Pics of the furnished place. This is where it's at. I couldn't bare to part with my potted palm. It's kind of fun to have to walk underneath it :) 

 

New wardrobe from IKEA so I can actually hang my clothes somewhere. It's pretty good construction--real pine, not fiberboard. 

 

I still would like to fit a reading chair in here. Somehow. Somewhere. 

 

I miss the sweet smell of honeysuckle while racing along quiet country roads.

(Yes, I know it's horribly invasive. And, no, I did not take this pic.) 

  

  

I just broke this bad boy out again. It's hard to believe I've played since 4th grade! I haven't picked it up in a few years, and it definitely needed some polishing and buffing.

There's a gay and lesbian community band here called the D.C. Different Drummers. When I attended last weeks' rehearsal, I was surprised to see about 60 people there. And they were better than what I expected. They want me to play in the concert in just a few weeks because they realize I'm good ;) Actually, I've surprised myself with how well I can play after a few years' hiatus.

 

DC has a very 70's-ish concrete Metro system. It's very dark and lacks personality. 

 

I told Neil to pretend he was falling through the air shaft in Star Wars. 

 

I love finding random things. Once I found a key under the lip of a pillar in the middle of a rose garden. I left them a note, but never came back to see if they replied. Cards, pictures, buttons. I'll pick up anything that catches my attention.

I was in the park after my run over the weekend and saw a single page from a book. It was yellowed from the rain and curled up under a tree. I picked it up and saw it was from Death in Venice. The passage was quite amusing! 

 

My neighbor invited me over for a small gathering the other night. It turned into a packed house, live band, and dance floor! A very fun and interesting crowd. 

 

Rock Creek Parkway seen from the Duke Ellington Bridge. This is the route I commute out of the city on...it follows the creek through a gorge in the middle of the city. There's a running trail and lots of greenery.

I was particularly excited because you could view these poplar trees from above and see their beautiful orange and green flowers. A rarity! Unfortunately my cam phone could not zoom in on them.

 

Sliced and ready to go! I harvested enough mushrooms for three dishes on the first crop yield. Now the mushroom patch sits dormant for about two weeks, I reactivate it with water, and I should get a second crop. 

 

Mushroom risotto. This was delish! 

 

Waiting to be cooked up. 

 

Simple but delicious: pan-fried mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and sesame oil and a little cayenne for a kick. 

Bike to Work Day!

Friday May 12th.

Well, maybe this is just for the Wash-DC Metro Area. I don't bike, so maybe I'll Metro it. The last time I did, I realized my subway fare was $3.75 one-way because of the distance I'm taking it. How do low-income peeps do it? How can Congress keep minimum wage at $5.15 an hour?

 

Here's a new trail I ran on this morning. It's very close to work. Who ever thought I would be getting up early to run before work?

I just told my family that I'll be running in the Buffalo Half-Marathon at the end of this month. My sister and bro-in-law are doing it too. My brother is sidelined with an injury. I didn't tell them earlier because I wasn't sure I'd be able to commit to the training with moving and the new job.

But I'm ready to go! 

 

This is a bloom from the tulip poplar tree. It's a tall, straight tree often used for timber harvesting. Too bad it's too tall for us to enjoy its blooms! (I braved poison ivy to bring this to you. Will let you know later in the week if there are any repercussions.)

 

While my housemate was gone, I borrowed this to watch. Can't wait for the movie! 

 

I spent the afternoon turning over all the soil in our soon-to-be vegetable and flower garden. Hard work, but fun on a sunny day. My housemate has been out of town...she's going to be surprised! 

 

Here's a pile of the stuff I dug out. The soil is surprisingly good, but there are lots of little stones, pieces of glass, and other ephemera mixed in. The cement block at the bottom was huge! This blogger needs a mani-pedi after all that work.

 

Here's our back porch shaping up. I put together some flower pots this weekend. 

 

Mom and Dad sent me a Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Patch for my birthday. This is a shittake kit. Fun for all ages! 

 

The process was interesting. The kit comes dated; the spores have to germinate for 30 days or more. Mine weren't sprouting by then, so I had to refrigerate them for 24 hours, submerge in water for 24 hours, then put on the humidity tent and mist several times per day. 

 

These brown nubs are the mushrooms sprouting. They grow in just a few days at a fast rate. 

 

Ta-da! There are typically two harvests for kits like this. I think you can buy more spores to re-seed, though. 

 

Hello up there! 

 

This is my sexy new phone. Camera, .mp3, radio, etc. I really bought it because it's orange. The music function is nice when walking around the city with headphones on. 

flashback

 

It's been a busy spring for me. The window from buds to blooms is very short, and I hate when I'm too busy to take advantage of it all. DC is beautiful in the spring, and I did see the cherry blossoms plus other nice stuff around here. But here's a pic from a past spring in one of my favorite little Virginia valleys. At most, I'd say there are two weekends per year when you can watch the spring leaves creeping up the mountain slopes.

Those days when I could quickly scoot out to the mountains during lunch or at the end of the work day seem to have been many springs ago.