Megascopic Monday

megascopic visible to the naked eye

If you’re lucky enough to be living here in Canada, then chances are you have the day off today. All hail Queen Victoria!

Traditional, the 24th of May weekend is the long weekend set aside for planting gardens and opening cottages. Well, it sounds good in theory, but we’re still getting frost warnings and cottage country is pretty much under water.

I’m still having to wear a jacket, or at the very least a sweater, when I go outside for any length of time, and I’d better remember to check to make sure I have rubber boots to wear when I go on the trip to the farm with the granddaughter’s pre-school class on Wednesday.

The Orange Menace to the south can say whatever he likes about there being no such thing as global warming, but even he can’t deny there’s been a change in the climate. We’ve been subjected to some pretty extreme weather the last few years.

There’s been a rise in both the number and the ferocity of hurricanes, droughts resulting in wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, sink holes, the list keeps growing. And there’s been a subtle, but relentless, shift in the seasons.

Several years ago I did a series on prophecies, and I remember while doing my research I came across an aboriginal prophecy about the earth having enough of what man was doing to it and retaliating with fire, flood, and wind. I wish I could better remember the details or at least what tribe it had been so I could try and find it again, but unfortunately I didn’t save any of that research. But it makes you think, doesn’t it?

In the meantime, the granddaughter and I got impatient waiting for spring, so we planted a tray of seeds in the house. Everything but the pumpkins sprouted in less time than I imagined, and actually they’re more than twice as high as they are in the picture. And yes, I made little toothpick flags to mark what exactly I planted.

Now all we have to do is wait for the weather to settle enough to plant them in the garden.

Museology Monday

museology ~ the study of museums

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…I really like a four day work week. Thanks to Easter, I had two of them in a row – one with Friday off and one with Monday. Yes, it meant a four day weekend in the middle, but it was still two four-day work weeks.

A long time ago a company I worked for set their work schedule by a quarterly shift bid. Bids were won by seniority, which meant those with the highest seniority got first pick of the shifts. Having pretty high seniority meant I usually got my first choice, and my top pick was the extended shift that gave me an extra day off. It was awesome. While it lasted.

Last week sped by (naturally), but at the same time it was pretty busy. And Mother Nature was definitely on some kind of psychotropic drug. The drive up to my class on Wednesday was pretty hairy. I had white out conditions on the way up, and black ice on the way home. And did I mention the extremely high winds that batted the car around like a cat toy?

Then Friday we had this:

Seriously? It's April, for crying out loud. Easter's over. NO MORE SNOW!

A couple of weeks ago the grandbaby and I planted some seeds in tiny pots. So far she’s got three marigolds and one daisy coming up – the forget-me-nots aren’t doing anything. But the tomato seeds she and Grappy planted in a bigger pot are growing like gangbusters. I’m going to have to get another pot to thin them out a bit. If they all survive they’re going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes.

It’s supposed to warm up this week but the big question is, is the danger of frost past? I really want to start planting the spring bulbs I bought. And I bought a divided tray to start some morning glory seeds in, which I’ll get the grandbaby to help me with this week, as well as something I can’t remember the name of that is supposed to be night blooming.

C’mon spring! We’re waiting!