i found more than one earthworm today; i even had a very large one in my own small bed which made me almost too happy. i never find earthworms on this side of the house. three salamanders in various stages - i stunned all three of them on accident because i never see them until after i've moved or tossed something and they sit there going "the hell?"

the black plastic is down on the other half of twist in the front bed. it's not the exact way to do lasagna mulching, but i needed to get it started. when i get some more money, i'll get some more materials, pull it up, lay down the (insert material here) and put it back down and let it cook until this fall. this, at least, will keep the paleozoic sized wild geraniums and dandelions at bay so when i do have the rest of the materials, my job isn't quite so difficult. 

the bird feeders are up, again, though i'm not holding my breath that this incarnation will last long either. the chipmunks are being right bastards about everything that isn't nailed down.

my bench has been cleared back off again as well, so i can get back to work on the chair backs and sanding them down for use. i'm getting better about my projects list; i've managed to complete more than a few things and not wreck the house, the garage or the yard in the process of doing them, so i suppose i'm getting better about some things.

*** 

i am rather wishing the weather would make up its mind already about what it is going to do -- rain, or don't, but this dark ominous threating cloud and then bright sun is even a bit to manic for me, thanks.

i should really make another batch of bread this afternoon and i'm sure something needs to be dusted. or filed. or weeded... but i'm also feeling pretty run down as well, so lord only knows what i'm going to get up to next.

i am happily stuffed from a dinner of rice, green beans, chicken, cashews, garlic and onions. my house is waiting on me to come through with the vacuume tonight and i am plotting zuchinni bread since i bought a zuchinni at the market and, other than their use in bread, think squash is pretty vile stuff.

we had a good afternoon today. made it to the market even though it was supercrowded and i couldn't find nearly enough veggies to round out the meals this week. i did find some white currents that i hadn't tried before which was a nice treat, except i discovered i don't like them plain so i'll probably be making a small pot of jam with it tomorrow. we saw my family and stone was super sweet and helped my dad and uncle redo the front porch decking at my uncle's house, and afterwards we ran over to see andrew and a_thee_na  (so helpful that they live right down the road!) and Stone agree that we could have the furniture they were giving away for their soon-to-be landlady, so now we'll have a really nice bedroom set that neither of us had to buy which ... well. it makes me super happy. i got to drool lust envy over her really impressive rosemary plant for a couple minutes (and i did note it was portable :p ) and generally be very happy to have both of them around again and looking so relaxed. or, well. more relaxed than before! 

*** 

friday i met up with some friends during the day to go and see HP. i was patient all week and finally decided that this friday i could take the late morning/afternoon off and go before the crowds hit.

my opinion of the movie is that, as a movie, it's not bad. they did a lot in 2 1/2 hours and i was pretty impressed with everything they managed to squeak in. the kids are definitely growing into their abilities as actors -- i didn't wince with the dialogue as much as i have in other movies -- and daniel radcliff in particular seemed *much* more relaxed. 

( i really don't like how... [spoilers, movie & books] )

reading the book helped, but it wasn't the book, if that makes any sense?

***

sigh. Okie. definitely past time to vacuume. oh the injustice! 

hard rains this morning, a crack, a boom and the dog peeked her head around the corner looking for some reassurance. i am definitely having allergies from something growing and casting off its pollen; i couldn't breathe last night until some drugs took effect, and this morning i'm back to feeling like i have the beginnings of a summer cold.

a muggy haze hangs over the yards. i can see sunlight hitting the tops of the trees at the back edge of my view, but no sunlight is penetrating closer to the house. the yard is scraggly. i see weeds, moreso now that i've been over toa_thee_na 's and could see just from looking at the manicured lawns around her spot in binghamton what a lawn is capable of looking like. and so soft too! i am impressed with her greenthumb -- heck, greenhands -- and how lovely all the basil, begonias, and peppers look. only a small patch of earth and she's made it productive and pretty. this is the best kind of envy, i think.

i spent the later part of the evening last night sorting through my office. i mentioned some few posts ago that my house was starting to develope small piles all over the place; last night was the night i consolidated the piles in the office from the shelves, closet, and desk and went through it all. i am unamused with my ability to ignore the piles until they threaten to avalanche off the shelves. today i'm going to make a concerted effort to file things since i have this really lovely filing cabinet just sitting there, waiting, and work on sorting out the various nicknacks on my shelves that make my office look and feel like a catch all rather than a work space. and i'm eyeing the shelves and the books again, aware that i don't really have a dedicated space for all the herb/garden/flower books, so something is probably going to be rearranged. i don't dare tell my boyfriend with any sign of seriousness that this may not be enough shelves.

and happily, what looked like it was going to be an awful morning at work has all worked out and everyone is where they're supposed to be. huge relief. now to deal with the filing... ugh.

Excellent post: 

Who Are the Elders? 


Who are the Elders? What do they do which entitles them to this quality of respect? There are several answers. In the course of my work I found that the most important reason is that Elders are teachers for the people around them. They are acknowledged as Elders by their people because of a lifetime accumulation of cultural and traditional knowledge and wisdom. Almost all of the Elders I met emphasised that an Elder is usually involved in a teaching relationship with various people. And many people I consulted said that an Elder fills that role particularly in relation to children. It also seemed important that the holders of this knowledge be unassuming about it. “I only know a little”, one Elder told me. The impression I got from this statement is that his knowledge, while comprehensive, is ‘only a little’ when compared to the totality of all human knowledge. An Elder, it can be affirmed, is one who possesses a great store of cultural knowledge, but he is not normally inclined to boast about it. A little bit of modesty, or perhaps it is better to say unpretentiousness, seemed to be a necessary quality. Indeed many people pointed out to me that if someone stands up and proclaims herself to be an Elder, that is the surest sign that she is not an Elder!

dear vermin: 

bugger off the bird seed containers. you keep tearing it off the clothesline and i'm starting to lose whatever vestiges of patience i had with your rodent asses. i don't know how to skin you, or how much of this is really an empty threat anymore, but seriously? there are lots of seeds on the ground. you can have those.

realizing my logic doesn't fit in your survival habits,

eithne

stumbled out of bed at 8:13 am, to find an email from ckocher  saying she'd be here between quarter and half past. shower, coffee, breakfast in record time, out the door and to the Farmers Market in Otsinengo.

Mainly, for this Saturday I just wanted to check out the meat vendors. I'm curious about local meats and am trying to move my small household in a more local direction for meats and produce. It was something Tony R talked about at the foundation, how with their WWOOF'ers each night they would put up on the white board what they had used in the meal and how far it had come to get there. The closest they got in a meal was something like 100 kilometers, but their goal was to have it all local at some point. I appreciated that conversation because, until that moment, I had never considered what it took to get my food to my plate, how much fuel/pesticides was used in the growing, the transporting. It was one of those "Oh. A-ha!" moments.

the market is small but it's got a lot of interesting vendors -- not just meat and produce, thankfully, but homebaked goods, herbal teas and infusions, and much to my little plant addicts chagrin, plant vendors. I ended up getting peas, cherries, cucumbers, salad greens, some fig cookies (oh yum) and bacon. there's enough veggies there to get me to wednesday I believe, at which point I'll go shopping for some more. the meat isn't inexpensive, but ... well. I'm weighing the cost. I think in the long run it's worth it, but I also agree with ckocher  about there will probably be less meat in my diet (as there should be I'm sure) if I go the mostly local route.

There's another market on Friday's in Vestal that I'm thinking about checking out this week, but I really liked going to Otsinengo this morning, so I'll probably do that next week as well. I appreciate the rhythm at outdoor markets, it's much less frantic than walking into Wegmans for produce, though I don't think I'll ever quit Wegmans olive bar (talk about miles to get somewhere, sigh). It doesn't compare to Bantry's main square full up with vendors, produce and meats and flea markets, but it's still lovely.

it has been one of those weeks where i can't really believe it's friday already. work has been busier than it has in a month, or three, which is absolutely not something i'm complaining about, even when i had some of the most ridiculous problems yesterday with a load that was supposed to be fairly simple. however, all my work has been with one company and i'm a little frustrated with my not following through with other companies. the work they give me is harder to book than from my main account, and it pays less on average with more headaches, but right now i have all my proverbial eggs in one basket which isn't healthy, or safe.

so. making notes and monday is going to be a bit more crazy, but i think in a good way. mostly.

***

my third attempt at making bread produced very sandwhich edible results. i have discovered that i am not as big a fan of rye bread as Stone is, but overall it's just nice to have bread in the house. i have to say, the first two attempts and their... results... were super frustrating. i'm not a great baker, wouldn't win contests or anything, but seriously? i do know my way around the kitchen and know what i'm doing, but the mixing of rye flour in with regular flour proved to be a bit more complicated than i was ready for i guess.

the starter itself hasn't worked out yet. the second batch was better -- i used a sponge starter for that -- but it wasn't... good. still too close to bannok. so i'll try another starter today and see if i can't figure it out.

even with all my failed attempts though, it's been right around the cost of a loaf of decent (not wonderbread) bread. which suprised Stone. he makes a point about the low cost of things in stores -- my dress, the bread being two obvious examples -- but i still think that in the end, i'm right when it comes to cost. sure, i'm making mistakes now with the bread, but once i've figured it out? Pfft. we're talking less than a dollar to make a loaf or two of bread. Good bread.

we'll see i guess.

*** 

i just finished Deathly Hollows for the second time. it's been forever since i read it and i had forgotten a lot, much to my happy suprise. i've been on a HP kick, mainly due to the next movie coming out, and watching Order of the Phoenix and trying to explain to Stone where the book and movie diverged a bit. he's very anti-HP reading, which makes me a bit sad because there are so many very very cool scenes left out or just... well. mangled due to time and space. i don't begrudge the movies, i just... every so often need to reread the books and go oh wow, that's right! 

however, i did forget that there's a lot of death in Deathly Hollows, which kind of sucked for my evening last night. and makes me a little wary of the two movies they're making for DH.

***

anyway. gotta get moving around soa_thee_na  can use the laundry. hopefully i won't be such a hermit this weekend.

fireworks are going off in the near distance. i am full; a lovely cookout where i grilled stuff, made a nummy potato salad with sam-sam ala Ina Garten (no mayo),  and my blueberry pie came out mostly okay. I'd like it to be a little less juicy, but the crust itself was a vast improvement on the last pie, so i'll work with it.

more stuff burned off, the giant pine cut into sections, and i managed to not set myself on fire today -- excellent. some of our friends are here, helping spread the woodchips on the path or gathering up the sticks to build a decent fire. i am content with the busy, the sounds of their laughter a buoy.

the article is in the paper and i don't sound like a complete idiot though there's always more to say than the small quotes used. i'm not completely horrified by the picture they took either, but i was a little stunned to see it on the front page. it's all good. gardens are for growing, just like people.

tomorrow is for seeing an aunt, and family. maybe finish painting the white-board wall. maybe pick a color for the kitchen.

maybe sleep in.

i would like my cat to be not such a good escape artist though.

I don't know who is more frustrating: the carriers that scream blood and stone and want $200 more than I have in a load, or the shippers who knock a penny off my per mile rate, which ends up knocking $20 off my end rate, which doesn't all go to me, but it's the principal of the thing.

At least it's busy at work. Busy days at work with tangible results make me happy. Busy days where I go absolutely no where... well. Meh.

Mr Madoff was sentenced yesterday, 150 years for ripping off a mostly unsuspecting public for the last 20+ years in what I believe is being billed as the largest Ponzi scheme ever.

The judge hit the gavel, and Mr. Madoff's life as he knew it was over.

I haven't been following the case closely - the numbers are too far out of my ability to really fathom - but news is news and even in my edge of the wood bubble, things trickle in. I read his apology, and I read how the victims attending the hearing verbally spat back at him. I can't blame them for their anger, or the resentment, or the seething frustration that even though this swindler will never get out of prison alive, they will never get their money hardearned or otherwise, back. It is gone.

But from my comfortable position, behind my walls and with my debt load not nearly so daunting in comparison to his crimes, I have to wonder about the anger, and about the not being able to see his apology with some level of forgiveness. I worry that there is a lot of anger in American news right now, and I worry more that it's not just a product of ratings -- people are livid, and livid people are rash, and rash people

Well. Rash people lash out.

One of the prison's that we visit for ministry is on the short list of places Mr. Madoff might end up. If he's lucky, and I mean lucky in the way the gods are going to intervene kind of lucky, he'll end up in a camp which is a little less frightening than the medium security facility, and much less daunting then the federal pen. The chances are though he won't. He'll be in an environment unlike anything he's ever experienced -- Mr. Madoff is going to experience anything but Park Avenue. This is hell.

My heart doesn't bleed for him, or people who are in prison simply because they're in prision. Mr. Madoff is unlike the guys I've dealt with so far in that he's just not going to get out. There is no goal for the 'outside', there is nothing to really keep him going. This is not prison for rehabilitation, this is prison for punishment.

So when his apology, which seemed as sincere as one can get reading it through the inter-webs, is met with hatred, I wonder about the people not taking it in. I wonder if my query for some compassion is just because I'm out of touch with the whole obliteration of economic stability. I wonder if, honestly, there are too many of us who are wearing our anger as armor, and bludgeoning through without realizing that an apology is humility, and humility should be received with kindness - or at the very least, open silence. Not just with Madoff, but everywhere. It's not that every apology should be accepted, or that I believe every apology is sincere. But I'm wondering if we're just so collectively burnt out that an apology is only seen as weakness, or worse, fodder. Years of 'conservative compassion' and now we have, what? Blanket Rage?

It isn't comforting, at all.

Anyway, an interview that I thought was interesting: Ex-con explains what Bernie is in for

another turtle discovered today, this time on the driveway and making a mad dash (turtles *can* move fast on land, impressive) towards the downhill. stoney caught it, and got a clear ID this time: a painted turtle, which likely means the one from last week was also a painted turtle. its skin was very pretty, orange really, and it was maybe the size of both of stoney's palms. it was not amused being picked up, and stoney moved it further down the lawn near tom's car in the hopes that it was going towards the creekbed on this side of the road rather than the other side.



frogger was not a turtle, and frogger was not on twist run.



skye was all about getting close to the turtle, which if i could speak turtle, i'd be certain it was screaming c'mon! i'll mess you up! or something similar. we've had a frog (not a toad) in the garage trying to get into my wellingtons, the chipmunks running amuck, a dove on the grill (oh, mysti was haaaaappy about that, lemme tell ya.) and various critters being very vocal about what is going on here.



does anyone know anything about turtle habits? specifically i'm just wonderig why we'd see two turtles leaving the pond area. the one last week was pretty big, this one half the size. i wonder if there's a bigger predator there, or maybe they're going somewhere else to lay eggs.

i have just finished putting the begonias in the ground which, though terribly late, makes me very happy. i've never grown begonias before so i'm looking forward to seeing the reds and oranges pop up in my purple, white and silver beds. should be a riot, i think. and it seems i finished in time as the pitter patter of the evening storms beginning is just starting.

stoney and i spent the afternoon sorting out the garage from litha and the wedding. everything is pretty much put away and he's marking out where he'd like to put his work bench (the project for the next time he's home i think). i repotted a couple plants that were given to me and cleaned up my workbench. next on the list of things to tackle is the kitchen, for the second time today. after the kitchen, quicken.

i did manage to grill up some of the chicken we have sitting in the fridge (marinading for three days. very tender, thankfully) for lunch, which was a nice break in the work. my head has been killing me in waves, but it's finally just down to pinching on the left side so i can function in front of a computer which will be handy for later. i'm on a mission to find the charger for my iPod since i'd like to listen to some DMB while cleaning, and i'm on a mission to just not feel so awful and sluggish.

i found a baby luna moth on one of the tote tops which was kinda cool, and i think we have a nuthatch visiting the feeder now.

*** 

friday i met stoney's granddad for the first time -- he's a very sweet, very gruff, old school new englander (good maine stock, stoney says) who was just cool to talk with. he and i poked around the little flower bed they have at Stoney's dad's house and i correctly identified the yarrow plant that was overrunning the rest of the plants. we talked about tomatos and irises and birds, about what farming was like when he was younger, and just generally had a very nice afternoon.

i also made an apple pie to take out there in record time, but it was a really not yummy pie. too heavy on the allspice, and i'm sorry but splenda just doesn't belong in or near baking. the crust was homemade, but it was lacking... something. dunno. i was rather put off by the way it tasted, enough that i'm going to make another pie this week. soon. i'm glad everyone who had some thought it was nice, but ... yeah. no fooling me. Stone likes blueberries though, so i'll see if i can scrounge up some more to add to the ones i saved from last year and make him a lattice pie.

*** 

saturday was the faery fest which was a really good afternoon. It was like walking around a mini-ren faire, in our backyard. i'm impressed with the work that went into it, and how it turned out. the music was mostly excellent, the paths were gorgeous, and everyone was in excellent, if somewhat harried, spirits.

i do hope they do it again next year, and i hope it's a bit less muddy then as well.

after faery fest, went and visted my parents as my mom hasn't been feeling spectacular in the past few days. my dad and my brother were well into their cups by the time we got there, which is becoming a theme it seems. my mom's roses are in bloom and running amuck in her swatch of land. i'm glad we cut it back when we did because i think we'd have lost the front of the house this year to nothing but canes and thorns.

*** 

and yeah. end of the week, beginning of the next. there's a good bit to do and i'm hoping i can crank up my energy a smidge. to begin though, the kitchen. some dinner. finances. laundry. the excitement of our house on a sunday night, i tell ya.

So a question for the pagan and pagan inclined peeps on the flist: 

What do you consider to be an Altar? 

The reason I ask is because I've finally gotten myself together enough to figure out that yanno, I need more of a house altar than I have (which is two shoshi dogs, a couple candles that really have no signifcance other than I needed to put them somewhere and that looked good, and an incense burner -- that whole intent thing got tossed when I was unpacking and mingling stoney's and my things apparently). My previous altar, to Medusa, was very spartan which is something *I* like -- it typically had a candle that was burned frequently or flowers, and above it a very special framed portrait from a friend.

The spartan thing is important to me -- I get twitchy when my altar is cluttered, and I don't typically like or appreciate lots of small things all over the place because small things mean dust and confusion (again, to me).

So Stoney and I were talking about our house altar and how I'm thinking of putting one up and we should, in his mind, dedicate it to the entire Norse Pantheon which works for me, but he thinks we should have symbols for the individuals on the altar which... see aformention twitchy witch about the clutter. When I explained what my idea of an altar is to Stoney, he said (oh love the aries. love the aries) That's Not An Altar.

If the purpose is to have a specific spot to honor the gods, and honor them within our home, shouldn't a candle and incense be more than enough? And flowers? (Though I admit I buy flowers because they please me, but perhaps figuring out what Frigga and Freya would appreciate would fit here better)

What do you do? Why do you do it? 

i am out of lists.

aside from the running one in my head, of course. but yeah, this past weekend pretty much made all the lists obsolete. At moon, i will probably burn the lists associated with the wedding, with the ritual, all the paperwork that went with it, not out of malice or a desire to be rid of it, but in the spirit of letting go and celebration of being done with the big things.

this will of course make room for other big things, but later.

i am doing the slow clean up of things. the boyfriend got things out of the truck and into the garage, where they are homeless at the moment save for the space in the center of the floor. i am sorting through the cake accessories, all the new tips and colors, so that i can hand my mom back the borrowed baking erata and somehow find a home for my new things so next time (next time? the boyfriend quizzes me and eyes the trunk of a car to lock me in) i don't have to go to AC Moore to get the things i know i had someplace and can't remember where the hell they went between the moves and the overseas and the hauling things off to Salvo because i'm in one of my mad-get-rid-of-it-all-before-i-torch-something modes.

the upstairs of my house isn't a mess though, and i'm grateful for that. i see the pockets of clutter starting to pile up, in corners and rooms not really in the open, and i am oh so very aware that they are going to get tackled before they balloon into something that is straight out of my teenage years. but for now, so long as the main traffic areas remain clutter free, i will leave them be. july is around the corner and i want, almost desperately, to enjoy the rest of the summer, out of doors and making our small-to-big plans happen. i just need a week or so off.

*** 

so last thursday, in the middle of my mom and i tackling royal icing flowers for a wedding cake, i got a call about an interview for new-gardeners. the reporter was really nice, asked a wide range of questions and i am pretty okay with how i did. there are slight moments of panic that i'll have said something so amazingly stupid that everyone who does and doesn't garden will just be like "Seriously?" but when i'm being rational, i realize that i did okay and it's about new gardeners and trends.

it is kind of cool to think that crystal's and my pet project will be in the paper.

*** 

oh yeah, and we have our first veggie of the season. that was a pretty cool discovery yesterday.

*** 

so i'm out on my front deck yesterday afternoon and hear a cardinal doing one of its calls. i spot him below where the clothes lines are and i figure he's looking for seeds, only to realize that the birdfeeder is missing. later in the evening (after i had looked through the brush), stoney discovers it off in the small copse of trees. from what we've gathered, ravyn moved it to make room for stuff drying, and it got close enough to the trees that the bastard squirrels/chipmunks decided to take off with it altogether. a slug had lodged itself into the mesh and gotten stuck, which was plenty disgusting, and now the contraption is missing its hook so it's in the garage until i can make a makeshift hanger for it.

wildlife is really funny to watch. there is a bluejay that is really thrilled with the gutter outside my office window; every so often i'll hear him and see his very bright tail sticking over the side, and then debris follows his noises. on Friday, there was a very chill looking snapping turtle wandering through the backyard -- the first i've seen since i've lived here. i know that because i'm home, i get to see what has probably been going on the entire time, but it's really cool to me to be able to begin to recognize the birds by their calls, as well as their colors.

i'm hoping for a good wander into the woods today for a bit to look for an Ash tree, and also to look for signs of the invasive beetle that has been found in other parts of NY. at the very least, if i can identify some Ash trees here, then i can keep an eye on them.

and skye would really appreciate the walk out through the woods.

*** 

the other thing i really, really have to do is update my quicken log. i might need a drink for that though. sigh.

***

and finally, i have discovered a new passion for yoga pants. now if i can only dig up some enthusiasm for yoga itself, i'd be doing swell. sigh.

in a moment
 
a woman became a bride, and a bride became a wife.

the skies cleared, a beautiful sky to backdrop a beautiful ritual.

the path was lit, the candles lit, the field that was once grass ringed in trees became a backdrop for soft cloths and fireflies, for firelight and drumming, for well wishes and fire spinning and good cheer. so much good cheer.

the fireflies gave way to starlight, the starlight gave way to clouds, the clouds gave us their rain.

the field saturated, and gave way to a small stream making its way to the bigger stream, the sight of a tree being carried down the bigger stream.

plan A became plan B became plan C became get the cars out and go.

we linked arms to carry us through the waters knocking large stones and us around.

we linked.

we dried, we warmed, we checked in and lit our flames from afar, pulled towards one another like fireflies in the distance. the sound of drums in the not-outdoors, the sound of our hearts. the feeling of being linked to Yule and our fires and our spiritual hearths.

and in a flash, these moments are gone and we are opened again to new blessings, new moments, new gratitudes and memories in the making. it's not just the floods that come and carry the ground and debris away, sometimes we make room in our lives in the same rushing onslaught.

you are my leaf-making hero. thank you for existing; i thought i was going to lose my mind.

much love,

eithne

A mated pair of cardinals made an appearance this morning. I *think* the male was a younger one than the Poppa cardinal I was seeing, there seemed to be some browns to his feathers. However, I did not have my glasses on and I was in the middle of a migrane ramp up, so the browns could be entirely my imagination. Regardless it was nice to see a pair.

Also, my first goldfinch of the season.

The chickademons are bold and brassy. The seeds in the feeder had gotten to the point where only the big seeds that don't fit through the wires had blocked any of the sunflower and smaller seeds from coming out, so the chickademons elected a representative to sit on my table and alternate chirping in my direction and poking through my wandering jew, as if to say "Human! Seeds! or the plant gets it!"

Ah, the amusement I get from birds.

The chipmunks amuse me simply because they amuse Skye, and what amuses the dog -- or gets her to silently stalk the brush -- is bound to bring a smile to my face.

***

The makers and inventors of excedrin have my profound gratitude today. Between that and a good lie down (not exactly a nap, but definitely a rest) I'm back to almost normal. Which is good as there is much to do.

*** 

New Moby also makes me happy. Many thanks for pointing out the free-listen on NPR, ckocher ! 

*** 

The sun is out, the plants are watered, my cut lily collection smells divine. Things are good for the moment.

it is with some relief that i say Poppa Cardinal is coming back around again.

i'm really baffled though as i just caught him fluttering up to the same window his young smashed into. he was much more ... he was curious about it. fluttering. not, you know, dive bombing it. he also tried the screen which makes me think this isn't about seeing his reflection.

i went over to the window and waited for him to do it again and made noises, so he flew away and perched on a limb near the window.

any thoughts as to why a cardinal is fascinated with that section of my house? 

I have managed to add a sidebar to my livejournal and *completely* muck the rest of it up.

Ah coding. The language of geeks everywhere and even with a translater I suck.

*** 

this means that its time for bed so i can listen to the sound of the pitter patter of rain. mmmm... it's a nice night tonight.

there was actual work today, as in on the phone at way-too-early and everyone obsessing over a load that they didn't have the right equipment for. no complaints about needing to work, at all, but i do have a personal peeve with being screwed around with by a particular company.

i don't think i'll be loading them in the future.

*** 

after that all, i went to take a shower and brush my teeth and ended up putting hand lotion on my toothbrush.

i should mention i had a cup of coffee prior to that.

i should also mention i realized the mixup before attempting to brush my teeth with the aveeno moisturizer.

blech.

*** 

i apologize to anyone who has the odd habit of watching their friends pages... i've been a little schizophrenic with my layout today. it's not done, but i finally found one i liked enough to sit still for today. maybe tomorrow i'll go through the code and make it fit proper. for now, meh. meh i say. meh.

*** 

it is a calm, quiet day here and i am glad. just wrapping things up for the friend's wedding. the candles are ordered, i've figured out the flowers for the cake, have to make my plain garb for the event and reserve the tables. tomorrow she's coming up and we're going over the table settings which will be pretty simple, after we've gone to Sharra and had the simple but more elaborate than J is used to hairstyling practice done. the flowers for her hair are ordered, the cake recipe has been picked out, ravyn is working on the guestbook... and yeah. i'll be very happy to see them both married.

the rain and overcast day hasn't bothered me today. the garden needs the love and i really haven't had a chance to be out there to do anything meaningful other than stare at the spider and hang up the tomato baskets. i did buy some more basil, which i know is crazy since i had an abundance of basil to give away, but this is the plain basil that i couldn't find my seeds for and my plants from texas are just not going to recover. lesson learned about trying to transplant basils and long car rides and returning to cold weather.

there is a chipmunk who has decided the garage is a fantabulous place to stick around in, so skye is being a good dog and stalking her miniature prey whenever we go outside. the chipmunk is after the seed in the garage that i have hidden away for the birds and i wouldn't particularly mind skye giving the chipmunk a scare. catching it... well. not so okay with that, but i realize that there are limits to my ability to impact what skye does when she catches a creature.

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i've begun reading the heathen books Stoney has been aquiring over the past year. this last one i am not going to get very far in as it's very specific to germanic heathenism and ... well. it's been good for me to realize that i'm much more wired for norse and nordic heathenism. i didn't realize there was a difference and ... yeah. there is.

i'm going to force myself to finish it because it's important that i know what the differences are, besides the language and i feel i'll be running into all kinds of spokes on this particular wheel.

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more to post later. Whee :)