Skip to main content

While We've Been Quarantined

We finally got the two overly-huge camphor trees in our front yard removed; they had been planted too close to the house back when it was built. Over the past 24 years they grew to be over fifty feet tall, and their root systems became a threat to the foundation of our house. Their leaves and berries have been killing our grass, and I've always been worried they would fall over during a hurricane and destroy our roof. I hate cutting down trees but it's a relief that they're gone.

Since then Kat and her dad have been working on adding new plants and some landscaping to the front of the house. My kid has a real talent for creating little gardens, and she made this one for us:

Recently my kid applied for a temporary job working in the northwest part of the country to do field and lab work for the federal government. She'd be testing the streams and rivers up there for different problems they're having with their water sources; the job would last anywhere from six months to two years. Her biology professor recommended her for the job to the guy who is hiring, and it's what Kat wants to do as a scientist, so we're hoping she gets it. If she does she'll start in June.

Comments

Maria Zannini said…
Good luck to Kat! I hope she gets the job.

Nice work on the cacti. I'm jealous of the urn too. LOL! I'm always on the lookout for concrete planters.

Popular posts from this blog

Goodwill Gamble #2 Arrives

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...

Fabscrap for 2023

In December I made two orders from Fabscrap. The first arrived with this giant spool of variegated taupe yarn; it's more than enough to make a nice big wrap or a lap blanket. I also added two pounds of mendable sample garment tops in this particular order. I made a mistake and clicked on large for the size, and then later read that they were out of stock. I expected they would backorder my order, but instead they made some delightful substitutions. This pretty pink top doesn't need any mending or alteration. This is a dress, I believe, and it looks to be in perfect condition, too. A white eyelet blouse, also in new condition. Keep in mind that all these garments are $8.00 a pound, which works out to $4.00 each for this order. That's cheaper than Goodwill. I even got a coat. That neon green faux fur on the cuffs definitely has to go, but I love the coat. This is a yard pack of neutral naturals. The linen alone (on the right) is worth about $25....