welt

Can you see that welt on my hand?!
Let me just go ahead and trace it out for you.


Today I was outside gardening when I saw this little black bug on my hand. I was about to swish him away from me when I noticed a droplet of blood forming next to him. This was no innocent little black bug I tell you. This was a black fly (sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks), and he got me good!

A lesson in thrift store clothing

I love buying clothing from thrift stores. I have found many amazing things at thrift stores, generally for an amazingly low cost. My mother taught me to always wash my thrift store purchases, and I used to be revolted at the thought of Not doing so. Then one time I made a plan to wear a piece of clothing before I washed it. And that wasn't so bad at all, so now I basically do it all the time. If something is so in need of washing right out of the store, I am probably not likely to buy it.

One thing that slightly freaks me out about thrift store clothing is putting my hands in the pockets. And I may have realized that my hesitancy to just jump right in, with my hands in the pockets, is Not unfounded. I may have discovered that this very weekend, in fact.

Several weeks ago I bought some amazing pants. These pants are purple and comfortable and beautiful. One important lesson in thrift store clothing would be: if you see purple pants, buy them. That is not the one I am referring to in the title of this blog post.

Back to the purple pants though. They were a little too short for me (as are most pants in this world) but luckily they had a cuff, which could be undone and would make them long enough. They also had very wide legs, but I figured sewing them to make them skinny/boot cut width wouldn't be too hard. So I did just that this weekend.

I simply pinned the purple pants to make them approximately the same width as these red pants. And then I sewed the straight line. And now they are even more spectacular because they fit just how I would like them to.

But I still hadn't broken the ice as far as use-of-pockets goes. So I decided I better just put my hands in there because I didn't want to have pants that I could never use the pockets on. So I did it. Hands went in the pockets (knuckles first of course, because it is way less bad to touch a foreign object with your knuckle than your fingertip). Unfortunately I felt something in the right pocket, but it seemed to be just a tissue, so I pulled it out, and as I was grabbing I realized it was a bit more squishy than a tissue ought to be, and before I can even pull it into view my heart rate had increased to an abnormal level, and as I flung it to the ground I realized that it was not, in fact, a real worm, but just one of those fake worms they make for fishing.

Because the first activity I had planned for myself while wearing my new (used), purple banana republic pants, was, hands down, fishing.

kernel panic

I have been having computer issues.

Right now I am using an ancient PowerBook G4, that once had coffee spilled on it, and was taken out of commission (not by me, don't worry).

My dear computer's kernel panicked last week. I have been getting help from many people. It turns out that the video controller was the cause, and my computer qualified for the recall on those. So it is being fixed for free. Phew. I did not plan for buying a new computer at this point in time, so all is well. Hopefully my computer will be back tomorrow.

I have a smattering of pictures and blogging ideas based on those pictures. Hopefully I can make that happen soon!

WTRB

What's that in the middle of my yard? You may be wondering? Oh, well friends, that is the newest addition to Harjitshire: our rain barrel! Or, as I fondly call it, our White Trash Rain Barrel (WTRB). It was originally proudly perched in the middle of our yard. It is still too cold to plant (at least for my comfort level), and we haven't even tilled up the earth yet, so the WTRB was looking a little out of place, considering there isn't yet a garden next to it. There will be a garden there soon, but upon careful consideration, Greg and I decided the WTRB ought to be moved to a more ideal location. More on that later.

The rain barrel was constructed using an un-used trash can we had at the barn. In the bottom we (basically just Greg) sawed a tiny hole, and we attached some hardware, which amounts to a spigot with a turny knob to control the flow of water. It is a pretty good system, and it allowed us to fully explore the Lyme Home and Hardware store. Since the spout is on the bottom, we have it propped up on cinder blocks. Plus cinder blocks add to its white trash status.

Most rain barrels are ideally located under a downspout, so you can gather water from an area as large as the roof of your house. The barn does not have downspouts. This should not surprise you, as we do not even have an outdoor spigot. Part of the motivation for a rain barrel is to be more crunchy, by using rain water for watering the garden, as opposed to pumping well water. But part of the motivation for a rain barrel is mere laziness, so we can minimize the number of times we have to fill up the watering can in the bathtub and haul it outside.

Anyhow, since we don't have a downspout, we just covered the top of this trash can with mesh to make sure our rain barrel does not become a mosquito breeding ground.



We also decided to move the rain barrel in order to catch more rain. When it was sitting in the middle of the yard, it would have been conveniently close to the garden, but it was also catching water from an area of about four square feet. We moved it under the overhang of the barn's tin roof. Now we are collecting water from something more like twenty square feet. It isn't quite the same as collecting water from the Entire roof, but it is still a large improvement. We have great confidence that this was a good move, and a move that will work, because we moved it while it was raining.

Ta daa!

Pencils!

I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils :)

VOTING!!

The voting has opened for the Design Your Look Challenge, hosted by Jess LC. Head over to her blog, Makeunder My Life and leave a comment with your vote. I'd recommend voting "Meghan M. - Tuesday Adventures" but you can really vote for whoever you want. There are 113 entries and prizes for the top three winners! I really like my outfit best, but there are several other really good ones (and also some hideous looking wonders).

Design MY Look

The blogging world is a magnificent thing. Jess of jesslc.com is hosting a spectacular Contest! She calls it a challenge, but there is a super sweet prize for the winner, so to me it is a contest! The idea is simple: to design your ideal spring look. I have been searching all over for a floral sweater I can afford, but with no luck, so entering this contest (based on a dream of a floral sweater) is my next best option. Here is my creation:



The winner is chosen by vote, which begins April 11. I'll keep the blog updated with a link for voting! Each of these items is SO wonderful, but also completely unaffordable (by me), so here's to hoping for good-winning-luck!