Another crazy day yesterday. I just do not have "normal" workdays anymore. There's always so much to do -- now that I've taken on half of the duties of my former colleague, whose position has gone part-time -- that I'm streaking from one thing to the next. On the plus side, I got in 14,480 steps according to my Apple health app, so maybe I worked off that chocolate horror of a donut from the day before.
I forgot to mention our biggest news from Monday, which is that we once again have a door on our kitchen cabinet. Remember when it fell off last August? Well, I reported it to property management, but nothing was done until late January, when the property inspector visited and raised the issue in his report. Suddenly, the door was scheduled for repair. Whatever it takes, I suppose.
As you can see, things are happening in the garden. We have a crocus coming up (above) and the buds on the daffodils are yellow, though none of them have opened yet.
Also...
...the stolen citrus tree, which is currently spending the winter just inside the back door, has produced an anemic little fruit! I don't fully understand this tree. It produces white buds which never seem to open into the kinds of citrus blossoms that I remember from my years in Florida, and somehow it occasionally manages a meager little fruit like this. But I doubt the fruit (which I think is a mandarin orange) will ever reach a size suitable for eating or any other use. We shall see.
Dave and I finished "Shrinking" on Apple TV, and even though some of the characters are a little too clever and thus a bit annoying, we're looking forward to Season 3. We also started the third episode of the new season of "Severance" last night, but we've realized we have no idea what's going on. It's possible that we both fell asleep for a portion of the first two episodes, so I think we're going to back up and start the season again.
Finally, while I take a certain amount of pride and satisfaction in blogging every day without fail -- I like to think of myself as a constant in an inconstant world -- I can't hold a candle to this woman, who has written in her diary every single day since 1936, and is still going! (That link is to The Washington Post, which has a pay wall. I am posting it as a "gift article" because you should then be able to read it, but you may have to enter an e-mail address or somehow register with the site. I'm not sure.)
I am rather impressed by your step count. I feel good about myself if I clock 6,000.
ReplyDelete"Minor family arguments", was the key for me to enter my email. It was a nice feel good story.
It was an unusual day! Yesterday was 11,921. That's mostly from walking to and from work.
DeleteI saw some fully open daffodils on the dog walk yesterday!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed that you post every day and I would be deprived and worried if you didn't.
I haven't seen any open ones yet! I'm glad you're looking out for me, Frances. :)
DeleteHooray for daffodils.. a welcome sign of Spring. Ours are just showing yellow tips at the moment but should be bursting forth soon.
ReplyDeleteI envy you your citrus tree and would love to have one here but I doubt it would survive our weather conditions.
It would definitely need to be indoors or in a greenhouse. We keep ours indoors in the winter. They need a sunny location, and then in the summer they're fine outside.
DeleteWonderful story of the 100-year-old diarist who still writes by hand. My great-nephew, now 21, wasn’t even taught cursive in school in South Dakota although I’ve heard they’ve reinstituted it. SG inscribed something for him when he was 14 and he couldn’t read it. Anyway, beautiful crocus and too bad about the citrus.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the kids I see now have terrible handwriting. No one is taught "penmanship" in the way that we were.
DeleteHow do you like Severance? We started watching it a week or two ago. We just got to season 2 and watched the first episode. I shudder every time I think of living as an "innie" ! The show creeps me out, to be honest, but I still enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWe LOVED the first season. It was very innovative. The second season is promising but as I said, we had to re-start it because I just wasn't getting it on the first viewing. We saw the first season several years ago and there's a lot to remember -- the brief "recap" at the beginning of Season Two doesn't cut it.
DeleteThe lady who has written daily since 1936 is an object lesson to us all. Her diaries must make fascinating reading.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that her style is to write just a few sentences for each day. I'm more verbose! LOL
DeleteYour step count and dedication to blogging are impressive. Can you explain "innie" I've not heard the term nor have I seen the program.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how much you know about the program, so forgive me if I'm telling you what you already know. It's about workers at a corporation who choose to work on a "severed" floor, which means they have a chip installed in their brain that disconnects their work lives from their lives in the outside world. Thus, when they're at work, they have no memory or knowledge of their home life and vice versa. The "innie" is the version of the worker while they're at work.
DeleteI really like the fact that you write every day. It helps on bad days. When life seems crazy, it helps to have a few minutes of normalcy and consistency.
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm glad. That's exactly what I'm going for. I'm hardly the only blogger who writes daily but I think giving readers a consistent experience is important.
DeleteI am not sure that a librarian should be doing 14,480 steps in a single work day. He or she be aiming for no more than a hundred steps - just like your boss who sits on her throne munching "Pringles" and barking out orders between naps.
ReplyDeleteHa! Don't get me fired, YP!
DeleteYou are a "constant" in my life. I check in with you every morning right after I check my email. Congratulations on the citrus, I have a lemon tree that is 55 years old and has niver had a fruit.
ReplyDeleteCheers Peter
It's great to know that people are reading daily, even if they're not commenting every time. (Which is fine!) Some citrus trees just don't bear, or don't bear much. I'm not sure why that is. A genetic thing, I suppose.
DeleteThat tree is certainly a sign of hope! And you do get people trained to expect a daily entry here. I've started varying the time I publish because of people getting worried that I wasn't right there on the dot and emailing to be sure I'm okay.
ReplyDeleteAh hah! I wondered why your schedule had changed.
DeleteI know other bloggers who have had that same experience! I haven't tried varying my posting schedule because I always write first thing in the morning.
DeleteIt's almost like a real kitchen with all the doors, eh?
ReplyDeleteImagine! Cabinets with DOORS!
DeleteThat poor little tree. It is trying.
ReplyDeleteI am so angry at WAPO that I'm not giving it my email which is ridiculous. I'm just being spiteful.
Glad you got your cabinet door back on. It's the little things.
I think WAPO is trying, despite its owner. It's not the journalists' fault that they're being reined in.
DeleteNothing is blooming here, of course, but we do expect a good snow storm today. Kids have e-learning at home but my grandsons may pop over later for sledding and shoveling if their Dad can manage the roads...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you post everyday and I appreciate the time you take to put together a post with photos! Always interesting, Steve!
Wow, it's definitely still winter where you are! I actually started this blog expressly to show off my photography, such as it was way back then. That's why photos are such a significant part of my posts.
DeleteWell, the anemic fruit looks pretty good in your photo. Fertilizer ?
ReplyDeleteI haven't added any, if that's what you mean, but maybe I should!
DeleteMaybe your little citrus tree is a kumquat. My daffodils foliage is up but no buds but yours always bloom before mine. My narcissus is blooming. I noticed the bloom stalks last week and the first flowers opened yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI used my plant ID app on it, and it said mandarin orange, but I don't know how good the app is at distinguishing one type of citrus from another. (They all look similar to me!) Narcissi are one of the earliest seasonal bloomers!
DeleteMy grandson found two seeds in his mandarin orange and insisted I plant them. I guess we'll see if they grow. On the radio yesterday I heard a woman talk about planting the top of a grocery store pineapple. It took two years to grow but she got a full sized fruit out of it and apparently it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteI am quite envious of your garden and flowers right now. We've had a ton of snow this winter and everything is still asleep in my garden.
I've never heard of anyone who's successfully grown a citrus from seed, but I suppose it must happen. I think a lot of them are so hybridized now that they're not even fertile. Good luck!
DeleteI have heard of the pineapple thing. I had a friend who did that, grew a pineapple, and then the squirrels ate it!
One day her family is going to be so thrilled to have those. Well, I would be. Love your wee bud of fruit. And three cheers for the cabinet door. That had to be annoying!
ReplyDeleteIt actually wasn't too bad because it was a fairly photogenic cabinet (full of matching dishes) as opposed to, say, a cabinet full of food packaging or cereal boxes!
DeleteLovely crocus.
ReplyDeleteMy crocus and daffodils are still beneath 6 inches of snow and more to come tonight.
I can't wait to see it open!
DeleteThat's a great step count. I would only get that in the good old days when I ran, walked and sometimes mowed the lawn. Now I'm usually between 8,000 and 11,000. Good enough! l thought Harrison Ford gave a master class in acting in the last episode of Season 2 Shrinking. I've rewatched that many times. Severance is dense; it's like Dark in some ways with its alternate realities. Did you watch Dark?
ReplyDeleteThat IS good enough, I agree. And no, I didn't watch "Dark." I don't think I even know what that is. Should I look into it?
DeleteI hope you're not literally streaking in the library, Steve! That might be against school policies. 😂
ReplyDeleteLOL -- I may be crazy but not THAT crazy.
DeleteThe deer are terrorizing our orange tree. They don't eat the lemon or grapefruit tree leaves, but they love orange. We're going to have to get deer netting to deny them access, which is such a pain in the butt to put up.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I can see how orange leaves might be sweeter than grapefruit or lemon? Deer are one problem that I am very fortunate not to have.
DeleteI hope your pay has increased 50% too! Curious to see what becomes of that brave little indoor citrus fruit. We have another storm forecast for tonight and tomorrow - snow, followed by ice pellets, followed by freezing rain. Nothing is growing yet, everything is cowering underground :)
ReplyDeleteHa! If only!
DeleteI'll keep an eye on the fruit and report back.
The WAPO article about the woman in my home state journaling was fascinating. Thanks for the hat-tip. And keep Dave unaware of that crocus bud - he may be out there trying to harvest saffron from it! 😀
ReplyDeleteHe always jokes about taking saffron from our crocuses! (Croci?)
DeleteHooray for cupboard doors! Maybe the citrus tree needs a pollinator, so put it outside in the spring when bees are busy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but how could a pollinator even get into those flowers? They never seem to open completely. I usually do set it outside when the weather warms up. (I say "usually" -- I've only had it a year and I did it last year and intend to do it again!)
Delete