There’s not a lot to report for this week because I had to deal with a pain flare-up that required a visit to the emergency room early in the week and had me focused on pain management for a couple of days beyond that.  The good news is that I started feeling better yesterday and even managed to tough it out and go to Renaissance and Nathaniel’s band concert, and I was even able to go into work today.  Sigh.  Take care of your backs, people.  So many difficulties start to stem from an injury to your back.

Creativity

I always think I’m going to be able to make great strides in crafting when I’m down and out with a flare-up, but when I have to add pain meds to the mix I can’t craft at all, as crafting + pain meds never ends well.  Seeing that I’m pattern testing for other people, I didn’t want to touch those projects and potentially derail them beyond repair.  It’s something else when it’s only my time and materials on the line; I won’t risk others’ resources.

So I’m behind on my test knit for the Baking Doodle Cowl.  It’s about 50% done.  I’m planning to spend a chunk of time working on it some more over the weekend.

I haven’t touched anything else in the craft room, which is a major sad.  I did receive some packages of new materials for some projects, but haven’t even opened them.  Frustrating week!

Gardening

My little herb garden is now a jungle that will need some pruning over the weekend.  I can’t believe how fast these plants are growing!  Friendly note:  Don’t be afraid to use dill.  I cut the dill plant back to almost nothing last Sunday, it had replaced all that growth by Tuesday, and now on Friday it looks to be about three times larger than it was a week ago.  I’ve always been so afraid to use my herb plants, but this little countertop experiment is teaching me a lot about the hardiness of these plants!  The kids have been given total access to the herbs and are encouraged to decimate the plants for cooking.  I’m almost to the point of wondering if we even could kill these plants through culinary usage?  Could be a weird goal to set…ha ha ha.

The rhubarb is starting to unfurl legitimate leaves, so I believe I can start using it in a few weeks.  I’ll make rhubarb crumbles, make some rhubarb marmalade, freeze some rhubarb for making Blubarb Jam during the summer, and I also saw a recipe on Pinterest for a vanilla rhubarb jelly that looks enticing.  Which reminds me that I desperately need to clean out the pantry if I want to have any sort of room for canned goods this year.  The pantry is a complete disaster.  Oooh, I think I also have some sort of recipe for rhubarb-glazed pork medallions in a cookbook somewhere.  I like cooking with rhubarb because it has the added bonus of deep cleaning any pot it’s cooked in.  (Did you know it’s the secret ingredient in Bar Keeper’s Friend?)  I started a Pinterest board for rhubarb recipes a couple of years ago if you’re looking for some rhubarb options in the coming months!

No sprouting from the sweet peas or peas that I’ve planted.  I was supposed to plant another section of peas this week, so hopefully I’ll get to it over the weekend.  I’m doing a big experiment with planting times and starting seeds this year, so we’re going to just keep our minds open and remain curious about how things work out with these seeds.  I’d really like to establish a planting calendar that works specifically for our property, and the only way to do that is to start and experiment.

The started pansies and delphinium are doing…OK.  I need to thin them out and they’re going through water really fast, which is tough to stay on top of.  I had five delphinium sprouts two weeks ago, and now I only have two.  I struggle to get this type of plant started.  I’m going to start some more seeds over the weekend because I adore delphinium plants for their beautiful blue color and their unmatched ability to lend an “English cottage” vibe to the garden.  I think I spend about $15-20 for each plant when I buy them from the nursery, so starting my own will save me a lot of money.  AND they’re a perennial, so they come back every year!  The last ones I had were back in Utah; I haven’t wanted to spend a chunk of cash on them here in Washington.  They make me happy, so I’m reestablishing them in the garden this year.

Celebrating

I had to drop one of the parties the kids and I were thinking about doing because I really needed this last week to make progress on it, and that didn’t happen.  I’ve made note of everything we were thinking of doing, and I’ll revisit it in the future.  The girls still want to throw a spring tea party sometime in April or May, and that is still doable with our remaining time frame, so maybe I’ll just shift focus to that.  Plans also need to be made regarding Renaissance’s graduation party, which will take place in June or July.  I still have time to get going on that; I just need to remember that it’s out there so I don’t commit to anything that will conflict.

And that’s what happened this week.  Some weeks don’t see a lot of forward progress, and that’s ok.  The nice thing about a flare-up is that they tend to occur many weeks apart from each other, so I’m looking forward to a handful of really productive weeks!

And congratulations!  We made it to March!  It only gets better from here!  More and more sunlight, we’ll just ignore Daylight Savings Time coming up in a bit, and more and more opportunities to be outside and enjoy the shift from cold to only slightly chilly!  I hope you have a great weekend and wish you all the best as you embark upon a new, hopefully sunshine-filled month.