WEEDING!
I've started clearing out parts of my mother's yard, for eventual sale. This part of BC is rainforest, so man does that yard GROW. If something gets left in the grass, the rainforest reclaims it. The vines and weeds grow in between and twist all around the object, and layers upon layers of vines grow over top. I feel like Indiana Jones excavating treasure! (It's a big yard, and the back corner used to have a greenhouse, so there's all sorts of strange things that were left behind and grown over.)So then I got all interested in invasive plants. We have some thistle, some dandelions, but the real invaders are:
Buttercups! Adorable but they're EVERYWHERE.
Blackberry - Look at those spikes! We have them as high as my face, so I have to cut those down first so I don't get scratched up when I clear the ivy.
English Ivy - Holy crap this stuff grows and GROWS. It creeps across the lawn, sucking in everything in its way. It's beautiful but man! Takes forever to find where the plant starts!
Luckily we do not have (though it's common in this area) Giant Hogweed. The juice and pollen get on your skin and when expose to sun starts burning and bubbling, getting worse every hour. And that same spot will burn in the sun for years afterwards. When hogweed is spotted the city ropes it off, and you have to wear hazmat or similar clothing to take it out. Neat! It's so Star Trekian!
So you can see I'm having a fun time. I like novelty.
SUNBURNING!
In Montreal I lived in an apartment and never went out--I need a yard in order to venture out. And my balcony gets invaded by yellowjacket wasps almost the entire summer--they won't leave me alone! So here at mum's, when sunny, I sit out and write or weed. But I'm not a good sunblock applier. Lack of experience I guess.
First I burned my face and top of my head. Not too bad, you can see I just look like the ruddy Anglo-Saxon I am.
Then I burned an exact triangle on my chest. It's fading now.
Then a patch on my right shin, but it's hard to see now.
None of these hurt. But today I was weeding from 2 PM - 5 PM and didn't realize my skin was poking out between my t-shirt and yoga pants. So now I have a real burn, the ouchy kind.
It's all très cool.
WRITING!
In the evening I watch some TV with mum, then go upstairs to the little attic apartment. With its sloping ceiling, and my foamee bed, I feel like a real artist. I sit on a chair with my feet on a loveseat* and sometimes put my laptop on my purple suitcase as a table. It's weirdly comfortable.
Behind me Chino the cat naps away. (I used to have the two foamees piled on top of each other, but when the cats started sleeping with me I separated them so that there's more room for everyone.) Sometimes Mystery comes up. I feel like a Real Writer, working away in my garret with a bed on the floor, living out of suitcases. I am so bohemian. No wonder my word count's going well! ;-)
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| "They call me Mista Nails!" |
And JJJ's WillWriteforChocolate challenge continues, super fun. It's starting to take on the feel of a writing community. And more people keep joining including a reader of my blog! I am so humbled.
PROCRASTINATING!
I start by looking up legitimate research on the nets, like Paris in the 1920s, and then end up everywhere else. Here's my browsing history from yesterday.
* Here's me looking at photos of Michael Jackson's kids! Procrastination is weird shit.
* The actual research...
So. Things are going along peacefully enough. Do you guys garden? Procrastinate on the net? Live in an attic?
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* I can't sit with my knees above my hips, or most of the time it will trigger a headache. The loveseat is too plushy, I sit too low.
8 comments:
I have a huge veggie garden and a medium sized yard. Since I live in the country, I am always battling the weeds (which are so prolific, the rabbits would rather nibble on my lawn than on the garden most of the time). And losing. We have one plant called purple vetch which people plant on purpose (often in ditches where nothing else will grow). Insanely fast spreading and impossible to get rid of.
I LOVE weeding. It's like my brain shuts off and the only thought in my mind is: Where does this thing start. In a way, it's how I meditate.
Sunblock and I are rarely far appart - overall I am pretty good about it. I wear 50 - 60 SPF because I am vain; they say 30 is good enough.
I like gardens, but dislike gardening. Also, I'm of Irish descent (mostly), and we Irish tend to burst into flame like vampires when sun hits us, so applying sunblock is a long-tested skill for me. And now I want to write a story about hogweed. :)
I owned a garden when I lived in Seattle and I enjoyed weeding --- you can always see the progress you have made. It sounds like you have your work cut out for you.
Good work on the sunburn. :)
How's your mom?
I've been thinking about you, but just haven't been commenting or writing to you. I'm visiting Sierra for the weekend, so probably won't write until next week, but you never know.
Take care.
Just getting into the weeding - now that the rain has stopped and EVERYTHING is growing.
Wear a hat!
I try not to procrastinate on the interwebz ... fail regularly!
Used to live in an attic, but they eventually let me out.
Did a huge amount of yardwork this morning, then exercised, then went clothes shopping. I'm exhausted! I have never lived in an attic but I think it would be kind of cool. ; )
I used to love being outside in the garden and such. Now I'm allergic to agri-business and lawn chemicals. They use them so much here it 's like they hang in the air. I've learned to be an indoor girl.
You've been some interesting places on the web, dearie.
@Deborah - Purple vetch just plain sounds like a weed! Man. Hope the bunnies like it.
@Simone - Sometimes I had to sing to myself. Picture me hacking at thigh high weeds and singing Little Red Corvette.
@Delia - The first thing I did was check whether there's hogweed in Quebec, in case I can use it in my book! Ah the mind of the writer...
@Skye - Thanks! Always thinking of you too! My mum's recovery is coming along fine. Have fun with Sierra!
@widders - My mom just got me a lovely pink linen hat from Value Village
@Robena - It's nice sometimes to have a Clean All the Things day. :-)
@JJJ - You'll notice I was mostly chez you! Well, chez Will Write for Chocolate.
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