I was really sorry to see Notre Dame burning, omg! I'm glad that the stone and stained glass windows and other parts were saved! These are a few pics I took back in 2007 --



Been enjoying the spring flowers! This also means I've been working on the yard, cutting grass, weeding, etc. Not much camera time lately! Lilacs in the yard --



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You know...a couple years ago, I read where a conservative Republican laughed and said something like 'They (meaning gay people) would NEVER be president.' I remember shking my head and thinking...I don't think that is correct. But I didn't think there would be a strong candidate so soon!

It's been really nice to see Pete Buttigieg running. Definitely following him on Twitter, and I kicked some coinage his way as a donation.

My mom shares my love of Lilacs...these are from a bush I have in my backyard. I grew them from 'volunteers' -- plants that come up by themselves -- that I got from her bush years ago when I bought my house.

...I bust my ass moving my grandmother's lemon tree outside!

I always let the tree dry out as much as possible before I move it -- to make it as light as possible! I bought a new flat dolly this year -- which helped A LOT!


Back outside for summer and fall!


The date this year is not much different from usual -- I have a spreadsheet where I record in and out days. The tree spends about 7.4 months of the year outdoors.

Happy Ostara!

You know...I really like the HomePod...it has worked out very nicely for me and allowed me to get rid of the old stereo system with all the wires and speakers. Frees up space in the living room...looks and sounds good.

But sometimes...sometimes.....Siri just grates me, lol!


I mean, I could give it to him if I were speaking Portuguese -- since I'm not a native Portuguese speaker. But in English really, there's no reason whatsoever he shouldn't have understood my instructions this morning.

Started the new gig...as usual, I felt out of place the first week. I'm a little worried about this place because everything seems to be done via phone -- I prefer face to face meetings because that is actually my skill -- forming relationships with customers. In my not very humble opinion, phone-email-text "conversations" suck and don't allow for relationship building.

Been self medicating this week with yard work, wine, and peep pictures, lol --


The weather seems to want to become spring, but there's still a fair amount of cold! I've been doing a bit of yard work, putting down some dirt, getting up sticks and leaves from last year. I've also been looking at seeds that I might plant --


The tomato seeds I planted inside have sprouted!


Here's the sky the other night from my front porch -- the rest of the sky was dark and stormy looking, but the west had a nice orange glow -- it made for very interesting light outside!

"Sing, Unburied, Sing" is the selection for book club this week. I didn't expect to like it because it is set in the Jim Crow South, and I grew up with the remnants of that, and didn't feel like I wanted a reminder.

But I did end up liking the book -- many of the scenes are painted with descriptive waves of supernatural familial sentiment: "....Mama...looks at Leonie with so much understanding and forgiveness and love that I hear the song again; I know that singing. I've heard it from the golden place across the waters. A great mouth opens in me and wails; I am an empty stomach.

The scaly bird lands on the windowsill and caws."

I found myself re-reading sections just to hear the words again.


Later Addenda -- It wasn't until the book club meeting tonight that I realized that this book is actually set in modern day! One of the guys at the meeting mentioned a cell phone used by a character -- and he's right, so the book's setting is in modern times, but I didn't realize it! The reason is just that the setting in the book was so very descriptive of the 'Jim Crow South' that I had read the book that way, but the story of the book happens in recent times! I imagine that was part of the author's intent -- to show that the Jim Crow South hasn't really gone away.

Also, I learned a phrase: "magic realism" as a description for the type of book this is. Basically, the ghost characters, and the talking animals (as understood by some of the characters), etc. amounted to magic realism.

It was a dreary, but fun day at the river with my friend yesterday, but the sun did come out as we were walking to a nearby brewery to have a couple drinks!


I got a little yard work done today...and now the rain has come back. I swear, the weather is driving me crazy this last year...and what if the unpredictability gets worse as the climate changes?

I brought some daffodils in before the big freeze arrives again next week --

I haven't posted much lately because nothing much to report. I'm in the last few days of my current gig, and I've been working harder lately than I have in a while because I'm trying to tie things up. It has been cold and rainy -- typical February. Spring has arrived, as attested to by the daffodils, but it's still dreary weather.

I've also been taking pictures of Amaryllis as they bloom. This is the last one!


Spent some time with various friends -- eating dinner and drinking mostly -- lawd, my weight has gotten out of control since New Years! Really, just not much to report, lol!

Maybe too many episodes of that British baking show...but I felt like making bread today! I hadn't in a very, very long time, although it's something I really love to do!

It took a bit more time than usual because the particular recipe I used called for 3 rises -- 1 more than usual, presumably because this recipe only had 100% wheat flour, no white flour in it, so it probably needed a bit more time rising.

And so it begins --


After I finished kneading --


Nice 1st rise --


My favorite part is the punch down!


I forgot to take a pic after the 2nd rise, but it looked pretty similar to the 1st rise, just higher. Here it is after the 3rd and final rise in the loaf pans before going into the oven --



Final result, cooling on a rack --

Gawd, I have been busy at work for 2 solid weeks...I can't get what I need to get done and my typical organized work behavior is becoming disorganized. And for pretty much the first time I can ever remember, I came home with tense shoulders last night. That's not where I hold my tension -- it was bizarre.

Part of the problem could be that I need to make a trip to the eye doctor for a new prescription!

But a big part of the problem is that the current gig thinks that all Projects Managers are interchangeable. Need a rocket ship? Pull a Project Manager from the inventory. Need a new defense system? Go grab a Project Manager, would you? Need a new building? Hey, can you go grab a Project Manager from the back room?

I've been assigned to managing a fucking CONSTRUCTION project -- big, new building -- zoning, entitlements, MEP, general contractors, subs, building plans, the works. But my ENTIRE background is in software development project management. I am in no way qualified for this. I'm not in charge of the overall project, of course -- only managing from the perspective of where I am currently working. But adding the additional work of this to my other projects has just resulted in stress for me.

#NotTheBestSituation but Imma take care of myself. Count on it! You can mark that shit down.

Anecdote -- a PM was recently let go. He wasn't the most experienced, and his "EQ" -- Emotional Intelligence Quotient -- was not as strong as mine. Truth. And I really can't say if I liked him or not, although I did buy him lunch before he left. #basicdecency

Someone recently described him as a 'Goldfish in a Barracuda tank' -- and I LAUGHED SO HARD because it is true. The Barracudas just gobbled him up in one bite...no bones left...nothing! Me? Not a Goldfish. But not a Barracuda either. I like to think of myself as a nice, old fish -- maybe a Dolphin? The Barracudas generally leave me alone. But Imma take care of myself. Mark it down!

De-stressing tonight with some old Madonna --


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On a more pleasant topic, I was rather pleased with this photo of a hawk last weekend. I actually missed it, but when another guy saw that I was taking pics of a heron, he pointed out the hawk to me.

The colors are nice. It was in the morning, so the light is nice. I used my longest zoom, and tried to be careful not to disturb the hawk.