Star Wars, Gardening, Poultry, Web Design, Life's Incongruities
The movie Paul was magnificent! Star Wars and movie geeks will approve. They can also bring their friends that like dick & fart jokes.
Last weekend we took the beastie over to oponn's. Her beau was in the hospital, and I felt a little guilty about just tying one on while he was trapped at Harborview. I called him & he out my reservations to rest. She & Mike proceeded to BREAK ME. I had way too much way too fast and ended up cleaning out her sink. Still, good times.
In the morning we went down to Krystal's place, and caught a ride with her and met Jaxi for a day at the Star Wars Experience. I saw a Wookie bowcaster, I can now die with my curiosity satisfied. They had a lot of ship models, costumes, and the life-sized landspeeder. I'd venture over half the stuff was from the original three movies. While I expected the place to be packed with nerds, I ran into philistines instead: People at the exhibit didn't even know which droid was which. I overheard R2D2 mistaken for C3PO and vice versa on a few occasions. This was maddening, but hey, they were learning more than I was. It had "real life" science stuff, too, like prosthetics and robot technology. While Jax treated to my protests, I debated whether or not it was worth the $24 admission to anyone but an extreme movie buff or Star Wars nerd like myself, though the masses of America's dwindling middle class seemed to enjoy it.
We also hit the other parts of the science center, saw some naked mole rats and the insect exhibit, which was pretty cool. I kind of wished we'd had more time for that, or the kids had, anyway.
We returned to Oponn's in time to watch the flame-haired one have a total meltdown at Auntie Kris Re: her bicycle and how she didn't want to ride it. We waited around until Sue returned from Haborview with a very loopy beau. He was doing better than I'd anticipated, and it was good to see him. Reassured he would live, we hugged goodbyes and went home.
Sunday I let the goats out to graze and dug up the West arm of the garden. I got out the dutch hoe and started breaking up clumps of weeds and turning soil, trying for even, straight furrows. I asked Mike to give me some help, but he made coffee and said his hand (from the goat incident) was hurting him. Anyway, the garden fork he swore by as a tool didn't work for shit.
This made me cranky. I had been hoping to get seeds in the ground, but I'm kind of glad we didn't, as there is currently a couple inches of snow on the ground. I wanted some more dirt against the fence for the beans, and moved a wheelbarrow full of pig muck from the goat pasture to the garden. That about did me in, as the wheelbarrow weighed a few hundred pounds full, and I had to push it 50 yards over lumpy ground through a foot of mud.
I had the furrows where I wanted them, then did my daily watering and feeding of goats and chickens, cleaned out the duckling's cage, then made dinner. I headed to the shower. My ire at Mike for leaving me trying to fulfill his so far unrealistic farming fantasy on my own ebbed when he changed the sheets on the bed and gave me a back rub.
I did plant the beans on Monday, before the weather got really horrid. This weekend I need to get in corn, broccoli, onions, lettuce, and something to cover it all so the chickens don't eat the seeds. I COULD leave them in their pen, but we get better eggs, they clear out bugs, and it seems cruel to leave them locked in their mud pit if the weather isn't horrible. Jerry suggested at some point we should muck out the chicken pen. I informed him that I paid rent and someone who didn't could pitch in on this one. I have a feeling I'll end up doing it anyway, if nothing else to get the lovely compost out of there and under some plants.
Duckies got names today. Maggie had a name before she even got on the property, the two Cayugas, I've decided, are Ooyu and Okena. The former means "Rainbow" in Coos Indian, the latter "Water Chief" in Blackfoot. There were some Iroquois names to choose from (Where the Cayugas originate), but they were hard to remember and spell. I couldn't tell you which duck is which.
Work! Not as busy as we usually are this time of year, but not doing too badly, and the stress level is manageable. With Norwescon looming, and following that half a week in Olympia, I'm anticipating an unforseen mountain of work to tumble onto my plate sometime around the 20th; its practically tradition.
Several clients have been unusually slow to pay me, I've been crossing my fingers they get around to it before bills roll in, but knowing I'm owed a couple grand and will eventually get it seems to ease a lot of my usual anxiety about an ebb in work load.
I DO have updates I'm working on for Mandinka Tours. VERY exciting! He's expanding into Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Togo. I learn so much form this client.
Chief & Friends are headed up this weekend for some fun at the swap meet and a tour of the area. Looking forward to it. I made some granola bars for their visit, but I don't think they'll last that long.
Baby Duck Pictures! Worship Teh KYOOT Worship it!
Last weekend we took the beastie over to oponn's. Her beau was in the hospital, and I felt a little guilty about just tying one on while he was trapped at Harborview. I called him & he out my reservations to rest. She & Mike proceeded to BREAK ME. I had way too much way too fast and ended up cleaning out her sink. Still, good times.
In the morning we went down to Krystal's place, and caught a ride with her and met Jaxi for a day at the Star Wars Experience. I saw a Wookie bowcaster, I can now die with my curiosity satisfied. They had a lot of ship models, costumes, and the life-sized landspeeder. I'd venture over half the stuff was from the original three movies. While I expected the place to be packed with nerds, I ran into philistines instead: People at the exhibit didn't even know which droid was which. I overheard R2D2 mistaken for C3PO and vice versa on a few occasions. This was maddening, but hey, they were learning more than I was. It had "real life" science stuff, too, like prosthetics and robot technology. While Jax treated to my protests, I debated whether or not it was worth the $24 admission to anyone but an extreme movie buff or Star Wars nerd like myself, though the masses of America's dwindling middle class seemed to enjoy it.
We also hit the other parts of the science center, saw some naked mole rats and the insect exhibit, which was pretty cool. I kind of wished we'd had more time for that, or the kids had, anyway.
We returned to Oponn's in time to watch the flame-haired one have a total meltdown at Auntie Kris Re: her bicycle and how she didn't want to ride it. We waited around until Sue returned from Haborview with a very loopy beau. He was doing better than I'd anticipated, and it was good to see him. Reassured he would live, we hugged goodbyes and went home.
Sunday I let the goats out to graze and dug up the West arm of the garden. I got out the dutch hoe and started breaking up clumps of weeds and turning soil, trying for even, straight furrows. I asked Mike to give me some help, but he made coffee and said his hand (from the goat incident) was hurting him. Anyway, the garden fork he swore by as a tool didn't work for shit.
This made me cranky. I had been hoping to get seeds in the ground, but I'm kind of glad we didn't, as there is currently a couple inches of snow on the ground. I wanted some more dirt against the fence for the beans, and moved a wheelbarrow full of pig muck from the goat pasture to the garden. That about did me in, as the wheelbarrow weighed a few hundred pounds full, and I had to push it 50 yards over lumpy ground through a foot of mud.
I had the furrows where I wanted them, then did my daily watering and feeding of goats and chickens, cleaned out the duckling's cage, then made dinner. I headed to the shower. My ire at Mike for leaving me trying to fulfill his so far unrealistic farming fantasy on my own ebbed when he changed the sheets on the bed and gave me a back rub.
I did plant the beans on Monday, before the weather got really horrid. This weekend I need to get in corn, broccoli, onions, lettuce, and something to cover it all so the chickens don't eat the seeds. I COULD leave them in their pen, but we get better eggs, they clear out bugs, and it seems cruel to leave them locked in their mud pit if the weather isn't horrible. Jerry suggested at some point we should muck out the chicken pen. I informed him that I paid rent and someone who didn't could pitch in on this one. I have a feeling I'll end up doing it anyway, if nothing else to get the lovely compost out of there and under some plants.
Duckies got names today. Maggie had a name before she even got on the property, the two Cayugas, I've decided, are Ooyu and Okena. The former means "Rainbow" in Coos Indian, the latter "Water Chief" in Blackfoot. There were some Iroquois names to choose from (Where the Cayugas originate), but they were hard to remember and spell. I couldn't tell you which duck is which.
Work! Not as busy as we usually are this time of year, but not doing too badly, and the stress level is manageable. With Norwescon looming, and following that half a week in Olympia, I'm anticipating an unforseen mountain of work to tumble onto my plate sometime around the 20th; its practically tradition.
Several clients have been unusually slow to pay me, I've been crossing my fingers they get around to it before bills roll in, but knowing I'm owed a couple grand and will eventually get it seems to ease a lot of my usual anxiety about an ebb in work load.
I DO have updates I'm working on for Mandinka Tours. VERY exciting! He's expanding into Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Togo. I learn so much form this client.
Chief & Friends are headed up this weekend for some fun at the swap meet and a tour of the area. Looking forward to it. I made some granola bars for their visit, but I don't think they'll last that long.
Baby Duck Pictures! Worship Teh KYOOT Worship it!