My week was insane. I was on campus every day, often long hours. I also had a couple meetings that generated discussions I found myself embroiled in, in email, text, and face-to-face with others and very much in my own head. At some points, I was fuming and cursing, luckily to the right person. I was thinking about these discussions and arguments most of the time, writing about them, etc. By the end of the week I was in a better place, having realized that I was actually very interested in all this, and I'd like to do some research and get some training so I might as well accept the leadership position in it that I was trying to avoid (because I'm insanely busy already -- if my job were full-time service, okay, but this is ridiculous -- though obviously I love it, love trying to make things better). The good part about getting really into something that people mostly find annoying is that if you present a good argument you mostly get your way.
Today I slept in. I mean I tried. The menfolk got up (yes, Absurdist Child still comes into our bed most every night), and I tried to sleep beyond that, but it was already 10. And by 2 or so, I was outside. Today I cut the peas completely down. I know it's June and soon they would flower (thought I planted them pretty late), but if I don't get the corn in the ground, I can kiss the three sisters plantings goodbye. I felt bad doing it but I cut them all down and put some compost on top and planted in one bed the popcorn variety "Smoke Signals" and in the other, the sweet corn standby Golden Bantam Improved. When they get bigger, I'm to plant the beans and squash around them. So that's in the works.
I prepared the area and planted the milkweed and butterfly garden seeds as our contribution to monarchs, who we love. We'll see how that fares. I am thinking of getting a buddleia butterfly bush at the local nursery, which I haven't been to yet. And I weeded the flower bed in preparation for tomorrow's nasturtium planting extravaganza. I have six types I'm going to plant so I found myself loving reading this terrific rundown of different varieties. Six. Six different varieties. Well, this is the same flower bed that had the spectacular surprise red tulips come up and the gorgeous daffodils and dwarf irises and the couple tall irises and gorgeous mounds of muscari. Lilies are growing and stretching out their buds, but giving nothing away. Some gorgeous purplish-red callas are coming up, but mostly the place is full of dying-back irises and straggles of this and that and of course it gets mounds of weeds, some that are really neat looking. Anyway, I want to fill that with nasturtiums. So they'll be lilies, callas, and nasturtiums. Not many lilies and not many callas, but a total overload of nasturtiums, which always looks gorgeous anyway with them tumbling around, and I think I'm going to put a trellis behind it so that the Tall Trailing and Empress of India varieties can lounge around on a trellis being gorgeous. For next year I'll have to think about what to plant for this late spring-early summer time so it won't look so empty and terrible. Maybe I could plant nasturtiums earlier (officially according to my Zone 5B area only three weeks ago) or plant some other late spring bulb. I do love my bulbs.
Anyway, I took the day off grading, which of course I still have plenty of. But the craziness abates for about a week, and then finals come in and everything is madder than ever. Which means it's almost done too. I won't be in the classroom again for months! Three weeks from now, the grading will be gone. I'm giddy with all that. Tomorrow: nasturtium planting and maybe some grading.
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