Archive | April, 2024

Birthday party – Eclipse style.

16 Apr

It’s not a secret that it’s the year of 40 for myself and my high school besties. I blogged about my 40th birthday weekend in Chicago. My twin friends Kim and Kris threw a roller-skating 40th birthday party in January. (Where we were encouraged to also dress as twins. See Dave and I at the end of this post.) My friend Kay? Her birthday was 4/7, the day before the eclipse and she decided, for her 40th, she wanted to be in the path of totality.

Kim, Kris and I (the WI/IL crew) met Kay and her husband (VA) in Indianapolis for the big event. The Sunday to Tuesday gathering was filled with laughter, the first time we’d been together in … forever? (And we’re only 4/7 of the Dancing Bananas. We missed the rest of our bunch!) Fun dinners out, lovely weather, games of giant Scrabble and The Great Dalmuti, and – the main event – the eclipse on Monday.

We made a home on a patch of grass at White River State Park with thousands of our closest eclipse-viewing friends. My sister and her husband joined us too (since they live in Indy) and shared a picnic blanket with us. It was certainly an awe-inspiring moment; the darkness, the cheers, the gasps. AND DID YOU SEE OUR MATCHING SHIRTS? (Thanks, Kim.)

Even if there hadn’t been an eclipse, it would have been a lovely time with a handful of my long-term besties.

(As promised: Dave and I as twins in January.)

Gardening adventures, part one.

13 Apr

Captain’s log: It seems I have not written since December. You’re used to these delays at this point, aren’t you? Did you notice I entitled this ‘part one’? That’s hope right there. Hope there will be more.

I’m becoming a bit gardening obsessed. It’s happened gradually, each year more than the prior. I have a sunroom full of trays with tiny tomatoes, peppers, and flowers for the cut garden. Dahlia tubers are in a tub, crossing my fingers they wake up and are ready for another season. But here’s the big new adventure: ranunculus.

I happened upon the Costco display of bulbs, tubers, and corms and decided ranunculus would be a fun new thing to take my time and my money. They are darling flowers, adorable and squishy. (They literally say you should harvest the blooms when they squish like a marshmallow.) I bought a package. I’m gambling $13 on the 100 corms inside.

On the back of the package, it has the map with the suggested planting times. For Wisconsin, it lists April to June. After some further research, I worry the package is misleading me. In fact, I probably should have started them two weeks ago (if not longer) as ranunculus love spring weather. They begin to shut down when the temperature reaches the mid-70s. I may be too late.

OR the long cool springs we have at our house due to proximity to Lake Michigan may play to my advantage. All the same, we’re giving them a go. So last night, the process began.

I soaked the corms for 3.5 hours in room temperature water in my lovely green pyrex bowl. They really are other-worldly or deep-sea like. Weird looking for sure. Soaked, they then got stuck in a thin layer of soil and now will live in the garage (no natural light, mid-50s temperature ideal) for two weeks when they should (fingers and toes crossed) begin to grow roots and the beginning of a stem.

That’s all for now. We wait. Gardening adventure part one will be a learning process and perhaps one big giant fail. But instead of the worst that can happen, what’s the best? Squishy flowers. Let’s hope for that.

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