gardening update, Monday 5/8/17

I mixed some MiracleGro into water this morning and gave all the peppers and squash a drink of fertilizer. Hopefully they will appreciate it.



1. my unexpected onion, Monday, 8 May 2017


The onion was having serious mold problems -- two separate kinds, one black and mostly under the skin, and one white and infesting its base where new roots were attempting to sprout. So I peeled it, cut out a couple particularly bad spots, and sprayed it with fungicide. I think that did in its first attempt at growing roots, but it seems to be trying again and at least these new attempts will not get strangled at birth by evil spores. *crosses fingers, wishes it well*


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2. eighteen pepper seedlings
3. the Lazarus pepper


I think all the plants miss going outside for the afternoons -- they really liked the direct sunlight -- but it's been low to mid 40s (Fahrenheit) and/or pouring rain for the past several days in Ithaca, so they're not getting back outdoors until Thursday at the earliest, and possibly not until next Monday depending on how the weather behaves.


( four squash photos under the cut )

Methera-the-squash failed to sprout, which saves me from having to figure out which seedling to murder in one of my tubs. I will still have to decide who will survive in the Yan-vs.-Tan and Pip-vs.-Sethera matchups, though. I am hoping another week will make it more obvious which ones are more vigorous than the others.


[[original Tumblr post, for when the embedded images inevitably break]]

[Fic] "Oranges and Lemons" -- original

So back in March I mentioned the Mosedale creative writing contest that the Star Island Protective League runs in the Loon (our annual newsletter/directory), and later mentioned that I'd written and submitted something for the 2017 contest.

The Loon has now been published -- my parents received their copy today -- and I may have won? \o/ There is a $50 prize associated with the contest, but really, I am just happy I got a thing printed and people seem to have liked it. :)

Anyway, now that the Loon is out, I am going to post the story here as well.

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Summary: "Don't buy tiny fruit trees," Nic said obediently. (750 words)

( Oranges and Lemons )

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...If I do get $50 out of this endeavor, I just might buy a tiny orange tree of my own, because reasons. *wry*

stuff done: Sunday-Monday

1. Attended church, which was a special service with sermon and music by Samite Mulondo, the founder of Musicians for World Harmony.

2. Coffee hour cleanup.

3. Made my weekly Facebook update post.

4. Changed linens. Given the weather, I decided NOT to do the winter-to-summer swap. (I want spring back!)

( more items under the cut )

18. I seem to have forgotten to mention this in my last few 'stuff done' posts, perhaps because it hasn't been on any of my to-do lists? Well, anyway, I have been reading (in bits and pieces, between other things) the Memoirs of Lady Trent series. I ended up starting with book two, The Tropic of Serpents, because I had to order book one via interlibrary loan and I am impatient. I then moved right on to book three, The Voyage of the Basilisk, which I just finished tonight.

They are fun books! I wouldn't call them deep literature, but they are a pleasure to read -- both in terms of the characters and plots, in terms of the worldbuilding (which is genuine world-building rather than region-building, and thought-out to a degree more writers should aspire to), and in terms of the actual writing, which manages to be smoothly invisible in service of the story despite having a distinctive first-person narrative voice. That is a neat trick, and I wish I could pinpoint how Brennan pulls it off.

Anyway, I have jumped back to start book one, A Natural History of Dragons, and I expect I'll make some reasonable progress on that during slow periods at work tomorrow. :)