Yes, that's right, we're going to be documenting the daily weather through the seasons via my office window from now on, in saecula saeculorum, amen. Glowy lamplight inside, dreary out. It's chillier today than it was yesterday, more like what you might imagine end-of-Januaryy weather to be, less like what it often presents itself to be, which is confused. Today we just have SouthernWinter(TM): cloudy, damp, rain in the forecast, high in the 50s. Not bad, could be worse.
My ten Jerusalem artichoke tubers arrived yesterday, and I'm anxious to get them planted. My top plan for the morning, once I'm dressed and going, is to procure soil and compost, enough to cover the layer of cardboard I laid down over the grass and weeds in my raised bed last weekend. Possibly I'll layer on more cardboard, since I do still have some, before I lay down the soil mixture, just to be sure the weeds are good and discouraged, at least for the coming season. Once the Jerusalem artichokes get going, they'll keep the weeds down themselves, simply by overrunning the space. This is the plan, at any rate. Then I can recover the bricks that have been holding down the cardboard on that garden bed, and mark out a bed around the dogwood tree outside this window, to layer later on with more soil and compost and plant up with flower seeds, to draw the birds and butterflies and bees all summer. I might even fill in the groundhog hole while I'm at it --- I don't think anybody is living in it at this time, and I'm tired of forgetting it's there and stepping in it and almost breaking my leg. Then I can make a flower bed that runs from the air-conditioning unit all the way under the window, along the driveway. This, anyway, is the plan. It is my vision, and I'm chasing it.
Meanwhile, I need to go out and refill the bird feeder, which the squirrels have emptied. The birds keep coming and going and looking confused. There is still plenty of suet out there, plus the thistle sock for the finches, who haven't appeared yet to take advantage of it.
But first I think I'll take a bath, wash my hair, and scramble myself into some clothes. I have these tasks to do today, and then we're going to Black Mountain for the evening.
Wearing today:
Base outfit:
*Wool& Maggie dress (S/Long) in Aegean Teal, bought May 2023
*Secondhand Allbirds tencel-merino navy leggings, bought May 2023
To go to the garden center in the rain:
*Secondhand Aran Crafts gray zip hoodie cardigan, bought November 2023
*Xero Tari boots, bought summer 2022
Basic, but I like it. I might just go to Black Mountain like this.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
HO-kay. Good chunk of morning spent on phone with colleague. New project to launch Monday. Watch this space.
Then I went to the garden center and bought bags of garden soil and compost, as I had planned. Came back, dumped it all in the raised bed, spread it out over the cardboard, and planted the Jerusalem artichoke tubers.
Got filthy doing this and managed to snag my dress somehow. Came in, stripped off clothes, put on new ones, washed dirty ones. I'll mend the snag when everything's dry.
Wearing now, for my afternoon and evening endeavors and engagements:
*Wool& Willow dress (M/Long) in Ocean Teal, bought October 2023
*Secondhand Peruvian Connection alpaca cardigan, bought September 2022
*Secondhand Allbirds slate blue tencel-merino leggings, bought January 2023
*Darn Tough Socks, bought summer 2023
*Secondhand Birkenstock Melrose boots, bought summer 2023
It's wet out, but I did waterproof these boots pretty thoroughly, and they've been okay out in at least moderate rain before, so I'm wearing them.
I'll probably add a scarf and definitely wear my L.L. Bean Gore-Tex jacket --- even in Black Mountain it doesn't seem to be all that cold today.
Back to trying to set up social-media accounts for the new project . . . I look forward to getting all this settled and everything underway. The setup process is . . . neverending? Surely that's not really true. But it seems so at the moment.