Figuring out what to do

Now that I've completed the PhD I have to figure out what to do. Of course, the Good Mr. Dr. would like me to do anything that will allow him to retire early. Or at least speed up the remodeling projects in the house. I've been taking these personality tests and finding nothing surprising. I have a Guardian temperament and an ENTJ personality type. Nothing to really help me decide whether to stay in academia or continue to try to keep a foot in both the academic and non-academic world or what. I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing for now.

In local news, the grape vines are really going strong. One side of the trellis is doing really well and the beginnings of the grape bunches can be seen. Yesterday the Good Mr. Dr. was suffering terribly from allergies. I think I am starting to develop mild allergies too. But the rain has cleared the air making it possible to enjoy the Garden.


The Good Mr. Dr. is working on his book.

Or watching the birds. Either way, nice to be able to be outside.

Spring has sprung

Spring is now here. I know this because I haven't had to wear thermal underwear for at least 4 weeks. And because it rains almost without warning.

Garden story of the day: yesterday we came home and noticed the neighbor's cat, Smokey, hanging out on the patio in the back, periodically knocking on the basement door. Those of you who were here for the May 2 party remember Smokey as the cat who tried to walk into the basement as if he owned the place. At the same time, the neighborhood wild cat was hanging out in his regular spot underneath the dogwood tree. Well, we had one of those sudden downpours. Smokey ran to the bushes. Within seconds the orange cat bolts out from under the dogwood, and scrambles over the fence to find shelter. Apparently he was "Smokey-d" out.

Yesterday was our anniversary, so we decided to begin planning what to do with the garden in the back. We started off in the late morning at the Garden in the Woods, which is an arboretum of native New England plants. For those in Massachusetts, it's worth a visit but bring your bug spray. After lunch, we took a walk through the Fenway Victory Gardens to get ideas about hardscaping. The ideas we came away with include meandering walks, blue stone and brick, a central raised patio-like area, big pots, and moss. Those are only ideas at the moment, obviously the devil is in the details.

As far as plants go, our goal is to stick to native species for anything we add to the back. We'll also be getting rid of any and all invasive species. We've only identified a few of the plants in the back. Of course, we know that we have grape vines, but we still have no idea what species of grape. All we know is they are sweet, green grapes. We have identified the dogwood as cornus kousa "summer fun"which looks like this right now but should put out some pretty white flowers later this summer. We also know that we have a pussy willow, specifically salix discolor, which puts out these fuzzy catkins in the spring. The catkins have been replaced by dark green leaves. The tree is now a favorite hangout spot for the birds. We thought we had identified one of the shrubs (actually we have 4-5 of these) as eunymous alata aka "burning bush" which is an invasive species. Upon further investigation, it looks like it is something from the rose family. Either way, we are going to get rid of them. We don't like them. We don't want our plants to be "armed."

In other news, we finally had the oil tank removed. Apparently there was more than 150 gallons of oil left in the tank. We managed to give about 40 gallons to one of our neighbors. The rest was removed and recycled. It was not easy but they finally got it out.
Todd accidentally nicked the cold water pipe when removing one of the oil pipes, but he sent a plumber over to fix it. Everything was done in one day. Now, we have this space:
which we plan to brick up and turn into a wine cellar. Cool, heh?

Have a Happy Memorial Day. You can support the troops by supporting their children. Go to Donors Choose and donate to the public school classrooms of students with parents in the military.

Now in recovery

It's all over now. The graduation ceremony was the worst ever but I was hooded and received my diploma. Here's the picture I took of it during the ceremony from my cell phone.


The party was fabulous. There were lots of good friends, good food, and good drink. Our friends and family know us well. Just about everyone brought us a bottle of wine or other fermented drink, which is fabulous. I think we have about 3 cases of wine and other spirits in the house. So, I guess another party is in order.

The Big Family Visit was smooth, with only one small hiccup. Now, as you all know, there were 8 adults and 1 child in the house for 5 days. On the 3rd day, the water heater decided it just had it. Or rather, the gas regulator, which keeps the pilot light lit, decided to act like a petulant child. The Good Mr. Dr. had to coax the pilot light on every morning so that some of the guests could take a shower. On the morning that most people were flying out, the gas regulator simply gave out. Luckily, we didn't have to convince the manufacturers that their warranty was illegal in MA (warranties follow products, not people despite what the companies will try to assert). They went ahead and sent out someone to replace it at no cost. We now have a functioning water heater.

The last guest has finally departed and we are slowly putting the house back in order. We've decided to take a break from remodeling efforts. Not just because we'd like to enjoy our house, but because we need to save the money to get to the next project. We went to the first Brimfield Antiques show of the year on Wednesday and found a beautiful mahogany sideboard that would be perfect in the library - once we knock down that wall and build the library. So, we had to pass on the great offer the vendor made. Instead, we bought a 2.5 foot stone Griffan which is now sitting in the vineyard. This morning I saw a squirrel try to check it out but deciding that 3 feet is a safe distance to sniff at it.

In other news, spring has sprung. The grapevines are sprouting, along with all of those things that the Good Mr. Dr. is allergic to. That's not going to stop us from getting out there and enjoying the good weather while we have it. We discovered that 4 of the bushes planted in the vineyard are an invasive species, so we need to find replacements and get those out of there. The Good Mr. Dr. is still not sure what we're (or really he's) going to do with the vineyard but I think he's slowly getting a plan together.

That's all for now. I should get in the shower and do a little cleaning before taking the rest of the day off to enjoy the only weekend this month with no meetings or other obligations.