I’m really tired of starting every post with excuses for why I haven’t posted, and so I won’t. But some of the things that were higher up on my to-do list are done—at least to some extent—and at least some excuses are history.
One major task over the last few months was getting my new Mac up and running.
Yes, yes, I know how easy it is to switch from one Mac to another, but with my Macs, as in almost every other aspect of my life, I tend to accumulate stuff that should be tossed and I tend to let disorder reign. So when I get a new computer, I use it as an “opportunity,” not only to update my software and learn how to use it, but to delete files I no longer need, prune my photos, toss old email, and otherwise make it into a lean and mean machine. I’m always surprised at how many little things make the conversion from one machine to another drag on and on. There are the obvious problems, such as learning what Microsoft has in store when it has a new release of Word. But there are the unexpected problems, such as the simultaneous demise of both my printers, necessitating researching, buying, and installing a new one. And I’m now on iCloud—after following the advice to back up all my email (another Sunday down the tubes) before making the switch. I thought it would be impossible to love a new Mac even more than my old one, but this 27-inch baby is truly wonderful. (You can see that the Luddite in me decided to stick with the wired mouse and old-fashioned, extended keyboard.)
The unusually warm March weather moved my garden up on the to-do list. In most years, we’d just be tripping on transplants that are crowded before any window with decent light and only be begining to get them planted. Because March was so warm, I was able to start spinach earlier than I ever did before, and we’re now harvesting it for wonderful salads.
The spinach will be followed by the Swiss chard in a week or so.
The very warm and dry March got me thinking that I’d need to have my head examined for not rushing out with tomatoes and peppers. But April cooled off to the extent that we even had nights with some frost, and so my decision to get in all my spring vegetables turned out to be a good one. Right now, everything I wanted to plant is planted (and weeded!). On the right part of the photo, I have three rows of broccoli, two rows of onions, a row of chard, and rows of lettuce and greens. On the left, there are beets, the two spinach rows, garlic, and herbs.
The tomato, pepper, eggplant, and basil seedlings (which will replace the spinach, chard, and lettuce) have been spending evenings indoors. Ed and I spent some of today installing the soaker hoses that are shown between the rows in the photo—so I’m ready for a rainy week.
And a new task on my to-do list is to use the chive flowers, once the buds burst, to make chive vinegar. I threw a bunch of tarragon into a jar of white vinegar last year, and it ended up being delicious. This year, I’m going to make a more concerted effort to make herb vinegars and see how things turn out. The chives flowers are supposed to turn the vinegar pink and give it a garlicky taste. I’ll report back soon.
But knitting has proved the most challenging in the hot and then cool again weather. I’m really smitten with Mara, to the extent that I want to keep knitting it until it is done—even through the summer heat. Now that is an easy statement to make now that the weather has been cool and knitting it has been a delight. I keep recalling that in my youth I spent summers knitting heavy sweaters without a care about the temperature. I hope I’m not turning into one of those old people who keep harking back to the good-old days, but I don’t remember being as uncomfortable knitting with heavy wool in the 60s and 70s as I have in past years. I’m almost psyched up to keep going just to prove that I’m young at heart (if nothing else).
This has been more engrossing that anything else that is supposedly “on the needles,” and I love seeing how the colors play out. I hope my enthusiasm doesn’t wane once I finish all the different motifs in the design, but I’m enjoying this project so much that I’m practicing project monogamy.
I’ll parade some of the neglected WIPs in future posts, but for now this one is “Mara-velous.”





