Almost Late

I was almost late to work this morning, because I forgot what time I had to be there.

In my defense, though, they’ve changed our hours so much these last few weeks, it’s no wonder I got confused.  I didn't even know what time it was, much less what time I had to be at work.  

So, there I was in my kitchen tidying up, when I said to myself, “Let me go practice my piano a few minutes before I have to leave.” 

I put on my glasses and looked at the clock to see how much practice time I had, and it was already past time I’d normally leave the house.  I hurriedly got my things together and left for work, looking at the clock all the while, thinking, "5:30?  It's 5:30?  What time is 5:30?  What time am I supposed to be there?  6:00...yeah, that's it.  6:00." 

All confusion aside, I made it to work on time and the day passed without incident.  Except for the parts I had which did not spark joy.  

Speaking of confusion, I go through this thing every weekend.  What it is is, I'm sitting there along about 4:30 PM on Sunday afternoon and I suddenly realize my weekend is almost over, and what have I done all weekend?  Did I get anything accomplished?  What did I do?  I don't even remember what I did all weekend, so how did it go by so fast?  

Well, for this weekend, the answer is pretty much no, I didn't really get anything accomplished.  I mowed Friday and I'm getting too old for this nonsense because I spent the rest of the weekend so sore I could hardly move.   I spent a lot of time watching TV, and oh, by the way, I got Prime to work using my little adapter thingy.  All I've got left to do now is to drag the entertainment center out from the wall and get the router unplugged so I can take it back to the cable company, then I'll be done with cable internet.  Probably for good.  

If I get it again, I'll see if I can get one of those hot spot things from the phone company.  Heh, remember when you had to go down to the phone company and get the disc to get onto the internet?  Then you had to wait for it to dial up and it made that noise?  Remember Dixie-net?  That was my first internet.  Man, that seems so long ago.    

I suppose the big news is -- regarding what I did over the weekend, I mean -- I splurged and bought the last book of my series I've been reading, Silver On The Tree. 

This is one of those series you just can't put down, but at the same time hate to see it end.   I don't particularly care for that cover art, though.  The original was so much better.  The original hardbacks also had illustrations, which the Kindle versions don't include.  I wish they did.  They were simple line drawings, but added so much charm to the books. 

I also spent a bit more time looking through this book.

I'm really liking this one, and it's definitely a keeper.  I like the way it's got a little map on each photo showing the range of that particular plant. 

Then beside the description of the plant, it's got these handy symbols so you can see at a glance what that plant can be used for.

 

For example, this one can be used as a seasoning, hot tea, cold beverage, salad ingredient, a thickener for soups, and jelly.  Pretty cool, huh?  

While we're on the subject of foraging, I got brave over the weekend and tasted a bit of my ground ivy.  I didn't particularly care for the taste just as it is, but it will be great used as a seasoning in soups or even on potatoes or something.  One of the websites describe the taste as a blend of mint and sage, and I'd say that's pretty accurate.  It's a very strong flavor, so it should be used sparingly.  

The only other wild edible I've fooled with -- other than my wood sorrel, I mean -- are these onions I pulled this afternoon.

I've got a couple more big patches that I want to dig up, but that's all I'm going to get for now until I figure out what I want to do with them.  No point in pulling them if I'm just going to let them rot in the crisper drawer.  I can buy store bought onions for that.   

But enough of that.  Here is a nice surprise I found in my front bed this afternoon. 

It's a bachelor's button that seeded from one I'd planted last year.  I've got a couple more with buds on them.  It would be great if I could get them established and re-seeding every year.  

And I found this in the back yard.  It looks like grass, but has a grain head.  

It actually looks like a wheat plant, only short.  It's maybe 2 ft tall.  There is only one, but I'm going to let it grow and see what comes of it.  

Last but certainly not least, I want a raised garden bed.  Not the ones that are like a foot off the ground, but one like this:

Maybe not exactly like that, but similar.  I want to grow a small herb garden, but I'm getting too old to be getting down on the ground and all.  I'm not sure yet what I want to put into my herb garden, but I'm definitely leaning towards rosemary and lavender. 

I'm wanting herbs I can make tea with, since I don't really cook that much.  Maybe I'll put my wood sorrel into it, so I don't have to worry about mowing it down.  

Eh, I'll figure it out later.  Right now, I need to go practice the piano, since I didn't get to this morning. 

Laters.