Happy Michaelmas!

 The timeline beginning last night went something like this: 

1. Wake up randomly and look at my phone.  
2. See a message from work and read it.
3. Someone has Covid but their last day of work was September 27, my first day this week was the 28th.
4. I go back to sleep.
5. My alarm goes off at 11:00 PM and my nose is all stuffed up.  I've had an occasional scratchy throat that I figure was allergies for a few days.
6. After doing a few things to figure out my next steps I decide that taking a personal day is best.
7. Made an appointment for a rapid test at CVS for 9:50 AM.
8. Stay awake all night binge watching on Netflix.
9. After the appointment I drive around for about two hours, exploring, before going to the Oak Hill Fire Tower to get my steps in.
10. After about an hour wandering around, checking my messages about every ten minutes, I finally got the results-Negative.  Yay!

I must say that I really didn't think the test would be positive, I've been forgetting to take my allergy meds, but I feel a lot better having taken the test.  Other happy things for today:

• Part of the morning was spent driving around looking for the property from afar.  Eventually I found a spot, pulled over and took some pictures.

Somewhere on that distant hill is our property.
I expected it to be more noticable,
but things have grown this year.

• I walked past the fire tower initially and traveled on some of the trails to a scenic vista.

This is where I was when I got the negative results.

• The view from the top of the fire tower was beautiful, as usual.

Proof I was there.  😉

• There were the usual chipmunks, squirrels, sparrows, and large birds from afar that I couldn't identify.  I also saw three garter snakes on different parts of the trail.

Only a chipmunk stuck around long enough
for a picture.  I'm happy with
how close the camera zooms.

• My meal before bed included a small amount of a goose dish that Keziah picked up from some friends yesterday.  This fulfills my Michaelmas Day requirement.  I am thankful for friends.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Part of the Balancing Act

 While working outside this morning I had a thought about what I might write, so I wrote down some key words, "The ability to sustain and create."  At whatever time in the morning this was, I knew exactly what I meant.  It was brilliant.  Okay, maybe not brilliant, but I had ideas.  The more I read over what I wrote, the more I think I was going to talk about balance.  

Today I delved into a project in the garden that was hard and took a lot of time.  It was part of the continuing fight I am having getting the fence set up the way I want it.  I kept digging too deep, literally, and this added more and more time onto the project.  The end result is that I didn't finish, I came close.  

I pulled roots and rocks out of the dirt.
I buried part of the netting to make it harder,
in that section, for critters to come in.

I started to feel overheated, even though the temperatures were much cooler today than they have been.  Shoveling dirt, sifting dirt, and pulling out rocks and roots will do that.  So I got to a stopping point and cleaned up.  This was creating.  On the way inside I noticed the roses.  It is hard not to, their smell wafts through the area when going to the door.  I got my heavy duty gloves on and pruning shears and deadheaded the rose bushes.  This was sustaining.  

That is the balancing act that I am working on with the gardens.  This balance will be skewed more when I start work on the 22nd of June.  I strive for more sustaining and less creating.  I want the fence and netting to just be done and the dirt prepared so I can plant all the things that are starting to get root bound.  Then I want to be able to concentrate more on sustaining.  I have known this, I just needed to put it better into words.  I am happy with today's progress.  Here are other happy things for today:

• For the second time this week I got out for a walk with a friend.  We have a mutual former coworker that is retiring and we were asked to make a little video for them.  My friend and I decided to do it together.  

Chipmunk that stopped to pose a moment for the camera.

Ducks we saw along our walk.

• A few weeks ago we started watching Doctor Who with Zed's mom.  Tonight she came up and we watched the second episode.  We are a bit behind, I am anyway, they are rewatching because they forgot.  I like the female Doctor.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thanks for reading, stay safe.

Sounds

 For whatever reason I woke up early this morning.  Then I had a hard time getting motivated.  Once I did, the day seemed to go well.  I spent a little bit of time researching O.K.; if all goes well, the exchequer things I have been working on are done; and I went through a box and got rid of some things that, a few months ago, I would have held onto.  Other things that I am happy about:

• Yesterday while walking with my friend, Amy, we were talking about how I sometimes don't remember all the things that I want to write about when I finally sit down to write.  She suggested that I make notes during the day.  I haven't had much luck with thinking to do that, yesterday she reminded me.  Today I remembered on my own.  
• When I walk along the street is it very loud.  There is a dead end street that I go down and the noise level drops considerably by the time I am about twenty feet in.  I take my headphones off then to listen for any birds.  On this day, the smell of melting snow and sound of the small waterfall flooded my senses to help drive away the street noise behind me.  My attention steers away from the car sounds and book I was listening to and turns to the surrounding nature.
• As I get to the end of the street and enter the trail the birds sound their alarm to warn of my intrusion into their environment.  I hear some skittering and see a chipmunk farther along the trail go for cover.
• At one point, I hear a noise to my left and there is a chipmunk that decided to peek out to see what the fuss was.  I stopped mid stride to watch him.  He allowed me to take a few photos and as I started to walk away he quickly hid.

Close up.

• The moon rose during the day.

According to the internet,
it is in the Waxing Gibbous phase...
Not that you can tell by the picture.

☮

Currently listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.