Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Returning to a blog near you.
To put it in the least politically correct way — the fat lady has indeed sung. As of 8:00 this morning our contract negotiations and ratification votes were concluded with a very slim majority voting to accept the agreements as recommended. This, amid much discomfort among our membership as well as other federal employees who view this decision as the writing on the wall. It’s a bit of a guess as to what will happen to government contracts next, but I am just glad to say that my part in all of this is over.
At this moment I am attending the BC Federation of Labour convention which runs until the end of the week. Once this is over, all my non-worksite based union responsibilities will be concluded until the new year. That means I’ve got a little grievance work to do, but otherwise I will be finally back on the job full time. Not to mention back to the gym and better health, back to my real life again.
That also means more writing, more photography, more hiking, sewing, and loving. Hopefully much of which I will find the time to share here.
Yes. Garden.
Since this is supposed to be a garden blog, I suppose that every so often I should post about gardening and not just household improvements because the weather is bad. But really, after last week’s cold snap (-10 in Vancouver), the garden isn’t looking so hot. What with the slimy greens and the bald shrubs left behind by the melting snow. We’ve got one more round of leaf raking if the rain stops, and then all yard work should be pretty much wrapped up until early March. Though I am also thinking that because more cold weather is apparently coming I might re-mulch my berry bushes and herbs to increase chance of survival through what could be really frozen weeks.
For the first time this year I planted a “green manure” legume mix in late September — idea being that some overwintering crops help to provide additional soil nutrients such as nitrogen. I’ve discovered that this is a much more attractive option than staring out at empty dirt patches all winter. The legume mix, in addition to the winter veggies make for some nice green in our raised beds to counteract the seasonal grey. As well, the Fava beans and garlic poking up are a nice reminder that spring and summer harvests will indeed come again.
Winter of course is a time of garden dreaming — the months in which we pore over seed catalogues, envisioning beds of our favourite edibles and new experiments in the year to come. For me that process starts in January when I inventory my seeds and order what is lacking. This year though, I find my visioning beginning early as I start mapping out our front yard for revamp in the spring. In particular I will be curious to see how the lingon and huckleberry plants in our boulevard do over the winter — since I would like to plant more as hedging if my trial bushes do well. Of course that’s just the start!
It looks like very soon (perhaps as early as this weekend) we will be seeing the start of another structure in the backyard — a gazebo covering the hot tub. Pictures to come!
Frida in the hallway.
You may remember this post from last week where I detailed our front hallway modification. This week while I was traveling around the province, the finishing fabric touch arrived in the mail (3 yards of Viva La Frida) and today I managed to cobble together some curtain panels to hang in front of our coat and shoe nook. Final shots of our hallway with a close-up of the fabric below. I’m pretty pleased with the whole effect now that it’s finished!
Readers of this blog should know….
…. that the last month has been unbelievably difficult, and (for this first time in this round of bargaining) I cried at the end of the day today even though I am staying in a really nice hotel room. However, I only have two meetings left and then I am finished with this business. And I am very grateful to be returning to my awesome partner later this week because he will kiss me and make it all better.
Why am I telling you this? Who knows, except that I’m feeling sorry for myself even though I know I made my own choices here. I need to be reminded to stop being useful. I need to be reminded to stop trying so hard.
Make, create, build.
I have an awful time of writing when I am on the road. Hotel rooms and a head crammed with travel arrangements just don’t do much for my creative I suppose, but since I’m out here for a whole week, and with some free time in between meetings, It just seems that I should actually try to get something produced for my writing group meeting this weekend. It’s been three months and I haven’t handed a single thing in for critique! That’s just the kind of fall it’s been.
I find myself picking up on a theme I started on back in the spring: poems based on my list of 100 things to live for (up above, if you don’t know what I’m referring to). None of them so far are much good I’m afraid, but that’s the price I pay when I don’t write for several months. It’s not just something I can drop in and out of unfortunately – the whole brain is a muscle thing applies here. Just like it does to writing music or anything else that isn’t entirely technics.
Even worse, I was hanging out on Saturday with some traveling friends, one who writes poetry that I find remarkable (something I don’t say lightly, can I repeat again I am enamoured with Maureen’s poems?) – which leaves me looking at my lumpish poetry and wondering what is the point.
Yes. I know. That’s the wrong direction to go in, but I’m sure you other writers out there know what I mean. And at the same time, having settled into a couple of hours of writing in the last two days, I realize how much I’ve missed this. The meditative part of pushing words around on paper, of coming back each day with a new eye to what needs changing, smoothing, edging out.
At the end of all this – these meetings and conferences – I am free again. At least that’s how I feel right now – this end to things representing the release of time I need in order to pursue the whole rest of my life that is waiting. An illusion I’m afraid, that I will be no more productive after this than I am right now – but at least I know how when I do have the time. Know how to build the routines around that which I prioritize. And right now I feel like my heart is prioritizing even as I remain focused on other things.
Red Cedar 