HJ Waxing Moon

Spring has been a hard season for me. I started doing physical therapy for my knees, neck, shoulders, and upper back. Trying to keep up with even half of my treatment plan took all the time and energy I had outside of menu planning and keeping up on chores. We finally got the garage 80% converted to our Lounge area, which we are calling the Bat Cave. It is now at about the level of completion of the rest of the house, which is both thrilling and a little depressing. It's been nice to have another place to hang out besides my bedroom and still have some privacy, plus fresh air. And being able to play video games hasn't been bad, either.  Speaking of depression, I'm not sure if it's a Vitamin D issue or just the nature of the disease, and certainly some of it is circumstantial, but Spring was bad for me this year. It's almost May and I never even got a bunch of my seeds started. Now I think I'm going to have to go through my seed stash to very carefully se...

The lawn! It's been cut! I know it seems silly to be so joyful about something so simple, but the lawn had gotten OUT OF CONTROL the last two weeks. It drew quite a bit of attention to the fact that our front yard is half overgrown with clover and moss, when the grass was getting a foot high in some places! But, finally, FINALLY the rain had stopped for a long enough period of time at the same time Mr. Moon had time off work, and he was able to get out and hack the top off the greens, making them at least all the same height out there. It's still a bit long, and will need to come back a bit more later in the week, but it's bad to cut the grass too much in one go so he left the mower at the highest setting which seems to be about 6 inches. I know. Shameful. The back was and still is worse, and the flower beds have had so much grass-creep that they look horrible. Looks like edging the beds is going to have to be our highest priority project. The day even started early t...

Mr. Moon and I will be celebrating our three-year anniversary this week! His parents will also be celebrating their 36 years wedding anniversary this week (the day before ours, in fact). Three cheers! Last week was busy busy busy with getting the garage set up as a lounge space for Mr. Moon and me, so we have some space to entertain without bothering his parents. It has been a year in the making, and still has a couple more smaller projects to go before we take the "After" pictures, but it is now in a state of functionality that makes me extremely happy. Soon enough it will even be warm out there! Ha ha. As of tomorrow, we are past the last frost date in our area, so I will be planting seeds outside on Tuesday. I'd wanted to get them planted indoors prior to now, but Life works in mysterious ways, and we had other priorities. Now our schedule happens to include some days off that are sunny, our seeds came in, and we've gotten to the nursery for potting soil, s...

Mr. Moon and I have been working for over a year on a project to turn the garage into a lounge area, second living room, game room, whatever you want to call it. We have a name all picked out, which will be revealed when we have AFTER pictures. We agreed to take a futon from one of his aunts who is moving out of the area, and somehow we ended up getting obligated to take a second couch. Not sure where the misunderstanding was, or if that was the couch Mum was going to use to replace the one in the living room she doesn't want, or what exactly happened that we have more furniture than I'd originally planned in there. All I know is that with the couch we found on the side of the road in the subdivision, and the futon and couch from the Aunt, we were supposed to be fitting three couches in this garage. Which would be fine, without the chair that Mr. Moon insists on keeping, and the massage chair that will not be gotten rid of so long as it works because the thing is delightful. ...

A nice, updated list after the first quarter of the year has gone by. I highlighted our highest priorities in red , the things we are working on now or will be in the next few weeks. Everywhere, first step: Get before pictures! Front Yard: Replant container bed by front door. Remove the rose bush that is creeping into the walkway. Re-edge the existing beds, and refill with wood chips as needed--not buying more though! Prune roses. All the roses. Possibly use the pruned bits to grow roots on new plants, potentially even to replace the existing ones that aren't in the best shape.  Fill the beds with flowers. What we have now leaves most of the yard bare most of the time, I'd like to landscape in such a way as to have something blooming most of the time and not ever have to look at a bunch of rotting yuck.  Back Yard: Plant the toilet planter or get rid of it. (Half done.) Prune the roses along the shed, re-trellis them, or get rid of them. Remove the tree by...

What's on the menu? Breakfasts:  Hash, eggs benedict on english muffin bread, cottage cheese, & pineapple, waffles. Lunches:  Tacos/quesadillas, turkey sandwiches, mediterranean garbanzo bean salad. Snacks:  Apple & almond butter, oranges, cheese and crackers, pears. Dinners: Monday: Recovery from our trip to Seattle, lots of laundry and the usual chores. 'Rents: Baked beans and ham; Mr.: Lamb curry stew; Me: spaghetti  [leftovers; freezer] Tuesday:  Grocery shopping early, Mr. Moon works and the 'Rents have afternoon appointments, so a crockpot meal is in order. Mushroom Barley Soup  [vegetarian; soup; crockpot] Wednesday:  Big push day in the garage, but Mr. Moon will be home to be able to cook a dinner-to-serve for the 'Rents. Sesame Chicken drumsticks with leftover orange glaze from the ham (which is on the same salty-level as soy sauce) and pineapple, coconut rice, and stir-fry vegetables  [chicken; Chinese; leftover...