Up to...

...vermiculture.

That's composting with worms.  I got a worm compost kit for Christmas from J.  It's okay, that's what I asked for!

This is what a compost bin looks like...a commercial one anyway.	This is what you feed your worms; they like most compostable material with some exceptions like citrus.	This is what a sea of worms making compost looks like. Note that it's okay to use your shredded junk mail as fiber. Woot!

...making grape trellises.


This is a work in progress. I've got 3 more wine grape vines coming and 3 eating variety vines coming, so sometime I've got to have 9 complete trellises. Not for a while though...the first year is spent getting roots in the soil.

I planted 3 last year, and those trellises are my winter project this year, along with 4 more raised bed frames.


...playing nurse to my sick dog.

Maggie's got cancer. She's on a lot of pills right now, and they make her alternatively sleepy and thirsty. So there's a lot of sleep, get up and drink, sleep, get up and drink, pee, sleep. She doesn't eat much, so I've been making her absolute favorites, like chicken thighs and liver. I made her bacon rice even, trying to get some calories into her.

I think we've settled that we'll be making her comfortable until I can bear to walk by the dog food aisle at the grocery store without bursting into tears. Then we'll have to do the right thing by her. So sad, but she is old. All I can hope is all that time sleeping is full of her dreaming of catching bunnies.

That's what I've been up to.