Good morning. Hello. How are you? #1124
A lovely weekend of time with my daughter and time in the greenhouse
Good morning. Oh man. Monday. Ok. I can do this. I do not want to do this, but I can do this. At least Jane went to school without complaining. Really could have gone either way. Big fit at bedtime — adjustments, no doubt, from Daylight Savings Time. Man I do not give a flying f—k that it is supposed to be “Daylight Saving Time” with no S at the end of “Saving.” That is dumb and I hate it. Also I do not care whether right now is Standard Time or Daylight SavingS Time. Daylight Savings Time occurs at exactly two moments a year, they last for a day or so until you get used to the new time. Then you are back to Standard Time, also known as “bearable time.”
It fucking sucks that it is dark when I wake up again, sucks that it’s dark when Jane wakes up, sucks that it’s dark when we go out to the car. Something about going out to the car when it’s before dawn, in the cold, (because it’s now colder at 7:20 AM because it’s earlier) reminds me of getting up at an ungodly hour to go to high school. I do not relish those memories. I mean, high school memories, sure, but not the memories of the cold and dark.
I am listening to the new Ariana Grande because she was on SNL and she was very cute and pleasant and I kinda liked the dreamy poppiness of both songs she played. But the rest of the album does not seem to be my cup of tea, alas. Also she didn’t use any caps and I disapprove because I am old.
I would like to clarify that paying $38 to see a touring band is fine. My friend Todd, who tours a lot pointed out that virtually every component of touring has gotten more expensive: gas, hotels, Denny’s. Actually he didn’t say Denny’s, but I bet Denny’s has gotten way more expensive and I bet a tour without a Denny’s stop is rare, eh, maybe not if you’re over 40. Do bands over 40 tour healthily? No sex, drugs and moons over my-hammy? I bet there are bands that tour and only eat at vegan restaurants. Man try that in the 90’s. Grumble grumble. But yes, I agree. $38 is totally fine for a touring band. Especially in an excellent night club.
Lovely weekend of gardening. Seeds are in the ground! Well, they are in the seed trays, and they are in the raised beds in the greenhouse. It is so exciting. I love my greenhouse so much, I spent as much time as I could in there this weekend. Still much to do to get it set up but it has power and music and lights and it is just awesome. I need a dwarf banana tree where can I buy a dwarf banana tree. I want tiny bananas. It got up to 90°F in the greenhouse yesterday, and all of the automatic, chemically powered, hydraulic pistons worked and automatically opened the louvres and the vents to cool it off. It is so magical. It just rules.
Lotta experimenting going on this year. Not 100% sure how to make use of this greenhouse in the summer months. Except squirrel protection, definitely squirrel protection. In the greenhouse beds, I planted anything that I had a hard time keeping squirrels from: tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, bok choi, arugula. But I also planted some stuff I have no problem growing outside: onions, beets, carrots. Not sure why I did that. Experimentation. Also planted two experimental bean bushes and an experimental cucumber. I am not sure how things are going to get pollinated. Are the bees gonna find things? Am I going to have to hand-pollinate? Do I need to go to college to learn how to pollinate? The only thing I planted in there — I think — that needs pollination is the cucumber. I figure I can learn on one.
In the seed trays I planted all my pepper plants, all my basil plants, broccoli, cauliflower, determinate tomatoes, sage, oregano, watermelon. I got them all set up on heating mats, on the growing shelf, and then I took two of my (many, many) extra shelf brackets and made a little shelf above the shelf for a grow light. Then I took one of my (many, many) grow lights and spray painted the outside shell black and set it above the plants. SO. I have the big, overhead grow lights for the raised beds, and a dedicated little grow light for the seedlings. It looks so great I am so excited.
There is more to plant but I need to get the beds set up outside the greenhouse. This is the next big project. I started to work on this. Assembled two new birdies beds, laid them out, put a trellis arch between them. They need leveling. But I think it is going to look really cool. I was also going to level and place my last large, long Birdies Bed in front of a window on the front of the house and I was gonna plant tulips in there but I did not get through all that yet because I needed one more of the new, improved, Birdies Beds support kits that keep the big beds from bulging. So I gotta wait for that to arrive in the mail.
A lot of the project, actually, is doing stuff, running into a snag, realizing you need some obscure piece of kit, ordering it, then holding off on that portion of the project till the bit or bob shows up in the mail. I am also low on 1/2” tubing to install the drip irrigation, which I would really like to do before we head out to Boston in… (checks calendar)… eighteen days or so. But honestly, I checked the moisture of the beds and they were still moist from an initial watering I did three weeks ago. I’m sure this will get worse once they have plants in them, but we’re only gonna be gone a week or so I bet I can make it.
Also, when I was working on the new two-beds-plus-arches combination outside the greenhouse, I got to busted out my special can of spray paint that is marking paint that you spray upside down to spray things on the ground. It was very exciting.
Exciting times in the greenhouse.
Have not watched the Oscars yet I guess I will try and install the ABC app and watch the highlights tonight, maybe? I saw about half of the nominees, so I can’t really form opinions, except I liked Oppenheimer just fine but I don’t know if it was best picture quality. Some years I am on it with the Oscars, some years I am not, I guess this is a year I am not on it. I will get to Poor Things one of these days. Now that it’s on streaming. Even though it is two long.
Petition for a new Oscar: best film between ninety and one hundred and 10 minutes.
Eh, that is a pretty lukewarm take.
Lots of time spent with Jane this weekend — Bedtime Friday and Sunday night, Saturday and Sunday mornings. She is demanding full-time, fully engaged, interactive play at all times. Gone are the days of getting anything done while you’re with her. No more YouTube either. It is all very say, but, then, playing with your daughter is really fun, except it’s also kinda dumb. She makes up game rules constantly and is always rigging games in her favor, and you are trying to be a good parent and, like, discourage such self dealing but also who cares.
BUT there was one moment yesterday where we started doing drum beats and she started learning about four-on-the-floor and one-and-uh and whatnot and it was actually really awesome and I enjoyed that part very much.
Oh there was another part where we got to build a fort and I may be fifty and a curmudgeon and not enamored with childhood or trying to relive mine, but man I fuckin love a good pillow fort and that shit was super fun.
Also the new catchphrases she’s learning are “I got a bad case of X” and “My mistake.” She fell off her chair and was laying on the ground and said “my mistake” and it was super cute.
All right let’s go get some work done. I hope you are doing just great. I hope your weekend was swell. I hope you got some seeds in the ground.
Today’s Media of the Day is this Goth playlist to warm your cold black heart:
Mia Goth is so lucky to have the last name Goth. Wait is that her real last name? Wow. Mia Gypsy Mello da Silva Goth. That is quite a handful of a name. Own it.
XOXO Gossip Girl