In a frenzy of cleaning, I found my NYS Fair entries from last summer, where I won second (grr!) place in the culinary competition and a blue ribbon in the Horticultural - Roses competition (only one, though).  Turns out that second place in the Culinary - Layer Cake division is worth $7.00 and a blue in Roses is $1.50.  I hope the check is still good… after all, it is New York. 

Let’s not do that again … at least anytime soon.  Let’s just say that on Friday evening past, I over-imbibed in the cocktail department and spent all of Saturday and Sunday morning in varying degrees of distress.  My poor stomach will be recovering for a couple days yet.  The good news is that what I’m eating is staying down (for now)!  Thank goodness there’s only one more week of curling season…

We’re on the cusp of the vernal equinox, and for some of us, it means we’re getting our gardening plans together and forming a plan of attack.  Right now I’m gathering seeds I want to plant and assembling the seed starting materials.  I’ve got the Burpee Ultimate Growing System flats, along with assorted other cellular containers and peat pots.  This year I’ve decided to take the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener course, so I have a little more confidence I can get this seed starting thing right.  And, just to “throw a spanner in the works” (to borrow from the Brits), I thought I might try using lunar gardening methods when starting seeds, etc., this year.  Those methods should complement the organic methods we use on our non-rose plants. 

Yes, I tried organic methods one year on the roses but fungus, disease and bugs decimated them.  I don’t like using the chemicals (fungal, insecticidal) but when I do use them I try to be as responsible as I can with their use in the greater scheme of things:

• I don’t make any more chemical spray than I need
• I use the right spray for the right task, in the correct amount, at the correct intervals
• I encourage healthy growth from the roses themselves right from the start by:
  • Using water-soluble organic fertilizers
  • Applying mulch & organic soil amendments (a fancy way of saying manure ) as needed
  • Keeping the garden clean of debris that might spread disease

Growing roses - especially show-worthy ones - here in the Northeast is difficult enough without some help.

The long weekend is finally over, and what a great time it was!  My team did very well at the Death by Chocolate (Rochester) spiel, getting to the “A” finals but coming up a little short in the end.  I had some great “big girl” shots to get us there  - like the draw to the back 4′ in the 9th end of the A semi - and keep us in it - the draw to the wings and to the backer in the 4th end of the A final for 2 to tie the score - but my bag of shots ran out and we were down 4 coming home.  I’m clever and good, but with the way things were going, I know when shaking hands is the better part of valor (so to speak).

Carrie Casab was a real trooper - she came out to Rochester on short notice to fill in for Jess, as Jess had to take the bus back to Pittsburgh Sunday morning, right before the final game.

My buddy from college came by to see us curl; it was so great to see Tom & his kids (Morgan & William).  Hopefully they’ll be stopping by on their way to Albany.

Okay, I’m another New Yorker who is shaking her head in shock, disbelief and sadness over what has become of our soon-to-be-late Governor Spitzer.  I admit it, I liked his fieriness, his attack attitude.  I liked what he was trying to do, his ideas of what he wanted to achieve.  Wait - I have another feeling to confess - betrayal.  Yes, that’s it.

For those of you who don’t live here, this state is in one heckuva mess.  Albany has got some of the worst politics in the nation.  We have so many layers of bureaucracy and government, it is nearly impossible to make any reforms at a meaningful level.  It’s a shame because the area - geographically - is interestingly diverse: we have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”  The follow-up to that is, “Welcome to Buffalo/Syracuse; here’s your shovel.”

Where I live, I am taxed by my town, the county I live in, the school district, the state and the federal government.  That’s five hands in my very small pocket.  Some people have an additional level: the village they live in.  Insanity!  Is it any wonder that, combined with our tremendously dysfunctional state government, that more and more people are leaving?  The real wonder, when I see this in print is, why am I still here?

I could go on and on, but I was hoping Gov Spitzer would at least shake something loose.  Looks like all the Wall Street people he ticked off did the final rattle to him.  Conspiracy theory?  After reading what I have of Legacy of Ashes, I’m not discounting it entirely; let’s just say in 5 - 10 years when the full truth (in whatever flavor) comes out, I think we’ll all be surprised at the revelations.

Knowing that I would finish The Other Boleyn Girl, I made a Barnes & Noble run for my next chunk of reading material:  The Boleyn Inheritance (Philippa Gregory), Fire Study (Maria V. Snyder) and House of Cards (C. E. Murphy).  I’ve already started Boleyn Inheritance and will probably be done with it early next week.  Yes, I devour books.  Amazingly enough, my retention is pretty good.

I also figured out more of the TomTom 920T PC interface for the device itself.  Very neat.  I put in some Favorites for this weekend’s trip to Rochester.  I could have figured it out earlier, but it was a gift to Paul so I have kept my hands off of it.  However, since I’ll be heading into downtown Rochester - inside the ever-dreaded Inner Loop - I will really need it.  It has been about twenty years since I’ve been down there, but hungover or not, my memories of driving around there are, at the best, not good; at the worst, positively scary.  Eek!

Carousel Mall, Syracuse

Syracuse Rose Society monthly mtg

Yesterday I picked up The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  I expected not to like it, thinking it would be romantic and gushy and not to my taste (a/k/a cheesy Harlequin in disguise) but it’s actually pretty good so far.  She moves the story right along and shows you the pertinent details about the characters.

I’m re-reading Storm Front (Book 1 of the Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher.  I enjoy Dresden’s sly wit and sardonic “voice.”  It is so perfect; exactly the way I would want to present a character like that - mostly normal with a little paranormal tendencies.  Sounds like a disease when I put it that way, doesn’t it?

The good news is that, it’s over.  Definitely not one of my more inspired skipping outings.  Ah well, it happens.  The good news is that the team and I pulled it out in the last game and won - whoo hoo - the E event.  Then the fantastic dinner that followed… I don’t usually drink a lot of wine at any time but this dinner pairs wine with food, so of course I have to keep sampling. 

I know I should be snoozing (and likely will be soon), but I napped for 2.5 hours when I got home last night and am now only just getting tired.  I’m hoping to visit B&N tomorrow morning for a scone and green tea.  Problem #1: Car is at Curling Club.  Problem #2: husband not feeling well.  Solution #1: Husband’s truck is in garage and key on the key rack.  Solution #2: I go by myself.

This whole lack of mental focus really annoys me.  Maybe it’s time I get back into the martial arts to develop/refine that ability.  That was one of the aspects of the arts that I enjoyed - the focus on the perfection of movement to the exclusion of everything else.  Now that I phrase it that way, yoga did the same thing for me.  Hmmm.  I’m onto something here…

G’nite (or morning, if you prefer).