Saturday, April 25, 2015

Saturdays in the Garden - In which I love books meant for 11 year olds

OUTSIDE

It's another Saturday of rain, rain, rain.  Rain isn't bad obviously but it is kind of a bummer because I am down in Southern Iowa teaching a class at a Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) workshop.  It's a really fun organization that provides a couple of weekends a year when women can get together in a friendly environment to get exposed to shooting, kayaking, fishing, bird watching, dutch oven cooking etc.... I'm teaching probably the least outdoorsy class, lol - Landscaping for Wildlife.  I feel bad for the participants that they are getting a very wet and soggy weekend.  Many states in the U.S. have a BOW program so if it sounds interesting check it out!

The garden is doing well but not a lot has changed.  I forgot to check on my mustard and flax seeds that I planted to see if they are sprouting.  They've gotten plenty of moisture!  I'm pretty disappointed in how my peppers and tomato starts are coming along - they are still pitifully small and are just producing secondary leaves.  At this rate they won't be ready to go out until late May.  Woe.  Woe is me. 

I also have a LOT to do elsewhere in the yard and am looking forward to having some free weekends to work on it. 

LIFE

It's been all about the pets these days.  A few weeks ago I crowed that my diabetic cat had gone into remission and she was no longer diabetic.  Sadly, it looks like that was too good to be true.  In the weeks since that had happened, she seemed to continue to lose weight, despite eating well, until she was getting very thin.  Then her appetite started to slide off.  I spent a bajillion dollars and got every blood test known to human kind and there was nothing wrong with her except mildly elevated glucose levels.  The vet said that if it wasn't a cat with a history of diabetes, she would have put the slightly elevated level down to stress.  Sigh.... So my cat is still just barely diabetic and had to go back on shots of insulin.  The good news is, since the shots began again, she is acting much more like herself and her appetite has leveled out.  The bad news is I am back to having a very high maintenance cat that needs regimented meals and shots twice a day.

It was also time for the dogs vaccinations and to get stocked up on all the heartworm and flea and tick preventative meds.  So LOTs of money spent at the vet this week.... My pets are my chosen luxury item so I guess that's how it goes:0).

Soggy Doggie
WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

M*A*S*H and more M*A*S*H.  It's become comfort watching for me - nothing like some time spent in the Korean War to relax you.  I think I just started season 8.  While the show definitely evolves and changes across the seasons, it really stays pretty good - at least so far.  I know Radar leaves in Season 8 which is a bummer because he is one of the better characters on the show.  Apparently the actor who played him was not AT ALL like his character and was a difficult personality who clashed with most everybody.  This is why I've gotten so that I like to know as little as possible about actors and authors that I like.

The reading has been good this week!  I finished my two middle-grade reads: The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series #1) by Maryrose Wood and Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles #1) by Suzanne Collins.  They were both 4 star reads and so much fun!  To replace those, I started listening to Mister Slaughter (Matthew Corbett series #3) by Robert McCammon which is part of one of my favorite historical mystery series and Diamond Solitaire (Peter Diamond #2) by Peter Lovesey.  I am also determined to finish Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos #2) by Dan Simmons this week, before the end of April.  It's all series all the time over here!

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:
SUNDAY: Review of The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey.  This is the first in the Peter Diamond series and you can probably surmise by the fact that I have started book two that I really liked it!!
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Authors.  Well, at least for now:0).
THURSDAY:  Tough Traveling: The Ace.  This is a character trope that is not a favorite of mine but I highlight a few characters from fantasy that I think fit this bill.

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK:
SUNDAY: Re-read Review of The Magicians's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who... Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish
WEDNESDAY: Review of Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
THURSDAY:   Tough Travels - The Big City.  Hosted by Fantasy Review Barn.

Well it's 9:00 pm now on Saturday and I'm ready for bed, lol.  Hope y'all are more lively than I and that anyone participating in Dewey's read-a-thon today is still going strong!  Have a great week.

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