Toil and trouble

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Cranky

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I am being forced to undertake an inappropriate job training exercise by the Powers That Be, and I am not happy. What a freakin' waste of time...

Wonky

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My photography is all wonky today. In face, it's been a very wonky day.

Isn't wonky a fabulous word?

Carping

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Spring

I have a series of deep thoughts percolating in my head that may be vented in a blog post once they have matured. In the meantime, pretty Spring pictures of the garden. Above are broad beans, only a few have progressed to edible as yet but there are plenty of baby beans coming on. I hope they manage to beat the mildew: once the weather warms up, broad beans are horribly prone to diseases of damp.

Apple blossom on my ballerina apple tree. Last year the possums beat me to the few apples to appear. Perhaps this season I'll net them and beat the little boogers to the fruit.

The bees love the apple blossom and were happily about their work as I took this. I also managed to scare at least six months growth off the gas meter man when I popped suddenly out of the side gate on my photography expedition as he was taking a reading beside the apple trees.

This rose was a sorry sight when I moved into this house twelve years ago, gnarled and in sore need of serious pruning. It got a hard prune at the start of last winter, and is absolutely covered in flowers, with lots of buds developing. The aphids are just beginning to take an interest, so I must spray soon. The blooms are scented, but don't last well as cut flowers, tending to shed petals almost immediately. I just enjoy them in the garden. Besides, the cats try to eat the petals given half a chance. Don't know if roses are poisonous to felines, but cleaning up petal barf is just icky.

What's with all the fish?

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So, it has taken me nearly two weeks to feel almost back to what passes for normal around here, after what the doc says was most likely a virus, but I suspect may have been food poisoning. Either way, not much has been happening in this neck of the woods due to extreme fatigue and inertia. I did manage to keep drawing-a-day going, though some days it was a major effort!

Confession: I vowed last year NOT to succumb to the temptation of rescuing any more treasures from the hard rubbish collection. This year I already fell off the wagon with the disembodied mannequin parts, but I fell again: two bookcases, in slight need of sanding and perhaps a new back on the smaller one, but otherwise in good condition. In the dead of night, the Bloke and I balanced the larger piece on the roof of the car on top of a blanket (for traction) - I have no rope - and drove v-e-e-r-r-y carefully the kilometer or so home. It didn't so much as threaten to topple off, even around the corners. Now I need the weather to improve so I can go to work on them outside (sanding is too messy even for the garage, plus it's dark in there and last week I found a mummified mouse corpse when I was sorting out my own stuff to discard in the hard rubbish. Ew! Mousie is now keeping the raven company in its own little jar of enzyme enhanced laundry liquid, processing. I'm hoping for a mouse skull!).

On the mend

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Random

I suspect I've posted this photo before, but my brain isn't functioning at the moment: I've been sick for almost a week, surviving on toast and cups of tea. Isn't Pye cute, though, even if it is a repeat? Bel dislikes the camera intensely (I'm sure she thinks "Why are you staring at me? Hmm. I think I will be...elsewhere", and pulls her disappearing act). So there are few snaps of the very photogenic little black girl in existence.

I've been steadily adding items to my Etsy shop again, wearables so far. I plan to put some art up shortly. Check it out, if you're so inclined, by clicking on the link at the top left of the blog.

Blogging as usual will resume once I've shaken whatever crud is afflicting me.