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Today, I have played World of Warcraft with Scott in two separate sessions, once questing, once keeping him defended while he worked on the fishing tournament (alas, he was at only 31 when the winner turned in the 40). The laptop is not ideal for this - even with the best settings I could pick for video, it lags a bit in crowds, and worse, after a while it starts to get hot. Poor over-stressed laptop. But it did the job and both times we finished what we were doing and I signed out before it could actually overheat. I think I need to get one of those cooling platforms for it (whether or not I continue to play the game on it), but fitting them in where it goes may be difficult. It hasn't got a lot of clearance to the shelf above.
Spent some time napping in between the two sessions, and some time cuddling the cats. Basta is perfectly content, but Babe is still twitchy and upset around me. Hopefully - probably - just due to the flea treatment, since I'm not aware of anything else I've done that would upset her.
The sky outside is grey and the rain is coming down, heavily enough to almost seem to make a light fog across the area. The stream between us and the pasture next door is chattering away busily as it does in winter and spring (it goes away again in summer), and it's a lovely sound. I remember being drawn to that sound when we moved here, and then so much not hearing it, because the windows were closed - the cost of heating the house, my allergies, etc., etc. Right now the cats are not allowed in the computer room (it's a mess, and any number of things could be damaged that we don't want damaged), so the door is closed. So it tends to get to warm and opening the window is useful. And my allergies are better and it is, in any case, winter and unlikely to trigger many of them.
I think I need to find a landscape designer in our area. Our landscaper will not do design services, so I was going to design the backyard by myself, basically with our landscaper supplying a "that would be a dumb idea because of X" reality check (which he had agreed he could do). Bluntly, I wasn't getting much done before Mom's illness was diagnosed, and I am still not getting much done. I know approximately what I want to accomplish, what I want it to feel like, the plants I love and want to incorporate somewhere. But in order to really design it out, I would need to do a lot of research, and I would also need to get a good graph of our back yard. I can do all that! But I have other things that I really want to do more, and in some cases need to do more. So I want to find a professional and find out what it would cost me to pass that part to them and just approve it (or not). If it is not too expensive, it makes more sense than trying to do it myself.
I guess this proves I don't have Dad's tendency to do-it-yourself and tinker. I do sometimes, but when there is too much to be done, I would rather get the things done that I want finished (and I really want that back yard to be more than bark mulch and little blackberry shoots from the roots that are holding the soil together). Even if that means I don't do it myself - oh well. Dad enjoyed the process, and the learning, and the exploring, and I don't think he got too frustrated waiting until he had all the pieces. I learned more from Mom - she sometimes commented that we were "camping out" at the house, though I think she also loved the Ridge - but she would have liked to have the siding, roof, heat pump, new well, interior redone, etc., sometime a bit sooner than 20+ years after we moved in, I think. There are a lot of things I can let go of and that can wait until we get to them. It's not super-critical that we get the curtains up in the computer room; I'd like to, but if the rod stays where it is until we get around to it, that's fine. The back yard is somewhere in the middle - I really want it done, but at the same time, if it's too much trouble or expense to get it done, it can sit until I find time to design it. So we'll see.
I'm as good as my Dad was at procrastinating on things, especially low-priority projects. But I hit a point of frustration with the medium or high priority ones where I need to do something, and if that means changing the project so that it takes less energy, focus, or knowledge from me - so be it. Within reason, and as long as I still think the end result is going where I want it.
I haven't taken a photograph yet today. I will have to work on that. As well as on eating better, since I just realized I've had breakfast foods and snacks all day, and it's after 3! So much for eating a good lunch. I'd better have a healthy dinner - or a late lunch - or both. Ah well. At least I'm eating, now to make it a better balance of things that are good for me, compared to those that are just snacks or sweets.
No trip to the Gardens today. I want to cocoon and stay at home, and the Gardens will in any case close in 40 minutes since they are still on winter hours. I am thinking perhaps one day next weekend I can go to the Gardens, if I am in the mood then. Next weekend is a four-day weekend for me, anyway. (We get Martin Luther King Junior's birthday as a holiday on Monday, and then I have Tuesday off since it is my birthday.) I fully expect to spend my birthday installing the new World of Warcraft supplement, Burning Crusade, which is due out that day, and then checking it out. I hope that I get to - if they are not in, or are sold out, I will be sad. Ah well, I'll get it eventually in any case!
Spent some time napping in between the two sessions, and some time cuddling the cats. Basta is perfectly content, but Babe is still twitchy and upset around me. Hopefully - probably - just due to the flea treatment, since I'm not aware of anything else I've done that would upset her.
The sky outside is grey and the rain is coming down, heavily enough to almost seem to make a light fog across the area. The stream between us and the pasture next door is chattering away busily as it does in winter and spring (it goes away again in summer), and it's a lovely sound. I remember being drawn to that sound when we moved here, and then so much not hearing it, because the windows were closed - the cost of heating the house, my allergies, etc., etc. Right now the cats are not allowed in the computer room (it's a mess, and any number of things could be damaged that we don't want damaged), so the door is closed. So it tends to get to warm and opening the window is useful. And my allergies are better and it is, in any case, winter and unlikely to trigger many of them.
I think I need to find a landscape designer in our area. Our landscaper will not do design services, so I was going to design the backyard by myself, basically with our landscaper supplying a "that would be a dumb idea because of X" reality check (which he had agreed he could do). Bluntly, I wasn't getting much done before Mom's illness was diagnosed, and I am still not getting much done. I know approximately what I want to accomplish, what I want it to feel like, the plants I love and want to incorporate somewhere. But in order to really design it out, I would need to do a lot of research, and I would also need to get a good graph of our back yard. I can do all that! But I have other things that I really want to do more, and in some cases need to do more. So I want to find a professional and find out what it would cost me to pass that part to them and just approve it (or not). If it is not too expensive, it makes more sense than trying to do it myself.
I guess this proves I don't have Dad's tendency to do-it-yourself and tinker. I do sometimes, but when there is too much to be done, I would rather get the things done that I want finished (and I really want that back yard to be more than bark mulch and little blackberry shoots from the roots that are holding the soil together). Even if that means I don't do it myself - oh well. Dad enjoyed the process, and the learning, and the exploring, and I don't think he got too frustrated waiting until he had all the pieces. I learned more from Mom - she sometimes commented that we were "camping out" at the house, though I think she also loved the Ridge - but she would have liked to have the siding, roof, heat pump, new well, interior redone, etc., sometime a bit sooner than 20+ years after we moved in, I think. There are a lot of things I can let go of and that can wait until we get to them. It's not super-critical that we get the curtains up in the computer room; I'd like to, but if the rod stays where it is until we get around to it, that's fine. The back yard is somewhere in the middle - I really want it done, but at the same time, if it's too much trouble or expense to get it done, it can sit until I find time to design it. So we'll see.
I'm as good as my Dad was at procrastinating on things, especially low-priority projects. But I hit a point of frustration with the medium or high priority ones where I need to do something, and if that means changing the project so that it takes less energy, focus, or knowledge from me - so be it. Within reason, and as long as I still think the end result is going where I want it.
I haven't taken a photograph yet today. I will have to work on that. As well as on eating better, since I just realized I've had breakfast foods and snacks all day, and it's after 3! So much for eating a good lunch. I'd better have a healthy dinner - or a late lunch - or both. Ah well. At least I'm eating, now to make it a better balance of things that are good for me, compared to those that are just snacks or sweets.
No trip to the Gardens today. I want to cocoon and stay at home, and the Gardens will in any case close in 40 minutes since they are still on winter hours. I am thinking perhaps one day next weekend I can go to the Gardens, if I am in the mood then. Next weekend is a four-day weekend for me, anyway. (We get Martin Luther King Junior's birthday as a holiday on Monday, and then I have Tuesday off since it is my birthday.) I fully expect to spend my birthday installing the new World of Warcraft supplement, Burning Crusade, which is due out that day, and then checking it out. I hope that I get to - if they are not in, or are sold out, I will be sad. Ah well, I'll get it eventually in any case!
