Tattie Harvest I

Despite the rain today, I ventured out into the garden to get some
potatoes to go with tonight's stew. The little pot (my control group)
only yielded three small potatoes, so I started digging in the box.
To my delight, we have achieved 6 small, 10 tiny, and 13 minuscule in
our first harvest! I dug up the first layer of two plants, so
presuming there are still more undisturbed under there, we might have
five or six more harvests of the same size over the next few months!

I was concerned for a while at the state of the plants, since about
half of them went yellow and wilted in the rain, and the remainder
were being slowly but thoroughly eaten by invisible bugs. I smoothed
the soil back over the part I had disturbed and with any luck, my
little potatoes will get a chance to grow a bit bigger before I make
them into mash.

(download)

Filed under  //  gardening  
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Birthday!

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After a full weekend, I am relaxing on my birthday. But not relaxing
so much that I couldn't bake chamomile cupcakes!

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It's Summer!

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Em-official summer begins with sunshine and celebrations. It's a bank holiday weekend that contains a wedding, a jamboree, and my birthday. Spring went relatively well: I achieved my primary goal of submitting my PhD thesis, and have defeated all of my eczema but the stubborn patch on my leg. My goals for Summer are 1) Defend thesis and 2) Become buff. We leave for California a week today, and I'm so excited. Lots of summery posts to come, but give me a few days; it's a busy weekend!

Filed under  //  goals  
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Signs of Late Spring II: Sun on the Sofa

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Such a luxury when sunny spots coincide with comfy spots.

Filed under  //  cat   signsof  
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Whew!

Passport

I can finally relax and make plans for our trip to California, because
I can finally go! The UK Border Agency has just returned my passport,
along with Jamie's passport, our marriage certificate, my citizenship
test pass notice, and indefinite leave to remain in the UK for
purposes of settlement. I am almost British!

This is very comforting, as I've been without photo ID since
mid-February. We've been making contingency plans in case we were
undocumented at flight time: Jamie even applied for a second passport!

For internet search purposes, the elapsed time for UKBA immigration
applications submitted by a US national in February 2012 was 14 weeks.
The expected period, by way of Jamie's research, is 16.

So, in conclusion, yay!

Filed under  //  goals   statistics  
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Spring Goal 1: Submit Thesis-- Accomplished!

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Look! It's finally done! This afternoon I submitted two bound copies
of my thesis to a shed fifteen minutes south of my office (why?) and
now I have some free time! Don't ask me what my plans are next; I
intend to catch up on sleep for a while.

Filed under  //  goals  
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Signs of Late Spring

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Broad beans and asparagus are finally here! I put them in risotto.
They were delicious.

Filed under  //  signsof  
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Sleeping In

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I was up until 3 putting what I hope to be the finishing touches to my thesis, so Morrin and I are having a well-deserved lie-in. You can't tell by the picture, but she is snoring.

Filed under  //  cat  
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Sorry

Posterous seems to have broken. Where are all my pictures?

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