leaving gardens behind
Feb. 11th, 2026 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alicevangelineIt's a good metaphor, but it also works literally: one of the toughest things for me about moving on is leaving a garden I planted and designed. We made a rain/bog garden at the fairport house, for example, that I had been working on. I wonder how it's doing (if it's doing anything).
We created two beautiful flowerbeds this summer - I am so proud of their vibrant colors, and I think I chose perennials that are happy where I put them and are low-effort, should have different effects throughout the growing season, and be pollinator friendly. I want to see how that will grow, at least this year.
I'm also proud of the insanity of the meadow/wildflower patches, but that's ongoing. (I saved pictures in an album called "Chaos Gardening.")
Highly recommend chaos gardening during a season of grief, btw. (It involves throwing appropriate seeds wherever the fuck you want to and then observing what happens)
Thinkin bout moving:
Tomorrow we're going to look at one house on Popple Dungeon rd, and another on Frog Hollow. I am going to keep my excitement leashed, because of many many factors, but thought you guys would appreciate the names. (Popple dungeon apparently means, dark-like-a-dungeon-because-of-all-the-poplars) (It is what my kids would say is a good vocal stim)
I am not going to write everything going on in my head (for once) (Even though it helps me), but there was a recent thing on NHTOK that republican lawmakers in our state are literally trying to encourage leftists to leave by demoralizing us (someone was quoted, in those words). I have a lot of reactions to that news ranging from 'well now I don't want to, f u' to 'congrats, it worked, have fun reaping what you sowed.' I've probably written about the idealism of vermont (mostly) and how I want to be a part of that, about how brattleboro is a refugee center with pride flags everywhere, etc. I tell people that we were aiming for vermont when we moved, but we missed (although we can see it from the top of our hill). So. Houses in VT get a few points on my rubric. It would be more, but changing everything is a pain in the butt.
Why after all my babbling about moving slow are we looking at popple dungeon & frog hollow:
I only have these things to say:
- i did some glassdoor research on the special ed teacher job which is way TF the other direction from those houses, and it probably wouldn't pay well enough to be worth the change, even with the signing bonus. Worth the phone call to discuss it though.
- I had a cardiologist appt this morning and had a wave of appreciation for the DH system (and the event coord. job would be in the DH system). So, warm fuzzies are nice. If I got that job, I could hybrid there from PD (or our current house).
Lizzie school:
- school wants to Meet regarding her crying every day (I'm kind of minimizing here, but. Shrug. I can't even.)
Cardiologist:
- Saw a new one for my annual checkup and she was awesome. we are going to do some testing to get the size of the avm and chck on some rhythm issues I have.
Finally:
- I got my digital scrapbooks and i'm obsessed. I've only scratched the surface, but mostly I'm seeing how my grandma travelled the world and the seven seas and gave no craps. Olga for the win. (pics of baby me, baby my mom, baby my dad, etc are in here)
We created two beautiful flowerbeds this summer - I am so proud of their vibrant colors, and I think I chose perennials that are happy where I put them and are low-effort, should have different effects throughout the growing season, and be pollinator friendly. I want to see how that will grow, at least this year.
I'm also proud of the insanity of the meadow/wildflower patches, but that's ongoing. (I saved pictures in an album called "Chaos Gardening.")
Highly recommend chaos gardening during a season of grief, btw. (It involves throwing appropriate seeds wherever the fuck you want to and then observing what happens)
Thinkin bout moving:
Tomorrow we're going to look at one house on Popple Dungeon rd, and another on Frog Hollow. I am going to keep my excitement leashed, because of many many factors, but thought you guys would appreciate the names. (Popple dungeon apparently means, dark-like-a-dungeon-because-of-all-the-poplars) (It is what my kids would say is a good vocal stim)
I am not going to write everything going on in my head (for once) (Even though it helps me), but there was a recent thing on NHTOK that republican lawmakers in our state are literally trying to encourage leftists to leave by demoralizing us (someone was quoted, in those words). I have a lot of reactions to that news ranging from 'well now I don't want to, f u' to 'congrats, it worked, have fun reaping what you sowed.' I've probably written about the idealism of vermont (mostly) and how I want to be a part of that, about how brattleboro is a refugee center with pride flags everywhere, etc. I tell people that we were aiming for vermont when we moved, but we missed (although we can see it from the top of our hill). So. Houses in VT get a few points on my rubric. It would be more, but changing everything is a pain in the butt.
Why after all my babbling about moving slow are we looking at popple dungeon & frog hollow:
- PD: it's not that far away, the property is 3 acres including a brook (THE DREAM), really cool/interesting inside, beauitful red exterior, gorgeous quiet area, but not a mud road. It just went down in price at the end of January. public school district is one that CGPT specially recommended after our chat about ignorance, overwhelm, and anxiety. It's located near a town that we like, and close to BB or Keene. Access to small town arts (literally main street arts).
- FH: This one is in that resort community a ways away in southern vt. I could, in theory, keep doing my regular job if we hybridized it (which boss already told me he's open to. Boss also said he loves that area, so on a personal level I'd feel 'forgiven'). Nearest city is BB. Pretty far from Keene, but more centered in vt, access to mass, etc. There would be a learning/discovery curve here. But the specific house is reasonably priced and is a woodsy retreat with big windows and lots of log-cabiny features. (Honestly, there are lots of those around here but usually they're either real pricey or get snapped up). looks like it's not technically part of the HOA/resort, so IDK if we'd still have access to those amenities or could get them if we opted in, but the area is still awesome (even more thriving main street area, and a really great base to explore things, and close to a big lake).
- Big victorian on main st in a small town - IDK, its' a deal, and its not too far away, and its' gorgeous, and it has containers for gardening.
I only have these things to say:
- i did some glassdoor research on the special ed teacher job which is way TF the other direction from those houses, and it probably wouldn't pay well enough to be worth the change, even with the signing bonus. Worth the phone call to discuss it though.
- I had a cardiologist appt this morning and had a wave of appreciation for the DH system (and the event coord. job would be in the DH system). So, warm fuzzies are nice. If I got that job, I could hybrid there from PD (or our current house).
Lizzie school:
- school wants to Meet regarding her crying every day (I'm kind of minimizing here, but. Shrug. I can't even.)
Cardiologist:
- Saw a new one for my annual checkup and she was awesome. we are going to do some testing to get the size of the avm and chck on some rhythm issues I have.
Finally:
- I got my digital scrapbooks and i'm obsessed. I've only scratched the surface, but mostly I'm seeing how my grandma travelled the world and the seven seas and gave no craps. Olga for the win. (pics of baby me, baby my mom, baby my dad, etc are in here)
no subject
Date: 2026-02-11 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-11 06:26 pm (UTC)Between wherever I end up living and Anka's rental house, there'd be lodging options ranging from 'free' to 'cheap' (or, one could go higher end, because Vacation)