Garden! And other stuff!
I spent most of the day outside. It was hot, but wonderful. First I mowed the lawn, which isn't so interesting, except that it definitely has fewer dandelions than it did last month. Other weeds, like clover, seem to be taking over. And I don't mind clover. I actually quite like it. If I could have all clover instead of grass, I'd do it.
Then I weeded the flower beds. And weeded and weeded. The flower bed around our trees has become a haven for that weed that looks like a prickly dandelion. Their only saving grace is that their roots are shallow and straight. While pulling them, I stumbled across an ant nursery. Ugh. I hate ants. Ant larvae and ant eggs are even worse. :shudder: I don't want to kill them, but I really want them to leave. I was told that white vinegar will make them move away without actually killing them, but I'm sort of afraid it will kill the plants nearby.
My raised bed garden is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected. First, the stray cats of the neighborhood seem to think of it as a communal litter box. I've planted eucalpytus and lemon grass because they're supposed to keep them out. Now that the plants are maturing, it seems to be working (of course, all the plants are maturing, so maybe the cats just don't have room to paw around anymore), but the lemon grass is spreading like wildfire. So yay - I deliberately introduced a weed into my vegetable garden. Also, my tomatoes look pretty grim. Everything else is pretty stout and healthy, but the tomatoes not so much. Today I bought some trellises for my snow peas and was delighted (I mean tickled pink like a five-year-old) by how very quickly they coiled up and climbed. Peas are amazing because you see evidence of movement after only a few minutes.
After all the garden work, Mouse and I went to the park. We wanted to fly her kite, but the wind had died down. She was happy enough to play on the playground, and then we waded in the creek. It was freezing and too pebbly for my poor toes, but Moira loved it. She ended up drenching her skirt while picking up rocks to throw. Luckily, she's young enough that I take a change of clothes everywhere. Unfortunately, all I had were jeans. Though it was really too hot for them, she didn't seem to mind.
So tonight I plan to write. Yesterday I got absolutely no work done on the fic q_sama and I have been writing, so I hope to make up for it tonight. I want to write all of Frodo's section tonight and tomorrow, and maybe get Legolas knocked out on Monday. After that, we'll be offically half done. And the last half will be easier. Less groundwork for plot and more action. Also, the rewarding <3 stuff comes toward the end, too. The Gigolas Big Bang is coming up, and while Lisa and I have no intention of posting until after that, I'm sure it'll be a *huge* distraction if we're still writing at that point. Huge. We're having trouble reining in our Legolas/Gimli tendencies as it is - give us an avalanche of fic and we'll fall off the wagon in a heartbeat. :)
Then I weeded the flower beds. And weeded and weeded. The flower bed around our trees has become a haven for that weed that looks like a prickly dandelion. Their only saving grace is that their roots are shallow and straight. While pulling them, I stumbled across an ant nursery. Ugh. I hate ants. Ant larvae and ant eggs are even worse. :shudder: I don't want to kill them, but I really want them to leave. I was told that white vinegar will make them move away without actually killing them, but I'm sort of afraid it will kill the plants nearby.
My raised bed garden is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected. First, the stray cats of the neighborhood seem to think of it as a communal litter box. I've planted eucalpytus and lemon grass because they're supposed to keep them out. Now that the plants are maturing, it seems to be working (of course, all the plants are maturing, so maybe the cats just don't have room to paw around anymore), but the lemon grass is spreading like wildfire. So yay - I deliberately introduced a weed into my vegetable garden. Also, my tomatoes look pretty grim. Everything else is pretty stout and healthy, but the tomatoes not so much. Today I bought some trellises for my snow peas and was delighted (I mean tickled pink like a five-year-old) by how very quickly they coiled up and climbed. Peas are amazing because you see evidence of movement after only a few minutes.
After all the garden work, Mouse and I went to the park. We wanted to fly her kite, but the wind had died down. She was happy enough to play on the playground, and then we waded in the creek. It was freezing and too pebbly for my poor toes, but Moira loved it. She ended up drenching her skirt while picking up rocks to throw. Luckily, she's young enough that I take a change of clothes everywhere. Unfortunately, all I had were jeans. Though it was really too hot for them, she didn't seem to mind.
So tonight I plan to write. Yesterday I got absolutely no work done on the fic q_sama and I have been writing, so I hope to make up for it tonight. I want to write all of Frodo's section tonight and tomorrow, and maybe get Legolas knocked out on Monday. After that, we'll be offically half done. And the last half will be easier. Less groundwork for plot and more action. Also, the rewarding <3 stuff comes toward the end, too. The Gigolas Big Bang is coming up, and while Lisa and I have no intention of posting until after that, I'm sure it'll be a *huge* distraction if we're still writing at that point. Huge. We're having trouble reining in our Legolas/Gimli tendencies as it is - give us an avalanche of fic and we'll fall off the wagon in a heartbeat. :)