Monday, April 12, 2010

A Vacation: to there and back again

Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to be able to accompany my aunt on a three day trip to Vancouver Washington and Portland, Oregon. Bede took care of Lucia on Friday, and on Saturday, a friend of mine with three children had Lucia play at her house for a few hours. I had a wonderful, relaxing mini-holiday. Powell's Books was a significant part of my travels, as was Multnomah Falls. Early Sunday morning, I woke up and wrote for an hour, then fell back asleep. Later on, it occurred to me that I would be far more creative on a regular basis if I got more rest.

Here's what's coming up: more visitors, a gig at the Children's Museum on Thursday, and more visitors after that. I'm also planting two raspberry canes in a raised bed. This may not sound exciting now, but if one takes the long-range view, it may very well be something over which to kvell. Gardening is one big game of, "Maybe this time it'll be different. Maybe this time it will grow."

10 comments:

Lone Star Ma said...

Sounds lovely!

I've been told raspberries won't grow here because we rarely get a hard freeze. I can grow blackberries, though.

The Library Lady said...

I've tried raspberries several times and have never gotten them to take. Hope yours do better!

Anonymous said...

Keeping my fingers crossed for the raspberries!

Did you get anything at Powell's?

Have fun with the gig!

Kathleen said...

Agree so much on the gardening. I'm on my third garden in three years, so far the only year-to-year survivors are my morning glory, ivy, alyssum and a potted iceberg rone. Oh, and one marguerite daisy bush.

Susan T. said...

So true about gardening. I'm pondering how to make the tomatoes turn out better this year.

Jules at 7-Imp said...

I hear ya on the sleep thing. I'm glad you got away.

The Library Lady said...

On the other hand, I saw some larger raspberry plants (past the cane stage) at Lowes the other day, and I'm thinking about trying again!

Saints and Spinners said...

Here is a link that looks helpful for growing raspberries, at least for my part of the world: http://bit.ly/raspberries

I really hope the raised bed is what makes the difference. Yesterday, I finally filled the raised bed and planted the raspberries. Then, because I was already out there, I weeded. Then, I discovered that the aphids had found my hellebores, so I sprayed them with a garlic spray I had bought for roses, but seemed to work on the hellebores last year. It's time to put out slug bait again (stale beer in traps that really work). My yard is sucking me in again!

Saints and Spinners said...

P.S. To answer Adrienne's question, I'll admit that I may have gotten a few things at Powell's:

-Christopher's Harvest Time, by Elsa Beskow

-The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica, by Kathleen Norris, illustrated by Tomie DePaola (used)

-The Canon, by Natalie Angier

-a remaindered coffee table book about eclipses

Anonymous said...

I love that Holy Twins book. I think I even bought two copies for the library when it came out.