more back lane

HolyGoodness, I have nothing but admiration for you regular gardeners out there. Repotting a few plants and rearranging others has left me completely wiped out! Everything is aching – rather like that wall up there has fallen on me.

Hopefully the wee trees and other plants will be happy in their new homes and survive the no doubt brutal summer ahead a little more comfortably.

I also sowed the flower seeds I spontaneously bought at daiso a couple of weeks ago into some empty pots I had kicking about. I will be interested to see if they 1. germinate and 2. stay alive.

It will be unusual to have flowers about, I’m not at all sure what prompted this rather out-of-character behaviour. I think I may have been hoping to attract some bees and other helpful insects.

I should scatter random flower seeds on the nature strip – it’s quite grim and weedy and definitely needs something cheerful.

2980 days.

more back lanes

Not a huge amount of progress on those 10 weekend items, but still a reasonably productive day – meals planned, grocery shopping completed, gardening supplies acquired, three flights of stairs scrubbed, washing washed, red beans and rice cooked, grand final watched, last of Bessie’s stuff moved.

But tomorrow for sure! Though I suspect the crafting and reading might fall by the wayside.

2981 days.

This weekend I will:

+ do a minimum of 7 minutes exercise each day
+ begin something (anything!) crafty
+ repot some outdoor plants
+ plant those spontaneously acquired seeds
+ spend some time outdoors
+ revisit the 60before60 list
+ take a hard look at my wardrobe
+ read library books or return them
+ try an afternoon nap
+ not spend the majority of my precious free time on housework!

2982 days

moving day

Bessie and Hansel moved in together last weekend – so adorable!

The actual moving was co-ordinated with dazzling efficiency by Hansel’s family – who we met for the first time and who are totally wholesome and also adorable.

There are still a couple of boxes remaining in Bessie’s former bedroom, but after this weekend we will have an empty room at our disposal.

Rather than fill it with *stuff*, we’re hoping to put it to some thought into future use. Else it will end up as a dumping ground.

It would be the most appallingly stereotypical middle-aged thing in the world to turn it into a sewing room, but I rather suspect that is where it is headed!

2983 days.

emporium of justice

Thankfully I was not required to spend longer than a few hours at jury selection before being discharged. I’m now free from being called again for 12 months.

Those hours were slightly interesting but also mostly tedious. I arrived and went through the airport-like security and down into the bowels of the emporium of justice.

Once there I had to wait my turn to get my jury number. There was no longer a 24 week trial, could I do 4 weeks? I said I couldn’t and explained that my employer would only make up my salary for 10 days and so I’d be disadvantaged financially.

The woman who was processing me was inclined to argue about this, and of course I got a little teary because that’s what I do in most stressful situations. Quickly establishing that I’m an emotionally fragile nut job, she put me in the pool for a two week trial.

I then sat in a large room with my hundred or so fellow potential jurors. There were banks of chairs, couches, workspaces and many large televisions playing one of those morning breakfast programs full of informercials, lots of blonde white women and inane banter. There was free instant coffee, tea and water and a few vending machines. Some people seemed enthusiastic and excited to be there, others stoic. I cried a few quiet, residual stress-tears.

I tried to use the time productively do a bit of work, but despite best efforts my laptop wouldn’t tether to my phone, so I wrote enormous action items lists in my notebook which I’ll likely ignore. I answered emails on my phone and chatted on slack.

We then watched a 20 minute video about the process. Low budget production values, but very big on Democracy and Responsibility.

After a time the first two panels were called and the rest of us sat, and sat, and sat.

Then a break! Yay! Escape! I ran my laptop over to the nearby SML office so I didn’t have to keep lugging it about.

Back to waiting.

Being warned to prepare to wait, I brought an improving book and a giant wooly wrap Bessie had cast-off. The vast dismal space was freezing, so I wrapped myself in the wrap, listened to some soothing tunes and read about class markers.

At around 12:30 we were advised no further juries were being empaneled today and we were free to go.

So I went to the Project Sulfur office and was relieved to get back into manageressy things.

2984 days.

in the neighbourhood

Tomorrow sees me heading off for jury selection.

I am not at all enthusiastic about the prospect (indeed, I just stress-ate several pieces of shortbread and a large block of chocolate), but it may make decent blogging fodder if nothing else.

I’ve heard that there is a good deal of waiting around on the day, but they don’t do a very good job of telling you what you can bring to keep you occupied, so I’m taking along some work. Hopefully this will make me appear to be exactly the kind of person whose selection is challenged.

2985 days.

My glass plates were ready for collection on Saturday morning and having not done anything like this before, I really had no idea how they’d turn out.

To my delight, the results are very pleasing. Though I have no idea what to do with the plates other than force people to admire them.

After | Before images below:

Really interesting example of how glass can change colour in the kiln. I expected that orange blob in the top left corner to remain clear!

xxx

I was ever-so-marginally disappointed to lose most of the printed text and texture on the green bits in the melting process.

xxx

not the greatest photo

This is the biggest piece. Another fine example of unexpected colour changes – those dark grey (almost black) blobs in the middle of the light grey area were a bit of a surprise.

xxx

I’m now considering whether to move onto an intermediate class in February.

On the plus side, I really enjoyed the creative outlet, the group setting and having access to that treasure trove of pretty glass bits!

On the negative side – do I really need more dust-gathering bits in my life (even if I have made them) that I have no idea what to do with? I don’t feel any sort of passionate connection to glass. And it is definitely not an inexpensive pursuit should one get further into it.

Will reflect a bit (and admire my pretties).

2986 days.

Don has shingles.

It started yesterday afternoon with two small spots on his torso. By this morning the two had multiplied and provided sufficient similarity to images of shingles on the Information Superhighway to call for a visit to the GP to have it confirmed.

Fortunately because it’s quite early in the outbreak, there’s a good chance that the antivirals he’s been prescribed will minimise the worst of it.

Poor itchy, achy poppet.

Day 2987.

13 years ago today, Don and I had our first date!

We celebrated this momentous event in an extremely low-key manner and neither lace nor furs were exchanged.

2988 days.

We received a company-wide email during the week advising us that SML had joined the not business as usual alliance**and was supporting the climate strike today. We were encouraged to take the time off to join the rally.

The gesture was surprising and appreciated – even though I didn’t take advantage of it because I’d already booked the day off to do this (amongst other things) with Bessie.

We turned up at The Domain at lunchtime with about 80,000 others! Amazing turnout!

None of the photos I took really showed the scale of it – so I nicked this one from The Guardian who nicked it from twitter:

twitter user: @kymtje

A++ would protest again.

xxx

** I do take some (okay, quite a bit of) issue with the idea that “it’s not up to the private sector to lead climate action”.

Surely it is up to everyone?

And surely the private sector is responsible for a good deal of the problems we’re facing?

2989 days.