikes when it blooms. Near the front are my shorter plants: gallardia, russian sage and dianthus. In the very front is some low growing ground cover: dragons-blood sedum. I'll sprinkle annuals through the garden each year for continuous color.

AND... I moved my bird feeders out back, because that is what most likely attracted the voles to the area.

For now, this is the end result:



Everything is pretty immature, so it will fill in. And the big dirt patches will eventually be grass. And the small rocks in the front will go away after a bit -- I was using them as a guide to remind me how far up I could plant.

All in all, I'm satisfied. I'll probably plant some crocus bulbs right up front for some early spring blooms, but otherwise stick a fork in it -- it's done.

What was DH doing while I was hauling rocks? He finally built us some front steps!!

From this:


To this:


And he built it extra wide so I can put out flower arrangements in the spring.

YAY~

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I was going to do the Monday Morning Meme, but there was this question about blogs you read and which were your faves, and I just couldn't narrow it down, and didn't want to leave anyone out and then didn't want to build the links to everyone... it was too much to take this early. So I didn't do it... BUT... this was one question, and I admit to being a bit stymied.

3. What book have you started with low expectations, and finished with tears in your eyes it was so good? Now please share with us a book that you think people MUST read. Why this book?

I don't start books I have low expectations of. Ever. Not as an adult, in any case. I was (of course) force fed the classics as a child and disliked them all -- Steinbeck in particular. Blech. I haven't even read "Pride & Prejudice", though I've seen the movie (as I have all the Austen films, except "Emma").

Why would anyone start a book they think they'll hate on purpose? Just curious.

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I'll post a contest for Kitchen Matches upcoming release tonight or tomorrow. I was just too tired yesterday to think straight.

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Booking It and Blisters

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com



Hi all! Today's BTT is a twist on the meme I've seen running around the Blogosphere.

1. Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
2. Turn to page 123.
3. What is the first sentence on the page?
4. The last sentence on the page?
5. Now . . . connect them together….
(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)

Okay, I'm reading "The Horseman's Son for the LASR Book-a-Day Giveaway.

First sentence: "I'll bet you're going to remind me that kissing you is a mistake," he said.

Last sentence: The heat rifled through his body.

Well, now... we appear to have interrupted some smooching and this connection is easy-peasy:

"I'll bet you're going to remind me that kissing you is a mistake," he said.

She lifted a hand and stroked his jaw, fingertips feathering down his neck before coming to rest on his chest. "Why would I do that?"

The heat rifled through his body.

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Yep... another sign of spring! I have my first blister *G*

We had some decent weather here, yesterday! Finally... so, of course I had to go do yardwork. Our lawn is flat from being crushed by snow. It's so flat that the dog slides a few feet when she runs and then tries to stop, as if she's running on ice. So DD and I raked. And raked. And raked.

It doesn't even look like I made a dent, but I have the blister to prove it.

I also started cleaning out the gardens that edge the woods because I know I have daffodils in there. They're piled high with dead leaves, so I raked in there, too. I got quite of few of the leaves out, but it's not just flat in there...I have bushes, too, so the rake (and the leaves) kept getting hung up. I wasn't wearing gloves, but I went ahead and scooped leaves out with my hands. Yuck.

Is it weird that I can handle bugs, worms, frogs... even snakes and not get grossed out, but those slimy leaves nearly put me over the edge? Blech...

In any case, I think I found most of the daffodil plants. I can't wait until we have flowers again.

Only thing was, doing all that yard work alone, including the garden that used to be my mom's, really made me miss her.

**sigh**

Miss you, Mom.

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Thanks to Dru for sending me links to some new quiz sites!!

GREEN

You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

I find that amusing... It's so NOT me, LOL...