It’s finally starting to seem like spring. After the joke of a snowstorm a week ago–we got so much that there are still unmelted patches–temperatures in the 40s seem delightful. Saturday I went jogging (which was a success in terms of my foot not hurting as well as being out there in short sleeves). Sunday I sat on the deck for a while after turning the compost piles for the first time since fall and pulling garlic mustard from the backyard.
I’ve found two purple crocuses in my yard. I assume they were planted by squirrels during the great crocus feast. Too bad they didn’t put them back where they found them next to the driveway.
In short: Spring! Warm weather! Next weekend, I need to Do Stuff with my vegetable garden. It needs better walls to hold the dirt in and keep out the grass. And it needs seeds. The chard, by the way, seems to be definitely dead.
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By now any of you reading this via Google Reader don’t need me to tell you that GR will be killed in a few months. I’ve switched my feed reading to Feedly. I’m impressed at how prepared they were for the influx of users. No downtime, and a series of blog posts welcoming new users and app updates to improve the interface somewhat.
So far it seems pretty decent, though I have several problems with the iOS app. I can live without offline reading, but I’d like a better way to save to Instapaper than by emailing (without killing the built-in “save for later” feature).
At any rate, I’ve been reading a lot fewer blogs than I used to. I’m trying to read more books, though lately that’s been derailed again by a) all the Coursera and edX classes I’m taking, and b) discovering that my library provides magazines through Zinio. And also, sewing books. I need to work on making a dent in my backlog of novels. I’m starting to feel like Henry Bemis in “Time Enough At Last.”
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Last Monday was my last sewing class. I’m not signing up for the next one because I want to consolidate what I’ve learned on these first three projects before moving on to new things. (Also, as I’ve been dropping evening activities I’m really getting to like having my evenings free. I feel less rushed and I have more writing time.)
Last week we finished our t-shirts. Mine was…a learning experience. It fits tighter than I’d like, the neckline is way too low (even though we already raised it by an inch!), and some of the sewing went less than well. On the bright side, I picked a really difficult fabric, which means that using a cotton knit should seem easier, and I’m not afraid of using slippery knits next time.
I just hope I remember how to do a neck band by the time I get a chance to try again.