Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: blue iris growing in my boulevard garden.

As previously discussed, my attempts at gardening this year feel very... fail. Thanks to the timing of our trip to Connecticut, I didn't get a good head start. There are a lot of leaves still in the beds, and at this point it might be more disruptive to try to move them. I am trying to see what leaving the leaves in the woodland garden does, but the others? Not so much. 

But, what's that (in)famous line from Jurassic Park? Life finds a way.

It's also been really dry here in Minnesota. I believe we are officially in a drought (again.) We had just gotten out of it after the snow melt, and yet now we are this very strange position of having parts of the state flooded while also being in a drought. When Mason and I were driving around Fort Snelling State Park yesterday, there were roads we couldn't take due to high water. Even though, as I drove us there, I could see several burned out lawns already.  Worse, it always seems like it might rain every morning, but the haze in the sky is actually from the Canadian forest fires, not potential relief. 

Yet, my peonies are out there in my backyard doing their best. Likewise, the Solomon's seal and bleeding hearts.


Image: Variegated Solomon's Seal. 


Image: bleeding hearts and hostas

The other big news around Chez MoreRounds (or, if you prefer, Roundhouse,) is that we got a new stove/oven. I guess in the US they always come together, so maybe I should call it a "range." But, it's that thing with which you cook and bake things. We opted for a new gas oven, so that was extra exciting because as part of the installation we had to have a gas technician do the hook-up. Mason, when we were prepping the house so the delivery people could get it through the door, asked nervously, "Should we even BE here if they're screwing around with the gas??" I mean, I kind of don't blame him for this sentiment, but it's actually a fairly simple hook-up. I just have this rule about handiwork I will do, which is "call a professional for electricity and gas." My feeling is that while, yes, water can do a lot of damage to a house, not hooking it up properly will not immediately kill me. So, I have done some plumbing? And props to all of you who rewire things? I won't argue with you if you suggest to me that some rewiring is not only easy, but fun. I'm just not that brave. I won't work with things that can murderize me if I make a small mistake.

 
Image fancy new oven. (Our floor looks filthy in this picture, but the tiles are actually grey with black "marbling," trust me, I also hate them. They are very retro, but never look clean.)

Anyway, this is the new beast. Today is the first day I will be making anything on it. The delivery came late enough in the day that we had all pre-agreed that it was a pizza day.

I have a couple of cute stories about the install itself. First of all, the guy who was our gas technician was named Lee. We hit it off immediately because he was very chatty... possibly the first person I have met in a long time who appears to be more extroverted than I am, more about that in a second. I actually started to get out of his way, so as not to hover over him while he worked, and he said that the company was actually appreciated, but then said, "Unless you're an old, white guy in boxers who insists on standing right in front of me while I'm crouched on the floor." Which, I laughed pretty hard at that. So, we fell into talking a bit and I did the Minnesotan thing about apologizing for the state of my kitchen, etc., and he said, "Oh, this is nothing," and then proceeded to tell me about his FIRST DAY on the job where he and his partner were called to an actual hoarder house. They're hauling out the old oven, when, out from the warming oven, scurries an entire family of RATS. One of which, in sheer panic, crawls up his pants leg and tried to hide in Lee's jacket. He's so freaked out that he dropped the oven and they ended up leaving a dent in the floor. Somehow, he not only STAYED WITH THIS JOB, but also apparently didn't get fired. 

But, at one point, I did leave him because he was struggling with removing the old hose (did I mention that the other thing I learned about Lee was that he is younger than our previous stove?) which had corroded over the 30+ years that we owned the previous stove. And, I was surprised to hear him talking to someone. Apparently, Lee is enough of an extrovert that he called one of his friends to chat with while he struggled with my appliance.

As an uber-extrovert, I found that deeply charming. 

I gave him very high marks on the review that the company sent along afterwards. 

The other big news from yesterday is that there is some progress on my novel. My editor, who is very savvy like this, has suggested that it "WOULD BE NICE" (hint, hint!!) to be able to put out a press release for my lesbian space opera during Pride Month. Seeing the brilliance in this, I have agreed that I will spend the next couple of days really looking at what I have left and make some educated guesses as to when I can deliver it to Wizard's Tower.

On top of that, of course, I finally need to decide on a title for this thing. Currently, I am in the "there are no wrong answers" phase of this process, but I'm going to have to narrow it down to something serious soon. Likewise, Cheryl Morgan has asked me for a blurb to sell "what it's about" to people, and so that's another project I'm tackling.

The good news part of this? I will definitely have a book out this year. 

The bad news? I'm going to finally have to get serious about finishing it!  I mean, I have 70,000+ words, so it is already technically novel length, if not yet "novel shaped." 

 Last night when we came home, a very skinny, friendly orange striped kitten was loitering around outside.  We stopped to pet it, like you do,figuring it would head home after a few friendly pets.  

Nope.

When we opened the door, the kitty hopped onto the porch like he thought he lived here.

And... I think he might be right.

We let him stay on the porch for a while. Mason kept him company and instantly named him "Buttercup."  As the evening wore on, he ended up inside, in our downstairs bathroom, away from the other kitties with food and water (all of which he gobbled up.)  I gave him a box and blankets to sleep in, and... our family debated about what to do with "Buttercup."  We decided to put out signs letting the neighborhood know we have found a cat.  We haven't done that yet, but we will.  But, I think it's no coincidence that several weeks ago a neighborhood kid knocked on our door and desperately asked if we would take in the family cat because his mom was pregnant and can't have cats around any more.  Someone has also snipped this kitty's whiskers, deliberately.  I highly suspect, given how hungry and thirsty this kitten is, he was dumped.

So... I think we have a new kitty.  We're trying not to attach, while simultaneously doing all the things you do to slowly introduce a new cat into a pre-existing household of cats. This morning, I've moved Buttercup upstairs to the TV room, and have left his overnight room, the downstairs bathroom, open for inspection by the other kitties.  He's basically going to get a tour of the rooms in the house that have doors that close, so that everyone can get used to everyone else's smells.  Of course, if he stays everyone goes to the vet. We've been very careful not to let the cats get within nose-touching range (and they were all inoculated against feline leukemia and everything else), but you know, it pays to be careful. Plus, I don't think Buttercup has been neutered yet.  He's very little, all ears and eyes at this point.  

If he ends up staying, I'll try to post a picture.