springing into summer

I have been wanting to write SOMETHING.  My poor blog feels forsaken, forgotten, and completely left out of my life. Our spring has been marvelous.  It came early, and now with not much more than a week left of April, I’m wondering where the time went.   

Well, I’ve been pre-occupied. University #1: four classes that will be over by May 5th.  Parting is such sweet sorry.  By this time, my students and I are acquainted.  They start sharing more stories with me and I get to know them…and now that it’s all cozy with them, they will be leaving me.  University #2: seven classes distributed among three different sessions (there were nine until a week ago). This requires me to keep a close eye on the calendar just to keep up with who has what due on which dates.  Along with that, I had a giant report to prepare that was due this Friday.  I actually submitted it this morning around 2 AM.  Do or die…and I just about did when my alarm ordered me out of bed this morning.

I have a new adventure – a raised bed – future garden.  Coming soon…perhaps it will be ready to plant in another week or so. Sarah’s manfriend built it for me a week ago. I have been digging out the sod and rocks all week (in all my free time).  Just this evening, it is finally ready for me to put down a barrier of landscape fabric to deter the moles and ground squirrels from eating stuff that I plant. There is netting around the outside to deter deer, and hopefully rabbits, squirrels, and terrapins too.  I’m all giddy just thinking about what is going to grow in my private little U-garden.  Certainly, there will be carrots, radishes, onions, and lettuce. Also, brussels sprouts.  It seems that I am the only person on the planet who likes brussels sprouts.  I grew them once before and nobody would even try them.  That’s fine – more for me.

View of my new bed from the deck above it.  

Gracie was guarding as I worked tonight.  

 We still have our bigger garden.  Someone has it almost ready to plant.  I planted cabbage and broccoli in it last weekend. In a few weeks, we will plant peppers, corn, beans, and tomatoes.  It’s fun to grow our own food, but the local Farmer’s Market has reasonable prices and good stuff.  Even with our own garden, we will still patronize our local farmers.  Their corn will be available long before ours.  To be honest, we really didn’t need the raised bed; it’s just something I’ve been wanting to try.

Someone is making plans for the annual beach vacation.  *sigh*  I wish I could be excited about it for him.  My enthusiasm is underwhelming (he told me so).  It’s the same vacation we have taken every year for as long as we’ve been married (I think it’s going to be 24 years this summer).  He took that same vacation for even more years before he met me…but I don’t know how many.  It’s my wifely duty to go though, so I will go and be a good sport. It won’t be all bad.  There are nice golf courses to play, and I like to visit BrookgreenGardens near there.  The last time I visited Brookgreen, I went by myself while Someone slept on the beach.  It was great!  Nobody tried to rush me along.  I just wandered around taking my time, reading the information plaques, and looking at sculptures from all angles when I wanted to.

 

So, while Someone is planning Myrtle Beach for the two of us (you’d think there would be no need to plan actually…we already know what’s for dinner every night and what we will be doing every day), I am starting to plan a mini-vacation for me and the girls.  I think we are going to Philadelphia for at least two nights so that we can visit the Mutter Museum…something all my girls have been asking to do for many years now. We just have to figure out what else we want to do.  I don’t really care what we do…I just like spending time with my girls.