Not much to report

The shawl is growing, and I'm loving it. Lace looks like garbage until it is blocked, however, so I'm not going to take a picture until it's truly impressive.

However, a colleague did ask me today what it's going to be when I'm finished crocheting it (I keep it on my desk to pet whenever I'm bored. Today was a fairly busy day, I only knit two rows). Needless to say, my response was rather curt.

The socks are growing too, and this is the best colourway I've ever used, I think. It is so much fun!

All ready planning the next lace project. I'm planning this for my knitting teacher. The smaller size calls for 1.75 mm needles. That's tiny enough to make even me pause for a moment. A good sign. I like complicated things, all evidence of plain-jane sock knitting to the contrary.

I also placed an order for some yarn to make these. Those are yummy, and I have a delicious fantasy of sitting in my yard as the evening grows cooler and pulling those over my legs. I know it's a fashion faux pas, but in the privacy of my own home, socks and sandals are perfectly acceptable.

I'm also feeling the siren call of cables. There's been much in the blogosphere lately about cables, and I do have a lovely cabled sweater (on the needles for three, no four, years now) that only needs a collar and sewing up. The pattern calls for a hood, and I have become disenchanted with that idea. Yet another re-design.

I haven't forgotten about all the things I talked about a week or so ago. Those will happen, eventually.

Just about all my seeds have sprouted. This has been so much fun I'm thinking of starting some more. If I do, I'm going to figure out how to trap rabbits and relocate them. They really do live in the hedge, I think. I see them all the time. While it makes me happy that wild rabbits think I'm sympathetic enough to let me come fairly close, I do not want them dining al fresco all summer on my garden. The food and the flowers are for me.

This weekend, I must purchase a lawn mower, a spade and hedge clippers. There is serious work that needs to be done.

I am confident that I won't be able to install a fence this summer, much to my disappointment (Parker is one lucky cat. He hit the jackpot in the human lottery). But, that doesn't mean I can't do all the prep work. Since I only have time on the weekends, it will take me all summer to relocate the juniper and dig out the old fence. It will be a step in the right direction.

Regrettably, that probably means that I won't be purchasing a barbecue or dining set. There's just too much risk, since my yard is right beside a fairly busy street. A Rubbermaid bin used for recycling walked away one day. While I figure that if someone needs a Rubbermaid bin more than I do, they are welcome to it, I would not feel the same about the lovely cedar table and chairs I have had my eye on. Or the snazzy little propane barbecue I've been dreaming about. I know myself well enough to be fully aware that I would get tired of putting everything in the garage every night. So, I'm better off to do without, for a bit. I do have a couple of chairs, and the new recycling bin can serve as an end table for my wine glass.

Oh, and because I'm just nattering, I really do hate my job. It was a beautiful day, and so I threw out an email to some friends, suggesting we find a patio for some adult beverages. While most had other plans, it turns out that I had to stay late, and by the time I got out of the office, it had turned rather chilly. Since, at the earliest, I am finished an HOUR AND A HALF LATER than the rest of the world, that really would have been unacceptable. Anybody waiting for me would have been completely hammered by the time I got there. On a Thursday, and my friends don't drink nearly as much as I do, that would not be a good thing.

Coincidentally, I had my first quarterly lunch with my new mentor (where I can complain to a colleague that I don't directly work with) and I bitched for much of the time. He was very sympathetic. This gives me hope that management is not secretly trying to make me miserable and voluntarily terminate my employment. It's a good company to work for. I adore my boss, and have a healthy respect for most of my colleagues. I just don't think I am in the right role. And, I do want to work hard, contribute to the department, and fulfil a meaningful role. I am not a slacker, by any means. Something, and I have a pretty good idea what it is, is not working.
That said, I had no desire to cry during this lunch. That's a good sign.

One other thing: it's raining men. Just like it does every spring. Now that winter is over, it's really good to be me.