Alchemy Alice

A short week at work, which always just means the same amount of work packed into less time. Oh well.

My back has slowly improved, very much in spite of life, the universe, and everything. So obviously, I went out and did an even longer session of weed whacking in even heavier growth out in the orchard. Interestingly, now it’s my arms and chest that are sore (though only in an intense workout way, not an “I have damaged myself” way like my back). It was out of control, and mum was having a hard time walking out there.

Unrelated, but Mum had a fall at the start of the week and seems to have pulled a muscle. She’s sort of taking it easy to let it heal? Sort of? *sigh*

It cooled off a little, occasionally, but I can feel May breathing down my neck. Saw a turkey vulture tidying up a corpse in the road, who was entirely unimpressed by my car and refused to do more than placidly waddle off to the side to make way for me. It was quite cute. Sorry to interrupt your lunch, bud!

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written

Day job: 25.5 hours, between a holiday and a day off for mum’s birthday

Cleaning: fixed the pull cord on the lawn mower

Gardening: garden club post, succulent club meeting, weedwhacked almost the whole orchard

Reading: audiobook of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (aaaay, magical tboy romance! super cute and a fun bit of world building)

Listening: The Collector by Witch Bolt (YouTube really wanted me to listen to this, decent dungeon synth if a bit bland next to the more elaborate ambient work done by, say, Tales Under The Oak), The Devil’s Bris (2020 remaster) by Aurelio Voltaire (this is a pure nostalgia purchase, as Voltaire and this particular album were a huge part of the soundtrack of my high school years, though the remix does have some nice audio detail that was missing from my definitely not pirated old copy)

Clock Mouse: 1407 words

Other: celebrated mum’s birthday mostly with repairing stuff at home XD

The supposed madness of March hares might have been somewhat idiomatic, but the fact remained that, come April, people were finding oddly morose lagomorphs languishing in gardens, apparently lovelorn following their courtship festivities of the month prior. As they were a somewhat unusual breed, offerings of water and vegetation went unaccepted, so people eager to rid their yards of the visitors got creative. The mooncakes and moon pies and such thematic treats perked them up a bit, but it ended up being tubs of ice cream, favored food of the heartbroken, that rallied their spirits.

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LL#1239

Thanks to a generous donation from Wonderland Farms, we have a new planting of flowering bulbs and annuals around the Buried Gardens, which will refresh some of the more faded sections around the fountain. Of particular note are the bubble hyacinths, a new hybrid developed by Wonderland Farms, which bloom into iridescent soap bubbles that gradually swell and break free of the stem. We appreciate our volunteer gardening team, who spent several weekends learning to handle the delicate bulbs and dealing with pruned fingertips.

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LL#1238

A very busy week at work that mostly involved people jerking me around. It must be nice to be the sort of person who can’t be fired, despite never actually doing your job in a proper or timely manner.

Somehow I seriously hurt my back between weed whacking and repairs at work. It seems like an excessive response to the work, but I spent the week struggling to manage the pain. That pretty much consumed my brain for all purposes. So naturally, I had to do a lot of heavy lifting and physically awkward tasks that made everything worse.

It’s been sunny and hot all week, because sure, why not?

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written, April posts queued up

Day job: 42.5 hours

Cleaning: replaced the thumb switches on two lamps

Gardening: weeding around some of the shrubs that got overwhelmed, watered out in the wildflower garden for the first time this year

Watching: you know what this calls for? A rewatch of Yu Gi Oh! starting with season 1, of course! *lolsob*

Listening: Give Us The Moon The Night Flight Orchestra (a rec straight from Bandcamp, it is so over-the-top 80s power ballad-inspired, I kept expecting the lyrics to devolve into parody, which is to say, it is unbelievably fun to listen to)

Clock Mouse: 1267 words--ended up pivoting to write a different take on an earlier scene as I start to get a feel for what I’m trying to say, which is certainly an interesting sign in a novel I keep refusing to plan in any way

Other: unloaded hay, an emergency trip to the mechanic for my car

They marauded through big box stores, slipping goods into specially tailored, ultra-deep pockets and wielding security tag removal tools like pistol and cutlass. They had the codes to loading bay doors and bolt cutters both, and sometimes whole cargo trucks would be commandeered and hauled away quietly as a ship in the night. They had captain and crew and booty aplenty, though another load of cheaply-made home goods did not inspire quite the same romanticism as holds full of gold, silk, or rum.

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LL#1236