Time has escaped me. Over the next week or so I may squeeze a few photos in, but that's about it.
This Clematis (Type: Anna Louise Evithree) bloomed over the past couple of days I think. But really, who knows...I haven't been able to skip out back before or after work for a little while now. I went on a mid-week trip up the White Lake, Wisconsin for some whitewater kayak training at Bear Paw Outdoor Adventures. That was pretty awesome, regardless of the low water levels.. My work paid for it...I love my job.
Sometimes I find Moonshadow sitting like this:
Whatever floats her boat, I guess.
Speaking of boats, we were really busy at work today, which generally makes for a good time. I'm so happy to be fortunate enough to have such a fun job. I think about certain past jobs I've had and wonder how I fared as well as I did...yeeesh. And the fact that I stay somewhat active there is a plus, too. Although I have to admit- at the end of last summer, my biceps were freakishly huge from lifting canoes and kayaks all the time. But I'm trying to tone it down a notch (bah-dumdum tsshh).Anyway, 4 things to pass the night along:+Right now they are playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" one WSUM. The DJ just said "okay, so this is a song that people either love or hate." I had to laugh because I hate it but I feel like I should love it (or at least like it...) because it reminds me of a fun night that Joe and I had with friends a couple years ago and I'm a sucker for nostalgia. So basically this song makes me feel awkward.+My friend posted this video on Facebook and I laughed so hard when I watched it. I would love for Joe to casually wake me up that way one morning. But since he doesn't have a nightstand right now, that's not going to happen. Haha, yes...I blame it on the fact that he doesn't have a nightstand (for the water glasses) rather than the fact that Joe is just too reserved for that sort of thing.+I saw a fox on my way home from work. It ran across the road and was barely missed by the oncoming traffic heading each direction. It must be because foxes are so sly. ;)+Joe and I found the perfect little wading area at a creek by us. It reminded me of when we went here, minus the rocks...
Heh, okay- so the only thing similar is that the water moves a bit. This photo was taken somewhere Up North when Joe and I were still young'ns. I was 18 or 19 here. The funniest part of this photo is the fact that Joe has it on his desk at work. I told him he needs to take it down because soon(ish) he'll be *almost* twice that age...
I found a few more mushrooms this morning.
Not quite as many as last time, but the big one in this photo is 7"so that's cool.I have to leave for work in about an hour, otherwise I'd go to the park and look for some. Instead I will work on a couple of painting projects and get ready for the day.
Yesterday I went plant shopping. I had a pretty limited budget so I only bought about 1/6 of what I plan on getting. I'm waiting for local plant sales and I also want to go here and here. Cost of plants: $50.
The idea was to start filling the containers that I've been collecting for the past year. Most of these were thrift & rummage finds, but a few were purchased from big box stores. $55 total.
Most of them will be kept on the back deck. I would have liked to sit on the deck while I planted these, but it was rainy, breezy and cool, so I hung out in the garage.
I used crushed cans and packing peanuts as filler for the bottom half of the containers. This makes it so they aren't as heavy and also uses less potting soil. Even with this approach I still ran out of soil, but that's okay because I ran out of plants too. I decided to use some of the flowers in the yard since there are 3 large areas I would like to fill within the next couple weeks. Now I just need my container plants to grow and fill out the pots.
I saved all of the small containers that the plants came in because I plan on using them in my eventual Garden Room over the winter. Progress has been made on the room, but I can't show photos till I'm further along. It's going to be my late summer/early fall project. My parents helped get the room to where it is right now, but I just have to find the right time to finish it now. The goal is to do it as cheaply as possible and so far it's going really well. I'm sure that the grow lights will cost more than everything else combined, but that's okay...it will be nice to escape to the room during our long, Wisconsin winters. I'm also going to put some lounge seating in there so it will be a cool place to hang out with friends. If you haven't noticed, I like to have multiple options for places to chill. That way I don't get as bored.
+++++
I was going to work on the fire pit today but the weather isn't cooperating. So instead I'm going to clean underneath the bathroom sinks and clean the oven. I may start a few painting projects as well- there is never a shortage of those...
Oh yeah- today is my tenth day without mid-day coffee. It's going MUCH better than it did last spring. By cutting back my coffee intake, it will save about $16 a month and it also saves me about 10 minutes each workday morning. That's an hour a week! I'd say that lack of hassle also saves me a headache, but that would be lying. Those are being lovingly provided by the lack of caffeine. I think I may give in today though since it's only 11:45 AM and I'm feeling like the day is starting to trudge along. Off I go.
Right now is Morel season. It's a big thing where we live.Many people travel miles and miles from Madison to find them in natural areas, but Joe and I are lucky enough to have them in our own backyard.
The best part is laying under trees to pick them. The worst part is realizing that your husband probably has grass stains in the elbows of his work shirt while you are looking at the photo you just uploaded. But if that's really the worst thing, it must be a pretty fun adventure.These are the ones that we found yesterday.
Had I realized that this stump was in the shape of a heart before I took the photos, I would have gotten a little more creative with the styling.+++Before mushroom hunting was fire pit building. Oy, this thing is going to be the end of me. So many hours, so little progress. It's very slow moving. Not only do the rocks have to fit nicely side by side, but they also have to level out as they near the top. Right now I'm at the "nearing the top" stage.
I thought that I only had about 20 hours to go as of yesterday morning. Then I worked on it for 6 hours and realized that I probably have more like 25 hours to go (after those 6 hours...). It's a love-hate thing. I love it because it's like gardening- quiet and calming, and it's outdoors. But I hate it because the stones are heavy and my back is asking me to stop. It's a lot of moving rocks around and bending at a funny stance. There is more trial and error with this project than anything. When I finally do get it right, I move onto the next stone, and then to the next...and then I finally decide that it's time to mortar them down. Overall, I do like doing it. But the fact that I've spent 3 entire days off doing this only means that our yard is lacking in all other areas. After I did this fire pit thing all day, I decided that I had to get something else done too. So I did the dishes that have been neglected for a couple of days. Or at least I tried to do them. That's when I cut my hand on a broken glass, realized I should go to Urgent Care for stitches, waited for Joe to get home from work (he was already on his way) and then finally headed out the door. It was determined that yes, it may be that I need 1 or 2 stitches, but that it's in a really bad spot for stitching so we're giving it 3 days to see if it will heal itself. The doctor said it would as long as I didn't bend/use that finger too much. Whew! The good thing was that I didn't have to clean it out since it happened in newly filled dish water. That's probably why it didn't hurt much. But it looks pretty nasty. Across the knuckle where my pointer finger begins on my right hand. The cool part is that I was told that I can't do the dishes for about 6 or 7 days. :)
The day has finally come. No more white-knuckled driving here...we got a new car! A 2006 Honda Pilot. Joe and I have been waiting for this day to come for a damn long time. 
When we first met, Joe was driving a piece of shit Cavalier that proved it's misery quite frequently. Actually, haha, he wasn't driving anything most of the time but you can ask him about that...and I was driving an Escort Hatchback which was lovingly named the "Teal Mobile". Since then, we've been through a variety of cars. Some better than others. But each one lending us the opportunity to call one of our parents to see if they could rescue us from wherever we were stranded. This was a hefty occurrence when we lived close to them. I think we used our roadside assistance like 3 times as well, all resulting in a tow to the nearest shop so they could rig something up on the fly and send us away as cheaply as possible.
We teeter-tottered with good and bad cars for awhile after that. Always being one good, one bad.
So yes. This day has been almost 7 years in the making. And I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that we have a car that's big enough for hauling stuff around. Yeah- I do have a tinge of bad taste in my mouth for going with such a large vehicle when it comes to the environment and gas efficiency, and I wish I could get rid of that thought but it will always exist. The fact of the matter is that we needed something that we could rely on when it snows (a realization that quickly set in during the blizzardy country drives to and from work), something that could pull the sweet trailer that my parents made for us, something that had factory rails on it (for canoe and kayak transportation), and something that would be awesome for my thrift and rummage addiction. And camping...muddy areas...transporting visiting friends...etc etc etc.
I should also point out that the first thought I had when driving it off the lot was "wow...this seems like it would be a great car for people with kids". Just in case you have kids and were wondering.
*****
Today:
+Fire pit building.
+Mushroom hunting.
+Block printing.
So I've been glued to eBay for a while now, searching for just the right rug. I tend to watch eBay/craigslist/thrift stores/rummage sales like a hawk when I'm looking for something specific. I always find it eventually. 
I've never been one to just settle, and I still haven't decided if that's good or bad. But I've been trying to find the right rug for our guest room for some time and nothing has come close to what I want. And to be completely honest, I don't even know that this is what I want.
But at $30 (with shipping) it was too good to pass up and I only had 5 minutes to make a decision. My mind spun from room to room, trying to think of a good back up plan in case I get it and it doesn't work out. Then I decided that if it doesn't do well as a rug, it would be a good wall hanging in the guest room, since we have nothing to put on the walls in there and I've been waiting for something that's big.Oh, and I'd be lying if I didn't think about about the fact that it would be *perfect* for a kids room. And it would be an even bigger fib if I said I hadn't already thought of coordinating bedding and wall colors. No babies here, though. Not sure if or when that will happen, but I can still dream. About a kid's room I mean...not necessarily the kids themselves. Although I figure that if we DO have kids, I'll have reason to hang out in a tree fort again. That sounds good to me. Just another area to decorate. ;)
