The Hiatus is Over

It's been a considerable time since I've posted. Then this past week I traveled with a good friend who likes to read my posts and always comments on them and he got me thinking about starting up again. Then today, out of the blue, another friend texts me to say that she misses my daily posts and asks if I have any plans to start up again. Yes! Yes, I say! Let's jump back into the whirlwind! This post is going to be kind of all over the place as I stream-of-consciousness my way back into posting so hang on tight.

Life is, indeed, a whirlwind right now. The image at right shows my to do lists for today and the rest of the week. Everything in the Today column was completed save for setting up the fleece sorting area and beginning to process the fleece. Whew! Not only are we preparing for the annual summer exodus to Montana, but I also have one month to finish the Level One Master Spinner coursework and send it in for grading. In order to finish it I need to (shameful admission) start it... It's also the end of gardening season in Austin (I can't work in the garden when it's over 80 so early mornings and evenings are it now) and the weeds are busting out all over.

I still have the automatic watering system to set up in the garden beds, plants to get in the ground, weeds to get out of the ground, and mulch to succor the plants and defend against the weeds. (I really wanted to use the word "excoriate" in that last sentence. I don't know why. I have never used the word before, but it popped into my head and wanted out. I even managed to spell it correctly on the first go. But when I looked it up [I often think of words with which I have only a glancing acquaintanceship], it means to criticize or skin (isn't it a great word?) and can in no way be associated with mulch. Unless you have really snarky mulch, which I don't.)

Don't even get me started on the pond! I have the entire filtration system to rebuild and an auto-fill system to set-up--not to mention the automatic feeder for the fish. And then there are the bees. I have two hives and Zaga has one. They are all going gangbusters and I can actually see getting some honey out of them this year. I inspected the hives today and they are bursting with nectar and brood. I almost thought I shouldn't feed them because of all the nectar, but I went ahead as they're popping out babies as fast as they can and I want to make sure they have enough to feed them.

A couple of weeks ago I had a REALLY bad day and had a woman back out of a parking spot at Walgreen's into the side of my Odyssey. It was an opera worthy of Wagner, and we ended up all waiting over an hour in the rain for the police to show up. Now today I finally get to take my car in to start the process of getting it fixed, and the bodyshop can get me in Monday--but the need the car for at least ten days as it's a "really intensive labor process". I guess so. Unfortunately, they can't guarantee to be done before we leave for Montana so it's not getting fixed before we go. What a hassle!!

Other exciting news of the past few months is I have lost 21 lbs! I even won a month-long biggest loser competition at my gym. I'm hoping to take up regular swimming in Montana this summer (both in the lake and at the aquatic center) so I can keep going down.

Now, as so often happens when I post, my eyelids are beginning to droop, and I yearn to snuggle up in bed and drift off to sleep till morning when it will be time for a piano lesson, a workout, and lunch with Zaga, followed by a lot of wool scouring and a little glass work. Life is Good.