Current Projects


What's the Big News?
Gas is up to $4.15 per gallon.  It seems to be increasing a nickel a week.  Seven years ago it had never been as high as $2.00.  Two years ago $3.00 was unthinkably high.  Less than one year ago it breached $3.00.

I lost another weekend to being sick.  I still have a little cough and runny nose.  Being sick has played havoc with my attempts at exercise.

We have a few mice in the house again.  I find this upsetting.  I don't mind mice outside; but in the house is unacceptable, and may be contributing to my illness.  By all indications this is a new batch and they've been around for under two months.  We have no idea how mice found us again.  We're setting traps.

The nights are still getting down in the 40 degree Fahrenheit range.  Occasionally days hit 85 degrees.  I started moving my winter clothes out of my closet and my summer clothes in weeks ago, now I'm thinking it was premature.  This has been an extremely vascillating Spring.

Our furnance needs fixing.  The fan won't turn off.  This is probably the least worrisome furnace trouble at the best time of year for it - as it is getting warm enough so that we don't need it.  We made one appointment and the repair folks cancelled; we're making another appointment.

On the upside, we've gotten the garden hose set up early and our roses have started blooming.  Our cascara and Oregon myrtle is in bloom.  The cascaras in front and back are looking very healthy this year.  They have made it to treehood.

I'm planning to dig up our last two small sumacs (the laceleaf and smooth) and give them to the neighbors.  I'll miss them.  Tom is allergic to them, as we found out last year.  We have a small Japanese maple to replace them.  I'm also thinking about getting a redbud.


What's new or updated on Alwanza?
The June colors are the old May ones.  I realized I had gotten ahead of myself this one month.  I had difficulty figuring out what to do with June because I hadn't properly addressed May.


What hi-tech projects am I working on?
http://staff.washington.edu/meryll.  I've been busy.  I've been making instructional web pages for using the LinuxLab at UW Bothell.  I've been creating remote support scripts for both Windows and Linux.  I've been catching up on new technology.


What else is going on in my life?
I'm in the early process of a project I can't mention till it's complete.  It is taking up a lot of my time.


Any nature observances of interest?
The shade garden is a thicket and I'm seeing birds there I never saw before.  The Swainson's thrush has come out of the woods and is singing in our Cedar tree.  Looks like our swallows have returned for the summer. 

May 30th the cotton started blowing around from the cottonwood trees, like snow in June.  The balm of Gilead fell starting mid-March.  Nice to know that one of my worst allergens has a good long pollen period here. 

Slug eggs are hatching in my herb garden.  I've set out grapefruit rind and beer for them.  The grapefruit rind is being more successful as these slugs are underage for drinking.