(no subject)
Nov. 20th, 2005 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urocyonI'm nursing a hot drink and hoping my toes will thaw out within the next hour or so. I should have learned by now that Chucks (or, in this case, Chuck-alikes--heresy!) are just not suitable for spending any amount of time outside here, except in the middle of the summer, with the ground that never really gets heated by the sun. After peeking at that page, I am now feeling an insane urge to acquire at least one pair in velvet, however. :) They're comfy, the way my feet are shaped.
Despite the way the day started, I've had a reasonably productive afternoon. In a happy coincidence, the sun and I gave out at about the same time. I finally got out and planted some mini narcissus bulbs (still have about 10 to plant), along with some 'Rococo' parrot tulips. While I was out there--looking for the trowel, in all honesty--I had to rip down the frost-nipped morning glory vines (ripping loose one side of some bamboo trellising in the process--ah well) and do some other general trimming and tidying work inside the garden wall. I guess I'll get around to the beds on its periphery this coming week.
I'm glad I got something accomplished, but am feeling a bit wiped out now. I'm actually rather glad![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vatine is off gaming still, so I feel like there's more grace period before trying to throw together supper (whether he expects it or not, I seem to). The past couple of days have been frustrating. It's been one of those times that it's hard to tell whether I'm achy and tired from a virus, or whether the fibro is acting up--or maybe a combo of the two. Thank goodness for the OTC painkillers with codeine here.* This was not exactly helped by the Stupid Human Trick I pulled this morning. Lunging to grab a glass out of a cabinet when half-asleep is the sort of thing I should know not to do by now, unless I want to end up tottering on one foot while clinging to the cabinet door, trying in vain to regain my balance.** Crashing to the floor while feeling stupid about it is not a great way to start the day. At least the begging cats had the sense to run for it. *wry grin* A bit of a rest and letting more painkillers kick in is a good idea before tackling anything in the kitchen now, at any rate.
Ah, I did find out why there was nary an apple snail to be found hereabouts. It turns out that there's a great aquatic pet shop I'd somehow managed to miss before, Wetpets, just a few blocks from the station. They have about everything else imaginable in there--I'm definitely going back there when setting up a livebearer tank--but I didn't spot any apple snails. I asked a guy I believe is one of the owners about it, and he said that they're nigh impossible to get hold of these days, thanks to something to do with import licensing (and was very helpful in general). So I wound up ordering a couple of golden apple snails from the online snail specialists I found before, along with another Asolene spixi. The one we already have is now known as The Rat, after the Swedish comic rat Spix. (Yup, you may detect Ingvar's hand there.) Who knows, maybe the pet shop will take any excess snails off me once they start breeding; certainly no import concerns there.
Ingvar was a sweetheart yesterday, clearing off the counter between the dishwasher and the fridge. (My experimental batch of elderberry wine is now settling there, for bottling.) I had good intentions regarding the kitchen today, but got distracted by gardening--how strange. ;)
Apropos of nothing, after doing more reading, I am even more convinced that I would not like to have lived in England during the Stuart period. I have lain off writing anything concerning the abysmal formal education offered us--not all unintentionally, I imagine--spurred in part by reading more history recently, for fear of any meaning being lost in ranting more suited to a rabid wolverine, but I think I'm starting to calm down a bit. At least one essay is likely to show up in the near future, probably with a link here.
* My mom gave my uncle a box of paracetamol with codeine for what he insists is gout, and he also found it funnier than hell that it's available OTC while my doctor acted as if I were requesting a speedball chaser for Dilaudid when I asked for a diphenhydramine (Benadryl) prescription. It's apparently only available as a sleep aid here, and can get expensive OTC when it works well for one's allergies.
** Being groggy is the main exception to my having learnt not to overdrive my headlights in movement. It is still a conscious effort at times, but I can do it, unlike my biological father. When my parents lived in Mainz, he managed to head out of their flat at a half run and fall down a steep flight of well-waxed wooden steps at least four times a week. (Were I the landlady, I would have relented after about the third incident and put down some sort of carpet runner out of very real concern that he'd break his fool head, instead of just repeatedly trotting from the other side of the house crying "Willi! Willi!", but...)
Despite the way the day started, I've had a reasonably productive afternoon. In a happy coincidence, the sun and I gave out at about the same time. I finally got out and planted some mini narcissus bulbs (still have about 10 to plant), along with some 'Rococo' parrot tulips. While I was out there--looking for the trowel, in all honesty--I had to rip down the frost-nipped morning glory vines (ripping loose one side of some bamboo trellising in the process--ah well) and do some other general trimming and tidying work inside the garden wall. I guess I'll get around to the beds on its periphery this coming week.
I'm glad I got something accomplished, but am feeling a bit wiped out now. I'm actually rather glad
vatine is off gaming still, so I feel like there's more grace period before trying to throw together supper (whether he expects it or not, I seem to). The past couple of days have been frustrating. It's been one of those times that it's hard to tell whether I'm achy and tired from a virus, or whether the fibro is acting up--or maybe a combo of the two. Thank goodness for the OTC painkillers with codeine here.* This was not exactly helped by the Stupid Human Trick I pulled this morning. Lunging to grab a glass out of a cabinet when half-asleep is the sort of thing I should know not to do by now, unless I want to end up tottering on one foot while clinging to the cabinet door, trying in vain to regain my balance.** Crashing to the floor while feeling stupid about it is not a great way to start the day. At least the begging cats had the sense to run for it. *wry grin* A bit of a rest and letting more painkillers kick in is a good idea before tackling anything in the kitchen now, at any rate.Ah, I did find out why there was nary an apple snail to be found hereabouts. It turns out that there's a great aquatic pet shop I'd somehow managed to miss before, Wetpets, just a few blocks from the station. They have about everything else imaginable in there--I'm definitely going back there when setting up a livebearer tank--but I didn't spot any apple snails. I asked a guy I believe is one of the owners about it, and he said that they're nigh impossible to get hold of these days, thanks to something to do with import licensing (and was very helpful in general). So I wound up ordering a couple of golden apple snails from the online snail specialists I found before, along with another Asolene spixi. The one we already have is now known as The Rat, after the Swedish comic rat Spix. (Yup, you may detect Ingvar's hand there.) Who knows, maybe the pet shop will take any excess snails off me once they start breeding; certainly no import concerns there.
Ingvar was a sweetheart yesterday, clearing off the counter between the dishwasher and the fridge. (My experimental batch of elderberry wine is now settling there, for bottling.) I had good intentions regarding the kitchen today, but got distracted by gardening--how strange. ;)
Apropos of nothing, after doing more reading, I am even more convinced that I would not like to have lived in England during the Stuart period. I have lain off writing anything concerning the abysmal formal education offered us--not all unintentionally, I imagine--spurred in part by reading more history recently, for fear of any meaning being lost in ranting more suited to a rabid wolverine, but I think I'm starting to calm down a bit. At least one essay is likely to show up in the near future, probably with a link here.
* My mom gave my uncle a box of paracetamol with codeine for what he insists is gout, and he also found it funnier than hell that it's available OTC while my doctor acted as if I were requesting a speedball chaser for Dilaudid when I asked for a diphenhydramine (Benadryl) prescription. It's apparently only available as a sleep aid here, and can get expensive OTC when it works well for one's allergies.
** Being groggy is the main exception to my having learnt not to overdrive my headlights in movement. It is still a conscious effort at times, but I can do it, unlike my biological father. When my parents lived in Mainz, he managed to head out of their flat at a half run and fall down a steep flight of well-waxed wooden steps at least four times a week. (Were I the landlady, I would have relented after about the third incident and put down some sort of carpet runner out of very real concern that he'd break his fool head, instead of just repeatedly trotting from the other side of the house crying "Willi! Willi!", but...)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-20 08:52 pm (UTC)If you can, send pictures once you've got your tanks set up. [grin]
I was just thinking yesterday of how unpleasant earlier periods of history are likely to have been. Eek. [rueful grin] Some better than others, of course, but the limited roles by gender and financial class would really tick me off if I knew there were better options available that were not being used. I look forward to reading your eventual essay.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-23 03:02 pm (UTC)Occasionally things just smack one in the face, delving a bit deeper, even keeping in mind that it wasn't any great shakes for most of the population. (That's certainly not the only place and time, just the one to strike me so at the moment.)
I look forward to reading your eventual essay.
"Eventual" may, indeed, be the operative word there. With my particular take on the butterfly mind, I fully intend to turn out things, but find myself off on something else before it happens, ad infinitum. Maybe the already-overdone "sorry state of education" thingy will be one of the exceptions. *wry smile* Could well be summed up by my mom's observation that both of us would have been better off just set loose with our library cards, rather than forced to sit in a classroom all day.