a day off...sort of

Though today is Monday, and i normally work at the animal hospital 7a.m. to 6p.m., we are closed today. That means, it's like a Sunday, except that I have to work, instead of the other girl. :)
I went in this morning to a note that one of the boarders wasn't doing very well last night and needed fluids and meds. I was nervous to peek in at her, but she seemed the same to me: sad, slow, and old. After an hour of feeding, walking, medicating, and cleaning, I went back home. I took a 'jog' (I'm doing a jog/walk program that is supposed to have me running a 5K by the end of 9 weeks...we'll just see about that!). Then, off to town once hubby was ready to go. We made it just as the parade was ending.

This is what I wore...how often can i wear a stars&stripes tee shirt? And those shorts were purchased two years ago at a thrift shop, for $5. They were a bit snug then, I couldn't even wear them last year, and this year they fit perfectly!! :) I actually screen printed the shirt myself. I drew and cut two stencils and printed a few of these for my etsy shop. They didn't sell, so I figured I'd just keep this cute little white one. A friend at the cafe asked if I was in the parade...that I could've been on a float!

After our stop for coffee, and walk to/from the beach, Hubby started working when we returned home, and i went back to the kennel to walk the two dogs and check make sure the sick one was okay. She was. Hopefully she is still okay when I get back for the 'dinner shift'.

After that, I went right out to the yard to FINALLY get some gardening done!! I put what few seedlings I had, out. I also planted all the seeds I got for this years gardening adventure. Two kinds of green beans, 3 varieties of snow peas, red beets, broccoli (though i swore never to bother with it again)...same with the green bell peppers, but I found a seedling for cheap, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, edammame from the seeds i harvested from last years failed attempt, 3 kinds of tomatoes (which is weird since i hate tomatoes, but i figured they could be made into sauce and salsa), 3 kinds of radishes (well, actually, more than that b/c one seed packet was a mixture to begin with), zucchini, cantaloupe (b/c i had seeds from last year), 2 kinds of cucumber (pickling and Armenian), and the big clump of greens are the pumpkins that refuse to die...left over from our discarded halloween pumpkin. I have tomato cages for my cukes, and also two cages that i attach bamboo stacks to for my green beans.

Now we wait and see what we get. This year I bought a soaker hose to help with my issue with watering (I hate standing there to water and it's too close to the fence for a sprinkler), so I just have to keep up with the weeding. OH, the weeding!!!

Hope everyone who got a long weekend is enjoying it. And to those who didn't, think on this: there are people sitting in traffic backed up about 13 miles to get off of Cape Cod today. Your day is probably better than that, right? (I will never understand holiday travel!!)

Trying to catch up

My, it's been a long time since I've posted a blog.
What have I been up to? Nothing terribly exciting, but I have been busy. We had a friend's 40th birthday party a couple weekends ago. We met up with some friends for drinks at a new restaurant/bar last weekend. I've been working and also started a new workout program. Guess what brand of shoes I prefer!!
I bought an old bike that was all rusted out (not sure if I mention it or showed any pictures before) and I have re-painted it and steel wooled as much rust off of it as I could.

I finally started some seeds. The first to emerge, were the edammame that I am growing from seeds I saved from last year's crop!!

And yesterday I went out with Auntie to the wholesale plant place for this years privet installment. Last year they had 8' shrubs, but this year they only had 6'. But this year the purpose isn't so much for privacy (at first). It's more for a feeling of being cozy again when in my hammock. Since the neighbors have cut down all of their trees, my hammock location is exposed. But now, I have some shrubs to fill in and grow up and protect me again!!
While I was out planting them today, my bamboo from last year caught my eye... All the rain we've had (pretty much 2 straight weeks, with a few hours of beautiful sunshine here and there) has done wonders for it!!
My pictures don't do it justice, but it sent little runners along behind my bench and they just shot right up!! Just what I wanted!!
So, I've been busy. But in a good way. Now if I could just get my ass into my studio and get some work done!!! My etsy shop is just sitting there...lame. I guess that'll be my NEXT day off.

happy...sunday

I have finished day 9 of 13 days of work. I offered to work the noon AND nightly walk/feed at the kennel so that the other girl could spend mother's day with her kids. The cool surprise for me was that there are no dogs in the kennel. Just two cats, who belong to one of the doctors. They are super cool cats, but one is a diabetic, so I had to make sure to be there for the insulin shot. But, I didn't have to go in at noon...only at 5 to feed, medicate, and give a little love.
So, when I got back home (after about 10 minutes of work) Hubby and I had a drink out in the yard. We got to enjoy some silence, as the annoying neighbors were out for the day. I took the opportunity to get some shots of the yard so far this spring...
I think bleeding hearts are just the coolest! Ours was once living in the intense sun of the front yard, but I saved it, placing it in the shade of the back yard. Once it starts to grow, it just becomes enormous in a matter of days! Such cool flowers!
I don't think I mentioned my plan this year to cover my veg beds with plastic, to try to heat up the kitchen scraps I threw in...as a sort of compost bed. The result? Two giant disgusting ant farms!! I hate ants! They were everywhere! And no extra decomposition. Instead,
along with the ants, the parsley and chives grew out the edge...like nothing was there. Another bunch of chives kept growing...just without turning green, with the lack of sunshine for photosynthesis! That green clump near the white chives?
The remains of last year's pumpkin!! Along with the white chives, when I pulled back the plastic, I was greeted by white squash seedlings!! The next day, they were full of chlorophyll and thriving!! I guess I'll try to grow some pumpkins again! I couldn't believe that they were trying to live under that plastic!! With NO sun!! Nature is weird!

I also tried getting shots of my privet, but the sun was setting right behind them.
I am so excited at how they are coming in this year! So many big leaves. This is how they looked last year when I bought them...puny! I'm thinking of getting 3 more this year, since they did so well after just one dormant season.

I am hoping to finally start some seeds this week, but almost feel as if I may as well just wait and throw the seeds right in the beds. New dirt needs to go in, and I need to put up my new 'portable' bed that I got for my birthday. Flowers in the 'flower bed' are beginning to emerge, too. It's just hard to think about anything but sleep these days, though!

Hope everyone had a great day, weekend, etc.

life's little ups and downs

I've been struggling lately. I had decided a few weeks ago to put my etsy shop in 'vacation mode' because I realized that all my items, except one, had expired! I want to keep my shop, but I just don't have time to devote to it. The real problem for me seems to be that each time I decide it's worth the effort to try to keep it alive and make it thrive, life throws all this nonsense at me. I have been working every day. The days at the hospital are getting crazy (several emergencies the past couple days, plus a momma dog spending nearly 2 whole days trying to have her first litter of puppies, only to end in a C-section late in the day yesterday!) to the point where I had to work late. Also ending up staying late at my other job; Hill's food seminar today; Moxie had to have a surprise trip to the vet when I got home from work one day last week (congratulations! It's hip dysplasia!); Moxie's hip issue means now trying to get her in for her therapeutic laser sessions (3 this week, 2 next week, 1 the following week, then maintenance as needed). I'm so busy with silly little life things. I'm so tired, feeling like I'm always on the move (or making dinner, cleaning, or sleeping).
HOWEVER...
July brings our crazy concert month! The Elvis Costello show AND the Pink Martini show both in the middle of July. And I want to make myself a fun summer dress to wear! This cute halter dress! It's 'SEW EASY' according to the package, but we all know my track record with sewing...nothing is easy! I have been trying to find a way to make a cute (semi)fitted dress without a zipper, but it's just not gonna happen (unless I use a stretchy material, which is really not a good idea!). But I've been thinking...my hand-sewn zipper last time turned out almost right on the money...why shy away from the zipper if I can just sew it in without the machine?!
So, I'm thinking this material. Not sure yet. Maybe a solid skirt and halter, with this as the 'waistband'? or vice versa? It's really all I have left of my found sheets, so it's either this or buy (gasp!) material, or maybe a new sheet? :)

I am still hoping to find sometime in the near future to re-vamp my etsy shop. I just feel like the homemade paper has run it's course? I enjoyed making it, but wanted to go faster and I feel the quality suffered, in turn making it more stressful instead of stress relieving. I'm also toying with the notion of completely re-inventing my shop, but I think it is hard to close-up shop on etsy to re-open a new one. Has anyone had any experience with that? Is it worth trying to start over, or is it acceptable to keep your original shop but take it in a different direction? These are all just questions based on the hope that some day soon I will have some time to spend on getting my art/craft out there!

I hope everyone else is sliding into some spring/summer relaxation. Though I have never known anyone who has actually had a relaxing summer since leaving school!