Category: Journal (Page 1 of 968)

My lemongrass died of thirst while I was traveling. I decided to just dump the whole thing into the green bin, because the roots were completely filling the pot. I turned it upside down, and one of the stems got pinched between the pot and my hand. As it fell into the bin and slid past my palm, a piece of it broke off and stuck into my skin. Ouch!

After much squeezing and using of fingernail clippers, I got it out. it was so tiny. In the picture below, the splinter is above the wound.

This week, I’ve been on call for jury duty. How they do it in California, is that you’re selected for a week of time, during which you call or check online each night to see if you should come in the next morning.

I don’t really like that it’s a whole week, instead of just one day, like it was in Maryland, but am grateful that it’s at least easy to reschedule. When I first got the notice, it was for May.

I haven’t been called in this past week, and last night I didn’t even get the reminder text telling me to check my status. I signed on anyway, to see what it said:

I wonder how often I’ll get scheduled for this. In Maryland, it was pretty much once per year.

I did some stuff again yesterday. I think it’s just my usual procrastination… I put all these things off until the last minute, and now I have nervous energy to try to finish them.

Since I couldn’t plant the lantanas in the palm tree bed, I went looking for something that would do well in the partial shade. I got some pink impatiens. It was hard to plant them in some areas, because the palm tree roots are so thick.

I finished the corner in the kitchen too. It took a few more patchings and dryings. It took a long time. I tried to do some other things while I was waiting.

The sign I got this summer at the Seward Fourth of July courthouse square is now censored as well. The letters were raised, so I sanded before painting, and it left a spot, but I don’t think it’s too bad:

I finally split open the geode I got more than eighth months ago. I was digging around in my garage for some tools and found it. I had been taking such a long time to open it, because I was trying to be careful, and split it longways. I had even used a chisel on it for a while.

This time, when I found it, I just took it outside, put it on the cement, and whacked it really hard. It broke width-wise, but it was still pretty. It’s full off… quartz? I guess? It looks like rock candy to me. Mmm… sugar…

At the end of this past school year, I got some gift money from class parents. When I get money or gift cards, instead of using them for groceries or or bills or whatever, I try to do something special with it.

I ordered a reproduction of Narya, one of the three elven rings of power from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings stories. Cirdan the shipwright gave it to Gandalf when he arrived it Middle Earth. He said: “Take this ring, Master, for your labours will be heavy; but it will support you in the weariness that you have taken upon yourself. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill.”

It looks like the one from the movies. I ordered it at the beginning of the summer, but it had to come from Georgia – the country, so it took a while. It got here while I was in the Philippines.

My rings are usually silver, but this one is gold plated. Still, it will be part of my regular rotation.