Monday, May 31, 2010

blue

I often sit in this chair for a minute or two on my way to somewhere else in the house. (Today I was sitting there filing my nails, far from any computer the gritty dust could get into.)


This is the view from that chair.


The arrangement of the doors and transoms and pictures somehow makes the blue batik robe just pop in real life, although not, apparently, in the camera. The view, which I've never more than glanced at before, was very satisfying.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

crazy daisies

These daisies have decided to come up in the shadiest possible place. You see the clump of lilies of the valley? Last year I transplanted about twice that many, and only the ones that get the most light have come back. Daisies are supposed to want full sun, and these aren't getting any.



Here on the other side of the porch the daisies and yarrow have placed themselves nicely without my having to plant them.


And out in front of the crazy daisies, more yarrow.


I love it when Mother Nature decides to be helpful.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

measurement

I have used the same jar for years (decades) to hold ground chicory. Coffee doesn't taste right to me without some chicory, and I buy it at my coop, the most convenient place to get it, even if the coop is nearly fifty miles away. So I tend to run out.
Today I filled the miserable little stiff plastic bag that was the only kind of container available at the bulk herbs section this time, thinking "That looks like about the right amount."






Can I eyeball it or what?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

spice drawer

When I looked at Bag Lady's spice shelves here I wondered why I don't alphabetize my spices. I alphabetize almost everything else in my life! Or else arrange by color (clothes and towels, for instance. Clothes arranged alphabetically would be really inconvenient.)

I keep my spices in the drawer under the range top:


The ones I use all the time are in front, with the jumble in the back half being things I don't use often, or, like the sage container, things I now grow. (But might run out of. The horror!)


The jars with black tops in front of the baking soda don't even show up. I promise you the cinnamon and nutmeg are there. I can reach for all of them without looking, but I can't figure out what the logic of my arrangement can be.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

wild rose





Not the only bush near the house, but the only one I can see from indoors, which is where I'm staying a few more days. The locust pollen is almost over, but the wild roses will be over soon, too.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Noah?

...I think I've got a job for you.




That's not the shadow of the rock you see behind the rain gauge; that's the water level at five-thirty this afternoon, about 23 hours after I emptied it yesterday.

102 cm/4.0 inches.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Derby Day rain

It started raining last night, and continued to rain until just before sunset. I went out to get the rain gauge at dusk, and brought it indoors to look at.


It's not easy to read the numbers with real eyes, and the camera can't manage it at all, but you can see how full it was. 60 cm/2.4 inches. Not as much as the weather forecast threatened, but a lot.


Now I wait to see how much water falls tomorrow. It is definitely time to get out Winnie the Pooh and read "In which Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water."