Knitting the Ebony vest has gone quickly. I rarely knit with bulky yarn. It's rather nice not having a project take a long time. One of my last was a knit lace shawl with fingering yarn.
I wasn't feeling very good about my current job search. I looked at the purple merino pieces I had knit for my vest and decided to work on them.
I was pleased to find out I hadn't lost my skill and knowledge. I had previously figured out how to knit the pockets and attach them. I'd never done so before. My next step was to pick up and knit the ribbing on the pockets. Even though I'm not keen on picking up and knitting rib, doing so did a lot to make me feel better, both physically and emotionally. I already finished the shoulder seams and I started sewing up the first side seam. My coping mechanism is working.
The two-storey Victorian house I live in has a small front garden instead of a grassy lawn. A garden there was a very good idea, especially since the land slopes. It has problems, though. The major plants are non-native, Japanese shrubs that have to be kept trimmed. Their berries aren't eaten by the native birds. One bush was eight feet tall. I attacked it the year the house was painted. The lilac bush was planted too near to the steps.
Up until this year the upstairs neighbor and I have kept the bushes trimmed way back. The lilac bush got out of control. This year the garden was a bit too much. I had the stress of waiting to find out the future of my job of over ten years, my spring outdoor allergies, and newly discovered food intolerances.
This year the yard was taken over by milkweed and bittersweet. I don't look forward to tackling the bittersweet. Last year it took two hours to dig up the weeds in one square foot of ground. The unwanted saplings—two are maple and catalpa—are growing very well and need to be eliminated. I tried a couple different ways in the past that wouldn't harm the soil and they didn't work. Now it's time for the age-old technique of girdling the trees. I bought my first hand ax today.
September this year seems to be very promising. The weather is usually still mild. There's still a good amount of daylight. I am not working forty hours a week. I think I'm almost excited about it. The next steps are washing my gardening jeans and buying more yard waste bags. I have misplaced my gardening gloves, inside I think, and I hope my old winter gloves will work for now. I plan on cutting all the green stuff shorter so I can get at the roots. Then I should be able to girdle the trees. It's recommended to cut two bands down to the sapwood on each tree trunk. Then it'll be back to grubbing up everything else. I know butterflies love milkweed. I'm going to keep a small patch of them. The birds, beeds, and butterflies should love the native flowers I plan to grow there instead. Somehow I have to dig up the bushes. I have an idea about that though. The last change will be planting lilac bush saplings centered in the back between the windows as it should have been planted.
I don't even know what the ground is like. There is black landscape fabric down. Here it could be anything from sand, to clay, or large pieces of rock or construction debris. I guess a good sign is the milkweed, goldenrod , and hostas are very healthy.
I don't have the energy I used to and I've had difficulty getting used to that. It's something to do with menopause, poor digestion, and allergies. I really want to do this though. At least once I eliminate the unwanted growth it should be better.
The last assortment of flowers I came up with. I have the seeds, too. I know trying to grow seedlings in a less than sunny apartment that I keep cool in the winter is not a good idea. I don't have the extra room for a table of flats. Nor do I want to pay for equipment to do it well. I'm going to scatter the seeds that I have on the ground this fall and hope for the best. Since they are perennials native to this area, some should grow. Hopefully it won't take too long before the garden is a patch of colorful flowers. I think the garden will be like my genealogy, never quite finished.
I seem to remember that I started this blog when I was unemployed. Well, guess what! I am again. I spent over the last ten years as a client [customer] service representative. I was initiating requests on behalf of provider offices and imaging facilities for many different types of procedures. I came to love the job. However, my company experienced some set-backs and laid off about half its employees.
This time around is different. There are jobs out there. However, my car died the same year I moved. This past winter a friend gave me his car, and that died too. Living and working at home without a car worked well. Finding another remote job is the difficulty. With the prices things are today, I don't see being able to obtain another car. Once I do have a car, I'm not sure if I'd have any more discretionary income. I seem to recall any time I had some, I had to use it on the car. I am currently reduced to either working locally, using the local buses, or remotely, my preference. The majority of the openings locally are either retail or health-related. There could be something good hidden here, though.
I worked many years as an administrative secretary/assistant. That combined with customer service seems to get me attention. There are many positions where they want bilingual Spanish speakers. It has been a long time since I spoke Spanish well. I'm currently using Duo to relearn the language. I have surprised myself by remembering much more than I thought I would. Once I get more proficient, I think the local senior center might be able to help me find someone to practice with. The other thing I would like to learn is bookkeeping. I read "Bookkeeping for Dummies," but it's not the same thing. I'll have to see what the web can turn up for me.
Expect this to get active again. Somehow it helps the situation.
