just a time from now

 

While the weather is still reasonable, work commenced on: Project_BACKYARD_29 through 31.

And I have photos to prove it :)
Up until last week, our backyard lay, if not in ruin, then in sadness as can be seen by the below photo with Aaron in the foreground and Orlando and Alfredo, our contractors, in the background. So, David made a plan as can also be seen below wherein, the fence that can be sen in the first photo is onthe left-hand side of the plan.

Next photo is our indecision about how to do the walkway curve. Alfredo was so patient with us as Aaron and I, obviously, kept moving that one truly important line this way and that until we finally got it right and the bender board was installed. Next, we picked out and had delivered the stone, the tan bark, the concrete sand (for under the stone) and the pea gravel.


Next is all the bender board installed so the outline finally shows. The black paper-ish stuff is weed blocker we had installed several years ago and which did its job in that this backyard was once full of weeds and now isn't. Unlike the rest of the yards, front, court, curb, and side, which, after last year's rains rains rains, all grow weeds profusely. We reinstalled new paper-ish stuff so its good work will continue on into the future. Below left, Orlando and Alfredo have installed the sand. Then the rocks. Then the pea gravel and tan bark.

And now, at least, a good foundation has been installed. Next PLANTS!!! And pretty POTS!!! And trellises!! And! And! And!

YAY!! Except, seriously, we have only just begun :)

Update-wise, I've got nothing for March. I completed a single task, one about finding a mantra which I have. Memorizing it which I have. And using it which I have been sort of, kind of. Still and all, I'm counting #35 as done.

So mainly this is a photo post, a sad one for me, about the dying of a tree, my beautiful courtyard flowering plum. It's demise began with the dying of a branch a couple of years ago which led to the dying of several branches last year which lead in this sadness this year.

First photo is what it should have looked like a couple of weeks ago.
           Second is what it looked like the day we had it removed.

The third photo is what we should have, a lovely leafed-out plum.
          The fourth photo is what we do have, emptiness. BTW the plant in the first photo is now taller than me! It was the stress of the drought, that brought some kind of boring bug, which did it in. Problem is, the bug attacks all trees, except some citrus, so time was of the essence before the problem spread. I'll update this later when something new, and smaller, has been planted :)

On a happier note, Aaron delighted because we are cooking up his Grandma Lucy's fat little corn fritters which we eat with chili :)


***

1. What is the most important lesson you have learned from your love life?
It's variable and, for me, has required a flexible approach, the balance between being the oak and standing my ground, and being the willow and giving in. Give in too much and I'll lose myself, stand my ground too much and I'll lose my relationship. The most important lesson for me has been realizing the need for middle ground, for compromise.

2. When it comes to love, are you an optimist or a cynic?
In the main, a cynic. In my heart of heart of hearts maybe I'm more optimistic but, real life has taught me that a cautious,more cynical approach keeps expectations more reasonable.

3. You see a long lost ex walking down the street. Are you more likely to approach him/her or just keep walking?
Depends on which ex but more likely than not, I'd approach

4. Do you believe in the idea of a soul mate?
I did when I was much younger but now, not so much. Too fatalistic. Too starry-eyed.

5. Care to share any relationship stories?
My now husband and I met in Art School, Painting 101, 48 years ago and for 15 years, we dated each other and we dated other people, both of us realizing that we needed time to grow, eventually also realizing that despite all the twists and turns, we always ended up coming back to each other. Then on that most happy day in 1987, David said the words I'd been longing to hear --yeah, I guess you're right, I guess we should get married-- and we did much to the surprise of our friends and family  And, unlike most of our friends, we haven't divorced, we remain together, and our life is full to brimming with not just our history but with our future. Despite the fact that now and then, we want to kill each other in disturbing literal ways, we continue to plan for tomorrow. He retires this year, what a freaking challenge that is going to be but we'll probably be just fine. Only time will tell.

***

Journey to my original post where not much Uncompleted Black at all has turned Completed Blue but progress is made of a sort.

53_SET-UP 4 Drawings w/ paper
     I know what my next four drawings, my yearly goal, are going to be. I have a series I'd like to do and have the paper and media all ready to go and can clearly see the images in my mind, a combining of contrasting realities. The thing is to actually start, the hard part really.
          Instead, I've been working in my sketch journal, doing my version of fairly complete doodles, one per page, that are adding to my repertoire of how to draw. I finished one of these last year and hope to do the same this year.

65_Caught in the Light of His Eyes
66_Everyone Who Mattered to Them Was There
     These two are a part of my embracing of nostalgia, a longing for a simpler time, re-reading and re-editing some of my old stories. I miss, so much miss, writing but am uninclined at the moment to start anything new so, doing this will have to suffice. And so far it has :)

Otherwise, I fairly well stayed on track with my weekly and monthly Ongoing Red tasks so, February was okay. Not great but okay.

I do have a couple of random photos to offer up about cooking/ baking since that is a main task for this year, the task being to actually get myself to like cooking since doing so is something I pretty much consistently have to do and have never cared for.

Above was for Seafood Wednesday. The shrimp could have been a bit more golden but otherwise, this meal was very good and the only one I remembered to take a photo of all month :)
Below for the goal: Bake twice per month_my father's recipe for brownies which were a hit.

And finally, a photo Aaron asked me to take from, obviously, the TV which he claims, sadly and rightly so, is indicative of our American times.


Le sigh

And they just keep getting more amazing-er and more amazing-er

Dueling Bands in the Night
Image Credit & License: Ruslan Merzlyakov (RMS Photography)

Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly seen band is the one on the right and is the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy, so that from inside, this disk appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way around the sky. The Milky Way band can also be seen all year -- if out away from city lights. The less commonly seem band, on the left, is zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our Solar System. Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some evenings in the north, particularly during the months of March and April, this ribbon of zodiacal light can appear quite prominent after sunset. It has recently been determined that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled by comets that have passed near Jupiter. Only on certain times of the year will the two bands be seen side by side, in parts of the sky, like this. Here the two streaks of light appear like the continuation of the banks of the Liver River into the sky. The featured panorama of consecutive exposures was recorded about three weeks ago in North Jutland, Denmark.