Blast From The Past

Shortly after I got home from work yesterday, I got a message from one of my cousins.   She'd been cleaning out some stuff, and found this blast from the past:  

Yep, it's a letter from me, written when I was 9 years old.  This cousin was my first pen-pal, so see, I've been at it for quite some time, now.  The problem these days is everyone is so busy that nobody wants to write handwritten letters any more.  A quick text and you're done.  I've got a couple of pen pals in Australia who still write pretty regularly, and a couple of American pen pals, but I could always use more...hint, hint...

By the way, I think it's hilarious that I apparently thought she'd forgotten where I live.  Oh, and I see I was a grammar nazi back then, too!  

Well, I decided to be a rebel this week and not mow.  I've got a long weekend coming up, thanks to judicious scheduling of my vacation days, so I'll get it then.  I may even go up to Lowe's and see what they have up there.  For my flower beds, I mean.  Not for mowing.  Though I really do need a new lawnmower.  I guess I didn't realize when I got mine how fast and thick my grass would grow.  The mower I got just isn't powerful enough, so I want to get a bigger one.  I wish I could afford a riding mower, but my yard is in such bad shape between the voles and the dogs and the chipmunks and all.  

I sure wish I knew how to get rid of them.  The voles and the chipmunks, I mean.  Not the dog.  

Alrighty, then...

Moving right along, my zinnias are starting to bloom. 

And it looks like I might get some blooms in my wildflower bed after all. 

I've got some really tall things that are starting to bud, but I'm not sure what they are.  Some sort of Cosmos, I think.  Once they've bloomed, I'll be better able to identify them. 

My moss rose are really looking well, 

as are the marigolds I transplanted.  There are actually four, but the others look just like these.

That white stuff is crushed egg shell, said to repel snails and slugs.  It must be working, because they're growing like gangbusters.  And here is one of my lantanas, just so they don't feel left out. 

Except I did leave out my petunia and my calibrachoa.  I'll get them next time. 

Abrupt change of subject...I'd recently noticed that my washcloths are starting to get a little bit ragged around the edges, so I got some cotton yarn out and whipped out a new one.  

There will be more to follow, I'm sure.  That's about all the knitting I've done lately.  You know I'm slap worn out when I don't even feel like knitting. 

And lastly, I'm still doing those piano videos on YouTube, and have begun referring to the man making them as "my piano teacher."  The really creepy part is, he'll say something, and I'll reply.  I play the videos on my TV, so he is almost life sized on them, which makes it almost like he's in the room.  Not that that makes it less creepy, but there it is. 

As I predicted, the early pages went rather quickly, but now we're getting into more complex stuff.  I've already learned all these songs -- this is my third time through the book, after all -- but I'm finding it hard to play along with him.   I can play them fine by myself, but when we play together, I mess up more.  I'll play with the video, then go back and practice some on my own, then try to play with the video again.  

It works...sort of.  

Who knows, I might end up being a pianist yet.