A very good summer.

As usual for me, the summer has been extremely busy.  The unseasonably cool and wet weather means that I've got a handful of growing things in the yard that are thriving, to my delight. It's a joy to cut a handful of basil for the kitchen, or mint, or rosemary. For the first time ever I have a goodly batch of Nasturtium grown from seed that are thriving and blooming continuously, to my delight. The extra rain has helped to keep this stuff alive. Also, all drought restrictions have been lifted for this area, and that is great-- it's legal to water plants and flowers again.

I took a small job at the university as student labor. I'm confident I could have taken my old job back at my previous pay rate, but the university job is low-stress, and I can keep the job for the remainder of my studies.  The second week of that job, the head of another department saw me working and asked if I knew someone who would be willing to work 10 hours per week in his department, and I got that job, too. :) Both my bosses are good guys, and I appreciate not being micro-managed. My tasks are fairly simple and tedious, and I get to listen to my music or podcasts or Pandora all day, so the task is made pleasant. So far I've been listening to author interviews like Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, and it's been great to hear those wonderful minds at work. I expect to keep both these jobs after the school term begins at the end of August. One job expects me to set and keep certain hours, but they will be flexible if I need off for classes, etc. The other job is perfect, because I just come in whenever I want, and work as long as I want, as long as I don't go over 10 hours. I'm also not chained to a desk and get to move around quite a bit, so I'm getting exercise in addition to listening to good stuff on my earbuds. Win/win/win!

I made it in to Dallas for Father's Day, and I'll be going back in a couple weeks for Dad's birthday. I'm trying to make sure I have some time for goofing off with friends this summer. I've been sewing and fiddling about with fabric, so that is fulfilling, too. I had an idea for a dress design I'm really excited about, so I'll be eager to see how that will turn out. I'll let you know.

Also, sometime last year I cut what felt like a mile of pink seersucker into a 2" strip to make binding tape for project embellishment (probably around a quilt, at some point, too). I finally started forming the strip into binding, and the Simplicity binding tape tool worked a treat. I'm very pleased with the outcome and I'll post a picture.

Having a very nice summer, so far. I hope yours is lovely, too.