green.

I also spent the better part of last week and this weekend working on a proper garden, which I’m hoping will be a productive summer project. I’m pretty notorious for killing plants, but I managed to keep a little tomato alive all summer last year, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do the same this year, with more plants.

I started some herbs from seed weeks ago, and I remain in a perpetual state of nervousness over them. Their germination time is several weeks, and frankly when I planted them I didn’t trust them to sprout at all. However, something’s started to grow in that bin, and I think it’s probably the seeds I put there.

I’ve also started some cucumbers from seed indoors, and they’re much more satisfying to watch. They keep getting taller! Soon I’m going to have to move them outside into the big planter. These are the ones I’m most invested in – I have grand plans for canning pickles, if everything grows well.

There are also a few “real” plants from the local garden center, to make it look a little more like a garden – the strawberries and peppers were on sale, so I bought a few of each.

I’m not expecting an enormous harvest, but I’d love to be pleasantly surprised, and I’d love to see how I do at growing my own edibles and keeping plants alive. My current apartment has a lot of outdoor space, and if I get the opportunity to stay here for another summer, I’d love to do more next year.

celebration.

The Victoria Day long weekend is always a fun one for me, as it usually coincides pretty nicely with my birthday. (And man, there’s nothing like getting an extra day off for your birthday to make you feel special.) I turned twenty-five this year, and I celebrated by enjoying some wine and cake with friends.

(The cake, for the curious, is a banana-cardamom cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I used one cake recipe to make two six-inch cakes, and I cut each cake in half then reassembled it to add the middle layer of icing. It was delicious. I’ve already eaten the leftovers for breakfast.)

I’ve also been celebrating the weekend by working on my blanket – there’s something about frantically racing the weather to finish an enormous wool something before it gets too hot that just feels like spring, to me.

seriously!

So, the academic program I’m working on is structured so that we have major exams every six to eight weeks, rather than “finals,” so I cycle fairly regularly through periods of relative calm, and periods of studious hibernation. Today is one of the days where I have to camp out in my apartment and study, and this is what I woke up to.

It was so nice of the weather to cooperate. I love love love winter weather, and the best kind of day, for me, is one where I can stay indoors with a cup of coffee and watch while the snow comes down.