Spring Reading

The library has been very good to me lately. Just look at this pile of books, begging for hours of reading! And while my time has been divided between gardening, knitting and writing I have managed 20 minutes here and there to browse and dream. I am also one of those people that can't go to sleep without 30 minutes of reading beforehand so that is usually when I crack one of these open. Not in the photo is Wally Lamb's recent book - and that's because I've been reading it every spare moment I get.

With gardening I am trying to channel my energy into urban homesteading, edible landscaping and preserving. The vegetable garden is mostly in, the perennial beds are bursting with blooms and plans are in the works for a poulet chalet (ala The Backyard Homestead, which was a gift from my MIL). The herb garden is lovely, our fruits are flowering, and our CSA share will start arriving soon.

This is the second full summer in our house and we are slowly getting things to a place that we like. This spring we established a raised bed for the vegetable/kitchen garden, created a compost pile for yard waste (the one for food waste is too small for both) and installed a rain barrel. But, we have a huge overgrown bush-like thing growing in our front yard. It completely covers one half the house, so I'm not sure what we'll put in its place. It also hides a severely cracked window well, so we need something that will provide a screen for that, but I want something with more character than the nameless-overgrown-green mess that is currently there. Maybe arbor vitae? Boxwood? Containers with vegetables? This is the puzzle for this summer.

As for knitting, I can only take so much row after row after row of grey yarn (even though it is for my husband). So I've branched out and started two more projects. The fist is a pair of socks from Knitted Socks East and West, recommended to me by Melissa. The second is a colorful stash-busting baby surprise jacket. This one is will be made from worsted weight yarns, a combination or different colors to use odd balls I have hanging around. The pattern for the bsj is so easy to knit and lends itself really well to mixing and matching all sorts of different yarns. I wasn't expecting to knit another one of these again so soon, but it sure is fun.





I also recently accepted a part-time research position on campus that will help ease the final stages of my dissertation research and writing. My days will be more structured this summer, but hopefully that will also mean lots and lots of progress towards my degree.