Saturday, April 17, 2021

This photo, from ten years ago, popped up on my Facebook feed this morning. I can barely remember our yard looking like this.

Here’s how the yard looks today.

Along the right side of the house I have my blueberry bushes, our mock orange, some peonies, our sedums, some lilies and a few other things that come up that we don’t know if we actually planted them or not. This year I hope to remember to get our sunflower seeds in the ground.

The small strip along the front of the house is the last patch I weeded yesterday. Today it doesn’t look so large but it seemed much larger yesterday when I was down on my hands and knees. We have a couple of hydrangeas, an ivy and a fir tree planted there, along with some sedums that seem to have migrated over.

There are a number of large pots on the edge of the patio, some with annuals, some with perennials and some with trees. The annuals that come up are generally ones that don’t die over the winter; I think my snap dragons are on about their fourth year of flowering.

You can’t see the patio because of the two large bushes in front of it but, when I’m sitting in my chair, I have a lovely view of the yard and the ocean. It is the perfect spot to spend an afternoon (either in the sun or in the shade) watching the ferries come and go.

Friday, April 16, 2021

I’ve had a busy day but I’m ready to have a drink and sit in my chair until supper.

I spent all morning at my computer. I’m caught up on my Guild work, including some work on the archives. I caught up on my Hall work, including an e-mail to our membership. I caught up on my own paperwork too and went through a lot of my flagged e-mail messages.

This afternoon I spent almost three hours out in the yard. I cleared out the two beds on either side of the front door; the hostas there are both coming up. There was another area of the yard that I didn’t do much with last year and I wanted to get at it before the daisies got too thick. Pat confirmed that there were some hostas in that bed as well. I cleared out enough daisies that I found one of the hostas coming up out of the ground. I’m sure I’ll find the other two another day. The daisies, although I love them, are so thick they are like weeds.

I thought I was finished but decided to do one more smaller bed. It’s amazing how a bed looks small until you start work on it and find that it is bigger than you thought. It’s done now though. When that bed was finished I sat in the sun on the patio for a few minutes. I thought I might have a gin and tonic while I sat in the sun but that meant I was going to have to go upstairs to get it so decided just to sit.

I was doing a bit of an experiment today. Pat said he heard that allergy symptoms were down this year and they thought it was because people were wearing masks. I wore my mask while I was outside (it was really hot) so I’ll see if I’m coughing and sneezing tonight. While I had my Zoom meetings yesterday (one in the afternoon and one in the evening) I had the window open and I couldn’t stop sneezing, blowing my nose and scratching my eyes all evening. Hate the allergies but love the fresh air.

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Pat had requested a carrot cake for his birthday – the one with the pineapple in it. After my bread was in the bread maker I started on the cake. I was ready to mix everything up when I realized I hadn’t shred any carrots; three large carrots gave me the two cups I needed.

Once all the ingredients were in the mixer I thought it seemed dry. I reviewed the recipe and checked that I had put in the right number of eggs and the right amount of oil. I decided that everything was okay and this recipe must have been a different recipe than I used last time.

It wasn’t until the cake was out of the oven, cooled and ready for the cream cheese frosting that I realized what was missing – I’d forgotten the pineapple.

Pat suggested adding the pineapple into the icing so I gave that a try. He had also suggested cutting the cake in half and layering it; although the cake rose a bit it wasn’t very thick. I wasn’t too far into making the frosting when I realized that we’d be in sugar shock if I added enough icing sugar for a spreadable icing.

I tried layering it with some icing between the layers but the top layer just slid off. So back into the cake pan it went and I just poured the frosting over the top. It looks okay, but I don’t think it will taste very good.

On the other hand I seemed to get the laundry done without mishaps, the cleaning is done and the slice of cheesy bread I had after the cake disaster tasted fine.

Monday, April 12, 2021

If Stacia and Deloise weren’t also challenged with the pattern we’re doing I’d probably have given up by now.

I was working slowly doing the same step in each of the six blocks at the same time. When they were all done I lined them up three of the six were done wrong. I have found all sorts of reasons why I’m having the problems and Stacia has come up with one as well.

I should have been able to spot the errors much earlier than when the blocks were finished. Can you see the problem with these baskets?

I’ve got them corrected now so I’m back in the game.